[KayBee'sEnglishSetter]

Hello all!
I'm new here and this is my first post, I hope this is in the right category. I really could use some advice! Any and all thoughts are very much appreciated, if you get through the whole post (it might end up being long) thank you so much in advance!
I'll give some info on our dog, I'm not sure if that might help figure out how to solve the issue. Scout is 2 years old, and is in great physical and mental health. He's a great, energetic, friendly and loves everybody and everything type of dog. His Mom was rescued from a sporting dog hoarding/breeding situation and he was born in a foster home; we were his first and only home since he was 12 weeks old. Training has gone very well. Of course he's had his stubborn moments, and I've had to really think deep and get creative now and then, always using positive reinforcement to train him. However, there's one issue that's got me completely stumped! Hopefully someone out there will know what I can do!
We have acreage, and one of Scout's absolute favorite things to do is free run outside. (Technically not 'free' as it is fenced, but the fenced area is 14 acres with a mix of field and woods so I imagine it feels pretty free, lol!) Given his bird dog nature he's very outdoorsy, that's his happy place. Birds to sneak up on, squirrels to chase, never ending sticks and scents and all. It works out well that he enjoys his free run time so much, because I work from home so when I'm not outside with him, he's free to play and explore and I can let him in and out as he signals. And that's where the issue is. To go out, everything is fine. He'll come to my desk and go to the door, then come back and look at me and I know that means he wants out. I'll get up, he'll run to the door and I'll meet him there, give him a pet and open the door to let him play. His time varies, sometimes he'll be ready to come in, relax and chew on his bone sooner and sometimes longer, but he always plays for at least and hour at a time. He used to give a single bark, which gave me time to pause my work on my computer and let him in. I'd let him in maybe 10 seconds after the bark. All was well! But for the last month or so, instead of the bark, he is going straight to jumping and hitting the living room window next to the door with his paws. Instead of a single bark which has worked for him consistently, I hear a thud and his nails dragging down the window screen. The problem is, I can't catch him doing it to redirect him from the window. I've tried pausing work and seeing if he's ready to come in, but he's all over and I can't be away from my desk long enough to wait. I installed a Ring doorbell so I would get a notification when he's nearing the door, but when I only got notifications after he jumped on the window, I looked at the footage and I see his little butt hauling full speed towards the house and straight into a jump on the window. The camera never had time to send a notification before it happened. He often runs full speed across the open areas of his play acreage, it's one of the things he enjoys most, and sometimes we try to race him across the field...we never win haha! But he enjoys leaving us in the dust and coming back to let us know he won. Whenever he comes in, he does the same thing as before, when he would do a single bark. He'll casually come in, and either grab his bone and go lay on his bed, see what the cat is doing, play with a toy or come relax in my office. He's had moments where he'll test something out to see if it's still a rule, like stealing one of the kids stuffed animals, little stuff like that. That's easily addressed, one or two positive corrections and everything's fine. But I never taught him to do a bark at the door to come in, it just naturally happened and worked every time. And I can't catch it before it happens, I'm so lost! I'm afraid that he'll eventually rip the window screen, there's already claw marks in it I thought briefly about installing a doggy door but our doors are antique solid wood and I really don't want to cut a hole in them, plus at night we have a lot of critters out here and I'd be nervous about them inviting themselves in. We play outside with him very often, and he doesn't jump on the window then. I tried opening the door after he's scratched the window, having him sit and wait a second, give a treat and then let him in. But I kind of feel like that was a shot in the dark, not really sure how that would help him not to jump on the window but I thought it was worth a try. In an ideal situation, I'd figure out a way to encourage him to going back to the single bark to come in, I just have no clue how! So I figured I'd come to the experts and see if anyone has any advice or ideas. Thank you so much for reading this novel lol, I appreciate any bit of insight you have!

 

[storyist]

First of all, I wouldn't put in a doggy door either. I know someone who woke one night to her own dog raising a fuss and found a skunk in her kitchen. It came in through the doggy door. (She's a pretty calm person, just closed the door to the kitchen and went back to bed. In the morning, skunk was gone, although scent wasn't and she had some mess to clean up.) I know people who left their garage door up a bit so their cats could come and go to their food dishes and walked out one night to find a skunk happily eating cat kibble right beside a cat.

Afraid I can't be much help about your door. My own dogs have done a lot of damage to my back door scratching to be let in. What I'm going to try after I have it fixed is putting a gate across the entrance to the back stoop. They'll probably make a mess out of that gate, but at least it will be easier to replace.
I figure I'm never going to be fast enough getting to the door for them, and they're never going to be patient about it.

 

[BKaymuttleycrew]

As I was reading this, my first thought was 'doggy door', but I do understand your reluctance to cut holes in hardwood. Do you have a sliding patio door in an area that would be reasonable to put one there? The ones designed to fit in a slider track don't require any cutting and can be simply removed at a later date if desired. Only problem is that the dog door panel does reduce the available width for humans to walk through the door when it's open - so that's a consideration. Good ones come with a locking cover that can be put on when you want to keep creatures of the night on the outside.
Otherwise, perhaps you could train him to use a doggy doorbell? People use them on the inside so a dog can 'ring' to alert people to their need to go out - you could also use one on the outside & train him to ring it to get back in. Training him to ring them to go out would be simple - for the reverse, perhaps you could call him back inside before he actually comes running on his own? Then have him ring the bells, treat & let him back in. Rinse & repeat until he starts to get the idea on his own.

 

[Shell]

Is your issue more that he will rip up the screen, or that he is smacking the window instead of barking?

If the issue is destroying the screen, you could swap it for a storm window or install a plexiglass sheet over the lower part of the window.

If its smacking the window in general, I'd try a physical barrier to attempt a redirection. If its dirt underneath (as opposed to concrete like a patio), then a few T-posts and some woven wire to make a small half circle cage around the access to the window would be cheap and simple. It wouldn't tell him to go back to barking at the door, but it would prevent the current behavior and give you a chance to reward for the preferred behavior.

 

[I love my dog Ellie]

I would try taping some wax paper to the outside of the window. Maybe its his reflection that is attracting him? Or when he goes out, put a large piece of cardboard where he normally scratches. There is obviously something that made him change his routine. Deter him from this new habit he has, and he should go back to barking to be let in. Once he does go back to barking to be let in, praise him and reward him.