Doodles and Doors

[Lynda Kamrath]

Oh my!  Not even thinking of doggie doors, how do these dogs learn to use the regular doors in your house?  We only have two knobs in our house, on the front door and coat closet, and the dogs have not figured out how to turn a knob yet, but they can (and have) worked all the other ways to get doors open.

First of all, a sliding glass door.  Hondo used to stand up on the door and shift his weight to open the slider.  Freaked out a repair man who came to the front door and a huge dog opened the slider to come in the house.  We have since replaced this door with a heavier one that is hard for even me to open.

Next are the pocket doors.  We have them for all interior doors and closets.  No problem.  Dogs just put their paw on the door and slide it enough to get their nose in the crack and then open the door.  We have locks on the bathroom doors for privacy, but all other doors can be opened anytime they want to open them.

Exterior doors and doors to the shop and garage are levers so they can be opened easily when your hands are full.  Well, that is the specialty of our ALD.  He has figured out that if you want to open a door you just stand up on it and push down the handle.  So we have to lock the doors from the side not facing the outdoors when we are out of the house.  You can imagine the confusion there!  One time I came home to find Harpo waiting for me in the driveway.  He had opened the door into the shop and then the door out of the shop to the front of the house.

So security with dogs?  Luckily, usually one of us is home but privacy and security are not the things our dogs are concerned with.  They just love the independence of being able to let themselves in and out when they are so inclined.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

OMD...my dogs must be dumb :) They have never opened a door. LOL If Fudge ever learns how to open a door, we will never see her again! I cannot believe you came home to find Harpo in the driveway and one of your dogs opened a door for a service man. Too funny!!

[Lynda Kamrath]

Not that funny when it happens to you.  I am wondering what our new little guy will do.   He was left at home a few hours yesterday and figured out that the 36 inch fence is no problem.  It is around our deck and kept the dogs out of the garden and hot tub area.  There is a taller fence around the back yard.  So that (short fence) is no problem for him now.  Groucho, who was 30 inches tall, never jumped over anything, but toward the end, he would walk up the steps to the laundry room and then "slip over" the fence by a tree.  Well, when I came home, Zeppo jumped up onto the grooming table (also 36 inches), and after dinner, he jumped up on the table just to see if there was anything left for him.  These guys who have lived on the street just have no manners!!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Wow I guess some etiquette lessons are called for.

[Stephanie and Ragley]

We have a fenced in backyard- great, right? Well, not if your little doodle knows that she can slip THROUGH the bars on the fence. As in, her tiny, girlish, poodle figure can slip in between the bars of the fence. Even at 6.5 months old, 23" at her shoulder, and 42 lbs. THROUGH. THE. FENCE. It is maddening! I feel your pain, Lynda

[Diane and Alma]

I had a bearded collie who was an escape artist.  He would always find a way out, or over, or through the smallest slit in the fence.  I called him Houdini Dog!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Maybe those of us with smaller doods should have warned you of their jumping capabilities - vertical leaps are not a problem for them.  I think they learn it during the zoomie phase of puppyhood!

[F, Calla & Luca]

I did put hooks and eyes on a few inside doors to keep the dogs out when I wanted to. The dogs stay in my bedroom at night even though I leave the door ajar with just a basket near the opening. I know they could get out if they really wanted to. I do that because when he was younger Luca would go to the stairs downstairs and bark at the garbage men early in the morning. When the weather is just right, rarely, I leave my screened porch door open and Luca the dogs can go through the doggie door at will. I always was perplexed at the people who taught their dogs to open the refrigerator, that' small I'd need : )

[Lynda Kamrath]

Hooks and eyes?  I thought that was something you put on sewing.  Do they have big ones for doors?

[F, Calla & Luca]

I see Joanne provided pictures.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Refrigerators!   The same dog that was killed ( below ) could open the refrigerator and eat everything when I was gone. I mean Everything.   We never taught him to open the refrigerator.  

We also had to use a hook on the refrigerator to keep him out.  Some doors, dont stop dogs. 

I will never recommend someone to teach their dog to open the fridge. It is expensive and a disaster.

[Nancy and Georgia Brown]

I have a funny story a dog trainer friend told me years ago.

Her new dog was a trouble maker from day one. He learned to open the fridge and one night got into her bag of coffee beans. She woke in the middle of the night to a dog frantically pacing the kitchen s******* coffee beans everywhere.

[Diane and Alma]

Probably not funny at the time but your story makes me laugh.