One dog inside, the other outside (labs, poop, vet, breeder)
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Ok, so here's my situation.I prefer responses from those who have experience with this situation. We have a small/medium dog who has been an outside dog due to her not being housebroken. Yes we've tried. Well we just acquired another dog yesterday an unaltered maltese female, she's about 18 months. Very friendly gets along with kids and other dog. My question is does anyone see any problems with having one dog remain outside and the other stay inside? Our first dog is not crate trained. She refuses to not go in the crate we even made her space just big enough to fit her laying down. No food/water, take her potty outside and she goes yet she still manages to go in the crate??? Newer dog is crate trained. Any ideas? We were thinking about trying to bring her in again since she's a little older, but definitely don't want her "bad" business habits to rub off to the other dog.
The outside dog will notice the other gets to come and will feel like she is not part of the "pack" and won't understand why she doesn't get to come in, but the other does.
Your new dog shouldn't pick up bad habits. When we got our 2nd he wasn't house trained(which was loads of fun having a non-house-trained 50lb dog) but our first dog never picked up his habits. It took him 2 weeks before he stopped just going in the house and about 3 months before he didn't have *any* accidents* he hates pooping in the rain. He is fully trained now.
I would try not crating. We didn't crate ours, even the un-trained one(we tried but they both just cried because he was stuck in a box and they couldn't play). I confined him to the room I was in to watch him. If I caught him in the act I would tell him "NO" and lead him outside, if I missed him going I just ignored it. When he went outside he got treats/praise etc. Oh and we had to walk him, he wouldn't just go in the yard, and I rewarded him like immediately after, which was harder to do if he went in the back corner of the yard.
I was home most of the time, so I think that made a difference, it may be harder if people are gone during the day.
I would try and baby-gate her into somewhere without carpet, and a longgg walk before you leave and when you come back. She can't have accidents if she sleeps all day.
I agree. I can't see how the dog that was there first could see the situation as fair-and dogs do understand fair! The second dog would be seen as an interloper and replacement imo, and it could make it difficult for them to continue to get along. If they stay on the same footing and become friends, there's a good chance the first dog will learn to enjoy the crate by watching your new dog.
I'm not going to say how I feel about outside dogs, because you didn't ask that. But since you seem to think it would be preferable for both dogs to be inside, give them a chance to grow closer, keep the open crate available when everyone is home, and work on getting your old dog used to the crate.
Oh, and I realize you wanted people with experience of this situation, but you won't find many who regularly visit this forum who have outside dogs at all. I can think of one person who has inside and outside dogs, but their outside dogs are working dogs, and their inside dogs are pets, so the dogs aren't really interacting anyway.
Oh, and I realize you wanted people with experience of this situation, but you won't find many who regularly visit this forum who have outside dogs at all. I can think of one person who has inside and outside dogs, but their outside dogs are working dogs, and their inside dogs are pets, so the dogs aren't really interacting anyway.
I do not see keeping dogs outside as a problem.
Kennels can be very nice.
But, like you said........our outside dogs have jobs.
If I understand you correctly, your first dog is being kept outside because she is not only having accidents in the house, but also in her crate...
I have had this problem with one of my dogs. While all of my dogs are rescues, she was the only one who was used as a breeder in a puppy mill and kept in a cage up until I adopted her at 4 years of age. For her, going to the bathroom in her "personal space" was her only option and was normal for her. Potty training her was a painfully long and frustrating process, but we able to be successful with her. The usual crate training didn't work because she was used to soiling her crate (since she was rarely, if ever, let out of it). I have no easy answers...I just stuck it out...luckily, someone was able to be home with her at all times and I literally set a timer to remind me to let her outside every half an hour at first...when she went potty outside, I made a HUGE deal of it. I would have special treats that she ONLY got for going to the bathroom outside (pieces of meat or cheese) and I praised her like she had just discovered the cure for cancer. When she had an accident in the house, I didn't scold her or punish her, I just picked her up and went outside and reminded her to do it there instead.
Also, if you haven't already, you may want to take your dog to see a vet about the problem...she could have a UTI , incontinence or some other medical problem that is making your efforts to housetrain her so difficult. My newest addition to our "pack" was having accidents in the house and it turns out that she is incontinent (and she's only a little over a year old). Poor girl is perfectly housetrained, but she would pee in her sleep, wake up, realize that she was laying in wet bedding and slink off to hide somewhere. Honestly, I think that the way she acted after having an accident would have been interpreted as "guilt" by some people...this is not the case. She had no control over the accident and was confused and possibly scared (perhaps she had been punished for it in her previous home).
No matter why your first dog is having accidents in the house, she doesn't deserve to be isolated outside. I understand that it is very frustrating (and gross) when she uses the house as a toilet, but dogs are generally pack animals and need company and social interaction.
Train the first dog. If it isn't housebroken, that's on you not on the dog. I've had a stray who was an outside dog until the bitter cold weather came and, even with a heating element, we decided he needed to come in. First we kept him in the inside porch - but as time wore on, we let him have more access to the full house. He still sleeps at night "in his room" just as my service dog has her room in which to sleep.
I had never believed in keeping a dog outside until this guy. He obviously spent most of his life outside - he's a very large hound at 70# - and he still prefers to spend most days outside. Now that spring weather has arrived, both dogs are hanging out on the porch and deck just watching nature and the occasional car that passes. But they are both now indoor dogs at night. With the warm weather approaching, I think the big old guy will prefer to sleep in his house on the outside porch but he will not be restricted from the house. Both dogs are pets and not LGDs.
So, it is possible to have an outside dog but I don't see the reason. Not being housebroken is not a valid reason to me. I foster dogs and I have had some that were feral. It takes very little time (days) to housebreak a puppy (even a feral one) - and older dogs are faster, IMMO. What it takes is dedication to the process of housebreaking. It means taking the dog for a walk every 2 hours at minimum initially and watching for signs of needing to go in between. Puppies that play hard often have to potty more often. As soon as the puppy diverts from the play, it is needing to go so get it outside ASAP. You can't decide to be lazy and make the dog wait. It cannot.
I have a huge problem with the expectation that a dog potty in its crate. I wouldn't expect a person to sleep and/or eat in a bathroom. Most dogs have a big aversion to pottying where it sleeps. (except as noted in the reply above.)
Moving its bowels generally happens within 1/2 hour of eating - so time your feedings accordingly. I allow my dogs to self-feed throughout the day/night but they do get a dinner of a small portion of wet food. However, because I trained my service dog to "go on command", she has mostly regular times for this in the morning and evening. Sometimes she needs to go earlier due to a meeting or appointment I have and that's where the command comes in.
Keep in mind that a puppy needs to go 1 hour for every month in age. So a 3 month old needs to go at minimum every 3 hours. I would not ask an adult to hold it for more than 8 hours and that's a stretch. I don't like making a dog wait more than 6 hours - it's just a strain on the bladder.
So, my answer to your question is yes, it can be done but I think you'd be foolish to do it this way.
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