GETTING YOUR DOG USED TO THE DOOR OPENING
Your dog is ready to start this part of the training when he is confident with the previous exercises and goes straight to lie on his bed when hearing the recorded sound of the doorbell. When reaching this stage of training, you do not need to use clicker anymore. Your dog should already know to stay on his bed, so you do not need the clicker to tell him exactly what to do.
Step 1
Start your training session by being close to the door. Play the recorded sound of the doorbell once. By now your dog should go and lie down on his bed. As soon as your dog has lied down, put your hand on the door handle. Do not try to open the door or even push the handle down. Go to your dog and reward him by placing a treat in between his front paws while calmly praising him. You do not want to excite him in this training. Repeat this exercise until your dog does not react in any way to your hand being on the handle.
Step 2
At this stage, start the exercise the same way by playing the recorded sound of the doorbell and wait for your dog to respond properly. When your dog has lied down on his bed, put your hand on the handle and push it down without opening the door. If your dog does not react to this, go back to him and give him his treat in between his front paws. Again praise him, but calmly, so that he does not get too excited. If your dog reacts, go back to the previous stage and reinforce that a bit more.
Step 3
Begin by playing the recorded sound of the doorbell and wait for your dog to go to his bed and lie down. This time, put your hand on the handle and open the door slightly before closing it again. If your dog stays calmly in his bed, go to him and give him his reward between his front paws while praising him. Repeat this a lot, because, for a lot of dogs, this is difficult.
Step 4
You should still be close to the door and use the recorded sound of the doorbell. Your dog should go and lie down on his bed and when he does that, open the door. This time you should open the door more than you did in the previous stage. Again, when you go back to your dog to reward him, praise calmly and place the treat between his front paws.
Step 5
At this stage, once again play the recorded sound and wait for your dog to respond correctly by going to his bed and lie down. This time, open the door widely and wait for one second before closing it. Go to your dog and reward him by placing a treat in between his front paws while calmly praising him.