Puppy shooting out of the door

[AlphaBravoHenryFoxtons]

When people call at the house my puppy shoots out to greet them as I answer the door. And yesterday she just kept running and thought it was marvellous that we chased her along the road. . I used to pick her up and then answer the door but she's just been spayed so I'm not picking her up at the moment as her tummy is sore.

I know this is an accident waiting to happen.

Any ideas how to train her not to do this. I'm thinking of slipping on the lead and asking for a sit, stay. Or is there a better way?

I'd be really grateful for any advice.

Teaching her to sit generally first, so without the excitement of someone at the door. Use a treat for positive reinforcement. Then move onto doing at when you answer the door.

In the mean time can you fit a baby gate in the hall?

She's 6 months old. She can sit. But someone at the door is just too much excitement to stay put while I open the door. As soon as the door is open she's at the door-knocker's feet, wanting a fuss.

Our puppy is 8 months now. We still have a stairgate between kitchen and hall/front door. He is very good at a sit/stay normally but I seriously doubt he'd manage it when someone is at the door.

Just an idea, but one way for training might be similar to training to bark/not bark at the door. So have two of you, one with your puppy and one outside. Outside person knocks and inside one gets puppy to sit. You only open door when puppy stays. So repeat if she moves and treat when she stays. (Disclaimer - I'm not a dog trainer and someone better qualified might have a better idea than this )

Have a look at some Victoria Stillwell videos ,she covered this several times .

We trained our puppy to 'wait' whenever we went out of the door with her, we went out first and then called her through. Now she is a year old this is so ingrained that she waits automatically whenever we are going to the door, whether because someone is there or because we are going out.
Having had a 'bolter' previously it still seems like magic to us that she waits until we tell her otherwise!

ARightOldPickle - That sounds lovely. I wish our dog would do that!

Thanks all for thoughts. I'll have a look at Victoria Stilwell videos.