I have a 3 lbs yorkie that thinks she is a track star ever time I open the door. Any ideas?

Question

Sophie is 2 1/2 years old. Every time I finally catch her,normally by driving down the road,I kennel her for about an hour for punishment.Any ideas would be appreciated. I'm very scared of her getting run over or taken by someone.

Answer 1

Door charging (or “bolting”) is an easy fix and you need to get a grip on it before she gets smushed by a car.

Your current punishment method doesn't work because she knows that when you do (finally) catch her, she is going back into the crate for an hour. In her mind she knows that she had better make tracks fast so she doesn't get stuck in the crate for an hour. Your correction is coming too late. You're not really trying to get her to stop running around; you are trying to keep her from running out the door.

First of all, you need to have in mind a command that tells the dog that it is ok to go outside. I just use "OK" and a hand gesture to let my dogs know that it is allowed for them to exit the door. Unless they have the "OK", they don't get to go outside.

The materials that you need: a properly fitted slip (chain) choker and a 6' nylon leash. Anything else that anyone else tries to sell you is a gimmick (clickers, remote collars, special whistles, etc.) and is just taking the place of a $5 collar and a $15 leash that will last you for the rest of YOUR life, not just the life of the dog. These leeches are preying upon people's ignorance of basic canine behavior modification. They are making stupid amounts of money because most people are too lazy to crack open a book from the library to learn how to work with their dogs.

Put a properly fitted slip (chain) choker on her. A properly fitted choker is big enough to go over her ears with slight resistance but not big enough for her to just lower her head and it slips off. The part that moves thru the ring of the opposite end should be coming toward you when the rings are on the back of her neck and she is sitting on your left-hand side. That will allow the collar to release immediately when you let tension out of the collar. If the collar doesn't release immediately and completely then you have the collar on backward and are risking injury to the dog.

DO NOT remove the collar after training. She will learn VERY quickly that if she isn't wearing a collar, you can't correct her. In my experience, a properly fitted collar doesn't pose a risk of injury, although there are a thousand horror stories (none of which can be proven) to the contrary. In over 20 years of training and handling and having worked more than 150 dogs thru AKC obedience competition certifications I have NEVER seen a dog injured by a properly fitted collar.

Attach a 6' nylon leash to the moving end of the slip choker and open the door. As soon as she makes it to the end of the leash you should pull back on it sharply (not enough to hurt, but enough to get her attention) and shout "no" then bring her back inside by pulling her to you on the leash. Close the door. Make certain that the collar has released. After a couple of times you should be able to tell that it has released just by looking at the collar.

Get her to sit on your left side. Praise her for being close to you. Open the door again and if she makes a dash for it, do exactly the same thing as you did before. It should break that bad habit in a matter of a few minutes. In all of my years of training, I have never had to do this more than 5 times in a row.

ALWAYS return the dog inside by pulling on the leash, not carrying them. This reinforces that you are the one giving the commands and that they are to do as you say. You ARE the one with the larger brain, after all.

ALWAYS make her sit on your left side. This allows you to use your right hand (the one 90% of people use to do most things) and gives them a single, known, reinforced point of reference for them to return to with you.

ALWAYS praise her for doing what you want her to do. Dogs LIVE for praise. Punishment sucks. It's supposed to. Your Praise to Punishment ratio should be about 20:1 OR MORE, meaning that you should be praising ANY good behavior at least 20 times more often than you are punishing bad behavior. They get the idea of accepted boundaries very quickly when they get "good luvins" every time they are doing the right thing.

DO go to your local library and get a book on dog training and USE the information in there. The only real difference between you and a "professional dog trainer" is that they have read the books and applied the knowledge where you haven't yet.

Dog training and behavior is not difficult to understand or modify. Being a "trainer" is not a difficult thing to learn to do. It just takes a little knowledge and application of that knowledge.

Answer 2

She will eventually get killed if you don't put an end to this sort of behavior. I would put her on a leash before opening the door, And make her walk side by side you. Shorten the leash just a little tug on it if/when she wants to act like she getting ready to run. Just don't let your dog run out the door the leash would be good for her I take it that you don't have a fenced in back yard if not you would need to take your Sophie for walks each day until she is tired. She has lots of pint up energy sounds like to me. Good luck and Take Care. P.S. If all else fells take her to Pet Smart or a place where they TRAIN Dogs, Obedient School for Pets.

