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I have been working with my dog for quite sometime on this simple behavior. A little background to set the situation. I am the lone human in the home and my work schedule leaves my dog at home for about 11 hours. Yes, he is excited when I come home. We have a reasonable greeting routine. After I handle the short home chores and change clothes, its feeding time. Feeding routine is very calm. He sits while I prep his food and remains sitting until I place the bowl on the floor and say "OK". Now, we head out for a walk. I don't say anything. I just take the collar/leash off the hook, kneel down on one knee, he calmly approaches to place his head through the collar, walks around me, stops in front of me to attach the leash. This is when we begin to have some trouble.......
Shadow, (mini schnauzer), will be standing with his nose against the door. I say "Shadow, Back" for him to back up. I claim the door space, pause give the command "Hold", open the door. He is "holding" outside of my claimed door space. As soon as I take a step......he is out the door pulling on the leash. I step out, close the door to wait for Shadow to relax and stop the pull. Now, we continue on our way with a fairly loose leash with him by my side. He is a bit anxious because he needs to eliminate. We live on the 20th floor so an elevator ride is in the mix. You know the drill on elevator.....press the button, wait.......door opens, enter, press the button, wait.....
The only part of us exiting the building is the rush out the apartment door. Everything else is good to very good.
Shadow is about 3.5 years old. Doubt if his age makes much difference, he is still learning commands and behaviors. I have not bothered to train any tricks. I have always focused on training good behavior. His list of known commands is pretty lengthy. I figure tricks are meaningless if the dog has poor behavior.
I'd like to avoid Shadow bursting out the apartment door. There have been occasions when he has startled people. I should be able to exit the apartment before my dog.
I'm sure there is a simple item that I'm missing, I just can't find the combination to train a proper exit from the apartment.
I'm open to thoughts, tips, techniques, questions.......
Shadow, (mini schnauzer), will be standing with his nose against the door. I say "Shadow, Back" for him to back up. I claim the door space, pause give the command "Hold", open the door. He is "holding" outside of my claimed door space. As soon as I take a step......he is out the door pulling on the leash. I step out, close the door to wait for Shadow to relax and stop the pull. Now, we continue on our way with a fairly loose leash with him by my side. He is a bit anxious because he needs to eliminate. We live on the 20th floor so an elevator ride is in the mix. You know the drill on elevator.....press the button, wait.......door opens, enter, press the button, wait.....
The only part of us exiting the building is the rush out the apartment door. Everything else is good to very good.
Shadow is about 3.5 years old. Doubt if his age makes much difference, he is still learning commands and behaviors. I have not bothered to train any tricks. I have always focused on training good behavior. His list of known commands is pretty lengthy. I figure tricks are meaningless if the dog has poor behavior.
I'd like to avoid Shadow bursting out the apartment door. There have been occasions when he has startled people. I should be able to exit the apartment before my dog.
I'm sure there is a simple item that I'm missing, I just can't find the combination to train a proper exit from the apartment.
I'm open to thoughts, tips, techniques, questions.......