Can a dog that has been an outside for more than a year adapt to being an inside dog ? (clean, vet)
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I have a friend who is talking with someone about taking in their dog . This dog has been an outside dog for more than a year . Her husband does not want to take the dog because he is afraid the dog has no house manners and is not housebroken and will ruin their house . The dog is almost 5 yrs old . They are not sure about fleas and such either . do any of you posters have experience with an outside dog that has been outside for more than a year becoming an inside dog ? also she is worried that it would be like having a puppy all over again and having to housebreak it again . I had no advice to give her because I don't let my dogs live outside .I would appreciate anything I could pass along .
Our dog was two when we took him in. I am pretty sure he had never been allowed inside a house up until that time. We did have to housetrain him. Having a doggy door helped a ton. If that five year old dog had previously been an indoor dog prior to the year spent outside, he may be even easier to housetrain, or he might even remember.
It sounds like your friend will be saving that dog from a miserable situation. Hope it all works out.
It can be done but it likely will take time and patience. I say this not so much from direct personal experience but from my experience volunteering at animal intake at my local Humane Society. We have taken in dogs that were outside dogs and dogs that had never used a leash. They can't be adopted out right away because they do need work and socialization. Typically our behaviorist will work with them at the shelter for a little while to evaluate them and then we will put them in a foster home that has experience with that sort of socialization. Some come along quickly, others take much longer. It's hard to say what will be the case about the particular dog your friend wants to adopt.
One thing I do want to interject doesn't have to do with the dog directly. As I mentioned I volunteer at animal intake. We often get surrenders with a story about how one spouse really wanted a dog and the other really didn't want it. Somehow they ended up adopting despite the misgivings of one spouse, agree to give it a go or whatever. Too often that creates too much tension in the relationship and the dog ends up getting surrendered. I commend your friend for wanting to get the dog out of that situation, but if her husband is really not comfortable about it she may be doing better for the dog by finding it another home or advocating for its surrender at a shelter. Obviously, I have no insight into the dynamics of their marriage but I just wanted to note this issue from what I have seen. If the dog would end up just getting surrendered in three months anyway it would be better to decrease the number of upheavals in its life.
It can depend heavily on the breed of the dog. My two Great Pyrenees wouldn't stay on 20 acres surrounded by thousands of acres of vacant crop and grassland. I often would find them miles away from the farm. They would have literally died if constrained inside a house.
Some dog breeds will not do well indoors and some will not even do well if they are placed behind a fence. I would research the breed you plan to take in very well before commiting to doing anything.
Then too, five years is pretty old for a dog to be trying to learn new tricks, especially a male dog.
Of course an outdoor dog can learn to live indoors. The dog is going to feel like he won the lottery.
The dog is already accustomed to relieving himself outside and he already has a mature bladder, so house training is going to consist of teaching him how he gets the door to open and let him out. Although, warning, an intact male has to be watched like a hawk for teh first week so that he can learn not to scent mark inside the house. It's not hard if you can catch him the first couple of times, but very difficult if he gets way with marking and you only catch him now and again.
The flea issue, all you have to do is to coat the dog in flea powder and let it set for a few minutes before you put the dog into your car.
Things like leash training are easy to do if you use cookies and lure training.
I'm going to second the opinion, though, that no dog should go to a home where one adult wants him and the other adult doesn't.
Absolutely. There will be an adjustment period and they will need to be patient and train him but the rescue I volunteer with does it all the time. We rescue dogs that have been living on the streets and they make great pets. The dogs are so very happy to be allowed in with the family.
I have a friend who is talking with someone about taking in their dog . This dog has been an outside dog for more than a year . Her husband does not want to take the dog because he is afraid the dog has no house manners and is not housebroken and will ruin their house . The dog is almost 5 yrs old . They are not sure about fleas and such either . do any of you posters have experience with an outside dog that has been outside for more than a year becoming an inside dog ? also she is worried that it would be like having a puppy all over again and having to housebreak it again . I had no advice to give her because I don't let my dogs live outside .I would appreciate anything I could pass along .
My Husky cross I had was an outside dog exclusively for most of her life. She was 12 when the ex and I divorced and she went with me to my new place. I started letting her in and she was fine. Always asked to go out with no training at all when she needed to potty, picked out her sleeping and chilling spots, couldn't have asked for better from a dog that was raised from puppyhood in the house. She was quite large, well over a hundred pounds, and I did need to make sure sensitive items were out of range of her tail.
