He won't stay outside alone

[Aecardin]

We have a 5 month old puppy and he likes being outside. However he will not stay outside unless we are also outside. How can we teach him to remain outside with out us .

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

I can deeply understand your situation. I must admit that I have been through this personally. Here's my little story. When my hubby decided to get our two Rotties, one main reason was to keep them outside since we live in a remote, rural area with 5 acres of land. We even fenced off the whole perimeter of an acre just for our dogs contentment. The idea was for them to enjoy the great outdoors while keeping an eye on the surroundings hopefully alert-barking should anything be amiss. Well, big mistake.

 

When we got the two puppies, all they did when we sent them outside, was wanting to come inside, unless we were out with them! They didn't want to play together, they didn't want to explore, they had little interest in keeping an eye on our surroundings. All they did was bark and stick to the door asking to be let in, and if some time elapsed, they engaged in destructive behaviors and I think they did this out of frustration and because they learned that scratching the door and chewing the garden hose got our attention. It finally kicked in that they weren't meant to be the "guard dogs" hubby and I wished them to be.

 

Moral of the story? Since then, they were never left unattended outside alone and when they were out, at least one of us was always with them. This turned out to be perfectly fine though. Actually, I really think that's how they turned being the great dogs they were meant to be because they developed a strong bond with us and we were always there to redirect them and give them guidance as needed.

 

Being out with them also meant no more barking to comeback inside, and it also meant no more getting in trouble. Because left alone, they were likely to chew on sticks, eat things they are not supposed and rehearse troublesome behaviors such as digging, barking and chewing stuff. Puppies can quickly get in trouble left unattended outside. When working for the vet, I accumulated countless stories of outdoor dogs getting into toxic plants, ingesting balls or parts of a garden hose that required a costly surgery, and other costly and disheartening mishaps.

 

Here's a fact: most dogs love to be outside, but they ultimately what to be with their family. Being left outside alone is perceived to many as punishment. Of course, there may be a few exceptions with some independent dog breeds or dogs who enjoy being out with another dog, but these are just as mentioned "exceptions". Some dogs can do well with a bit of time spent outside, but most of them want to shortly come back inside. Puppies in particular can be particularly clingy and want to stay closer to their owners, but you may notice that things may change a bit during the teenager stage which in your puppy is just around the corner.

 

Here are a few tips/ideas to teach him to remain outside without you, but I would only do so for brief periods of time and while always watching him from the window to ensure his safety. Puppies are like toddlers and they can easily get into mischief, especially when bored or frustrated.

 

- Consider that by putting a dog outside, it is often perceived as punishment because he is being separated from his family. It's therefore helpful to provide some form of reinforcement when outside alone.

-Leave him outside with something to do that is reinforcing. For instance, let him have a long-lasting safe chew or an interactive toy to engage with.

-When you provide a safe chew or interactive toy, don't leave him out alone cold turkey. Practice leaving for a few seconds, then gradually a bit more, but sometimes mix in shorter absences in the midst of the longer ones.

-If he needs outside time, it would be best if you (or any other family member) can go out with him. This way he can enjoy the great outdoors, he is supervised and prevented from getting in any trouble and you are there with him to redirect him and provide guidance as needed. Being out with him, you can also take advantage of training him. You can reward voluntary check-ins (praise and give a treat when he explores, and then on his own comes to you) and you can practice fun recalls too.

-If you put your dog outside when he needs a timeout, a better option may be to use a crate or area behind a baby gate, and provide him with a safe chew toy.

-If he is being put outside because he has too much energy, this may not be ideal as he will likely at some point become frustrated and engage in troublesome behaviors that may be difficult to eradicate. Best to keep his brain occupied at home with brain games or do some fun games or training in the yard together. Or if he already does all of those, just let him chill and sniff/explore/eliminate and just be granted some time to just be a dog while under your supervision.

Edited September 23, 2018 by Adrienne Farricelli

[JMFS]

I have one of the exception dogs. :D Momo has far too much energy and desire to be in constant motion to be happy indoors. He paces. Non-stop. It's maddening! We have a little over an acre for him to patrol and run around on. I didn't intend him to be a watchdog, but that's what he turned out to be. He grew up in duplexes and being crated while I was at work. Only one of those places had what could be called a yard (it was 30 sq ft). When we moved to our home in the "wild" he took to being outside like a duck to water. We're in a populated area, but the lots are about 1-2 acres so we're neighbors with space. We've found wild turkeys, armadillos*, raccoons, opossums**, lizards by the dozens, snakes, etc . . . in our yard.

