How to Stop My Dog from Scratching The Door?
Does your dog jump up at the door and scratch up the nice paint and polish? This is a more common problem than you think and has root causes in issues with training. To read more about why your dog jumps, read our blog post on How to Keep Dogs from Jumping.
Here are our tips and tricks on how to stop the dog from scratching your door!
- Why Do Dogs Scratch Doors?
- Training and Bribery
- Install a Door Guard
- Install a Pet Door!
Why Do Dogs Scratch Doors?
While every dog has their own character and temperament, understanding the causes of bad behavior can lead to solutions for fixing it. When your dog is scratching at the door, it’s usually because they want to go outside, they hear something or someone outside, are bored and looking for attention, or are experiencing some anxiety.
Training and Bribery
Like all training, you’ll need to understand the root causes of their behavior. If they are scratching or the dog is chewing at the door frame, they are most likely bored or looking for attention (most puppies teeth in their first few months). You can bribe them away from this behavior with games, chew toys, and treats.
While not as effective as positive reinforcement, you can also keep spray bottles around to discourage your dogs from jumping up on the door. These can be helpful for teaching your dog better habits. Keep in mind that if you open the door for them when they scratch, they will associate those two actions, and would be prone to scratching more in the future to signal that they wish to go outside.
Install a Door Guard
While we all wish that problems like these would just go away, or that our training will help, it can be difficult to wean your pet off an ingrained behavior. For that reason, some people choose to buy or create door guards for their doors. This doesn’t discourage jumping, but keeps the door free of scratches and scarring from claws.
For another solution that doesn’t mar your door and gives both you and your pet more freedom, consider getting a pet door.
Install a Pet Door!
We carry pet doors for small dogs, medium dogs, and large dogs. Most often, a dog will jump up or scratch at the door when they need to go out to the bathroom. This is one of the many signs that they need to go out, like whining and staring out the window for a period of time.
If you want to stop having to let them out yourself, consider getting a high-quality pet door! They can be installed in interior or exterior doors of any material, and can even be installed through walls and sliding glass doors. Having one will give your pet the freedom to come and go without your help, and ensure that they don’t scratch up your door.
Looking for the best looking dog doors for doors? Check out our selection of award-winning pet doors for doors and our list of best selling dog doors. See our Pet Door FAQs for answers to frequently asked pet door questions.
Did our tips stop dog scratching? Take a look at our PetDoors.com blog for more tricks!
Copy Editor
DOG PERSON🐶
Pets: I'm a lover of German Shorthair Pointers and Hound dogs. If they are big and pretend to be lap dogs, I'll fall for them in an instant!
Fun stuff: I've got the hair of a golden retriever!
