Requesting to come in politely?

[Sandy]

Toby has an awful habit of LAUNCHING himself at the patio door when he wants in. When I say "off" he gets off. I never open the door when he "up", only when he's not on the door anymore. I do not know how to stop this! At some point I'm afraid he'll just break right through the glass! The only though I have it to put up a little wooden fence of some type (moveable) that will prevent him from jumping on the door. Any thoughts? He's not a little boy (about 70 pounds), so he needs to stop!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's a good idea anyway to train your dog to sit before any doors are opened for them, either to go out or come inside. It's not very hard to do, either. They usually want to go outside so much that they will do anything you ask them to do.
When we are going for a walk, I always have Jack sit before I open the door; he used to get so excited to be going for a walk that he would push in front of me and rush through the door the minute it started to open. That was a problem for several reasons. So I started having him sit at my side before I opened the door. He got the idea very quickly. Now, he automatically sits and waits as soon as he sees his leash. You could do this with the backdoor as well, an automatic "sit" is the easiest command of all, IMO.

[Sandy]

We do require him to sit before walks, and before we go down the front door stairs. It's just the back door that is an issue. I have tried to have him sit, but he either has short term memory loss, or is stubborn. Either way, he still jumps every time. I'll have to sit the whole family down and have an "across the board" directive that he'll have to sit before he comes in.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I wonder if there is something you could attach to the back door that would make an unpleasant noise when he jumps on it...it wouldn't have to be permanent. Maybe someone else will have an idea.
I think getting the whole family on board with sitting to come in is a good idea, too.

[Sue & Willy Babe]

We have Wilson trained to sit before he goes out and when we walk I always go out first. He does very well with that Have you tried maybe a treat for him sitting then you proceed to go out??? Just and Idea

[Sandy]

I think it would have to be something to actually deter him from getting TO the door to jump on it. It's such an ingrained habit now. If I put up a fence of some sort and had him sit, then moved the fence, maybe at some point he would learn to sit without the fence being there.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

So you have a glass door and he can see you from the outside looking in at you? Does he know SIT without you saying it? The sign only - it is basically having your right hand by your side and pulling it straight up like you are lifting a barbell (keep elbow pinned to side). I have worked with Peri so much on this that I don't always even say SIT or DOWN or anything - she knows the sign. See if you can get him to at least sit through signing to him from the inside. After he does that, you can let him in???

[Sandy]

Oh yes, he can see in through the door. I have tried having him sit, but then he just seems to think "Fine, I'll just sit here then" and doesn't seem to get it that he can come in after he sits.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

haha! So he won't even come in? He sits, you open the door and he stays there? Funny dood :)

[Sandy]

Yep, you got it. It's either his way, or no way, I guess. :)

[F, Calla & Luca]

There have been lots of discussions about having dogs ring bells to go out. I gave up on that though. Luca comes to me and gives me "the look" or a short bark. Calla paces to the door of whatever room we're in and gives me "the look". Luca, all on his own and at an early age, learned to give a short bark, and repeat if I'm not quick enough, to come in. Calla does nothing to come in. Sometimes I feel guilty when she's been out for a long time and I suddenly realize it. I'm wondering how I can teach her to give that distinctive I want to come in bark? Maybe this would work for Toby too.

[Sandy]

Toby's isn't a barker - when he does bark it shocks me because I so seldom hear it! So...I'm not sure I want to teach him to be noisier. :) But it's a good thought.

[Louise and Toby]

We had this same problem - sort of anyway. Toby would jump up at the glass and was scratching it. Hummmmm! Well FINALLY we got him to let out a little yip when he wants to come in. I think we did it by ignoring the jumping even though that was painful for us to do and responding immediately when he yipped. He still is very coy when he needs to go out - he'll just come stare at us. In these ways these dogs seem different than other dogs I've had.