My dog scratches at the door, what should I do?

Hello, if you’ve encouraged this behaviour by giving him what he wants every time he does this, it will take you a lot of time and patience to help him lose this habit. Leave him treat-dispensing toys to keep him busy while you’re away. When you’re home, make sure you don’t react to his behaviour. No yelling, no telling off - no reaction whatsoever! Ignore bad behaviours and reward good ones. For example, if he’s scratching at the door, wait until he stops to reward him for stopping. Dogs learn by association so if you associate a positive feeling to not scratching at the door - you should get good results! If not, you could always go see an animal behaviourist?

You must stay as neutral as possible when your dog does something ‘bad’, otherwise they might think that this behaviour is a good way to get your attention. Dogs don’t know the difference between good or bad, they just think “when I do this, my owner pays attention to me”, whether it’s a positive or negative interaction. You must reward every good behaviour. If your dog has been doing this for a long time, it will take him longer to lose the habit. If he does this because he wants to go outside, try to pick up on other signs that he wants to go out (he stands or sits by the door, for example). Personally I would recommend placing a little bell on the door. Every time he touches it, reward him and open the door. He should get it pretty quickly.

Thank you for your advice and hopefully we’ll pick up on these good habits soon!

If this is in regards to separation anxiety, this might be a helpful article for you: https://wamiz.co.uk/dog/advice/21940/separation-anxiety-in-dogs