6. Opening and Closing Doors
Teaching your Shih Tzu how to open and close doors is a noteworthy trick. However, this can be dangerous if your pet can use this trick to escape, so please teach this one with caution.
You can teach your dog to use a rope or pull toy attached to the door as opposed to just using the handle. This wll prevent your pet from opening outside doors and making an escape.
Tie a rope or pull toy to a door handle, and encourage your Shih Tzu to pull it. This works best on doors that have moving handles. If you have doors with doorknobs that must be turned, keep the door partially open.
Once your Shih Tzu starts to pull the rope, motivate him, and urge him to pull the door totally open.
After he has fully opened the door, you can reward him with a treat and lots of praise.
When he has figured out how to open the door, hold a treat upright at the door so he pushes it against it, closing it back.
