How to leave the puppy

[Cait73]

14 week old puppy makes a mad dash for the door every time we leave the house it's gotten crazy

I give her a treat or some kibble but the second I open the door POW she's there and out of it!!

How do you get out of the house without decapitating your dog?

We shut her in a crate

We use , and have always used a type of air lock system where the dog is always behind another a door before the front door is opened , very simple really .

Our dog is in the kitchen behind a baby gate when we leave.

We taught ours to go and sit on her bed. We practised it LOADS at random times until she got it.
Now we only send her to her bed when we leave, and she happily trots off to her bed.

Double door system, crate, pen or babygates.

I first left mine behind a baby gate in the kitchen when I had to pop the kids down to school. I got back to a complete mess. The next day I left my phone filming him. I was only gone about 15 minutes. He went nuts, howling and barking and pulling down tea towels and my apron off the door.

I tried again the next day and left him shut in his crate. He curled up and went to sleep.

@MsAdoraBelleDearheartVonLipwig very interesting, it seems more space equals more stress?

The only downside is she'll cry going into the crate, but it's better than risking a highly stressful hour

Yes I think so, I think the run of the kitchen was a bit scary. We crate trained him before we had to leave him. We left it open and put his bed inside and covered it with a blanket so it was a nice dark cosy space. Toys etc. Let him wander in and out. Obviously he was just a bit happier being shut inside it when we left him.

When she was little she was left in playpen with lickymat or treat. Now she knows to usually sit in the lounge and I get her to sit and wait for the treat.

I think you have to practice before you do it, sending to bed etc. I thin plonking straight in crate unless they are happy in it is stressful. They have to get used to you going in and out so it’s not exciting. Basically train them. We did lots of sit and stay by the door with treats and flitting …google.

When v little though we just made sure she was behind another door. She hated the crate in the day. But made the top of the stairs her safe space.

It won’t happen overnight, not reliably till maybe 6 months. But don’t make the whole front door thing a game inadvertently. Are you going to puppy training with her?

Can you leave her in one particular room of your house and gate that off? Such as the kitchen or lounge (or whatever) so that she has no access to the front door as you're leaving?

Aside from this, the better long term plan would be to start teaching her a lie down and stay. You can do this at any age!

Ideally, put a mat or blanket on the ground, far back from the door (so she has a visual cue of where to stay). You can google "how to teach sit and stay" if you're not sure how. :) But basically, work up in small increments. Have her stay for a second, then return to her, click/praise and treat. Then two seconds. Then three seconds.

You should always click/praise and reward ONCE you've returned to her - not while you're standing away from her. Otherwise, she'll likely run over to you and think you're releasing her from the "stay".

Does that make sense? :)

I'd agree with PP and leave pup shut in one room whilst your out. Or a crate. My two are always shut in the kitchen as my 18 month old rescue isn't 100% reliable toileting. So they are left on the floor which is easiest to clean.

I leave them with beds, toys etc and monitor them with a camera whilst I'm out. Makes life so much easier!

Why does she cry going into the crate? Is she in there overnight- does she cry then?

The crate is supposed to be a safe space for her, so if you think she’s not happy in there you might need to do some more additional crate training.

How long do you leave her for at the moment - do you have a routine?

Crate / babygate