What about a doormat with spikes so they can't stand up and paw at the door? What are your ideas?

-- gita (gita@directcon.net), April 15, 2002

Answers

I don't have a clue how to stop them from clawing at the door (never had any luck, myself) but you can attach a metal plate with screws to the part of the door/doorframe that they scratch and it will protect the wood.

-- Lenette (kigervixen@nospam.com), April 15, 2002.

12 gauge

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), April 15, 2002.

Put a metal mat on the floor for the ground and another on the door, hook up the fence charger.......

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), April 15, 2002.

Either take him with you or let him out for a pee! :^) I've never cured that one, or front window curtain removal either for that matter

-- Ross (amulet@istar.ca), April 15, 2002.

With the exception of Ross, all of you are blaming the animal. Most want some type of painful method inflicted on them. Spikes and electric shocks, for example. I must say I'm more than a little put off by this from people who purport to be homestead oriented and wanting to care for animals. Why not train your pet wihtout inflicting pain?

Try a wooden base spring operated mouse trap hung from a string with the load facing the door. When Fido scratches it will move the trigger and the trap will snap closed with a bang. That will startle Fido and make him reluctant to scratch your door again. It may take more than once, but Fido will catch on pretty quickly.

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), April 15, 2002.

hide and use a squirtgun, oh , and ignore the behavior , any kind of attention positve or negative will tend to reinforce the behavior.

but , we tried that with one dog,he scratched so hard on the window, he broke it

-- Beth Van Stiphout (willosnake@hotmail.com), April 15, 2002.

A firm "no" command repeately. I was lucky with one dog we had, he learned to ring the doorbell to come in :>)

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), April 15, 2002.

Squirtgun is good, also shaking coins in a can.

Another option is just buying a heavy-duty "security" screen door, the screen is more durable than regular screening, and it keeps them away from the wooden door. A tad on the expensive side, but they last a long time.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), April 15, 2002.

What about installing a homemade dog door so he can come & go without disturbing you each time. We made one for about $10 out of new material(used would be much cheaper) & it looks good. We put it on the back door so when she goes out she's in a fenced yard for her safety against the coyotes. All that painful methods will probably do is make the dog less likely to let you know it has to go out, then you'll end up with puddles in the house. Peace, Kathy

-- Kathy (beckoningwinds@yahoo.com), April 15, 2002.

Lighten-up Gary! The comments above yours were in jest of course.

-- Gina (ginabug2@hotmail.com), April 15, 2002.

to get in or out?

-- B. Lackie - Zone3 (cwrench@hotmail.com), April 15, 2002.

You can tack coarse emery sandpaper over the area. It will file the nails down short and round. That way eventually won't damage the door.

-- Deidre Edder (edderland@yahoo.com), April 15, 2002.

Seriously speaking here( LOL ) if you are talking about the dog(s) wanting out when you leave(?) my best suggestion is crate training and obedience classes. Trust me, they both work and in conjunction with one another. YOu don't just have a "door scratching" problem, you have a general behavior problem. Perhaps there is anxiety at work here or just spoiling? Whatever, obedience and crate training will give the pooch self confidence, the knowledge that you WILL return and teach it or them to relax in the meantime and not worry. And you will keep the dog(s) from destructive behavior or hurting themselves while learning not to destroy the doors. "Ignoring" is not a option, I know of dogs who have scratched and chewed right through heavy, wood doors! If you have more than one dog then you already know that for every dog you add after the first one, you "square" your problems, "square" the time needed to train them properly and "square" the trouble they get into. I hope you take the time to truely get this under control and get so you can trust and enjoy your dogs. LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), April 15, 2002.

We had a ferocious German Shepherd, mixed with lovable BlackLab, a very intelligent dog named Teddy.

He still jumped the mailman once, and got maced, but he was a puppy once he overcame the initial hatred of all strangers ;-)

He learned if he barked once, every minute or 2, we'd let him in.

Our remaining dog Sam learned from Teddy, and Teddy let her be Alpha dog. He would just stand back , and she would bark once, and still does to this day.

I think if your dog has some smarts, It could probably learn this trick, with treats, praise, and maybe a human partner to help it learn.

-- Rick in SW West Virginia (Rick_122@hotmail.com), April 15, 2002.

Hang bells on the door handle, retrain the dog that when he rings the bells the door will be opened for him. (or bark, or something to let you know he needs out, teach him to open the door himself)

If he is scratching at the door you taught him to do that! don't be angry at him for what you taught him. So now you need to just retrain him.

No time? don't know how or don't want to train or retrain him? then put in a dog door! he can let himself in and out and never even bother you.

-- westbrook (westbrook_farms@yahoo.com), April 16, 2002.

The bells work. I used the kind of big jingle bells they sell at Xmas. If you just put the bells out in front of the dog to start with he will naturally sniff them. When they jingled we gave him lots of praise and attention. After a week we moved them outside the door and waited for him to touch the bells and we immediatly opened the door and gave him lots of love. From then on he just wacked them with his nose or paw to get our attention. Shame on the folks who would suggest anything harmful. Good Luck

-- diane (greenwitch@catskillnativenursery.com), April 16, 2002.

Here is a simple trick that works for cats (who scatch on EVERYTHING!). I don't know if it will work for dogs - especially if they're very large and have claws to match - but it's easy, painless, and probably worth a try. Put heavy duty DOUBLE-SIDED tape on the door where they scratch. Cats, at least, hate the way it feels sticky on their paws - one touch and they won't go near it again! After awhile, they get used to not scratching there, and you can remove it.

-- Deborah Stephenson (wonkaandgypsy@hotmail.com), April 17, 2002.

I have a chronic scratcher. We acquired her as an adult, one of the hard habits to bread. Two ideas I haven't tried, but will soon: put either 1)Ben-gay (or the likes), or 2)hot sauce on a gauze and tape it to the scratch area. Maybe tingling feet will stop it?

-- Michelle (mcrown@crosslink.net), April 19, 2002.

I like the idea of breaded habits.....not with ben-gay though. ;>) (sorry Michelle but I just couldn't resist!!!) Never having had a door scratcher, I am clueless.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), April 19, 2002.

Both of mine have learned to open the screen door themselves, and if the solid door is closed it means 'NO' so we have very little door scratching. I put a braided cord down low for one of them to pull with his teeth and one uses his toes to catch the side and then swing the door open with his foot. For a door with a latch, it can be taped down so it will not catch or remove the striker from the door frame.

-- Thumper/inOKC (slrldr@yahoo.com), April 19, 2002.