Help me train my dog to be in the yard.

[Momily]

As some of you may remember we had a last minute scramble to find a house with a yard for Lyle. We chose this house solely because it had a beautiful big (for our urban neighborhood) yard with a big privacy fence.

Lyle wants nothing to do with it.

He won't play in it even if we're outside with him, won't go to the bathroom in it unless he's truly desperate (and NEVER #2), and, given the choice would rather not spend time in it.

We spent the day today with friends with a similar sized yard, and a similar sized dog and the two dogs ran in and out. Lyle explored their whole yard, got lots of exercise etc . . .

So, how do I teach him to like his yard? Here would be my goals:

1) To be able to send him outside with my son to get some exercise (e.g. fetch, chase, tug of war, all of which he's thrilled to play in living room or dog park). At this point the only real way to give him any exercise in the back yard is to go up and down the stairs to the deck. If I start up he'll rush up ahead of me to make sure doesn't miss the door. So I can start up, and then turn around and come back down and he'll do some laps, but it's not exactly fun.

2) To be able to send him outside to use the bathroom if for some reason a walk doesn't make sense right now (e.g. last night I went out with a friend -- took Lyle out for a nice long walk at 5:30 before I left, and got home at midnight. Given the realities of our neighborhood I wasn't thrilled to have to walk him again at that hour, but of course he can't go from 5:30 p.m. until the next morning so out we went).

3) To send him outside for an hour or two and not feel guilty. He'll go if I send him out, but he just lies there on the deck and watches me with guilt inducing eyes. He doesn't bark EVER unless he's playing with another dog, so he's not causing trouble or disturbing the neighbors but I feel really mean. Sometimes, though, it's nice to not have him underfoot -- e.g. if I'm bringing groceries in or cleaning up a spill in the kitchen.

Any suggestions on how to build these skills?

[Sailor]

There has to be a reason he doesn't like the yard. So, I would start making the yard SUPER fun. Lots of treats, lots of toys he loves (and only use those toys outside, so he can only enjoy them outside), lots of games he enjoys, etc.

You have to make the yard a place that has toys he loves in it, and games he loves in it, but that can be ONLY used outside.

When he goes potty in the yard, praise the heck out of it and treat. I mean, make it the BIGGEST deal in the world, as if he just did something amazing. And give him something he really loves to eat as a treat (but something he can eat in one bite).

You could hang a bell on the back door, and teach him to ring it when he needs to potty. That's one way of making sure the connotation of backyard = potty stays.

Eventually, you'll be able to say "potty" and open the door, and he'll go out by himself, coming back in when he's done. My dog got that pretty quick.

Number 3 can be difficult as dogs just don't exercise themselves. Unfortunately, lol. So, it's not uncommon to let a dog out into the yard, and have him want to come back in to be with the family. Alone, out there, there is nothing interesting for him. If he has no toys out there, it's downright boring. Especially if he's not a digger (some dogs love digging).

My GSD never enjoyed the outside alone, even when I had a backyard. I always went out there with him, unless it was just a potty break. Then, he went out and came right back in.

I think it would be easier to train him to be out of the way inside, i.e. not to be underfoot when you're doing something. But, to lie on his bed or chew some toy of his. I use the command "crate" when my dog needs to be out of the way inside. I did this by giving him something extra special (a peanut butter and treat filled frozen kong) each time I had him go into the crate. He gets that ONLY in the crate, and only when I ask him to go in there (which, nowadays is rare as he knows commands like "leave it" or "stay" or "lie down". So, I can clean things up without him in the way. After a while, when I said crate, he ran for it, lol.

You could do the same with the outside, actually. Give him something comfy to lie on out there, get a kong and stuff it with peanut butter and treats. Freeze it. And then give it to him ONLY when he goes outside to be out of the way. You can use the command word "out" for this. Eventually, you'll say "out" and he'll go with or without the kong.

Point is, though, if you can teach him commands like: lie down, stay, leave it, drop it, sit, etc., then even when you're cleaning up a spill, if you saw him coming, you could just say "lie down, stay" and that would stop him.

[Momily]

Thanks for the thoughts.

About the reason why, I assume he's got some mild separation anxiety and associates the yard with us going inside.

