[StrongButInLove]

Hi,

I have a 5 year old boxer who is just a bundle of joy. We recently moved into a new house with hard wood floors. When anyone come to the door, she chrages through the living room (hard wood) through the kitchen (hardwood) and into the entryway area to see who has arrived. It is doing a number on the hardwood floors and leaving gashes throughout the entire house. How can I stop her from destroying our house?

[Catsmine]

Recently a grooming tool has come on the market that goes by the brand name "PediPaws" or something like that. It's a grinder with a safety shield on it that you use to dull the animal's claws. It claims regular use will eliminate the need for nail trimming, but dulling the claws might help your floors.

[StrongButInLove]

Thanks for your response Catsmine. I actually have invested in this tool. To be honest, it really doesn't work well. It is made more for the use with smaller animals.

[Catsmine]

Just a thought. Training a Boxer not to protect the door probably isn't possible, and would you really want to? Throw rugs and a video camera might teach your baby not to go full speed... and the vid might make you some bucks on "America's Funniest"

[tickle]

You could try 'slippers' with some sort of rubber backing so he doesn't slip rushing around.

Tick

[starbuck8]

Just a thought. Training a Boxer not to protect the door probably isn't possible, and would you really want to? Throw rugs and a video camera might teach your baby not to go full speed ... and the vid might make you some bucks on "America's Funniest"

No, it's not his door! Training a boxer not to rush the door IS certainly possible. Not only possible, but very probable, and easier than you may think! This has nothing at all to do with his nails, it's his behaviour. You see, it's not really the breed, it's the owner, and the way the owner handles the situation. This is your house, and you own it, not your dog. Right now, she thinks she owns your house and your door!

When someone comes to your door and he charges, you have to take control of your door by catching this even before it happens. Have your mate or a friend practise ringing the doorbell. The second your dog starts to go for the door, you get in front of her and give a command. Do this calmly. No screaming, no using her name... but be assertive with her and back her up into another room just by walking towards her and showing her what you want her to do. If she tries to come again, you send her right back. She is never allowed to be in front of you around the door. She is never allowed to be by the door when you open it, unless she is in a calm and submissive state. If you let her do this, she owns the door, and not you. Only then do you open the door and invite people in. He is not allowed to greet people until he is calm and submissive either. No excitement. If you or your company get excited, that energy will be passed right off to her, and that is when you are going to get the bad behaviour.

Do you get the National Geo Channel? Have you ever watched the Dog Whisperer? If you don't have that channel, there are dvd's and books available by Cesar Milan. His methods make sense, they are pretty easy to follow, and they do work. The good thing about his techniques, is that if you use them correctly, it doesn't take any time at all as long as you remain consistent. My dog used to rush the door all of the time, and as soon as I learned how to do it, it was a matter of minutes to teach her that this behaviour was not going to be allowed. You have to stay calm and in control, and be aware of how you are feeling, or it will not work. If you can learn to do this, you can teach any breed to do anything you ask it to do! It doesn't matter if it's a boxer, a pit,. or a chihuahua! No difference. ;)

[shazamataz]

We also have hard wood floors and although I have small dogs it still did nasty things to the floor. I know it's not very practical but we invested in a child gate that went across one of our doors, they are just a plastic gate about 2-3 foot tall, now the dogs don't have access to the front door, they are restricted to the living room/kitchen/dining.