# How do you stop a cat making a break for the door whenever you come and go?



## Mastrogiacomo (Apr 29, 2014)

This seems to be the habit of my little one, Gracie. Whenever we have a guest or come and go through the door, it's a chore to prevent her from busting out. We live in a condo and I worry about her getting hurt. Can anyone offer suggestions?

Laura


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## librarychick (May 25, 2008)

This makes me seem like a big meany....but it works for my guys and keeps them safe.

When Doran was a kitten he was completely awful door dasher. So, I'd get a cup of water, crack the door, and if he tried to mash his face in the door-crack I'd dump the water on his head.

My thought process goes 'It's better for him to get wet and mad than hit by a car'.

Now, since the boys are sometimes allowed out side (in a catio!) I've taught them to wait until I say 'Go to your pen!', and they (usually, lol) race straight past me and right into their pen. That took a LOT of time and patience, but it worked. They very rarely door dash now. Between training, patience, time, and allowing them outside sometimes in a safe environment we seem to have reached a balance.


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## gizmothecat (Jun 26, 2013)

Putting him in another room while you answer the door?


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## Mochas Mommy (Dec 9, 2013)

Jackson Galaxy's show (season 1 episode 2) had a door dasher. He had the owners train it by walking in the door confidently and throwing treats down for the cat to lead her away from the door. They also had a perch put at the doorway so the cat had a place to be a "tree dweller". Not sure if they did anything behind the scenes but the owners did say the cat wasn't darting anymore. Jackson says the door perch allows the cat to look out the door from high up so it isn't encouraged to run out to look. Might work also for when someone comes.


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## Mastrogiacomo (Apr 29, 2014)

librarychick said:


> This makes me seem like a big meany....but it works for my guys and keeps them safe.
> 
> When Doran was a kitten he was completely awful door dasher. So, I'd get a cup of water, crack the door, and if he tried to mash his face in the door-crack I'd dump the water on his head.
> 
> ...


We're thinking of getting a water bottle and just squirting her (at the body level) when she does this. She's afraid of water, or at least doesn't like it. Dumping water does seem a tad much but I understand if for the safety of the cat. We do try and keep her occupied and lead her to my room but none of our other cats did this so we want to break her of this habit early since it could pose of a real risk. The other reason for the water bottle is to break her of the habit of biting. My parents are on medication so they bruise easily and for some reason, she walks up to them and bites. It think she's playing honestly, but I don't want her doing this much longer. She is a good learner though and when we put her down from the stove, counters and table, she's good about staying down.


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

This is probably not helpful, but I had a friend with a door dasher. One day the cat got out and was missing for 6 months. She was finally found, starving and near death not far from home. She was nursed back to health and NEVER tried to get out again! 
I think that associating going out with a bad experience like a spritz of water might help, but hopefully people will chime in with more ideas - certainly hopefully more helpful thoughts than mine!

Maybe you can "stage" someone on the outside to make a sudden loud noise - or set up an aerosol can to spray her when she tries to get out. There is one on Amazon called SSScat - motion detected air sprayer.


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## librarychick (May 25, 2008)

I don't usually recommend a squirt bottle for training, I know that seem hypocritical, but let me explain.

1. Once you start using a squirt bottle there's a tendency for people to stop trying to train the cat and just squirt them...so the cat doesn't learn what they CAN do. And they will become desensitized to the water.

2. The water being dumped on their head is highly unpleasant...that's the point. It also will not hurt them in any way, shape or form. If it works it can save their lives. THAT'S why I use it in that instance. Using something like a squirt bottle to get them off the counters or to stop biting (aka nothing that could cause them to die) is overkill.

Rather than squirting her for biting (which will stop working for most cats at some point), you need to teach her what to do instead. When she's approaching your parents toss them a toy, something she CAN bite, or call her over or toss a toy to her.

I'd also suggest playing with her regularly using hands-off toys like laser pointers and wand toys (da bird is the best one  ) this will run out her energy and she'll be less likely to see you and your parents as things to bite.


