A common fear among those who live with dogs is that their best four-legged friend will escape through the door of your house or your garden. This entails dangers such as being run over, getting lost, someone taking it... This is one of the many reasons why it is imperative that your pet has the mandatory microchip.
But, in addition, you must also teach him that he cannot leave the house if he does not have your permission to do so. This is a complicated lesson, which you will have to instill in him with a lot of patience and dedication. Additionally, there are other important commands your dog should know to make sure he doesn't run away, such as coming to your call or staying still when you tell him to.
On the EnricEnPositivo YouTube channel – with 724 thousand subscribers – they have a video on how to teach a dog not to enter certain rooms of a house, which also applies to how to teach it not to escape. The technique used by Enric is positive reinforcement, that is, rewarding the animal when it executes the desired behavior so that it repeats it and thus internalizes the learning.
First of all, you should teach this to your dog in a quiet and safe place, such as a room inside your house. If you want to do it directly at the front door, it is best to tie it with a training leash to keep it under control.
Stand at the edge of the area that you do not want your dog to cross and head towards it with your dog next to you. Before your dog has time to cross that line, leave a piece of food or a candy on the floor and the animal will stop to eat it. He quickly goes back and rewards him again, with petting, saying “very good” and giving him another treat. Repeat this dynamic several times and, as you see that the dog stays where he should, you can gradually extend the time in which you stop on the other side before going back to reward him. With practice, the dog will understand that what he should do is stay at that specific point.
When he has assimilated that he must stay still on the other side, you can repeat the teaching but without leaving the treat on the ground, but only pointing to the ground and rewarding him if he stops. The next level of complication is to throw him a ball or any other object that tempts him and, if he does not chase it, reward him insistently.
Finally, you should teach your dog a release command such as “pass” or “go ahead,” so that he knows when he can cross the threshold in question with your permission.
