How to train a Chihuahua to stop door dashing without a shock collar?

Question

How can i train my deer head chihuahua to not dart out of the door into the road are to the neighbors house. Is a shock collar necessary. Pet's info: Dog | Chihuahua | Female | spayed | 12 lbs

Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA · Accepted Answer

Zoey is a very pretty girl! :) No, it shouldn't be necessary to use a shock collar to teach her this. If she has a habit of bolting out the door, you can teach her to wait nicely when the door is opened for permission to go out. Practice first asking her to sit just inside the door. Then say "wait!", and immediately reward her. Once she is happily sitting and waiting for her treat, try saying "wait!", touching the door knob, and rewarding her. Work you way up to turning the knob, opening the door just a crack at first, then wider and wider - make sure to reward her at each tiny step so that she understands what you want. With a few days of practice, you should be able to say "wait!" and open the door all the way without her running out. Make sure to keep her on a leash for this exercise, just in case she makes a mistake and tries to run out the door while she is learning! It would also be a good idea to teach her to come when you call her, so that if she does happen to slip out the door at some point, you can easily call her back. To teach this skill, start in the house with a handful of extremely tasty treats - small bites of chicken or roast beef work very well for many dogs. Say "Zoey, come!" in a happy voice - as soon as she comes over to investigate, praise her and feed her your handful of treats. Do this 2-3 times a day, every day, until she happily comes running as soon as you call. At that point, you can start to practice outside in more distracting environments - I recommend using a long line (a very long, light-weight leash) for safety while you are teaching this. With practice, she should come to you right away whenever you call her - just make sure to reward her every time, since this is a very important life skill. :)

How to train a Chihuahua to stop door dashing without a shock collar?

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