# Running out Door



## karlabythec (Nov 9, 2008)

We had a big scare yesterday...I opened the door when a little girl from next door rang the bell, and thought I barely had it opened, but Gracie ran between my legs outside...she ran across the street! And, she wouldn't come to me, she wanted to run and thought it was a game. 
When I finally was able to grab her, she knew by my tone she was in trouble. Her whole attitude was different all night...like she was totally kissing my behind. 
Anyway, my German Shepherds never ran out the door...so what is the best way to train a Hav to not run out the door and also to come when called? 
Thanks!


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## gelbergirl (Jun 9, 2007)

I would always pick Henry up when approaching the door, or put him in his crate, just to make sure.

As he got older he would just go toward the door, barking until he could see who it was.


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## karlabythec (Nov 9, 2008)

Yeah, I usually pick her up...she sticks to me like glue, so I was surprised she did that...but she does love to go on walks. Obviously I wont make the same mistake twice, but we have kids so I really want to make sure she is trained not to go out the door without being on a leash.


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## Mraymo (Oct 30, 2007)

Oh, that's scary. We're still working on "come" with Izzy. She does it when we have treats but not so much if there isn't a snack involved. The other command we've been working on is "wait".


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## Mraymo (Oct 30, 2007)

We had a scare over Thanksgiving weekend. My brother in law left the door open and went out to the car. I wasn't home so Izzy ran outside looking for me. I guess they couldn't find her for a few minutes, my son was in tears. It ended up she had ran next door (to my brother's house) looking for me. I've been going over there several times a day (and bringing Izzy with me) to take care of my Mom. Thank God she was okay. I live on a really busy main road. DBIL (and I'm not saying darling or dear) did it a 2nd time too. That time I was there to get her.


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

If she runs out the door and you chase her, she thinks it's a game! What you should do is call her name (I even kneel down first) and start running AWAY from her. I know it sounds crazy, but then she will start chasing you. I've had to resort to this a couple of times when Kubrick ran out our front door. Of course we're lucky since we live in a high rise condo, so he can't go anywhere, but it still worked to get him back in the house when he was young. Also, of course, start training with the come command a LOT. The other thing you can do is train Gracie what to do when the door is opened. I always always put Kubrick into a sit and have him stay (at first I would do this with treats, of course, and you can even put a leash on Gracie in the beginning) and have her sit and wait while the door is open. Kubrick is very good at this now and even if he stands up to see who it is, he knows that he HAS to stand behind my legs (I taught him this using treats as well). It cracks delivery people up because he sticks his head between my legs and looks up at them, but he won't go out. It's all a matter of lots and lots of training and I would start by having her leashed to you at first just in case she decides to bolt. She's still very young... it will take some time for her to learn this.


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## Elaine (Jan 17, 2007)

Karla,
I love the suggestions and while you are working on them I would get an x-pen with a gate opening on it and attach it outside the front door so people temporarily have to open it and close it to keep the front safe. Put a sign on both side that says please latch gate before knocking and when leaving. With that in place you can start working on the stay down command and have the door open wide. You will be safe to get the point across with out loosing her because you always need to keep it positive so she will be happy to come in and not be scolded. You need to reward her everytime she returns from running outside and being stopped by the fence. Make sure you don't have the reward treats for the return in your pocket, let her know that by coming back in the house she has to go to the kitchen or where ever for her treat, that way if she dashes out the door and you don't have a treat on you she will know that when you turn to go back in the house she will follow you to get her treat. I don't know if that makes sense the way I said it.


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Elaine said:


> Karla,
> I love the suggestions and while you are working on them I would get an x-pen with a gate opening on it and attach it outside the front door so people temporarily have to open it and close it to keep the front safe. Put a sign on both side that says please latch gate before knocking and when leaving. With that in place you can start working on the stay down command and have the door open wide. You will be safe to get the point across with out loosing her. You need to reward her everytime she returns from running outside and being stopped by the fence. Make sure you don't have the reward treats for the return in your pocket, let her know that by coming back in the house she has to go to the kitchen or where ever for her treat, that way if she dashes out the door and you don't have a treat on you she will know that when you turn to go back in the house she will follow you to get her treat. I don't know if that makes sense but the way I said it.


What a good idea about not having the treats in your pocket, and training the dog to learn that the treats are in the house!! Great idea.

