Welcome to the Trick or Treat Giveaway Hop! Starting today and through October 30th, you can visit our hosts, Kol’s Notes and Beagles & Bargains, along with us and 17 other blogs to learn a different trick, and enter to win over $850 worth of prizes! More details on the awesome prizes, and how to enter, at the end of this post.
Disclosure: The Trick or Treat Giveaway Hop is a sponsored event. All brands and bloggers have provided compensation to be included in this giveaway. Wag ‘n Woof Pets only shares our own honest opinions, and these may not reflect the values of all brands and blogs involved.
This is our second year participating in this hop, and our Lab mix Luke was so excited when he found out he’d be learning a new trick that we could share with you. Last year we trained Luke to close doors, and this year we wanted to try opening doors. Be sure to watch our video after the instructions to see how we tied last year’s in to make a fun little game for Luke!
How To Train Your Dog to Open Doors
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Treats (we use a variety of high and low value treats including kibble)
- Rope toy or rag. Something that you can somehow tie around a handle or cabinet knob.
- Optional: Clicker. You don’t have to use a clicker, you can just use the word “yes” or something like that to mark when your dog performs the action you want. We start out with a clicker because Luke responds well to it (but I also often say “good boy” because I can’t help myself!). Once the trick is learned, we no longer need the clicker.
There are two ways of doing this. If your dog already knows the cues “touch” or “tug”, you may be able to jump right ahead here! Luke likes to tug toys, but we’ve never used the word. I was originally going to do it that way, but he only plays tug when he’s in the mood, so we didn’t have time to do that first! Keep your sessions short and only progress to the next step when you feel confident your dog is ready. If you move too fast, just go back to the previous step!
- Hang toy or rag on cabinet handle. We started with cabinets because they are easier to open. Later on you can try a door left slightly ajar or other handles once you have the basics down. We started with our kitchen cabinets, but when they didn’t open smoothly, I moved to my bedroom bureau.
- Mark with clicker or “yes” if your dog even looks at the toy, then immediately reward with treat.
- Progress to when they actually touch the toy.
- Next you want them to grab the toy. (We actually started at this point, because Luke automatically grabbed the toy at the beginning. I think using a toy that had already been played with was a big help). If your dog already knows “tug” you can start right here!
- Next we want them to hold onto the toy for a length of time. This was our toughest step because Luke wanted to drop it immediately to get his treat. Sometimes you just have to wait for them to figure out exactly what you want.
- Now we want them to pull on the toy!
- Click and reward when the cabinet door actually moves. Keep increasing the amount it moves before rewarding until it opens all the way, and you’ve done it! You can start with the door slightly open if it makes it easier for it to move.
- Once they have it down, move to different locations and different doors. With Luke I often have to start back at the beginning with each location, but it goes more quickly.
Don’t worry that your dog is going to run around the house opening things! As long as you aren’t hanging things on your knobs, I don’t think that will happen (plus they’re not learning to turn knobs!) 😊
I decided to put a treat inside the cabinet to try to get Luke to comprehend he needed to open the door all the way. The other reason I moved from the kitchen to the bedroom was that I wanted to leave the door slightly ajar to make it easier for Luke to pull on. The problem was the cabinet had to be opened a certain amount to do that, and when I did that, Luke would close it (last year’s trick)! My bureau door made it possible to have it not latched but closed enough that Luke didn’t think of it as open.
Now, watch the video to see the little game we started with all this. I wanted to do something a little more than just opening the door (such as dogs who might fetch a beer from the fridge like my nephew’s Lab does), but I wasn’t sure what. We weren’t going to be able to get that far in time for this hop anyway.