Answer 3

i have yorkies too and they are the best!
is this your first dog? since you know that she escapes, you should pick her up before you open the door. (are you really that dumb?)
have you taught her commands such as sit, stay, come?
do you walk her everyday? she may not be content to be confined in the house. yorkies need exercise and fresh air.
the punishment you are using is not good at all. why do you punish her for something that is your fault? you are the adult and you know that she escapes. you allow it to happen by not preventing it. maybe someone should lock you up for punishment because of your stupidity.
you should have a fenced yard to keep your dog safe. yorkies are tiny and she probably will be killed by a car or another dog because of your negligence.
i feel bad for sophie. reading your question i thought you were a child, but if you are old enough to drive you really should know better. i am glad that you are asking for help. however from your question you sound like a negligent and incompetent mommie for sophie. you should find her a safe and stable home.
i know this answer to your question is harsh, but you need to wake up, grow up, and be a better mommie before it is too late.
now i'm very scared for sophie too.

NEVER EVER USE A CHOKER COLLAR ON A TOY BREED DOG!! the poster after my answer recommended this cruel tool. he obviously knows nothing about toy breed illnesses. all toy breeds are prone to "collapsing trachea". the windpipe's cartilaginous rings are not strong enough on toy dogs. when they get excited or stressed or pressure is applied to their throat, the trachea (windpipe) collapses and cuts off air supply to the lungs. a regular collar is fine to hold an i.d. tag. but when you use a leash you should use a harness on a yorkie.

Answer 4

If we do not take our Pomeranian out enough during the day we have the same problem. Try taking Sophie out for an extra walk when you can, and if that doesn't work, put her in another part of the house when you intend to open the door.

Answer 5

Well, I had to answer the question, because you and I sure do look a lot alike. Anyways, you should have a lot of outside time with your puppy. She is obviously so excited to go outside, that she just wants to go and go. If you know that she is going to jet, you should put her leash on before you open the door. Maybe you could make it part of your routine to walk Sophie for 30 minutes every night. I am sure that she would love it, and great exercise and relaxing time for you. Enjoy your active puppy and your cute face. Kisses.

Answer 6

My lab does this too!!! I have very mean neighbors and have been screamed at many times being told that I was a bad pet owner. I was told by the vet to do the Dog Whisperer thing and train her with shhhhttt when she attempts to go near the door. It has worked for my dog. Good luck!!!

Answer 7

Kennel her?? For punishment??? The dog doesn't exactly get the idea of why she was sent to her room!!!!


Might get run over?? We are not at 'if' but 'when' here.

STOP LETTING HER OUT THE DOOR

Go to the hardware store. Get 3 lengths of ¼ inch soft nylon line – 20 foot, 50 foot and 100 foot. Get 3 snaps. Tie the snaps on one end and make a loop handle on the other.

Start with the 20 foot line. Use a slip collar that is fitted so there is 3 fingers of space between the dog’s neck and the collar.

Hook the line on her collar. Hopefully she knows sit and wait. If not, teach it to her. If she does know sit and wait, put her in a sit, step back 2 or 3 steps and call her. If she doesn’t come, haul her in with the line.

When she comes over a distance of 5-6 feet, move back to 10-12 feet and call her.

Repeat this process until she is working on the 100 foot line.

NEVER TAKE HER OUTSIDE WITHOUT A LEASH (6 ft) OR ONE OF THE LONG LINES. NEVER TURN HER LOOSE OFF LEAD AND CALL HER UNTIL SHE COMES 100% OF THE TIME ON THE 100 FOOT LINE WITH ALL KINDS OF DISTRACTIONS, IE: OTHER DOGS, KIDS PLAYING, TOYS BEING THROWN IN HER PATH AS SHE COMES, ETC.

When you say “come” and she doesn’t, haul her backside into you using the line repeating “come”, “come”.

When she gets to you – willingly or unwillingly, praise and pet and make a big fuss and tell her that she is such a good girl.

Never ever ever call a dog to you to punish them.

Using treats is silly because one day you will start to forget the treats or not have them or something, and the next time you call her, she'll remember not getting the treat and figure "why bother?"

Clickers are just flat stupid - they are for people who are too dumb to figure out how to quickly say "GOOD DOG" in a happy, excited voice.

