Dogs traumatized by new garage door

Hello: I have 2 female schnoodles who are house-broken to the attached garage and they go obediently on newspapers out there, until we got our new garage door with opener. Now, BOTH of them are afraid of it and since hearing it go up and down, will NOT go into the garage. The one actually peed on the living room carpet right in front of me. She is too scared to go out to the garage to do her business. I really cannot let them go outside because we live in the desert and the yard is not suitable. HELP! I don't know what to do. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you! The girls are 6 years old, and NEVER EVER go in the house until this. Since my husband and I work all day, the doggie door in the attached garage was working beautifully, until now.
Posted: 23/06/2008

ANSWER: Dogs traumatized by new garage door
With this suggestion I hope they are food motivated! Before you even consider opening the garage door in their presence begin by having good times in the garage. Slowly lure them in with treats. Bit by bit, day by day. Even if they only get one step in further each day, consider it good progress! As soon as each step it taken, praise and reward. Once you have them comfortably in the actual garage start playing games, feeding dinners, and doing anything that you can think of that will make the garage a great place to be. You can then start to introduce the remote in to a game, and once you feel brave ? open the garage just for a second and close it. Hold the attention of your little ones with some treats. If they run away make sure you stay put and wait for their return and praise them with a reward for their efforts. It will take a lot of patience. Although I am sure you will get there with this approa
Posted: 15/07/2008