Oh, and the door -- I'd do very upbeat marker work at those times, NOT reacting to the dog, NOT saying "What? What is it?" and demonstrating to the dog that the noise from two floors away is boring and not scary and check out these TREATS, by the way, and this happy owner handing them out.

hi connie, thanks I will try both of these things with the vacuum and the door. i have certainly picked up quite a hobby with this one

I'm actually inclined to believe the dog is waiting from someone.
The story of Haichinko (sp?) tells us that dogs can wait for someone LONG after they are gone.

How do dogs KNOW what time to wait for us?

If she is doing this at a predictable time of day, you need to retrain her to associate those times with something other than going to the door.

It may be as simple as teaching her to anticipate a different activity (always taking a walk at that time of day, feeding at that time of day, etc).

Dogs "tell time" because they associate certain chemical and hormonal levels within their body, which fluctuate daily, are at a certain level on a regular basis when something occurs.

As a very unscientific example, Hormone A is highest around 4pm in the dog. 4 pm also happens to be the time the dog's master comes home from work.

Thus, the dog learns to associate that late afternoon spike of hormone A with the arrival of it's master.
It's almost Pavlovian.

Even long after the master stops coming home at that time, the dog will still wait, unless it learns to associate SOMETHING ELSE with that hormone spike.

YOU can train her to associate something else with those times of day, IF you can discover what times of day they are and actively engage her in an incompatible activity.

Hi Alyssa,

Thanks for sharing that info. I notice this mostly in the evenings, or on the weekends though when I am home. I stay home mostly in the evenings during the week. I imagine it would make sense if she were waiting by the door around lunch time when the dog walker comes... but not sure if there's a relation to anything in the evenings though...

hmm another thought, is it possible she got so used to waiting for ME at the door when i was gone, that now she is just in a habit of that, even when i am there?

 Quote: jenn verrier

Hi Alyssa,

Thanks for sharing that info. I notice this mostly in the evenings, or on the weekends though when I am home. I stay home mostly in the evenings during the week. I imagine it would make sense if she were waiting by the door around lunch time when the dog walker comes... but not sure if there's a relation to anything in the evenings though...

It could be related to a routine she had established in her life prior to being with you.

I would keep a log for two weeks, and check for discernable patterns.
Let us know what you find.

 Quote: jenn verrier

she is constantly doing this. does anyone have a clue why she is doing this? also every time she is standing and staring her tail is always down.

The other thing is.. several months ago, she would start sitting in front of the door, staring at it and trembling. This seems a little different than when she is "watching" the front door (while standing). She will sometimes do this in other areas as well. in the bed room, in the hallway. For instance, right now, she is just sitting in the hallway, with her head down, staring at either the door or the wall. almost like she is depressed or deep in thought about something or day dreaming?!? but do dogs really do that?

sometimes she will be trembling when she does this, sometimes not, it varies, but lately, she is mostly not.

I wouldn't rule out a medical issue. some types of seizures present themselves as the dog zoned out or staring.

yea. maybe i will have to look into that. i hope not though