I put in doggie door about 2 weeks ago. I have 2 beagles ages 11 yrs, and 10. Both are males. Fred, the 11 yr old, has figured out the door and uses it as he needs to, but the other one still wants to be told to go out, or come in. I can walk to the door, snap my finger in front of the door, and he will go out, or come back in. If he is outside he will bark to come back in, until i go to the door and snap my finger in front of the door where he can see them. I do think Fred has a hearing problem.

On a funny note, the 11 yr old, Chevy, after he figured out the door would come to the door when I was trying to get Fred to go in or out. Chevy would go in and out the door. it was like Chevy was showing Fred how to do it.

Any help would be appreciated.

David

[CorkyMax]

See you are new here today!! Welcome--hope you like this forum.
I'm sorry, I'm a little confused by what you posted---appears to be a little mixed up---who is eleven and which 1 does what--but doesn't really matter, it still is the same problem. I don't really have that much to advise---I would just ignore him (if you can---if barking not upsetting any neighbors, etc) Don't know where you live or how cold it is there--but of course if he is that stubborn and he is 'freezing' and still won't go through the door you'd probably have to let him in, but I'd hold out as long as I could until he gets it through his 'noodle' (appears to me, he is just set in his ways and is being just plain stubborn about the whole thing--if you have got him to go thru when you prompt him, he must not be afraid of it! I would think leaving him out there for long periods of time that he would start 'being uncomfortable' and finally decide to come through the door on his own. Have you tried putting treats near the door to entice him to go thru?---put one on each side of the door--real close so he can see it or smell it--use something smelly-I feed raw so I would use a pc of raw meat--cooked would probably work too--I just want to make sure he wants it and can really smell it. Of course you'd have to put the other dog in a different room so he doesn't get the treats! Getting back to just leaving him out there and ignoring him--in that situation, maybe the other dog would finally get him 'taught' to use it too--the word is--ignore--if you can!

Sounds to me like he is asking the Pack Leader's permission which is reasonable for a member of the pack to do. Since he is older, it may take awhile for him to realize that he is allowed to enter/exit on without permission. As to how to go about that--I'm not really sure.

I have an 11 year old hound who has lost his hearing and has arthritis. He is also showing some early signs of Canine Cognitive Disorder (CCD). Some processes have become more challenging. But, he is still learning new tricks! As I teach tricks to the new member of the pack (a 3 year old cocker), the old hound joins in and shows that he can learn, too! We just have to be patient with our old hounds.:-D

[wishbone]

Try to train Chevy alone, put a treat on the other side of the door to tame him, then praise him when he do.