She lived to be well over 16, and I spoiled her rotten in her golden years. During the colder months she actually preferred to be outside during the day. She was OK in at night, but would still ask to go out. She liked the cold. Was well equipped for it and would get too hot easy. During the Summer being in with the AC worked well for her. I do miss her. Toward the end she did mess in the house sometimes, but it wasn't her fault. She just lost control and couldn't help it.
I still made her time as comfortable as possible. She got the best food and all manner of "forbidden" treats. Apple fritters were her absolute favorite. Her hips got to bothering her real bad so I started medicating her, which worked out well. I got some anti inflammatory meds from the vet and when I knew she was very uncomfortable I would even give her adjusted doses of the opiates prescribed to me for my degenerative bone condition. She was so old I figured what could it hurt. It worked and she could even get up and be a little frisky. She had always been so blasted loyal and loving I wasn't going to see her suffer. The narcotics made her last year comfortable and more than bearable and she actually had quality of life. She passed quietly one night, in her sleep, and we had actually been able to play that day. There's a special place in Heaven for her.
But I digress. She adapted to life inside very well and she was quite old before she had opportunity to come in. I'm not saying every dog would be as good as she was. She was a VERY smart critter and had a VERY unique personality. But, outside dogs can come indoors without trouble. Depends on the dog. Strictly indoors could be problematic. She was inside/outside. A dog raised outdoors is going to want out. My dog had her outside potty spot and that's where she wanted to go, and she liked to be out just to be out as well.
We adopted a dog about 14-18 month old, who was recovered from a farm field, and who apparently had never been indoors (he was a mess with mange and boils all over his body). He had 3-4 "accidents" in the first week, and has been fine ever since (even though he was on mange medication for about the first 6 weeks or so).
I have two other dogs, and I get them out 3-4 times a day to potty, so it may have been pack dynamics/expectations more than my ability to potty train - I think having dogs with established routines makes it easier to integrate and train a dog on potty issues, barking, etc. I don't punish for an accident inside but I praise for pottying outside (still do, even with my 5 YO dog). It has been an effective method for me, and limits clean ups to an occasional barf or a very, very, rare diarrhea event from illness.
update : these people who were giving the dog up lied their butts off that dog was loaded with fleas and he was vicious , he did not like her other dog and was showing teeth , her other dog was a small pomerainian and the dog in question was a german sheherd . that dog crapped all over her house and he peed all over her house last night she called the people this morning to come get him , she had to put him outside he snapped at her when she was trying to feed him . The previous owners came and got him she told them what happened and they were like "well it must have been you because he has never done that before " . of all the nerve to say that to someone . she told them they might be better off giving him to a rescue that deals with aggression , although I told her they might put him down which I most likely should not have said .
update : these people who were giving the dog up lied their butts off that dog was loaded with fleas and he was vicious , he did not like her other dog and was showing teeth , her other dog was a small pomerainian and the dog in question was a german sheherd . that dog crapped all over her house and he peed all over her house last night she called the people this morning to come get him , she had to put him outside he snapped at her when she was trying to feed him . The previous owners came and got him she told them what happened and they were like "well it must have been you because he has never done that before " . of all the nerve to say that to someone . she told them they might be better off giving him to a rescue that deals with aggression , although I told her they might put him down which I most likely should not have said .
I agree that your friend should return the dog but the dog may never have done that with his previous family.
It sounds like there was no attempt to allow the dogs to get used to each other gradually. You can't just throw 2 dogs together and assume they will get along. If the dog had spent it's entire life in the back yard it probably wasn't well socialized.
Which brings me to the next point, of course since the dog was living outside, it wasn't housebroken. It had no idea that it wasn't appropriate to eliminate in the house. She needed to treat it like it was a puppy and housebreak it. Maybe he was food aggressive or maybe he could sense her anger or frustration and was afraid. I'm sure the dog was totally confused. It stood zero chance of succeeding in the new home given what I read.
I really hope the original owners give the dog to a rescue. It doesn't sound like it's being cared for appropriately. It may be perfectly fine in the right home.
If your friend decides to adopt another dog, she should do some research on how to introduce a new dog to an existing dog and how to acclimate a dog to a new home.
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