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Sep
23
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Open Question: How can I teach my 2 male dogs to exit the house less chaotically? |
I have 3 dogs, 2 males and a female.. they are good dogs, and in most ways are well-behaved. But they have a very annoying habit! I have a fenced in yard so my dogs can go in and out as the please, well they do have to ask first! Anyway when I go to let them out it’s like a race and a contest to see who can get out that door and down the stairs first! I make them sit before I open the door and they have to stay there until I open the door. However as soon as I do they bolt and jostle each other and often knock around my female who is a senior and not so good with the stairs anymore. It’s just so irritating and while they do sit before as soon as that door cracks it’s like the race is on. My female slowly walks out and down but I have to make sure she goes last or she gets knocked down.. if she is on her way in and they are on their way out I have to hold my boys back and put them in a sit every 2 seconds so I can get her in first.. otherwise they just plow her down. How can I train them to be more patient? What can I do to get them to hold that sit longer? I can’t hold 2 dogs by the collar while opening the door.. I’ve tried and well it doesn’t work! They will only hold their sit so long as the door is closed. Any advice on how to work out this issue would be appreciated.PS When I go out I make them wait for me to go out first, but it’s still a race when I let them by. They are both big dogs so I want to get this under control before I break my neck or someone else does. I also don’t let them out until they are calm, but all the calm disappears as soon as the door opens.Also this problem didn’t exist until I got my second male, so I know it has to do with dominance and/or rivalry. It seems like they are so evenly matched that everything is a competition, neither has the upper hand and neither defers to the other.That’s another thing too.. Seperately they all exit the door with decorum. It’s just the 2 males at once that have a race. I have let one out at a time and that works but I’d like to be able to let them all out at the same time without a problem! When one male is out and the other is in and wants out he’ll go out the door normally, it’s only together that it’s a problem.
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