October
Halloween at the door: place, thresholds and candy.
Forty doorbells in three hours is the hardest test a dog's door manners face all year. A two-week plan for a calm Halloween, and what to do with the candy.
Halloween is forty doorbells in three hours, strangers in masks, and a bowl of chocolate at dog height. Most dogs fail at least one of those. Two weeks of practice fixes the first two, and a closed door fixes the third.
The two-week plan
- Week one: place with duration while someone rings the bell, five reps a day
- Week two: add a stranger at the door, then a stranger in a hat, then a stranger in a mask
- Decide now: does the dog greet, or stay on place behind a gate? Either is fine; choosing on the night is not
- Walk the dog before dusk on the 31st, then feed and settle it before the first knock
The candy
Chocolate, xylitol gum and raisins are the three real dangers in a candy bowl, and a counter-surfing dog will find them. The bowl lives on a shelf, the kids' haul lives in a closed room, and the ASPCA poison control number lives on the fridge. If your dog has learned to raid the counter, the counter-surfing guide is the place to start, before the holidays stack the counters with food.
A dog that cannot hold place through a doorbell in October will not hold it through Thanksgiving guests. If that is your dog, the free call is the next step.
Three ways to run the night
The first is the trained dog on place in view of the door, released to greet only when the trick-or-treaters are calm, which is the version we build in a Gold stay. The second is the gate: the dog behind a baby gate in the hallway, seeing the door, practicing calm without the option of the jump. The third is the quiet room: crate, chew, white noise, door closed, for the dog that is fearful of costumes or has ever snapped at a stranger. Pick the one your dog is actually ready for, not the one you wish it were ready for.
- A leash on the dog for the whole evening, even indoors, so a bolt through the door is a leash grab and not a chase down the street
- The porch light off and a bowl outside is a legitimate plan for a dog that cannot cope this year
- Walk before dusk, feed, settle, and treat the first knock as a training rep
The bolt
The most dangerous Halloween failure is not the jump, it is the dog that slips out between the fifth and sixth group of children into a dark street full of cars and costumes. Door manners are a threshold rule: the door does not open until the dog is on place or in a sit, every time, for every delivery, for the whole month before. Two weeks of that and the door itself becomes the cue. The door manners guide has the steps, and the families who practice them in October do not spend the night of the 31st on the street with a flashlight.
Best Dog University Team
Board and train trainers in Cypress, Houston. 16+ years, 900+ dogs. About our team
