Why and How to Train Door Manners (Sitting at Door) with Your Dog

Recent research has debunked dominance theory for dog behavior. Pet owners who train positively can feel confident that positive training works best. You no longer need to worry about your dog trying to displace you in the pack hierarchy if you allow her to go in and out of doors before you, but there are some good reasons why you still might want to train door manners.

Door manners can help with the following:

• Preventing bolting: When you train your dog to sit at a door and wait for your cue to go through it, you can prevent your dog from bolting and potentially becoming lost.
• Preventing face-to-face encounters with other dogs: If you go to dog training centers that have dogs coming and going through the same door, teaching your dog to sit and wait for you to go in first can prevent surprise face-to-face meetings. Many dogs find facing other dogs stressful, and may react by lunging and snapping, or they may become frightened.
• Increasing your safety: Your dog is less likely to trip you with her leash if she is sitting and waiting for you to pass through the door first.

Door manners are usually thought of as the dog sitting at the door and waiting politely until her person passes through and calls her. To train door manners, first the dog should know how to sit on cue. Practice sitting by an interior closed shut door. “Mark” (either use a clicker or a marker word such as “yes”) and reward sitting. Work up to having the dog sit for a few seconds. Have the dog continue to sit as you reach for the door handle. This may cause the dog to break the sit, so just try again, and reward more frequently to start. You’ll slowly work up to rewarding less frequently. When the dog remains sitting reliably, start to open the door, just a little at a time, continuing to mark and reward sitting. Eventually, you’ll start stepping through the door, just one step at a time. Once you’re able to get all the way through the door, then call your dog. With practice, the motion of putting your hand on the door knob may become a cue for your dog to sit. Now that your dog is solid when sitting by an interior door, start over practicing at an exterior door. Use a leash, as your dog may become excited about going outside. Once your dog has your home’s exterior door mastered, practice in other locations, such as dog training centers. With each new location, expect to start at the beginning, though the process will go much faster.

Good door manners, though not needed to assert dominance over your dog, can contribute to you and your dog’s safety and well-being.