How to Stop Dog Scratching at Glass Door

Dogs love to play with their nails. It’s in their nature to scratch at things. However, you probably don’t want your dog to scratch at the glass of your sliding doors.

So what can you do to prevent this problem?

To stop your dog from scratching at a glass door, you can apply deterrents to it to keep him away, associating his scratching behavior with unpleasant experience, restricting his access to the door and keeping his mind off the door by making him busy.

Apply Deterrents On The Glass Door To Keep Your Dog Away

You can spray deterrents on the glass door to deter your dog from going near it.

There are many dog deterrent spray products available in pet stores which you can easily get hold of.

Just make sure that you pick one with a scent that your dog hates the most.

Dogs usually hate the smell of lemon or grapefruit, so going for citrus-based sprays would be an ideal choice.

You can also prepare your own deterrents and spray them on the glass to keep your dog away.

The way to prepare the solution would be to have 2 cups of water and mix it with 2 spoons of white vinegar and 20 drops of either citrus or peppermint scented essential oil. 

Mix the solution well in a spray bottle and apply it to the door to act as a repellent for your dog.

Make Your Dog Associate Scratching The Door With Unpleasant Experience

Of course, the most effective way to keep your dog away from scratching the glass door is to train him.

Like humans, dogs like to do things that they find to be rewarding or make them happy and this is what motivates them to keep performing the act.

If your dog finds scratching the glass door to be an enjoyable task because he likes the feeling of his paws rubbing on the glass, he will want to do it over and over again till you correct this behavior.

What you need to do is to make your dog associate this behavior with an unpleasant consequence of being “punished”.

The punishment must NOT be in the form of any physical pain, but rather an emotional one.

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For example, when you see your dog doing this act, give him a stern and firm command “No” and show him your unhappiness.

If he tries to continue, then give him a cold shoulder for the rest of the day.

This will make him learn that by not following your instructions, there will be BAD consequences, and he will start to associate this behavior with an unpleasant experience.

You see, your dog learns from his experience and if he finds his actions to be non rewarding, he will stop doing them.

On the contrary, if he gets a reward for doing something desirable (positive reinforcement), he will love doing that behavior consistently.

So, when your dog stops scratching the door upon hearing your command “No”, you should immediately reward him with food, praise or just pat him or give him a quick rub on the head.

This will let him know that by not getting his paw on the glass door, he will be rewarded!

Keep His Mind Off The Door By Making Him Busy

It’s hard to get a bored dog to behave himself.

If you let your dog have too much free time, it can lead to his destructive behavior.

You see, boredom can turn your dog into a destructive dog who will go around your house making a mess and destroying things.

He will display behaviors such as excessive grooming, barking incessantly for no reason, digging holes in the yard, destroying furniture and chewing up shoes, toys and other objects.

So it is not at all surprising to see your dog getting his paws on the door as he wants to go out to release his pent-up energy.

What you would need to do is to plan activities to relieve your dog’s boredom.

There are many ways to do this:

  1. Take him for a walk in the park. 
  2. Run with him in the streets or other open spaces.
  3. Give him toys such as Kong toys, bones, ropes and balls to play with.
  4. Play fetch or tug of war games with him.
  5. Teach him some new tricks. 

Keep your dog busy and entertained for the day, and you will find yourself having a happy and contented dog.

Remember that boredom can be a problem for both puppies and adult dogs, especially if your dog belongs to a hunting breed which is more energetic and active.

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Restrict His Access To The Glass Door

If your dog has been known to scratch the glass door on multiple occasions, it is best to restrict his access to it while you work on correcting his behavior.

You can place a mat with little spikes right in front of the glass door and that will make your dog feel uncomfortable when he steps on it and will deter him from going near the door.

Making use of a remote training collar is a great way to prevent your dog from going near the glass door. 

You can activate the collar to send a small electric “shock” to your dog when he attempts to get near the glass door.

This will make him realize that the glass door is off limits and will prevent him from going near it.

When you are not there to supervise your dog, you can get him to stay in his crate to avoid him from making his way to the glass door.

Your dog’s crate should be large enough for him to lie comfortably and leave some toys for him to play with.

Protect The Glass Door

There are many commercial products in the market that you can use to protect your glass door from your dog’s scratching.

Installing a glass door protector is the most common solution to this problem. It is cost-effective, easy to install, and available in different shapes and sizes.

It will cover your glass door like a second skin and will provide the door with a long period of trouble – free service.

Other options include the use of sticky roll film and putting curtains in front of the door.

Curtains or blinds are a great option if your glass door is large and the roll film would not be feasible.

The installation of a sticky roll film is very simple and easy. It only takes about 10 minutes.

You can use the following instructions to install the film:

  1. Clean the glass door thoroughly using a liquid soap solution with a lint free towel to remove any dirt and grease from the grass surface to ensure film adhesiveness.
  2. Measure the height and width of your glass door.
  3. Cut the roll of film with scissors.
  4. Peel off the backing paper.
  5. Lay the film on the glass door.

However, it should be noted that roll film might not be durable enough to protect the glass door from scratches if you have a pet with sharp nails.

So you ought to groom your dog as soon as his nails are too long. Your dog’s nails should be trimmed to 2-3 mm length.

Of course, trimming your dog’s nail might not deter his scratching as he could still do this act by rubbing his teeth against it.

In this case, it is important to find out the cause of this behavior. Maybe he is having teeth or gum discomfort and is trying to relieve the pain through scratching.

To summarize, I would recommend installing a glass door protector to protect your glass door. They are generally installed over existing glass doors with little effort, and they can be easily removed if needed.

They also come in many styles and sizes to fit the exact dimension of your glass door.