Back Door Scratching

So one of the first bad habits of Clyde that I noticed was that he would scratch at the back door to be let in.  How do we address that?  Well, ignoring it of course.  The problem is - I can't have the back door destroyed in the process of teaching him he can't scratch the door to be let in.  On Day Two of Clyde, I had an epiphany.  Dog booties!  Thankfully, Zoe's old set of booties (that she never got used to or learned to like) actually fit Clyde's feet.  Mostly.  And he doesn't seem to care that much that he's got them on.  So I put them to the test.

Whenever I let him outside, I'd put the booties on first and let him do his thing.  Then I'd come inside and sit and wait.  He would start up his scratching but now it was just thump, thump from his paws banging because the scratching wasn't scratching anymore.  :D  And man, the first few times?  He is persistent.  I mean, persistent. 

Thump, thump, thump, thump... THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP.  Pause.  THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!

Yeah, battle of the wills.  After several fruitless thumping sessions (lasting 10-15+ minutes), he finally began to make the connection that sitting nicely by the door would get it open.  He's mostly pretty good about that now so I don't need to put the booties on him.

Every now and then, when he's been waiting too long, I catch him giving a half-hearted paw at the door.  I don't know what would happen if I actually left him there for longer.  He'd probably revert back to scratching.