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## AutumnRose74 (Oct 10, 2013)

My Shelly is pretty good at not following me out the door when I leave, but she has a tendency to try to get into the hallway when I am trying to enter my apartment. I will hold my purse, or shopping bag if I went to the market, in front of the door crack at her head level, so it blocks her ability to get out. I'll say something like "back-back-back, Shelly. You know the rules!" Of course, she'll start talking back, either to protest, or to say "feed me." That's when I'll put my bags down, and sweep her up for a cuddle and a short gathering of the Mutual Cheek Rub Society. 

Even if she does get out, she usually heads for the stairs to the third floor. My landlord's daughter lives upstairs with her own cat. In fact, _her_ cat got out of her apartment one time and was found sitting in front of my door!


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## meggie (Mar 13, 2014)

One of my cats will dart out through the garage door. What I've been doing is hitting the panic button on my key fob which sets my car horn off. It scares the heck out of her and she runs right back into the house. The other cat watches this but has never made an attempt to run outside. 
If the water on the head doesn't work try a loud noise.


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## cat owner again (Dec 14, 2012)

Well I did use a water bottle to accomplish what I needed. For me it was 2-3 times of a squirt and it worked. No one seemed traumatized but they got the idea.


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## katdad (Jun 13, 2013)

As for any cat training (as much as we CAN train our little pals!) a regular plant sprayer filled with plain water and set so it's a solid stream, not a spray. Required (ha ha): You MUST take a felt tip pen and write "BAD CAT" on the bottle! (actually this is good, preventing accidental adding of some pesticide or whatever, ensuring the bottle's only for Bad Cat time)

Use this for any misbehavior. First (and this is important) say in a loud voice "NO!" and then squirt. Never squirt during or before the "no" command, only after. Pretty quickly, the cat will learn that if it doesn't obey the "NO!" water will soon come.

Some have said that the cat will become angry or afraid of you. Dumping water from a cup, maybe, in that you're right there. But a squirt can be performed at a distance and with all respect to our cats and their intelligence, I really don't think they ever learn that the water's coming from you. It just "happens" if they disobey.

Nice thing about using a plant squirter is that you can keep distance, and that a quick little stream of water is unlikely to cause any damage to furniture or whatever. Of course if you're a collector of rare books....


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## katdad (Jun 13, 2013)

Our new adoptee Bobby had been jumping on the kitchen counter (no cat zone) and it only took 3-4 squirts and he stopped that. And he's clueless as to where the water came from, because he doesn't get scared of me or my girlfriend when we do this. I've had some pretty smart cats and none of them really caught on as to the water source, or at least didn't hold a grudge.

And yes, as you all know, cats CAN hold a grudge!


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## librarychick (May 25, 2008)

Lol, all of my cats figured out darn quick where the water came from. They're smart animals and it only takes seeing where the water's coming from once.

The reality is that, for things like being on the counters, they're most likely to learn not to go up there when they're likely to get caught.

If you have a timid kitty a spray bottle will fix the problem right away, they're less likely to push the boundaries because their natural anxiety will make the punishment worse in their minds. When I tried using a water bottle with Doran and Muffin it got to the point where they would just hunker down on the counter, squint their little eyes, and accept the squirt. Not effective.

The best way to discourage any behavior you don't like is to teach a competing one. Don't like your dog jumping? Train him to sit. Don't like your cat on the counter? Teach them to sit on a specific chair. Ect. Teach them a behavior that you like, reward it consistently, and it will help.

Once I had instilled some basic wariness of the door in Doran I started teaching him and Muffin to wait and back up when I opened the door. The water is a stop-gap to give you time to teach them something else to do.

Whenever you're training an animal to NOT do something you need to give them an alternative, or they'll just keep returning to the undesirable behavior. You need to give them other choices to make, with one (the one you like) being more appealing.

It's like if you had a toddler who was throwing rocks and you just always said 'no!'. Why not give the kid a ball? He could still throw things, but it would be socially acceptable. Get it?