I can't praise him for going there because he doesn't go there. He goes on the leash, or in a friend's yard, or at the dog park. I'm working on telling him "hurry hurry" and having him go, in hopes that I can then take him outside tell him "hurry hurry" and the light will go off. I think the problem, though, is that there are no other doggie smells to cover for #1, and he's not active enough to stimulate #2 (he generally only does that about half an hour into a walk). I've also thought about "borrowing" the dogs of a few friends and letting them mark up the dog, hoping it would stimulate Lyle to "cover" their marks which would give me something to praise like crazy.

The playing with him would work, except he won't play outside. We bring toys but the same exact toy thrown the same exact way that would make him jump and run and chase in the dog park (even if were empty) elicits a sad look like "you think I'm going to chase that?" I don't know if he'd take a treat outside -- he doesn't like the car either, and if you give him a treat in the car he spits it out. When he doesn't like something he gets very quiet and sad.

Two things he loves are training and cheese. I got him to like the bedroom (again, a place he associates with us leaving, because he stays there when I'm at work) by spending 15 minutes every day training him and rewarding him with cheese in the backyard? I also wonder if I could convince him to play "hide and seek" with cheese treats in the yard? Maybe if I kept him on leash the first few times so he knew I wasn't leaving he'd be willing to explore? I haven't tried him on the leash out there yet.

Do you think these ideas would work?

Thanks!

[Sailor]

Actually, the "hide and seek" with cheese is a GREAT idea. I do this with my dog too - it's a really fun game, and mentally challenging. I hide something, and he seeks it.

You would first have to do it on the leash, but use the command "seek" and then when he finds a piece of cheese, you can follow up with "good seek."

After a few leash runs with this, he should be able to do it himself if you just say the word "seek." Sometimes you have to show him a piece of cheese, and then say "seek." It's actually a really good way for them to enjoy whatever place they're kept in.

That's interesting that he doesn't go at all in the yard ... your dog sounds eccentric. I mean that in a good way. All dogs are quirky. Mine won't lie down normally, he will rear up on his hind legs and then dramatically collapse into the lie down position, while giving a little grumble. He's REALLY dramatic about this, I mean over the top. It's funny, but I can't train this out of him, and it's why we always lost points in competitions.

I think borrowing other dogs can't hurt.

What if you avoided walks and the dog park for awhile, and just used the yard for potty and exercise? Then he would have no choice but to go in the yard. Maybe, after awhile, the yard association would be "oh, fun and exercise and potty" versus "oh, the family is leaving."

[Momily]

Thanks Sailor,

I will definitely try the cheese and seek thing. I thought I'd tether him where he can watch me, hide the cheese, and then take him to find them, click and treat when he does. Then move to have him watch me and then let him go off leash, click and treat, and then leave him in the house while I hide them? Eventually I hope I can move to hiding something like his beloved squeaky tennis balls. Does this sound like a good plan?

I'm not willing to give up the walks and dog park yet. He's still really new to us (5 weeks) and I feel like the walks and play sessions in the dog park are a big part of how he's building his connection to us, so if my choices are to give them up or still have a dog who dislikes the yard I'll keep them up.

And just to clarify, when I say "leave" I don't put him in the yard and leave the house, I put him in the yard and then go back inside and switch a load of laundry -- something like that. Although this morning, I do admit that I put him out at 7 and went back to sleep for 2 more hours. Probably not a good idea.

[Ola_]

Do *you* spend time in the yard? It sounds like he wants to be with you, his pack. He's probably a little lonely out there on his own (whereas with his canine buddy he had someone to occupy him).

I'm not sure if it's a good idea to leave him out there for an hour or two, sounds like an opportunity for him to get into trouble. You've put a lot of effort to make him comfortable in your house and avoid separation anxiety, and it sounds like being alone in the yard is a bit stressful for him.

Will he potty there if you take him out there on leash? That may be an easy way to start and reward a lot. It's not unusual that he won't poop there unless he really has to go, as the exercise of walking stimulates the bowels.

[beanma]

I think the cheese and seek sounds like a great idea. Did you find a clicker he likes?

Our older dog, Seamus, has never liked being in the bakyard by himself, either, but he will go out for 5 or 10 minutes and do a quick check of the perimeter and pee and poop if he needs to. Poppy, our crazy lab/coonhound/mix puppy would spend all day out there, but unfortunately we can't let her right now until we get a bigger fence since she figured out it's really easy for her to jump the little one we have now.