You always have your hands and your voice. Use them


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If she is bolting out the door as you go in and out, be prepared. Blockade the lower part of the door with something high enough she can't jump over it - plywood, a plastc lattice screen that bolts to the trim and is abut 20-24 inches (they make them for windows so kids and dogs can't get through the screen - go to Home Depot or something,t they have them)

Now that you can stop her, when she makes a rush for the door, grab her when she gets there. Pin her flat to the floor by the neck and shoulders and in as deep and stern a voice as you can possibly do, roar "NO" "BAD" and keep it up for 30 -45 seconds. Without letting go of her, (the scruff of the neck is good) haul her back from the door with "NO" NO" - Scat! and give her behind a tap to send her back further into the house.

Take the time to set her up if she is bolting for the door when opened. Put on her long line. Let her romp around. Have someone open the door - without the barricade - and sandbag her into making a dash for it. You are going to ahve the other end of the long line. When she gets within 3 feet of the door, roar NO and give the line a jerk and yank her backwards. DOn't be tenative about it - you want to stop her cold and send her in reverse. (If she hits her backside or shoulder or whatever tumbling around, better bruised than dead from a car!)

Keep all of this up until she gets the message and stays back when told NO.

Go to obedience class - she is not too old.. She needs sit and down and STAY and come.

Answer 8

Well, first of all, you should never use a kennel as punishment for your dog. Actually, in proper training, it should always be positive, not negative. Crates/kennels are supposed to be a safe place for your dog and using it as a punishment will make them come to dislike it. If you wish to keep your dog crate trained, you don't want them upset by going in there if they perceive it as punishment.

We currently have a 4 month old Border Collie in a puppy training class and this is what we have learned about door manners...

We were told to work on them with our puppies and to train them to "wait" at the door until we gave them the okay. What you are going thru with your dog is exactly why we were told to do this training, too. You'll need a basic command, such as sit trained with your dog in order to do this too. When you go to the door, whether it to be for you only to leave, or to let your dog out to potty, you instruct her to sit. Praise well in a really happy voice and give a soft treat for each time she does this properly (soft treats just go over better and get the best responses as opposed to hard). Then give the command wait and begin to slowly open the door. The second the dog pops up out of the sit, reposition her back into the sit each and every time and instruct her to wait again. This is likely going to take some time to train her as she's so used to darting out the door. You have to be vigilent about repositioning her into the sit. If she is popping up the minute your hand touches the door handle, work on that first. Get her to the point where she maintains the sit when you do it and praise and reward well for doing what you want. Gradually, you can work on opening the door. When you get to the point where you can open the door, it is best to have her on a 6 ft leash and attached to something, like a chair leg, etc or have someone hold it, so that in case she darts too fast, you still have her in control and she's not running down the street.

Ultimately, you want her to be trained to wait, even when the door is open and not proceed forward until you give her the signal. We use the word "okay".

This is going to take some time to work on and isn't going to happen over nite, but if you are consistent with it and work on it each day, I suspect you will begin to see some good results within a few weeks. I hope this helps! And it's never too late to consider obedience training. I do it for our pup and for me... cuz I sure have learned a ton from it! Our trainer gave us a great method to train a good solid come and my 4 month old Border Collie turns on a dime every time, whether she's in a fenced yard or not. That's another one that will be of great benefit to teach your dog. If you do consider taking up a class, make sure you do your research on the trainer, cuz not all of them are good and some use fear to train, which is not a good approach, cuz you don't want your dog afraid of you as a result. We contacted our local agility organization and called a few they suggested and landed an excellent lady for a trainer. I couldn't be happier with this.

I have used clicker training too and so does our dog trainer. It's a really effective way to get a positive response from your dog. Rather than training by repetition only, it gives them a purpose to do what you ask. Look into it if you have the time, it's a great method they've used for years on dolphins and whales! If your dog is treat reward driven, use them, who cares if you have to keep doing it, at least the dog will respond how you want her too, right?

Answer 9

Everyone has given you great advice so far...all I would add is put a baby gate across the door opening to be EXTRA safe till the training kicks in.

Answer 10

I think you should have little doggie snacks on you when you open the door when you get home. That way you can train her to stay...kenneling her won't help because she won't understand what she's getting kenneled for. I would also enroll her in doggie behavioral classes too :)