5 Reasons You’re Not Making Progress with Your Dog’s ‘Door is a Bore’ Training

‘Door is a Bore’ is often the starting point for many dogs beginning their separation anxiety training journey. This foundational exercise is designed to desensitise your dog to your movements towards the exit door and interactions with the exit door.

It’s ideal for dogs who show signs of anxiety while you're preparing to go out or within the first few seconds after you’ve left. The process involves gradual, structured repetitions, starting with simply moving towards the door and building up to stepping outside for a few seconds. Once your dog is calm with you being outside for 5 seconds, you're ready to move on to full departure training, where you slowly increase the duration of absences.

However, many owners find progress slower than expected. While some of this may be due to high expectations, there are also several common stumbling blocks that can hinder success. Here are five reasons your ‘Door is a Bore’ training might be stalling:

1. You’re Starting at a Level That’s Too Hard

One of the most common reasons training fails is starting at a point your dog simply isn’t ready for. Without an accurate assessment, it's easy to overestimate what your dog can cope with, which can lead to increased anxiety rather than building tolerance.

Before beginning any training, it’s essential to assess your dog’s current comfort level with pre-departure activities and brief absences. When clients work with me, we begin with an in-depth Zoom assessment to understand the dog’s baseline and create a training plan that matches their unique needs and emotional threshold.

2. You’re Progressing Too Quickly

We all want quick results, especially when we’re worried about our dog’s well-being. But rushing through steps can backfire.

Signs of discomfort are often subtle and easy to miss in real time. That’s why I recommend video recording your training sessions. Reviewing the footage can help you catch subtle stress signals you might overlook in the moment. Better yet, working with a qualified separation anxiety trainer can give you expert eyes on your dog’s progress.

Remember, we’re aiming for desensitisation, not sensitisation. Training is about changing your dog’s emotional response to you leaving. Every dog moves at their own pace, for some, ‘Door is a Bore’ may take a few days; for others, it could be weeks. Rushing can undo progress, so patience is key.

3. Your Dog Isn’t Calm Before You Start Training

Success starts before the training session even begins. If your dog is already alert or stressed before you start, the likelihood of success drops significantly.

Try to train when your dog is calm, relaxed, and has had all their basic needs met (exercise, food, toilet, enrichment). This may require flexibility in your schedule. Tracking both training data and non-training factors (like weather, sleep, or household activity) can help you identify the best times to train. You can read more about factors outside of training that may impact your dog’s capabilities and the importance of data tracking in my blog post “The importance of data tracking when beginning separation anxiety training with your dog”.

In the early stages, aim to train only when conditions are optimal. As your dog becomes more comfortable with being alone, you can gradually introduce more challenging scenarios.

4. You’re Including Pre-Departure Cues Too Soon

Shoes, keys, coats, bags, these pre-departure cues can cause anxiety before you even reach the door.

During the initial stages of training, I recommend removing all of these cues so your dog can focus solely on the door itself. Once your dog has built up some confidence with absences, you can start gradually reintroducing the cues one at a time.

Exception: If your door locks automatically when you leave and you must use a key, then include the key from the start, but strip out all the other cues until later.

5. Your Training Steps Are Too Big

Many “DIY” training plans are too generic and don’t account for your dog’s individual temperament, your home layout, or other context-specific factors.

Some dogs need micro-steps between the commonly recommended stages. For example, you need to take into consideration the location in which your dog settles during training and the proximity to the exit door. You may need to break that movement into several smaller, less intense steps.

Also, if your dog is confined to a certain area using a door or baby gate, remember that closing it adds another layer of intensity. That action should be treated as its own step in the training process.

Need More Support?

If you feel stuck or unsure of how to move forward with ‘Door is a Bore’ or separation anxiety training in general, you don’t have to go it alone.

📧 You can reach out to me directly at info.caninesac@gmail.com
📅 Or schedule a free pre-training consultation call through my website.

Every dog is different, and with the right plan and support, progress is possible.