Maybe your family could have a picnic in the backyard. Lyle might like that and maybe he'd realize that y'all enjoy it. Do you do any gardening. Maybe you could plant a shrub or something and just you being out there might let him associate it with good things. He's probably just anxious when he's out there that you're going to leave him. If you could just hang out in the yard part of the yard and not just on the deck for a good long time (take a book and park yourself under a tree) he might start sniffing around a bit.

Good luck. He sounds like a great dog!

[Piglet68]

Our situation may be a bit different in that we just brought our do home 3 days ago and she is rather timid but the "symptoms" are similar.

For eliminating, when she wakes up in the morning the first thing I do is put her on the leash and take her to the "potty area" of the yard. At first she wants to play but I act bored and look around and after a minute or so she starts sniffing. I mean, after sleeping all night she HAS to go, so if you are patient I bet you could do the same with your dog.

It also took her a few days to go outside by herself. She only just did it today, in fact. The kids are dying to run around and play with her but so far she won't go out there unless I'm there, too. So today, for example, I went out with her and the kids and we played. Btw, she is on a leash most of the time (a 30 ft long line). When she first came home she would sometimes try to rush back into the house but I'd just step on the line and call her at the same time.

So my tips are: take him outside first thing in the morning and wait until he does his business in the yard. And two: have him on a leash while in the yard (at first).

[Sol_y_Paz]

This sums up my feelings on yard dogs.
http://wisedogblog.com/blog1.php/200...g-dogs-outside
HTH some.

[beanma]

Sol, did you even read the OP? She's not talking about leaving her dog outside when she goes to work, her dog seems very anxious to be out in the yard even with her out there, too! She wants help and advice to help him enjoy playing a game of fetch in the yard and to be able to let him out to pee.

Momily, any luck with the cheese and seek?

[Momily]

We've had a crazy few days here so I haven't had a chance to play cheese and seek, but he's actually doing better on the yard thing. The past few days if I go and stand on the deck he'll go down and pee. No poop in the yard yet, and he won't play with me in the yard (my son says that if I'm nowhere around he'll play a little with him. I think the thought of me leaving makes him anxious, whereas if I'm already gone maybe he's more relaxed?). Anyway, Cheese and Treat is at the top of my to do list for the weekend.

I should add that there's no way this dog will ever be a "yard dog". I don't want him the yard all day, I just want to be able to let him out to pee once in a while, or be able to play together in the safety of the yard when it's too dark for a walk in our neighborhood.

[Melaniee]

What about putting him on the leash and walking him around the yard for 10 minutes?

[mistymama]

Not sure what that yard dog blog had to do with any of this. ???

Anyway, Lyle seems really motivated by treats and time spent with you - so I think the hide and seek idea is a great one! I might also spend time with him back there, maybe walk him on a leash (he probably knows you will not leave him when he's on one) and give lots of praise and a few treats. Anything to make him associate the back yard with good things.

Like a PP said, I'd really limit his time out there alone, which it sounds like you do anyway. It probably wont help his love of the backyard if he knows he might be away from you for any extended period of time, kwim?

I also really like the idea of training him to stay on his bed, or in a room when you need him out of the way. We've trained Beanie to do this - the command is "get in your crate" and he gets a special treat. We do it whenever I need to mop, have company over will small children, etc. It's a really nice command to have them learn, and it would keep Lyle out of your way without him feeling banished to the backyard he hates.

[Doodlebugsmom]

OP, I have two dogs who don't like to stay in the yard by themselves either. Granted, they're older (14 and 9) and not too active. We have a deck outside our back door and steps that lead down into our large, privacy-fenced yard. They will go into the yard to go to the bathroom, but they don't hang out there. They do LOVE to lay on the deck, which is right outside the door of our main floor of our house. However, they only like the stay out there if the door is open for them to come in. (They're pretty smart girls!) If the door is closed, they just bark and bark to come in. Have you tried leaving the door open so your pooch can come and go as he wishes?

Oh, and I don't know how long you've lived there, but when we first moved here one of mine wouldn't go near the backyard even to potty. She actually ran into the garage and pooped a couple times. After a couple of weeks, she got used to it.

Good luck!