I have a question as to the easiest way to transition my pup from living inside the house to outside. Does anyone have any tips or pointers on how to do this? Is it a gradual thing or which way is best for he and I both because I'll admit I'm gonna miss the little guy like crazy, he's bonded with everyone in my house and I just want to make it as easy as possible for my little buddy. So any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Hi there and welcome! The simplest answer is that he needs to stay inside with you and your family. Dogs are social animals and to put him outside alone is not good for his mental or physical health. In some cultures, it is a very normal thing to put a dog outside by himself or to think that, for whatever reason, dogs do not belong inside the house. If you belong to one of these cultures, I understand why you think that perhaps he must go outside to live. However, I ask that you please look outside how your friends or family live with dogs and try to open your way of thinking to a new possibility. When you adopt a dog, he doesn't have a choice in the matter. He must trust you to do the best thing for him and to treat him with kindness as well as food, shelter, proper exercise and medical care. It sounds like you love him very much and want to do the right thing for him. The right thing is to keep him in the house with the family he has already learned to love and trust. Please don't break that trust or his heart. He will not understand and it is not fair to him. Now, how you keep him inside is open to debate. And we've debated here on the Forum! Some people - like me - are "dogs in the bed for life", other people let the dogs anywhere in the house but have dog beds on the floor for them and others prefer to keep the living areas of the house dog-friendly but not allow the dogs into the bedrooms. So's there's really lots of flexibility so that your pup can be happy and so can you. But the common denominator: dogs are not outside animals, so please, please continue to keep the promise you made to him when you adopted him and keep him in the house as part of your family where he belongs. If you have specific issues with allergies, how to keep your house clean living with a dog, etc., please keep asking questions here. The Forum has many knowledgeable people and no matter what your issue, there will be someone here who can help answer your questions.
I grew up in a warm climate and the dogs kennels were on the verandah and they slept and were fed outside but during the day doors to the garden were left open and they came in and out as they pleased. All except for my brothers staffie who slept inside with a bathroom mat tucked in over her during the winter. Then my mum was attacked in the middle of the night. Somehow the attackers managed to lure the dog away (only one at this time). Poor thing reappeared later that day a bit dazed. Since then the dogs have slept next to my parents bed. So from a security perspective dogs inside is better.
Hi Mag44. First and foremost, i struggled a bit with the question of leaving Wuki outside or keeping him inside. But we ended having him outside, and for us it has worked nicely because we prepared the way for Wuki from the start. From the experience I'm having, while Labradors are very social dogs, they also are quite smart and adaptable. The fact they are dependable, is a mix of genetics and the way we manage them from the start. Wuki was used to be sometime alone from the start, always monitored by me on the first months he got to our home, and that made him a tad more independent than the usual labs (and yet he follows me everywhere at home). I think the most important thing, is that you get to be a lot of time with your dog, despite where he usually stays. And mind that despite him being out, you still have to walk him, train him, pamper him, and remember all the time he is part of your family! I can tell you that when we are home, Wuki is most of the time with us, and it's the only way that he will learn his place and behave at the house. But that is a commitment i did to myself when we got Wuki, he stays outside, but if we're home, he is with us. I hope with this don't get you too anxious around the idea of having your dog sleep outside only on the "labs are too dependable" or "dogs are social animals" flag - I'm not saying it's not true, but each dog is different from another, for a multitude of reasons, just like people are. Another thing you need to have in mind, is that having your dog outside, is not the biggest problem, but the way you retain him at your place (I'll assume you have a garden) is of paramount importance. Having him at a leech all the time unnatended is NOT an option, not only it might hurt his neck, as it will dessensitize him and it might turn him anxious, hurt and aggressive even towards you! Also having him run over the whole garden might not be a good idea and finally, labs can jump real high, so you need to fence your garden for at least 1.8 meters high. You will also need to study what kind of plants you have, because a LOT of the plants we use for gardening are poisonous or at least toxic in some manner for dogs, and labs are crasy for eating crap, plants included!!! If this is the case, i would still not use a leach the whole time, and instead use a metal Kennel. You also need to consider your region's temperatures. If your city has negative temps on a frequent basis, having him outside might not be a good idea. It's important to have a shelted place, and a dog house. Mind the size of the dog house, Wuki's is 1mx1mx1.5m. It's really BIG! This seems a lot of stuff, but remember that hopefully your friend will be living here for his whole LONG life. Now once you have all this issues sorted out, you must present your dog his new home. He wont like it at first, so start by putting him there only for his meals. If the kennel is big enough get inside with him, and play with him there. Present the kennel and the dog house separated. We did this on 2 week instances, first fed Wuki in the kennel for 2 weeks and played there a bunch of time. Then at the third week we introduced the house for a week and let him at the kennel for some time, increasing the time he was there. Once the house is there, put some of his toys in it. Most times they start using the house naturally as they seek for shelter easilly. We talked to our vet about this transition, and what she dold us is that the longer and gradual the transition the better. For us, even with Wuki being more independent i took about 1 month to the whole process be complete. Wuki never cried in the process, does not growl, and you notice he is really a happy dog, despite living outside. PS.: I was forgetting... We only let Wuki start to sleep outside around 6 months old. I don't think before this age would be a good idea, because though labs are double coated they only shed a thicker coat around this time (Wuki still has the whiteish fur coat on his bely!).
