VIDEO: How to Stop Door Bolting for Your Dog’s Safety

Kevin Duggan, CPDT-KA 02/06/2015

One thing that every dog should be taught is to wait at the door until released to go outside. Teaching this can potentially save your dog’s life. A big problem a lot of people deal with is a dog that will bolt out of an open door if givcn the opportunity. So in this article, I will be addressing some ways to stop this behavior.
Dogs weren’t meant to be inside a house all of their lives. This day and age, many dogs spend 23+ hours each day inside. This makes an open door to the outside quite enticing. With that being said, one easy way to prevent your dog from running out of an open door at every opportunity is to take your dog out for at least one long walk per day. This will help. Since your dog is getting out regularly, it won’t be so enticing.
Another thing that can be done is taking your dog in and out of all the doors in your house often. In some situations a dog is only going in and out of one door in the house. This can make the other doors that much more appealing. By frequently going out of different doors in your home, there won’t be such a desire to bolt out of a particular door.
And finally, doing the training that I demonstrate in the video below is a must. Teach your dog to wait at the door until released to go out. The concept is pretty easy as you can see in the video. In the video I’m working with a 4 month old Boxer. In it, I demonstrate what you’re looking for in the long run, and also, what to do if your dog messes up. Once your dog gets the concept, all you have to do is remember to release them every time at the door and you’re good to go!