What can I put around the doorknob to keep the dog from scratching the door?

Question

We moved into a new apartment with a wood stained door. The dog misses us when we leave and sometimes jumps up and scratches around the doorknob, trying to get it to open.

It has scratched the door up a little, and we want to keep it from being scratched further.

I have considered putting shelf paper around the knob, but I wonder if it will be hard to remove when we move out, or if it is too thin for this task.

What can I put around the doorknob that will protect the door, but be easy to remove once we move out?

Answer 1

I am posting this as an answer but it is not an answer to

What can i put around the doorknob to keep the dog from scratching the door

Shelf paper or any other thing you put on the door is a Bandaid not a cure.

The proper and humane way to address the problem of your dogs separation anxiety is to seek knowledge and help from an animal professional about how to teach or train or deal with the issue.

• (Maybe your dog feels like it is being abandoned and locked up and does not know if its best friends will be back for him/her. Imagine if this happened to you day after day after day. Or maybe it has an overwhelming desire to be as close to you as possible ALL the time)

Dog are very intelligent and very trainable, (as are most people) you can avoid the need to modify your door, and make your dog healthier and happier, by learning how to train your dog, and yourself, or how to address the reasons for its separation anxiety.

Start by researching the internet and reading articles like

• How to Help a Dog With Separation Anxiety.

Take a class WITH your dog so you and it can learn to communicate and you can learn how to train your dog.

It is a two way street, you must learn so your dog can learn.

Answer 2

Shelf paper will not last very long as the dog will scratch through it very quickly. Let me suggest a piece of laminate. It's very tough and slick enough that the dog will not be able to dig his claws into it. You could attach it to the door with some double-sided tape or even some small screws.

Answer 3

I agree in principle with AlaskaMan, but as the offspring of a competent breeder&trainer of dogs, I will state unequivocally: Crate your dog. With the rare exception of bitches rescued from puppy mills, there is not a dog out there that won't be happy having its own "cave" to retreat to whenever it desires, as well as being perfectly comfortable in the crate when nobody's home.

Get a crate. Familiarize your dog with it. Put in a small water supply, a comfy bed, and a favorite toy or two. Add blankets if your dog likes those.

Not only does this eliminate the scratching issue, it eliminates the possibility of your dog running into all sorts of potential disasters- open window, cabinet door left open with food, or worse, toxic cleaning materials, etc.