Now that you’ve learned our trick, see what you can win! Here’s how it works: enter our giveaway through the widget at the end of this post. Then visit each of the other participating blogs through the links to learn more tricks and enter there for more chances to win! At the end of the event, one winner is drawn from each blog, and those finalists go into a draw to win one of these five prizes:
GRAND PRIZE
$300 PETSMART GIFT CARD
SECOND PRIZE
CleverPet Hub Electronic Dog Puzzle – $299 VALUE – SPONSORED BY CLEVERPET
THIRD PRIZE
HONEST KITCHEN PRIZE PACK AS SEEN HERE- $68 VALUE – SPONSORED BY THE HONEST KITCHEN
FOURTH PRIZE
Halloween Trick Ball, Halloween Treat Ball, and Maple Leaf Nook
$50 VALUE – SPONSORED BY PLANET DOG
FIFTH PRIZE
HOLISTIC HEALTH EXTENSION PRIZE PACK AS SEEN HERE
$40 VALUE – SPONSORED BY HEALTH EXTENSION
WHERE TO ENTER:
Learn to Crawl
by Kol’s Notes
Learn to Calmly Ride in Elevators
by Beagles & Bargains
Learn to Not Freak Out When a Doorbell Rings
by A Dog Walks into a Bar
Learn to Ring a Bell
by ChiPets
Learn to be “Sassy”
by Dog Mom Days
Learn Whistle Recall
by Fetch for Me, Human
Learn “Beg”, “Which Hand”, and Indoor Exercise Trick Sets
by Fidose of Reality
Learn to Stand on Your Hind Legs
by Heart Like A Dog
Learn to Kiss
by It’s Dog or Nothing
Learn to Touch
by Life With Beagle
Learn to Pick It Up or Take It
by My Dog Likes
Learn to Crawl Through a Tight Tunnel
by My GBGV Life
Learn to Shake Paws (for Dogs Who Don’t Like Their Paws Touched!)
by Sarcastic Dog
Learn Puppy Push Ups
by Spencer the Goldendoodle
Learn Two Dog Tricks
by Tails from the Road
Learn “Paw” and “Shake Paw”
by Talent Hounds
Learn to Cover Your Eyes
by Tenacious Little Terrier
Learn to Jump Through a Hoop
by The Broke Dog
Learn to Spin
by The Daily Pip
Also, follow all of these blogs on Instagram and watch for a chance to win a $100 gift card to PetSmart between October 24th -27th! Follow the hashtag #TrickorTreatDogs.
Giveaway open to residents of USA and Canada only, 18 and over, void where prohibited. Starts October 20th and ends October 30th at 11:59pm PST, winners announced on October 31st. Prizes provided by sponsors and Wag ‘n Woof Pets is not responsible for prize fulfillment. No social media sites have endorsed this promotion.
No- my dog only knows how to roll over. I adopted her when she was an older dog……so no new tricks.
Roll over is a good one! I couldn’t get Luke to learn that.
No- my dog only knows how to roll over. I adopted her when she was an older dog……so no new tricks.
love this trick – never used these techniques and will have to try – some of my dogs know how to open doors differently
My dog does not know how, but I’m looking forward to teaching him!
My dog does not know how to do this.
my guy needs some serious training he won’t listen
No my dogs don’t know this one, but my cat does lol
I think cats might be even better at this trick….with no training at all! 🙂
These tricks look so cool, but my pup, Don, does not know these tricks.
this one we know, she is super smart.
My dog does not know this trick, but these are great tips!
None of my dogs know this trick.
My dogs do not know this trick. Thanks!
Roxy does not know how to open doors – scary to think what she’d get into if she could
I do not need Liam getting into anything else, but good idea for the right dog!
Entering to win for my BiL that has an well aged dog that is a “fetch, no take” as his only trick. We all love the fool…the dog, not the BiL.
My dog doesn’t do any tricks.
He does know this!
My dog doesn’t know this trick but I think I could teach her.
My dogs are quite small, they can push a door that is ajar but can’t really pull anything with much strength.
It’s definitely a tough trick for small dogs.
My dog loves this one! She also can push cabinet doors/drawers closed with her nose 🙂
Nice! Luke does that too. 🙂
My dogs don’t know this trick yet.
My dog doesn’t know this one.
My dog doesn’t know this trick!
This is so practical! My dog can’t do it yet, but we’ll work on it!
I taught myself to open doors. Sometimes they wish I wouldn’t! I refuse to close them as I don’t see the point!
You are a smart dog, Clowie!!
My dog still doesn’t know any tricks.
My dog didn’t know this trick.
My dog doesn’t know this trick. I’m not sure she is big enough to do it.
It would definitely be tough for small dogs. Even Luke had trouble pulling hard enough at first to get the door to open.
My dogs do not know this trick but it seems like a fun one! My dog would probably pull so hard it would break the door off! haha
Haha, yeah, that’s all you’d need!!
Aw, what a cutie you have there! My dog doesn’t know this trick. I would love to teach him this. The way you have taught seems like it would be easiest!
Thank you! As with a lot of tricks we’ve tried, I’m never sure if it’s going to work at first! 🙂
My baby can’t do any tricks. She’s not too bright. 🙁
Or she might just be stubborn! Our beagle has no interest in doing tricks either.
