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dog darts out front door

Posted: April 12th, 2004, 9:08 am
by cook
Have a 9 month old german shep. we got from the pound.Mainly a indoor dog.He can sit,stay,heel,lay,and wait(most of the time)I take him out the back door only,always on a lead.
About once a week he will dart out the front door and run the neighborhood.Hate for him to live in a kennel 24/7.
Anyone have a training tech?Was thinking of an invisible fence setup inside the front door?

Thanks guys-please stay on subject with this one.

Re: dog darts out front door

Posted: April 12th, 2004, 11:49 am
by BornBad
a young shepherd needs room to run and play and you aint gonna be able to surpress that to easily. Had the same problem with mine until I started taking them on long long walks at least 3 times a week, now they are older and much more mellow.

Re: dog darts out front door

Posted: April 13th, 2004, 12:00 am
by GoGop
Put a shock collar on him, leave the door open by "accident", and zap him when he starts through the door. Repeat as needed. Image

Re: dog darts out front door

Posted: April 13th, 2004, 2:45 pm
by Gutpile
You might be able to get by on a cheaper solution....all you need to do is provide negative feedback for the behavior your want to eliminate...which in GoGops example was the shock collar....

You could have someone outside the door that splashed the dog with water once it passes through the door....put it on a lead and when it strolls through the door pull back like hell and give Fido a strong yelling at, do that a few times session, couple of sessions a day and you will start to see an improvement soon....

This is an issue of safety for guests and the dog and needs to be taken seriously....You stated that your dog heels, sits, comes on command, but all that goes out the window when the level of distraction raises...

The second part of the equation is to reward the desired behaviour after discouraging the unwanted behaviour....so he darts out he gets a hard jerk and a good yelling at, you then call him and tell him to heel, when he gets there you praise him heartily....eventually he will choose to avoid the correction and instead come to heel in seek of praise....

Re: dog darts out front door

Posted: April 13th, 2004, 5:12 pm
by BornBad
Good post Gutpile, but who wants guest Image Mine get that "reward the desired behavior" when they are at full druel and pearly whites gleaming by the time they get to the door.. Bonus kudos go to the dog of three that gets there 1st.



Idiot door to door people, my dogs going ape chit is their negative feedback. With expected company, dogs are taken to the basement before their arrival.

Re: dog darts out front door

Posted: April 14th, 2004, 8:52 am
by cook
Thanks guys-squirt gun has proven to be effective in the past-will have a friend come over to play the bad guy with the water.

Re: dog darts out front door

Posted: April 24th, 2004, 12:29 pm
by swampcollie
the ecollar is a great tool, but..if you think that just zapping him as he starts out the door is an automatic solution, you may get a surprise.. you may just get the opposite response from what you want.. he may redouble his efforts to get out the door and then really run and you may have all kinds of problems getting him back..
use of an ecollar requires conditioning..so that you get the desired response.. in this case, you want him to come when called.. basically you put him on a check cord and call him while using the collar..he learns that beside you is where it is safe..
the ecollar is a great tool in the right hands.. but it must be planned..not just a reaction.. the dog must know the desired response..
there are quite a few books on collar conditioning and i would recommend that you read one of those before you strap the collar on and start pushing buttons.
good luck

Re: dog darts out front door

Posted: April 24th, 2004, 1:48 pm
by cook
Think I got it licked.Took an empty soda can and put a few quaters in it.One shake by the front door and he won't get near it again.Had to just pick up the can a few days later and he got the message.
As a bonus-he quit drinking my beer too!!
Thanks all!!

Re: dog darts out front door

Posted: April 24th, 2004, 2:54 pm
by GoGop
I tried that can-and-coins deal once, and the dog tried to take it to play with.

Re: dog darts out front door

Posted: April 25th, 2004, 12:54 am
by cook
So far so good-worked in this situation.