Dog training - how do I reinforce something our dog isn’t doing?

[Itsarecipefordisaster]

We have a big dog (40kg). She’s 7 or 8 so no longer a puppy. She moved in with my DP about 2 years ago.
She insists on lying at the bottom of the stairs which is kind of the centre of the house. It’s also right in front of the front door and I’m tired of cleaning dog grease off the door. Stepping over a big dog at the bottom of the stairs is a recipe for disaster! We’ve told her to move enough times that she knows she shouldn’t be there. If I catch her there she moves before I even have chance to speak. So she definitely knows. If I don’t leave something to prevent her lying there she just gets up when she sees me. How do I stop her lying there? How do I reinforce not lying there? Thanks

Make sure she can’t. Stair gate or closed door.

You can't, really. You just need to block access.

Dogs like to lie somewhere they can have a good line of sight to what's going on in the rest of the house so if this position is central sounds like that's why she's doing it.

What do you mean by 'dog grease' and how is she getting it on the front door if she's lying at the bottom of the stairs?

If you see her there and she moves before you have a chance to speak, why are you needing to step over her?

She is the queen of home and should be able to lay where she wants, our queen is a cat, we’re just thankful she allows us to live in her kingdom.

Dogs usually find a spot thats good visually to see the rest of the room, not to hot/cold (explains why near a door is popular) and roomy, so for her to change you need to find somewhere she would consider equally attractive.

Hair brush.

Put a hairbrush down there,

Worked on my cats. It made it uncomfortable and they got out of the habit.

(They did only move elsewhere on the stairs though so I wouldn't get up too much hope)

Get a dog bed and train her to sit in that. Use high value treats and when she’s lying where you don’t want her to be, call her to the bed, give praise and treats. Repeat.

You can train a 'place' command
My dog will go to his bed if we say that word and (probably) stay there until he is released
We trained him to do it by rewarding him every time he went on his bed and then pairing the word
It doesn't mean he won't lie in inconvenient places though just that he is able to be moved with the command.

Thanks for your responses.
In answer to your questions…
@Wolfiefan There are no internal doors downstairs.
@Hedgerow2 The stairs go down to the front door, which is in the kitchen. The grease is the stuff on her fur which makes a brown mark on the white door. It’s gets in all the upvc crannies and I have to clean it with a toothbrush.
I get what you’re saying about why do I need to do anything if she now moves. Maybe this is now a “me” problem, but she knows she shouldn’t do it. She’s a 40kg dog, she’s not inconsequential and if she thinks she can get away with things she knows are naughty all hell could break loose!
@Simonjt it’s definitely not roomy! Someone will fall because of where she lies. If you try to step over her, half the time she’ll stand up while you’re mid-step.
@Octavia64 I’ll try the hairbrush, I’ve currently got a bucket which stops her but then I trip over the bucket instead. I don’t mind her moving elsewhere, just somewhere not so dangerous. If I’m in the kitchen, she lies in front of the fridge!

Mine does like to lie on the doormat at the bottom of the stairs too and in front of the fridge when I'm cooking. I agree it is the line of sight thing. If we go to stay somewhere new you can see him thinking it out where would be best.

I suppose what you could do is train her to settle elsewhere with lots of positive reinforcement - but unless you block access to the stairs area, then she's just going to keep going back there when you're not looking!

Are you afraid of her? ‘She’s a 40kg dog… all hell could break loose’ is massive hyperbole for a dog sitting in a comfy spot and moving now she knows you don’t like it!

Look at a freestanding gate.

https://amzn.eu/d/4IvTK9r

But you might need something taller!

@Itsarecipefordisaster - oh I know what you mean about the standing up as you're stepping over her! We have labs and they all do this! We anticipate it though. It goes with the territory - as does the cleaning I'm afraid. If you weren't cleaning the door you'd be cleaning something else she'd lain against. This morning I've just been doing the rounds with a bucket of soapy water cleaning walls ours have pressed against and doors they've pushed open with dirty paws. I don't do it very often, but we have visitors coming!

I’m not afraid of her in terms of aggression, she’s very gentle. What I’m afraid of is her deciding whether she behaves or not. She could easily knock me over, she has a habit of barging which I’m trying to teach her to stop. Imagine I’m taking something out of the oven and she decides not to “back off” or she pushes past me out of the door and runs into the road.
I’m a cat person, dogs are new territory for me. I don’t know what to expect.

Use an x pen to crate her. Put in a door?

@Hedgerow2 honestly, my DP hoovers every day she sheds so much, big clumps too. The lounge floor has randomly abandoned dog toys. Luckily she’s not slobbery as that would tip me over the edge!

I think training a ‘bed’ command would help you all round. But you have to do it, not your partner, or the dog won’t listen when you say it, plus, you need to establish more rapport with the dog and I think you teaching it something will help you understand its behaviour.

Throw treats on the bed, and as the dog is running to the bed, say ‘bed’ firmly. Say ‘good dog’ when it is on the bed. Repeat until it knows what ‘bed’ means. Then say ‘bed’, wait for it to get there, ask it to lie down on the bed and reward with a treat and a ‘good dog!’. Repeat. Keep doing this until the dog knows to lie in its bed when told to.

It will mean you can send it to its bed when you’re doing something awkward/dangerous, when you want to open a door, when you want it out the way. It will learn to go to bed to get good things and will choose to do so. Make sure the bed is comfy and has a good view, as the dog seems to like that.

Please don't do this. She's 7/8 years old and a large dog.

Put a vacuum cleaner beside where you don't want her, against the wall, she very likely wont like that
Or a lemon candle (not lit) or air freshener, dogs don't usually like lemon

You can crate train any age dog. But an x pen can be used with as many panels as you want to make the space as large as you like. But you need to train it. The FB group dog training advice and support explains how.

Yes - you would need to train a dog to tolerate being caged.

Absolutely. Very slowly and carefully. But may work for OP.

It does sort-of sound like this is because you're not a massive fan of dogs, and you're a bit nervous about her?

I'd agree with you if she was doing something genuinely "naughty", but she's not, really. She's lying somewhere very normal, and she moves when she sees you, as she knows you don't like it.

Can you change the door, so it's not white? That'd help with the dog grease... which would irritate me too. But I wouldn't be trying to move the dog, if I'm honest. She moves when you ask her too. She's not being disobedient and there's nothing at all to suggest that she's starting to ignore you or anything. If anything, she's being very compliant.

Dogs love staircases and central viewpoints. She's keeping an eye on the house.

So would chaining her up outside.

But she can’t stay chained up! When the OP is around she can train the behaviour she does want. But overnight (for example) a large pen could work. We use room dividers and gates here. It’s useful to prevent access to certain areas. (Eg when bringing in a parcel you don’t want them to escape.)