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Permalink Reply by Stephanie on January 17, 2011 at 7:31am

First, you need to "claim" the space around the front door.  Maybe train her to go to a "spot" when the door opens.  Victoria Stillwell teaches this on her show.  Then, work on an emergency recall - there are some great tips on this around this site.

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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on January 17, 2011 at 9:11am

I never play chase with mine because I think it is too hard for them to understand the difference. Dropping to the ground and flailing around like an idiot usually will bring them over! You really have to insist that she not rush the door as Stephanie suggests and then work on a really good recall. Take her out on a long leash (or rope) and when she starts sniffing around say "come" in a really up beat tone and pull her too you. Touch her collar and give her a great treat (hot dog pieces or chicken). If you practice this several times a day she will be much more reliable. Also, never ever call her to you for a scolding or punishment, it will ruin your recall. Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Jane on January 17, 2011 at 9:23am

I would try not to chase her if you can, I know it's hard not to when they get loose and you're worried. As Bev said rolling around on the ground looking like an idiot works pretty well, I've also sat down and dug at the grass like I found something REALLY interesting and my boy came right up to see what I had. The other posters gave good advice about getting her to respect the door and how to teach a good recall.

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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on January 17, 2011 at 10:14am

Hi Rebecca, get a special container, put your best treats in there, shake it, then feed Ellie. Practice this, also practice with the front door open. Remember the treat need to worth her while, so it cannot be cheerios, get something she goes nuts for :)

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Permalink Reply by Beth on January 17, 2011 at 10:41am

Teach an emergency recall.  Use a different word than "come" and special treats used only for that purpose.  Hot-dogs, or really stinky cheese, or liver treats, or leftover dinner---something she doesn't normally get.

 

Say your special word in a happy upbeat voice while feeding her the very special treats.  Do this once a day for three days in a row, then on the 4th day have someone hold her a little way aways from you, say the word, and have the person let her go and run to you.  Give her the treats.  Cut them tiny so you can give her five or ten pieces while you praise her. 

 

Next day, have someone take her in another room.  Then after that, practice in a fenced in area.

After the word is learned, use it a couple times a month to keep her refreshed, and then ONLY for emergencies and never for a normal recall (for which you will still use "come" or "here.").    By doing it seldom and using special treats, you will keep her excited about it.  In your mind the word means "Get over here fast" but in hers it means "bacon" or "hot dogs" or whatever you fed.   Emergency recall is the only instance when I allow my dogs to leap up at me ecstatically while I feed them.  I've used it when they've wandered off in the woods, and once when Jack got into the road to say hi to a friend, and it really does work.

 

The other thing to teach is "wait" so you can keep her back from the door.  Start at feeding time.  Put down her dish, say "Wait" as you hold your hand out.  Use your body to keep her away from the food and don't let her go til she is staying still.  Then say "ok!" in a cheery voice and let her eat.  Gradually increase the time you make her wait (but at dinner don't make it more than a few seconds).

 

Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on January 17, 2011 at 12:12pm

It's not easy because she's had so much fun out in the front yard!  I would implement Beth's excellent suggestions. I would also teach her the words "stay there"  (this is not a formal stay, it just means the dog cannot follow) then I would practice those words at the front door by attaching a light line to her collar with the other end attached to a stationary object that will not move.  The line needs to be long enough that the pup can get out the door 6 or 8 feet if she ignores your firm command.  If she gets out, you scold her and hawl her back in. Your aim is to make her successful, so practice going in and out many times. She NEVER should go out that door unless you clip the leash on her (don't do this at the door, but well inside the room, so there is no confusion), then when you do want her to go with you, with the leash on, practice "wait" at the front door EVERY time before going out, say something like "let's go" when ready to exit the door. You also need to train family members so everybody is on the same page.  The first time she got out was an accident, every time after that, sorry to say, is your fault, since you now know it's a possibility and it can get her killed.  She souds like a smart pup and will learn quickly if you are vigilant and consistent.

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Permalink Reply by Monica, Orion, and Laika on January 17, 2011 at 12:16pm

I would work on making sure she knows bolting out the door is unacceptable behavior. We make our dogs sit at the door, wait, we'll walk through it, and then when we say "ok" they can come through the door. Its kind of a pain to train, and you'll have to teach her the wait command but it really helps with our dogs because they know they're not allowed to go out of the house unless we say "ok" and we always walk through the door first if we're going out with them. So maybe work on this every time she's leaving the house (front or back door) and it will help with her self control :)

Another thing which I don't personally do but my uncle does with his dog is have a "return" command. Its a special super amazing treat that she ONLY gets when she does this command and never any other time. For him he uses a piece of cheese because he never feeds his dog cheese otherwise. So they have "come" for when he's close by and they want him to come over, but if he's getting to far away they'll do "return" and he'll always listen because he knows he'll get a a fancy treat. I'm not exactly positive how he trained this though, I think he went to a training class, so maybe puppy training classes would help? But I would definitely work on the sit and wait at the door thing, it worked wonders with our dogs! 

Good luck!

 

Edit: Just noticed that Beth totally had addressed everything I just said, sorry for the redundancy :P 

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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on January 17, 2011 at 2:24pm

The first thing to teach her is to sit and stay whenever the front door is opened. That way she won't dash out front. Another thing, as hard as it is, DON'T CHASE HER. It has become an amazingly fun game for her when she gets out. One thing to try if she does get out is run in the opposite direction, more often than not she will chase you and then you can grab her. Lots of sessions out front on a LONG leash working on recall are good too. Take her out on a 15 foot leash so she feels like she is free and work an recall over and over and over. That way if she does get out its not a super fun game of chase, its just another day, and she will come when called.

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Permalink Reply by Rebecca and Ellie on January 18, 2011 at 6:28am

I would just love to thank everyone for taking the time and giving me such great advice and suggestions. I love that you can get such wonderful advice from this forum!

 

based on everyone's advice, I have implented three things

1. training with a wait command before we approach the door.

2.  training out front with a long lead

3.introducing an emergency command and rewarding with super special treat ( for Ellie, its sausage.)

she has taken well to all over training..have to admit a HUGE oversight on our part to introduce a wait command before we even go outside on lead. fingers crossed we'll have success!!

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