Calm in, calm out

By Kevin Glynn

One of the first lessons I learned from Halfway Hounds president Carl Zive I still present to my clients almost verbatim: “Just because the door is open, it doesn’t mean you go through it. It just means the door is open.”

There are several lessons that we can learn from doorways. They transition us from one space to another, so the way our four-legged friends go through them can create an association. Some transition to outdoor space, so door dashing comes into play. Doors are used in most cases to begin walks. If you crate your dog, they enter and exit through the door.

This is the one that I like to start with. A dog’s crate is its home inside your home. It is a safe place to rest. It is a place for the dog to be calm. All of the 4Paws dogs are crate trained. Sometimes they are crated with the doors closed. Other times they go in on their own to nap with the doors open. In either case, they enter the crate calmly and of their free will. In much the same way, when they exit, they are entering my space and they are expected to do so calmly. Calm in, calm out.

When many dog owners bring a dog home, they let the dog drag them through the doorway and then drop or unhook the leash and allow it to tear through the home. This creates an association for the dog. The doorway and the house are now a place of excitement. There are no expectations of calm and polite behavior. Once that association is made, setting up limitations can be difficult.

Going in the other direction, we have the greatest potential for danger - door dashing. The dog runs out of the house without any restraints where is in danger of being struck by a motor vehicle or of getting so lost that it can’t find its way home again. 
When they are restrained, as they would be on the start of a walk, if you allow them to bolt through the door, you’re allowing them to dictate the terms of the walk - excited, unstructured, frenetic. 
The words - Just because a door is open it doesn’t mean you go through it. It just means the door is open - may be simple, but the meaning that doorways play in our dogs’ lives are plentiful. So take control of them. A brief pause goes a long way. If the dog does not associate doorways with excitement, it will be more likely to “check in” with its owners before running out into traffic. If the dog walks calmly behind you as you exit the house, it will be more likely to walk calmly behind you on the walk. And coming back in, it will be more likely to remain calm inside your house. 

Calm in, calm out. It’s a pretty good way to live.