# Beau lays in front of doors



## BeausMama (Jan 14, 2012)

Hey everybody! Having a little problem with Beau. It's always been a problem but now that he's 60lbs, its hard to just slide him with the door lol. 


Beau likes to lay on the inside of the doors when people go outside. Then, when you have to come back in, he doesn't get up. But you're on the other side of the door so you can't exactly make him get up. Any suggestions for making him stop laying behind the doors? If he lays the wrong way, his paws slide up under the door and he's already gotten them caught a few times. That's actually why I just asked - my bratty little sister decided to ignore the fact that he was laying there and shove against the door even though his paws were under it. Hopefully he's okay, he was limping. Now he's laying down. He got neutered yesterday and has a cone on his head. He looks pitiful, I hope he heals fast.


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## Molly's Mum (Apr 1, 2011)

When you go outside could you tell him to sit, down and stay/wait in a suitable place rather than directly behind the door?


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## lyssa (Mar 1, 2011)

Will Beau do it only if everyone goes outside, or does it happen if only one person goes outside? That would change how easy it would be to train this solution. I do have a couple of ideas, but I think this would probably be most effective and produce a dog happy to spring up at the pressure of a door.

Tie some strong twine to the handle of the door, but don't close the door completely, and then get Beau to go into a down against the door (if he does it if only one person goes outside, here's where it will be easier). Hopefully he will stay there. Throw some treats at him as he stays in a stay position, and keep throwing treats as you back off a little. Then pull the twine so that the door pushes against Beau, and if he moves and starts to get up, say "yes!" and throw several treats onto the floor all at once. If he doesn't move when he feels the pressure of the door, you may need to encourage him, don't say 'come' or anything, but you could crouch down or clap a bit.

As soon as he starts moving, even if he doesn't get up fully, he gets loads of treats. When he gets up completely he gets even more. The more you practice it, the more the pressure of the door should act as a cue for him to get up and you shouldn't have to encourage him as much. He is learning it's a good thing to move when he feels the pressure. You may need to do this for a week, maybe 10 mins a day. Then you start going outside, and he'll probably lie down in front of the door like usual. When you come to come back in, put a little pressure on him, and if he isn't budging, vibrate the door a little - dogs don't tend to like vibration. If you feel the pressure on the door lessen at all, throw a treat through the crack into the room and tell him what a good boy he is.

After no more than maybe two weeks of maximum 10 minutes a day (and he may learn much faster depending on how smart he is) he should virtually jump to his feet as soon as he hears the door opening, or perhaps when he hears someone coming - so you wouldn't have the problem with his legs getting caught. You will have to practice it at more than one door so he figures out it isn't just one door you want him to do it at.

There are many more things you could do, but if you don't mind him resting there, that's probably the one I would go with. You could also teach him to lie only one way on the door. Otherwise you could teach him to lie somewhere specific when you go outside (would probably take longer), or put him in a crate when you go outside. Or if he can hear through the door easily, you could train a command that he would go sit on a mat well away from the door, and then open the door. However, that would be time consuming too. The quickest way would be confining him somewhere, that's for sure.


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## rbrooks (Oct 23, 2011)

I don't have any suggestions....

Jackson does this too, but to the bathroom door.... So far he lays with his side against it, so you can slowly push it open and slip out. He doesn't move until after you escape.... Then he gets up a greets you.....

Bob


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