Unsupervised Jumping

[Michelle]

Cricket, my 15 month old, 80 pound baby, gets excited when she sees someone outside our front door. She has taken to repeatedly jumping up on the French door - which is glass - with her front paws. This leaves deep grooves in the wood frame of the door, not to speak of the danger of the glass breaking and severely injuring her. For this reason, she is crated the entire time we cannot supervise her. I would so much appreciate any brilliant suggestions for stopping this dangerous and destructive behaviour. I don't want her to spend her life behind bars.

[Anne G.]

We have the same problem and I was hoping to see some others weigh in. I think it would be helpful if you could get a friend or neighbor to help with training by coming to the door and you could be there with Cricket to give the correction when she jumps. It's so important to correct while they are in the act. Good luck!

[Michelle]

Thanks, Anne. Not a lot of activity on this post, so I guess we'll figure it out on our own. Murphy is so cute...she reminds me of our Tangie. Such a sweet, smooth face!

[Anne G.]

Thanks, Michelle. Yes Murphy does look like Tangie. I love all the different looks of the doodles.

[Carol Brand]

Is there anyway you can separate her from the front door without having to crate her?  Have you tried using baby gates? Another option would be to use a scat mat in front of the door.   These are super pokey and dogs don't like to walk on them. You will need to move them for the people, but if you can break the habit, you can probably get rid of it in a few months.

 

You can buy scat mats or you can make one by cutting a plastic office chair mat and turning it upside down.  

[Michelle]

That's a great idea, Carol. I have LOTS of windows and doors in my house, but the areas can be managed. We've used the plastic office chair mat upside down on our sofa. They stay off when it's there...when it's not...they make themselves at home! Thanks for the suggestion.