This looks like a fun trick, but I haven’t taught my dog yet.
My dog does not know this trick
My cat liked dog did this trick once, but it was a fluke
My dog doesn’t know this trick yet!
Good luck tricking my dog
Ummmmy dog doesnt do this with a pull toy he does it with his moth on the knob. No I didnt teach him. He can open cabinet doors I have child locks now. He is a stinker and gets into things.
Wow…you’ve got a smart one! I figured there was no way I would get Luke to put his mouth on the knob. 🙂
My dog would love to be able to open room doors….but is too little. I am not sure I want to teach her to open cabinet doors….sounds like a recipe for someone to go exploring!
All of our food is either in upper cabinets or behind different types of doors, so at least we don’t have that worry!
Grady knows this one! He likes to offer it when he gets confused in a training session. When in doubt, open a door haha!
I love it when they offer something else when they’re confused. Luke will often go into his “spin” when he is! 🙂
Good job luke! Gambler can open up my bi fold doors as he just kicks them until they open.
Oh, that Gambler!! Luke would scare himself if he did that….LOL.
This ought to be fun. Great job putting this together.
Thank you!!
No….my dog does not know this trick.
Love my pup!
No he doesn’t know it.
My dog doesn’t know this trick .. yet! 🙂
This is such a cute trick idea!! I would have never thought to teach my dogs how to do this. I am definitely going to try teaching them! 🙂
We hope you have fun with it!!
He knows how to sit and follow.
Love your site!
Thank you so much!!
I love that she closed the door. My dog would get into trouble if she figured out how to open our cabinets. She has chewed a lot of things including my husband shop vac and drill cord. Luckily they weren’t plugged in. She is getting better.
Those chewers are tough! Both of our golden retrievers were like that when younger, but mostly outgrew it, or at least stuck to chewing safe objects!
No she doesnt, and it’s not one I’d teach her because she’s use it to get into trouble.
I would not teach this particular trick to my dog.
My dog does not know this one.
Nope our dogs don’t know how to do this trick and I won’t teach it to them. There’s no need for it unless you out lifesaving medications in the cabinet.
My dogs are too small for this I feel.
No, he definitely does not.
I don’t have a dog yet 🙁
Well, we hope you can get one soon!! ♥
No he doesn’t know this trick but it’s a cool trick! I may have to teach him!
Yes they are mischief makers and taught themselves.
Mischief makers and smart too – now that’s a challenging combination! LOL
Yes, this is very useful
Our puppy was just born on 10/19 so no tricks yet but we have high hopes for him.
Oooohhhh…new puppy coming – that’s exciting!!
My dogs do not know this trick or I would be in trouble!
my girls can open doors, like the front door, but then they dont close it. they push and scratch on it til it opens. then they leave it open for all of the bugs and insects to get in the house. i would not want to teach my girls how to open the cabinets, they would get into everything. my house would be a total mess when i got home. i know if i taught them to open it with a string or tie they would figure out how to open it my putting their paws on the knobs, they i would be in real trouble.
Maybe you should check out our last year’s post, and train them to close doors? 🙂
Dexter doesn’t know this one and it’s probably a good thing or else he’d eat everything he could get into!
I will not teach this trick to my dog. We had one dog that could open the frig when my wife left a towel attached to the door.
No my parent’s dog does not know this cool trick but it’s certainly a fun & useful one!
Oh wow, what a neat trick! I am going to have to work with our labs on this one!
Yes, Steel opens her own drawer and doors too.
My dog doesn’t know this but I think this will be a fun one to try out!
My cat Smokey was a pro at opening cabinet doors. I had to put child safety devices on the bathroom cabinet so she couldn’t get in there. Raven opens the closet door almost every day, but it’s doesn’t latch shut so she just puts her paw under the door and pulls it open.
Cats are very smart and creative! Our late cat Don Juan used to open kitchen cabinets where his food was too. We’d put a rubber band around the handles, and then when we were trying to sleep at night, we’d hear a constant bang…bang…bang, as he tried to get the cabinet open but couldn’t all the way! 🙂
My dogs don’t know this trick
Our dog knows this trick *sometimes*.
Cooper doesnt know this trick but I think this would be a fun one to teach!
this one we know, but he knew it when he got him, so not sure how he learned it!
Luke! We’re so impressed that you learned that trick so quickly.
Thank you!! ♥
I love this trick. We don’t know it yet but I’ll be working on it soon.
a little hard to keep interest
This is another trick I wanted to try but couldn’t figure out how to break it down. Now I”ll try it for sure. Thanks for the directions and videos.
