Question:
He's 11 weeks or so now. He gets walked, but I want him to get used to twenty minutes or so of "outside time" in our yard. He's got a long lead.
HE WON'T SHUT UP!!
Yelp yelp yelp yelp
I'm afraid the neighbours will think I'm torturing him!
Do they all do this at first? I've never met a dog that didn't like his outside time. He's got a big yard. He won't even shut up if he's on the deck! During the potty training period, he would "go" on our big deck. I was satisfied with this, as it was OUTSIDE and a few mere steps away from the yard itself. Now that he is going outside, I want to encourage him to "go" in the yard, and to use it for some run time.
But arg yelp yelp yelp yelp
Anyone else go thru this?


Answer:
This thread might help. The command that Sue mentioned could be very valuable. And it is a good time to teach, when your puppy is so young.
http://www.pets-on-the-net.com/forum...ad.php?t=14487


Answer:
Thanks for the link...thing is, he's yelping to be let in!! I don't know why he wouldn't want to be out there, other than he's small and maybe scared. So I don't want to REWARD him for yelping, I want him to accept his situation and get used to being out on his own a bit.


Answer:
No, you reward him for being quiet. Say "quiet" once and when he finally stops yelping, reward him. If you are consistent, he will eventually get it. My dog will even stop panting if you tell him "quiet".

Do you go outside with him and play with him? My dog isn't crazy about being outside either but he'll stay out all day if there's someone with him.

Also where does he eat? My dog eats outside so he is VERY excited to go outside...especially around breakfast and dinner. He will often stay out for a bit after eating and just lay around.

Finally, do you have any interactive toys that you can give your dog? Even a kong with a treat inside (or a bit of peanut butter) might keep him occupied for a bit and let him realize that the yard is fun.


Answer:
Cool ideas, thanks! I'll try the treat thing first, a new chewie might do it....and let you guys know


Answer:
What kind of dog is he anyway?


Answer:
He's a shepherd/lab cross, and he's still very little yet. He just might be scared. LOL. I've been doing it for 10 minutes at a time, twice a day, to try to let him see it's FUN outside rofl. I even threw the ball around today to get him started, that helped a bit. It's not like he'll be spending long amounts of time out there, but its nice I think for them to get the space and the air. Walking is fine, but a bit of roam time is good too I think.


Answer:
I agree.. I wish I had a yard..


Answer:
Katie used to do the same thing. We got her when she was 4 mos. old and came from a home where she never got any attention. She did it at first because she didn't like to be outside alone (her former owner got her in Jan. at 6 wks. old and made her stay outside!!!) I just went out with her everytime she had to go and as soon as she was done we both came back in. Now she only barks to be let in and can go out by herself. However, if she knows we are outside and she has to be tied (choretime....she likes the manure a little too much!) she barks constantly until she can be with us again. She hates to be without her people! Try going out with him every time and then gradually "wean" him. Going out with him every time will also help house-train him quicker. (In my experience) One other thing I have experienced is that young puppies hate to be alone.....most of the pups that I have had hated to be out alone until they were much older. Good luck and keep us posted!!


Answer:
Well I've found this site http://www.canismajor.com/dog/ to be incredibly helpful. I wish that all dog owners had access to this when they bring a pup home. It's fantastic. It's already helped me and continues to do so. This dog is going to turn out awesome!
Oh, and I remembered what my Dad used to do to get our dogs to go play in the yard...toss a handful of the little biscuits out there. They spend the first five minutes eating them up, and the next 15 searching and re-searching in case they missed any. Then they're tired and full. heh I'm going to start doing this.