Categorized | Awnings
How Can We Teach Our Dog To Like The Backyard Again? He Seems To Developed A Phobia Of It?
Posted on 02 June 2009
We've got an eight month old Wheaton Terrier Mix that came from the shelter two weeks ago.
The dog used to LOVE the backyard. Whenever I'd open the backdoor he'd practically knock me down trying to get out there.
Now we have to pick him up and put him in the yard. He paces for 30 seconds, then sits at the glass door staring into the house. Even though he's just come out of his crate and should need to pee.
I think what happened was that he got caught out in the rain a couple times. We have an awning over our backporch, but a little water still leaked through.
We live in El Paso, TX where it's smoldering hot and it will rain randomly for like 10 - 15 minutes then stop. I'd be in the shower, then turn off the water and realize it was pouring raining. I'd rush outside, but he was still wet.
I'm not sure what else to do. Even though we've always fed him outside he still doesn't want to go.
3 Comments For This Post
Leave a Reply
Featured Reviews
Featured Reviews
Subscribe to us…
June 2nd, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Usually, the scenario is like this.:
The dog has a reservation about *something*.
The human shows concern for this issue. What the human doesn’t realize is that this energy, the “concern” is picked up by the dog.
The dog perceives the pack members *concern* as a “threat out there”…. not empathy. So, the dog doesn’t want to be there per your own *energy*… aka: message to the dog.
That said, Jazz has serious issues when it comes to rain and getting her feet wet. We’ve been in a drought her entire life to date, which doesn’t help as storms are infrequent.
What I do with Jazz when she’s being difficult about going outside is I take her out a different door. Instead of going in the back yard, we go out the front door. She runs up the walk thinking we’re on the way to the car, realizes I’m not going, then will relieve herself before coming back in.
Be creative. Have positive, relaxed energy.
Hope that helps!
June 2nd, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Spend more time outside with him. Play with him out there, train him out there, and feed him out there. My guess is he’ll just have to get used to the rain. Leave something out there he can quickly get under if it rains.
Here’s another thing you could try: stuff a kong full of yummy food and put it somewhere in the backyard. When you let your dog out he’ll stumble upon the kong and eat it. Do this a couple of times. He soon may start to anticipate going outside!
June 2nd, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Several things could be wrong here. The rain could have done it but am betting he is worried about separation from you.
Try going out with him when he goes out. Act very uninterested and walk around. If he resists going with you on ur little stroll then put him on lead and take him with you around the yard.
When you are in the shower or otherwise unavailable put him in his crate every time.