Clawing at my patio door- how can I make it stop?

[Star and Goldie]

Can someone direct me to past discussions (if there are any- I couldn't find anything on it) of the topic of dogs running on the patio door like it's a treadmill? I have had several dogs in my life and Goldie is the very first one I've ever had that does this. I go out with her for her potty breaks so we don't experience it there but when she wants to go outside and play with Riley I'll let them out for short stints and it doesn't take but a few minutes before she is clawing at the door. I really don't want this to become a habit because as she gets older I won't always be outside with her and I'll let her out to romp in the yard while I clean or mop (instead of blocking them off in the house during those times)

Does anyone have any tricks on how to train her away from this behavior? It makes the patio door look disgusting with mud but that's easy to clean up. I'm more worried about claw marks in the glass as she gets bigger.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Is she scratching to get out, or to come back in?

[Star and Goldie]

To come back in. She rings a bell to go out which is great! Too bad they couldn't ring a bell to come in but that would probably be too confusing.

[Ronna, Murphy & Wilson]

Actually she can!  Put a bell outside.  A friend of mine does it with her two dogs and it works beautifully for them.  The bell means "door open" and it works both ways.

[Star and Goldie]

Oh I guess I never thought of it as the bell meaning 'door open'. I just associated it with "out to potty". We may just have to give that a whirl... though my concern there would be that if I don't hear the bell then the clawing will ensue.

[Star and Goldie]

The last time she did it I went up to the door and bopped my hand on it to make a loud noise, she backed away and sat there so I opened it and said 'good girl' and let her in. I'm hoping she understands the praise is for backing off and not doing it in the first place. But I just didn't know if there was a real method out there other than what I just did on a whim...

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I would put a guard on the door or screen to prevent damage.  Our windows are low and every one of our screens has been gone through by a dog.  They don't do this on a regular basis, but it happens and drives me nuts.

[Star and Goldie]

What kind of guard do you use? I really like that idea.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Here's how I would do it, although I'm sure there a million different approaches that could work.  Each time you see Goldie approaching the door you'll need to give a verbal correction (whatever sound or word you use) and then go get between Goldie and the door and back her right away....this is letting her know that YOU own the door.  Every time that you want to go inside I would put her in a sit in front of the door, then go ahead open it and invite her inside....again you are owning the door.  I would be reluctant to do a lot of physical correcting for this...I'm assuming she's still a puppy and you don't want to create any anxiety around the door itself.  I had to do this with Murphy who early on thought jumping at the front door when people went by was fun.  I backed him away every single time I saw him approaching that door and after a few weeks he "got it" and now stays away.  If we're not at home I put a gate in front so he doesn't have the opportunity to "practice" this behavior if I'm not there to correct.  Good luck.

[Star and Goldie]

This makes perfect sense! I really like the idea of INVITING her in.  That's GENIUS!

[Jen and Annie]

This post made me laugh out loud, because I'm  having the same problem with Annie, and was contemplating posting a call for help.... I feel your pain - except that for me, it is not the patio door - it's essentially any door that I go behind.  If I'm in the bathroom with the door closed, Annie will scratch the door to be let in.  It's going to be very hard to train her not to do it, when I'm on the other side of the door she's scratching.  These are interior doors (to the bedroom, bathroom) that Annie is scratching on.  The problem is that like Goldie, she is very smart, so she knows that when she scratches the door - I will open it (to STOP her from scratching it!).  I'm afraid that if she keeps up the scratching, she is never going to be allowed free roam of the house, because I can't have her sitting all day scratching a door, waiting for me to open it...  I'm subscribing to the thread to see if there are any ideas on training how to NOT do a behavior that you're not always present to correct...

[Star and Goldie]

ahhh you feel my pain... we'll get through this together. Haha. I really like what Jane said. I bet if you started with that too it could translate to inside doors as well.

[Jen and Annie]

It makes more sense now that I read Jane's post again, we'll see what we can do.  I actually thought that it would be a good idea to teach her how to open the door with her paws, LOL.  That way she can just let herself in!   My biggest problem is that she is physically causing claw marks in the doors  - eek.  So each time she scratches, more marks in the door.  It sounds like she's not going 'full force' like Goldie is - Annie literally just lifts one paw, gives a scratch - and if I don't open the door soon enough, she gives another scratch.  Like she's knocking on the door...