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## dseag2 (Nov 28, 2013)

meggie said:


> One of my cats will dart out through the garage door. What I've been doing is hitting the panic button on my key fob which sets my car horn off. It scares the heck out of her and she runs right back into the house. The other cat watches this but has never made an attempt to run outside.
> If the water on the head doesn't work try a loud noise.


THAT'S a great idea! Our Toby only dashes out through the garage door, and only when we're coming in. I've been putting the garage door up a bit, which scares him when he hears it, but he is even becoming immune to that. I will have to try the car panic alarm.


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## tezster (Jun 4, 2013)

Because I also take my cats out on leashed walks, there is no hope for me, since they never truly associate getting outside as 'bad'. Both of my cats have become very opportunistic in their door-dashing tactics. Even if I did have a spray bottle ready, unless I physically block the gap as the door opens, there's a chance one of the cats will make a run for it. What I do now is I have to bend down and make sure the spray bottle is positioned at cat height as I open the door. Either that, or I physically block the opening with my backpack or grocery bags.

I've tried clicker training, the Ssscat device, treats, none of which have worked reliably over the long term. When I used the Sssscat device, Newt eventually learned to walked behind it through the front closet beside the doorway (she opened the sliding door), then knock it down from behind.

I've resigned myself to live with it, but if anyone has any other suggestions, I'm certainly open to experimenting.


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## librarychick (May 25, 2008)

This will be long, you've been warned. lol

How I taught Muffin and Doran to wait for a cue before dashing to their pen: (the whole plan is dependent on the cat being allowed out sometimes, as that's the prime reward. It may help anyways though.)

Step one: Use an INSIDE door and teach them 'out'
Since this is a less exciting thing that going outside treats will probably work. Open the door and enter the room, allow the cats to do the same.
When you're ready, show them the treats and toss them out of the room saying "Out!" in a happy voice. Repeat a LOT.

Try saying "Out!" before throwing treats, if they run towards the door toss the treats to them. If they don't go back to the first part of step one.

Once they've solidly got it move on.

Step two: Teaching about doorways/boundaries
Use blue or green painter's tape to mark out a doorway to a room within the house. (cats and dogs see blue and green best - you could use a contrast color tape rather than blue or green if it won't stand out, ie: white tape on a black floor or black tape on a white floor)

Keep the door shut unless you're practicing. When you're ready open the door, and cross the threshold, then call kitty over. Use your feet and body to block the doorway. Do not allow them to enter. (If you're having a hard time with this use a piece of cardboard to make it easier) When they get bored of trying to dodge you and back away say "yes!" and toss a treat.

Repeat endlessly, until the cat doesn't even attempt to enter the room.

Step 3: Applying this to the outside door.
(Have a 'safety' person ready to catch the cat, or use a door to the garage. That way the cat could still be confined if they 'win'. If the cat's used to a leash and harness have them wear those as additional safety.)

Put your tape line down just inside the door - on the inside. Start step 2 from the beginning, using GREAT rewards when kitty gives up and throwing them close to the cat at first and farther away (into the home) as kitty gets better.

When they get to the point that they are not passing the line start asking for more space. Mark out a square boundary just within the door, big enough to stand in, and repeat the process. This will give you a safety window.

Eventually you can get them to the point where they wont run out.

My top reward for the boys was to let them run out to their pen if they both backed away. This great of a reward (getting what they wanted) made the process go much faster.

I also completely cheated, and allowed them to 'door dash' (into our fully enclosed backyard - still safe) when it was heavily raining, very windy, freezing cold, ect. So when they 'snuck out' it was NEVER pleasant, but if they listened to Mommy and were good boys they'd get to go out when it was nice. *shrugs* Nothing wrong with controlling access to what they want 

Plus, now they think I control the weather. Lol


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## katdad (Jun 13, 2013)

Wow, such great advice here! And kind of fun reading, even if you don't need to learn new stuff. Thanks everyone.


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## cat owner again (Dec 14, 2012)

Hey I just thought I would throw in there that my daughter taught her dog to ring a hanging bell when he needed to go out so now her three cats do it too!


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