One training exercise that almost all dog trainers recommend is teaching your dog to wait at the door. Whatever is on the other side of the front door is usually exciting for your dog - a walk, a guest, or simply lots of new smells they do not regularly get to explore. This is why many dogs wait anxiously for the door to open and then go bounding outside.
But this can also put your dog in danger. Traffic, getting lost, and interactions with dogs and people that you cannot control put everyone involved at risk. Training your dog to sit at doorways and wait for your release is one of the key ways to keep your dog safe.
The front door of your home - or whichever door you most often use to access the unfenced outdoors - is the door most dog owners want to focus on. But training the same behavior at any threshold can be valuable. You never know when you will need your dog to wait in a certain area and multiple training locations reinforce the behavior.
The result should be that your dog waits for your command, not just until the door is wide enough to squeeze through, to head outside.
To train this behavior, use the following procedure:
As you are initially teaching this command, you can start with shorter waits. In the beginning, just get the door open before giving your dog the release. Since you will want to use this command every time your dog goes outside, these shorter commands can help you get your dog outside sooner before you both get frustrated.