My dog does not close doors behind herself

[paisleyjade]

Hi I am new here and wonder if anyone can help me with my dog. She is a lovely, 3 years old, indoor dog who is basically just a pet. Although she has had no formal training, I would like to teach her to close the door behind herself. She is always walking into rooms leaving the doors open. We do not have central a/c so each room must be heated or cooled individually so by her leaving doors open she lets all the heat or air out of the room. I tried today to teach her to close the door by putting my hand on the door and saying "door" and then giving her a treat when she closed the door. She would close it sometimes but I think she only did it because she smelled the treat on my hand. When I did not put my hand on the door and just said "door", she would look at me and howl. How would you teach her to close the doors after herself? Thank you.

 

[maui]

Sounds like fun!

It's okay to have dogs do things at first because they smell a treat in your hand. After awhile you'll take the treats away and she'll close the door because she was taught good things happen when she closes doors. Good things could be steak, toys, chewbones, belly rubs, silly voices, etc. In fact, mixing it up will get her more motivated. Somedays, she may not want the same ol' cookie. But if she was trained that mom might have a rawhide hiding in her shirt... or, mom will will give me silly attention, or... There is a great post in here from Creature Teacher about "Randomizing Rewards" which will help you after she learns what you want her to do.

How is she opening the doors?

-Maui

 

[Renee750il]

That's a neat trick to teach your dog.

I've gotta ask though, since you've got central heat and air, wouldn't the heat and air be going into all the rooms anyway - except for rooms where you've shut all the vents?

 

[avenlee]

She does not have central air. I had to go back and read it myself too. But maui had a good question ... How is your dog opening the doors?

Would be a neat trick and even funnier watching the dog kick the door with its leg to shut it. hahaha I'm chuckling now

 

[paisleyjade]

Thank you for the responses. I will be diligent in my training. As for opening the doors, we don't have door knobs but door handles so she just stands up like a human and presses the handle down with one paw and pushed the door with the other. I know if she can do that, she can close a door behind herself.

 

[necterine0]

You might tie a small rope to each door handle to give her something to grab onto to pull it closed...Just a thought though.

 

[necterine0]

Oh i just remembered what i wanted to tell you...lol

I was watching the Animal Planet and they had a police dog on there. He would open the car door and get in . Then on the door inside they had a rope tied onto the handle and he would grab it and close the car door..It was cute and it worked!

 

[Vickih]

Thank you for the responses. I will be diligent in my training. As for opening the doors, we don't have door knobs but door handles so she just stands up like a human and presses the handle down with one paw and pushed the door with the other. I know if she can do that, she can close a door behind herself.

Oh bless! How cute!

 

[mrose_s]

ide keep going with treats, i think she'll get the hang of it eventually, she seems VERY smart