Sheri and Tucker


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## Elaine (Jan 17, 2007)

I think it is far safer because then the dog know the game is to come back in the house for their reward and not expect you to chase them down to give it to them.


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## Salsa's Mom (Mar 18, 2008)

Elaine, I like the tip about having the treats inside the house too.

Karla, there's a bunch of videos on the web showing how to teach reliable recall. Here's one:

http://www.expertvillage.com/video/4541_reliable-dog-recall-training-techniques.htm


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## katieskodakmoment (Oct 13, 2008)

that is scary! glad your baby is alright...my scottish terrier use to jet out of the house (but i use to live on a lot of land, then i moved into the city and he ran out and I almost got hit by a car chasing him!)

I read that they can tell in the tone of your voice when you call them that something is wrong and they are afraid they will get punished so they run...also read that you can practice around the house ("where's _your dogs name") and when they run to you praise them-so they think its a game-like hid and seek...of course i havent tried that yet, i keep a babygate up by the front door at all times, and just open and close it when i need to go to the front door, so i know that there is no way my baby can run out...maybe try that


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## DAJsMom (Oct 27, 2006)

Dusty dashed out the front door one time looking for a favorite friend. Her daughter had come to the door and Dusty figured Kelly must be right behind. 

One thing that has helped us has been a kennel lead. Since the dogs don't wear collars all the time, we keep a kennel lead handy that we can just slip over their heads for answering the door. I step on the leash so they can't bolt while I open the door. I found kennel leads at the pet/grooming supply store for about a dollar. We are also working hard on the "wait" command. 

I like the idea of using the ex-pen outside to work on this problem. We may try that!


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

A few months ago, I had this issue with Dasher cause our backwards mountain house in cali had the dog door in the front door so that is the door he would run out of. We move here and he would still want to run out the front door. I taught it in my own way but I recently watched an instructor teach the fall back to a puppy class while waiting for Belle's obedience class. What she did is have a puppy on a leash in her left hand. She would walk up to the door and not say a word to the dog and open the door with her right hand. The puppy would of course rush to go out the door and she would slam it in their face and scare them- loud noise and everything. This really only took a few times and the puppy was then scared of the door. So she would open the door and when the puppy did nothing, she would say "good back" and treat. It really worked great for young puppies in the class that I was watching.


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## RIstream (Aug 21, 2008)

We are in the middle of training Cooper with a trainer who comes to our house and this is one of the first things we covered. We are able to put him in a down and go answer the door while he waits. We are still practicing and he isn't perfect at it but he is doing great and getting better. I guess I would recommend some training if you can. It's amazing how smart they are and how easy they pick up what you're trying to teach them.


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## deejay (Aug 19, 2008)

I had the same problem today so all the hints are helpful. A friend just tapped on the door and opened it and Chico took off. He ran up the driveway until he hit the very busy street. I started running to stop the traffic but as I was wearing my bedroom slippers I slipped. Friend started calling him to the back yard and he responded to it. I am not in good shape, two skinned knees, one skinned elbow, sore arm and the worst thing are my ribs as I fell against the curb.I think they are okay, just bruised as I can breathe with no problem. Needless to say Chico is not the best dog in the house tonight. Tomorrow we are setting up another xpen outside the door with signs about entering and closing doors.


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## karlabythec (Nov 9, 2008)

Thanks for all of the ideas everyone...I'm going to work on incorporating the ones I think will work for us. 
Deejay, so sorry you got hurt!


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## bullwinkle (Oct 5, 2008)

Elaine said:


> Karla,
> I love the suggestions and while you are working on them I would get an x-pen with a gate opening on it and attach it outside the front door so people temporarily have to open it and close it to keep the front safe. Put a sign on both side that says please latch gate before knocking and when leaving. With that in place you can start working on the stay down command and have the door open wide. You will be safe to get the point across with out loosing her because you always need to keep it positive so she will be happy to come in and not be scolded. You need to reward her everytime she returns from running outside and being stopped by the fence. Make sure you don't have the reward treats for the return in your pocket, let her know that by coming back in the house she has to go to the kitchen or where ever for her treat, that way if she dashes out the door and you don't have a treat on you she will know that when you turn to go back in the house she will follow you to get her treat. I don't know if that makes sense the way I said it.


 I do that with my dog Shadow as far as her following me back inside from our fenced in backyard.. I have treats inside and when I walk back in she is standing inside the kitchen waiting for her treat.


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