 

Anyway, as usual I digressed. When we were at the duplex with the "yard" I would let Mo out in the morning to eat and do his deeds while I got ready. That seemed to be about his threshold for being outside alone. As Adrienne cautioned, when left along for longer periods of time our little guy pulled plenty of shenanigans while he was out there. The worst was when he chewed off the propane hoses to the grill. He also tore through the insulation for the A/C hoses and the neighbor's Adorable (oh em gee I loved her) English Mastiff would dig under the fence so Mo could slip under and go play with her. With a 5-month old puppy who's probably mouthing everything you'll want to ensure the yard is managed so there aren't things he can get into. Look over your yard from his eye level and mindset - Mo found things I totally overlooked from my vantage point and other items I thought he'd find boring (the grill). After the grill incident I put a toy box for Mo outside that was filled with tough chewables like Kongs, tug ropes, and a gigantic rawhide bone that my friend got for Momo as a joke. Mo never chewed through it, but loved to run in circles with it (he never quite figured out how to grab it in the middle, only one end or the other so he couldn't run straight).

 

Ultimately I think what got him most adjusted to being outside alone was spending time outside with me. I had a fire pit and would sit out there at nights chilling out with my pup. I'd leave him outside when I needed something from inside so our gradual time increments came naturally. He grew to enjoy it out there and was able to tolerate longer periods of time alone. Now he only wants to come in at night for the air conditioning. To help him associate the yard with good things you might play the Find It game with him out there.

 

From a neighbor point-of-view I'll throw in there to ensure he's not barking his head off while outside. I would let Mo bark a couple times and then I'd stop him because I didn't want him to be one of "those" dogs; but I Did want to be alerted when someone was there.

 

For digging I was advised to set up an approved digging spot - some folks have enough know-how, space, and / or inclination to put in a sandbox in which they hide toys to encourage digging there instead. A sandbox wouldn't fit in our yard back then so I spent a lot of time filling in holes with leaves, sticks and his poo (it was a suggestion to fill the holes with these items because they're uninteresting and therefore digging was unrewarding). I also had one of those plastic pools, the smallest one, and I would play with him there by throwing in toys for him to fetch or by tossing in ice cubes for him to try to fish out. It was kind of a pain because the water got nasty quickly (and Texas roaches love nasty water, gag) so I had to empty it and refill about every 3rd day, but I think it created another positive association with being outside.

 

* Incidentally, did you know armadillos are Excellent swimmers who can hold their breath for up to 6 minutes?! We learned this after we were visited at 4 a.m. by a couple who decided to frolic in our pool. We were desperately trying to save the little buggers and each time we fished them out they'd dive right back in! They also "pop" up into the air after rolling into a ball - it's their response to attacks. I put a plastic tub over one to walk it to the door and it kept jumping up, nearly knocking the tub out of my grip. After the excitement was over I headed to my friend, Google, and learned all I ever wanted to know about the bizarre creatures. They walk along the bottoms of rivers and they are Excellent swimmers. Here we were trying to save them, and really we ended up ruining their good time, lol. Ah, humans, we're so well-intentioned. :D

 

** Opossums hiss before they'll play dead . . .. That surprised me. Also, 10-lb 10-yr old arthritic Dachshunds are Not afraid of opossums and Will go after them.

[Aecardin]

Thanks we don't mind being outside with him most of the time. He does stay out while we go walk, and then of course we have to take him on a walk. I guess it's not a bad thing.

[JMFS]

Is the goal to have him go do his business alone? You're right, it's not a bad thing at all. Wanting to stick by your side, imo, means he's not an escapee in the making. When I try to send Gertie out on her own she stands by the door, utterly confused. If I leave her long enough a lizard or grasshopper will grab her attention and she'll bound off after it. :rolleyes:

[Aecardin]

Oh and the goal was just to get him outside to run and we could cook, clean or whatever needs to be done.

[JMFS]

I bet as he matures and gains independence the length of time he's okay with staying outside will increase. He's still pretty young. If you're having trouble getting things done around the house then I wonder if him watching y'all come and go, like a tag team system, would help him feel better about being out there alone. For instance, start outside with both of y'all, then one of you goes inside to do a thing or three and then comes back out while the other of you goes inside for a bit. That way he might grow to ignore your coming and going.

 

When we had limited space and no yard I would put Mo's leash around the leg of our dining table so he'd be out from under my feet - when I get to cooking or cleaning I'm movin' and groovin' and his poor paw got stepped on pretty good once so I started using the leash. When I was moving from room to room I tied the leash around my waist and he joined me. That had an added benefit of teaching him to heel and walk on the leash, but more than anything it helped Me be aware of where he was so I wouldn't step on those little paws or trip over him.

 

I will say that even though he's outside most of the time, Momo is more likely to nap than to exercise himself to the point of it being useful. He'll chase the squirrels and whatnot, but I have to be the one to throw the ball or take Gertie out to get them good and pooped out. If I'm not out there with them they'll both go off and do their own thing. I guess they like to perform for me and if I'm not out there there's not much point to running around like mad dogs. :rolleyes: When we first got Gertie it was a different story, but I suppose they're used to one another now and the new dog shine has worn off.

 

Mostly, associating being outside with good things like the chews Adrienne mentioned and gradually increasing the time alone are going to be the things that leave the best impression on him.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

I really like Jennifer's "tag team" system suggestion!