Hi there, I have had 3 rescue dogs for (many) years now and have gotten my first puppy. We live on a farm and have lots of space. I find my puppy falls asleep best out on the front porch. He falls asleep within 3 minutes, where as in the hosue he cannot seem to settle down. He is fine to go in the crate when I leave the house etc, so trying to crate train him to nap shouldn't be a big issue, I just haven't attempted since he falls asleep outside. I am wondering people's thoughts on allowing him to fall asleep outside? I have had him for 1 week today and he is just over 12 weeks old now. Sometimes I bring him in to sleep inside once he falls asleep, and others I let him snooze away. He gets a lot of social interaction with the 3 dogs at home and all the dogs he meets. He also has a lot of human interaction and play time. He sleeps inside in my bed just fine all night long. It only seems to be the day naps that he cannot settle inside for. If he stays outside while sleeping, I check on him every 5 minutes or so just to be sure he is doing OK. Does anyone have any suggestions to be aware of for letting such a young pup sleep outside? I want to make sure he is indoor trained well, so that he is house trained well so I do ensure he is indoors a lot so we can work on house training. He lived in a house where all the puppies pooped and peed in the enclosed area all the time before I picked him up (11 weeks). We are working well with it I am well aware of dogs that love the indoors vs outdoors and also dogs that need attention vs dogs that don't. I have all spectrums with my 2 northern breads and 1 boxer X and now the pup I look forward to responses! -Gigi (new Labrador owner)
Hi Gigi and welcome. Personally I see no problem letting your pup nap on the porch, if that's where he feels able to relax. Assuming of course that your yard is safely fenced, and that no one can get in and steal him...
Thanks Karen. We live on acreage and there are pens for the farm animals, but the acreage itself isn't fully fenced. I decided to put him in his crate as he started getting silly this morning, for his nap. He went down super easy after a snuggle. We don't have many neighbours around here and my other 3 dogs would let me know if someone were to arrive up our drive; so I am not concerned about stealing. As he gets older I would just have to see that he doesn't wander off the property. The other 3 are good, so hopefully with training and their pack mentality, he will be a farm dog too! Also, I am home all day. When I do go, all dogs go inside the house and little one gets crated for now. It's funny how much you fuss over such a little creature to ensure he is safe and happy! Thanks!
Hi and welcome. The only thing that might concern me is if the porch is warm enough / cool enough for him. Other than that I would leave him be if he's happy there.
Really sad , we have had a few recent cases here in Ontario, Canada of just that. Lab pups being snatched. One right out the back seat of someones car in the middle of the day, another taken from the backyard dog run. Some people... Who steels puppies?
