We have two dogs. One is five, the other is a year old. The one who is five was trained to scratch at the door when he wants in or out. This has ruined our back door and I've had to paint various doors inside as well. When we have guests we usually either put them outside or in the guest room. The youngest usually just goes and lays down and lets the older one do all of the scratching. They usually sleep in our room at night but I'm tired of tripping over them and stepping on them, not to mention listening to them licking themselves or pestering each other. I tried to put them in the guest room last night and the oldest one scratched for two hours. For about the first 20 minutes I tried to ignore him thinking he'd get tired and stop. But then I started getting up and telling him to stop. I dont know how to handle this. There's the issue of scratching just to get his way, and then there's an issue of re-teaching him where to sleep. Please help.I really do not want to crate the dogs. I dont see a point in crating them. We dont have potty or chewing issues, just the scratching. I hate the idea of leaving them in such a confined space.

Hi, well, training a dog to scratch a door was not a great idea, but there is a solution. As a trainer, I would recommend some crates for your dogs. The older one cannot scratch as the crates doors are made if stiff wire and have spaces. Crates will give the dogs some alone time, they will sleep and not play together or perster each other. A crate should be introduced gradually, especially as your dogs are mature. Buy crates that are the proper size, the dog should be able to turn around and lie comfortably. 1 dog in each crate. Take away food after 6 pm and water after around 10 pm. Then a visit outside for potty and into the crates for the night. They may fuss a bit at first, but should settle quickly and sleep all night, a favourite toy in the crate is acceptable, but I advise against blankets and such, they get too dirty and stink! Let the dogs out in early in the morning for outside time and food. 99% of dogs love their crates. Crates make car travel easy (and much safer) This behaviour method is guaranteed to work with healthy dogs. Good Luck

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