For both the humans and the dogs. I wanted to keep my original reply quite positive and encouraging, but the truth of the matter is that dogs risk getting stolen or killed if they are left unattended in back gardens. Maybe not Labradors as much as breeds that I have owned, but this was an issue both in California, where I'm originally from and in Spain, where I live for part of the year. It is an issue in many other places as well. This isn't "I heard from a friend of a friend" sort of thing - this is knowing and witnessing the absolute misery of people whose dogs have been taken from their fenced back gardens, usually in broad daylight when they are not home, and never found again. To me, this is my worst nightmare. And if you live in an area where illegal dog fighting takes place, dogs may be stolen not only to fight (as is a common fate of Rotties or Pits which are stolen) but breeds with reputations as being "soft"/"friendly" can be used as bait dogs. If you don't know what that means...trust me, you don't WANT to know what that means. And the sad truth is that there are lots of people out there who hate dogs - for whatever reason - and will simply throw tainted meat over the fence. I know three people in Spain who have come home to find their dogs dead this way. This is a very ugly topic and may be quite upsetting to read, but depending on where you live, it is unfortunately something anyone should consider before leaving their dogs outside. I honestly am not trying to be mean or judgemental, but please do consider all the ramifications of an "outside dog".
My Vet is all for dogs being outside when the owner is at work. IF it's safe for the dog. Dog has water, shade, cooling, heat, isn't bored and lonely and bark all day and annoy mean neighbours or nice neighbours, is protected from bad people. He'd rather see the dog outside with room to move, able to pee and poop when necessary and entertained by animal and or people life going by than stuck in a crate for more than a few hours. My childhood dog was outside. If I had him today he probably would be still as he was a heavy coated dog and could take the weather. But I would protect him from the kids who threw stones at him and the four year old who came in our yard and hit him with a shovel. Thank God the times he broke his heavy chain that kid was not around. Oh, and I wouldn't chain him, I'd have a fenced kennel run.
Over the summer, the dogs had the choice of being in the house with me sat on the bed while I worked, or being outside, in our one acre fenced area around the house. The door was open so they could come and go as they pleased. 95% of the time, they chose to be inside with me. I think that speaks volumes as to their social needs.
I like Emily live in an area were dog theft is an hazard. Dogs have Been stolen from gardens. a lab and a labradoddle very recently One got back home one didn't. One was stolen from a home recently and never been found. I don't advertise my dogs live at my house no labs live here or beware of the dog signs all gates are locked all dogs are locked in even if I'm in and they are never just left in a garden it's too risky. i wouldn't leave a dog outside here if i was out,I don't even do that even when I'm in.
Hi and welcome from me, Hattie 9 years and our rescue boy Charlie 6 years. Unfortunately it's quite common in the UK for gun dogs especially to be stolen from outside kennels and gardens only to be sold on to unsuspecting buyers, some are bred from and dumped when they are of no further use or already neutered . It's a terribly sad and awful thing to happen to the dogs owners. There are people on this forum that have moved their dogs into the house because of this. Our property is completely secure and I have a court yard with a 10ft wrought iron gate that is always locked, my dogs have access to this area but like @snowbunny's dogs they choose to be with us unless we are sitting out in the summer months. I know it's a different matter in some countries. Where do you live @Mag44?
He is a British lab so he is going to be a very large dog. I have had 2 labs before that stayed outside but I sent them off to hunting school when they were young so I didn't get to bond with them like I am doing with this one. I'd like to keep him inside but I can't stand my house smelling like a dog and my carpets getting muddy. I realize this comes with the territory with a lab so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Ziggy is 18 weeks and nearly 20 kg, he going to be a big boy. When I bought him home at 8 weeks he slept in the lounge for the first week, we have an enclosed verandah and this is his kennel lol. He sleeps and eats on the verandah, has access to grass for pee n poo and access to backyard. When I go out he is left outside ..access to verandah at all times. He spends a lot of time inside with me too. This works well for us.
We We use aquasorb cloths to wipe the muddy dogs down, if really muddy we hose them down outside first. We wash their beds often - the house has no mud and no doggy smell. Zaba has a bit of a 'boy' smell so we wipe him down with Cowboy Magic once a day. No smell.
My dogs don't smell day to day. Only when they roll in something gross. I don't like carpets, so we're solid flooring throughout. Wood in Andorra and tiles in Spain. Easy to clean!
I'm so paranoid about my house smelling like dog. It's plug in central. Probably makes it smell worse
My house doesn't smell like dog, heck, the dog doesn't smell like dog. I do find dogs kenneled outside are more likely to smell doggy but I think that's because their bedding doesn't get the cleaning it would if they were inside. As for mud, a pond, the hose, some towels, no mud.
I honestly think that anyone who thinks their dog is 'ok' being outside alone is just kidding themselves. Dogs are social animals, and that's that. Their place is inside, with their families.
Agree with this. 110% Also, if you over-wash and clean your dogs I believe they smell more. I don't believe my home smells of dog. Maybe my front hall where all the the wet towels and boots and stuff are. I think regular washing of bedding helps keep most smells at bay. When my dog was regularly swimming and getting shampoo'ed after she smelled more than now when she just gets a rinse. You may be worrying about nothing - why don't you give the indoor dog life a go - we are sure you won't regret it.
When I got my first dog my oh wanted them to be kennelled in a large kennel unit and not in the house. When I got the pup he had to stay in the house because he was so small. Doug Never did make it to a kennel, but I never intended him too anyway. The kennel thing was never going to happen Oh realised how nice it was to have a dog around we,'ve had 2 more since and they all house dogs.I like my dogs with me i like it and i think they do too.