You are very welcome! I hope it works for you!
My dog does not know this trick. He is still learning the basics but this method looks like a good way.
Teaching pets to open a cabinet … that would open a can of worms around here (I realize you use the pull added on so they aren’t tempted to try elsewhere). Bear manages to get his paw in the door – but the child latch ensures it doesn’t go any farther 🙂
I almost think cats might be better at this than dogs. They definitely often figure out how to do it on their own. Our cat Don Juan would try to open kitchen cabinets too. 🙂
He did such a good job. My dog does not know this trick.
Great trick!
My dog d not know this trick.
my dog does not know this trick, might try to teach him
My dog does not know this trick but I want to teach him 🙂
I wish my dog knew this trick.. or any trick.
Great giveaway! Luke is one impressive pup!
Thank you!! ♥
Wow…what a pawsome bath of prizes!
Make that batch, not bath. 😬
🙂 Pretty impressive, huh? I almost wish we hadn’t joined the hop, so we could have entered to win some of these! LOL
Actually, I worry about my dogs learning how to open doors. Our patio doors have a lever-style handle, which is easy for them to open by accident. We have a fenced back yard, but with gates we can open and close to get our cars into the yard and the garage. If the dogs would ever get out when the gates are open, they could easily run off and get lost. I keep the back door locked except when we are going out of it or while at least one two-legged family member is in the yard with the dogs. Fun idea for a trick, but not appropriate for my dogs, I’m afraid.
Ah yes, I completely understand that. We had the same type of handles at our previous house, and we also had to keep them locked. There’s only one like that at our new house, but it leads to the fenced in yard; plus it’s so old it’s almost impossible for me to even open!
My Border Collie know this trick, taught the same way. My German Shepherd also knows, but he was never taught, and uses his paws like hands, and opens all doors, drawers and cabinets very easily.
Oh boy, he sounds too smart for his own good! 🙂
my dogs do not know this one
My dog doesn’t know this trick. She only weighs about 10 pounds and most of our door are pretty heavy.
My dog does not know this trick.
What a great trick! The boys would get into too much trouble with that trick! BOL!
Great trick! And looks like a fun game. But definitely not one for Ducky – I don’t want her opening the kitchen door while Shadow is eating her breakfast or dinner. Or, opening the pantry door and stealing food/treats!
Luke is smart but, honestly, I don’t think he’d ever make the connection that he could use this to get into places he shouldn’t. Their food and treats are kept in a pantry with bi-fold doors that he couldn’t open the same way anyway, so we’re pretty safe here! 🙂
My does not know this trick.
A super fun trick and great instruction. Love, Love!
Thank you, Juliet!
NICE GIVEAWAY. I WOULD LIKE TO WIN ONE OF THESE PRIZES
Good luck to you!!
That is one heck of a cool giveaway!!!
no my Blackie does not know this trick, I may try to teach him. Thanks for sharing
we don’t know this trick!
Coco does not know this trick. I need to try this though!
THAT’s fabulous! You did a great job. I think this might be an easy ‘game’ to teach Delilah too. Just like Emma’s I can see us setting up a little ‘game’ on those wintery days when it’s too icy to walk.
Thanks for sharing it, you made it look super easy, and it’s obvious how much Luke loved it.
Thank you! I’m not always good at explaining things, so I appreciate you saying that. We should have lots to keep us busy this winter! 🙂
wow that is a super prize… I can open doors, cabinets and drawers but I refuse to do it for the mama… she even smeared liver sausage at the door knob to encourage me, but I said no thanks, went down and opened the fridge ;o) … maybe lukje can come to help me? he also could close the doors, that’s something I always forget ;O)))
Luke would like to exchange tips with you, since he hasn’t figured out the refrigerator yet. BOL
Good job, Luke! I can see this hop is going to give me lots of ideas for our Layla. 🙂
While my dog does not know this trick it seems like something we can learn together! She can do a variety of things and about to add to her repertoire.
Glad you found something new here to try! The learning and working together is half the fun, don’t you think?
You are very brave and trusting to teach him to open doors! Mom doesn’t want us messing with doors, but we aren’t the types to really be interested in opening or closing them. The servant can do it for us 🙂
Ha ha, Cricket is with you, Emma!! And if Luke ever learns it on his own, she’ll be right behind him waiting to see what he gets!
My dog does not know this trick.