# Dog that wants to be outside with us all day



## melissann00 (2 mo ago)

Hi there,

I've posted before "first time rescuer with questions". That might give some context but brief overview is that my husband and I just recently rescued our first dog. We're in our 4th week. He lived in a 10x10 pen outside most of his life and then in a horse stable with his foster parents.

My husband and I are struggling with being able to get things done/work from home. He barks at us non stop because he wants to be outside all day playing, but he doesn't go out into the yard on his own. If we send him outside on his own he'll just bark at the door. So right now we're surviving in a world where we take him on his first walk (30 minutes), play with him in the yard for a bit, then a constant barking at us for attention until we take him out on his second walk. Then constant barking all afternoon until night time when he settles down. He has no interest in chew toys, Kong toys, balls, or stuffed bones. Only bones from the butcher which I try not to give him TOO much of. He likes his puzzle feeder but that lasts a solid 2 minutes.

Any advice appreciated!


----------



## Lillith (Feb 16, 2016)

First, do you interact with him at all when he is barking? "Interaction" means anything from scolding to petting to any form of attention. It sounds like he is demand barking, and, unfortunately, the only way to make it stop is completely ignore him. Any attention is good attention to a dog who wants attention, even negative attention like scolding. When we first adopted our dog, who was around 5 months old at that time, he would bark at us all through any meal we ate at the table, nonstop. We pretended he did not exist. I believe it took at least two weeks (you tend to forget all the bad stuff about those early days...it tricks you into getting more dogs) before he finally gave up and went and laid on his bed because the barking got him absolutely nothing.

Also consider he might need help learning how to settle. Check out this video by Kikopup that helps you learn how to reward calm behaviors:


----------



## Toedtoes (Sep 25, 2021)

Remember, we purposely bred dogs to WANT to be with us.

Now add to that, he spent his entire life isolated from people. Then he was rescued and given attention for the first time. He was placed into a new world.

Everything is new to him. The one constant is YOU. He realizes that he wants you with him. It's fun, it's security, it's good.

Leaving him outside alone has to feel like abandonment to him. He doesn't know that you won't come back for him. He just knows that you left him out there alone just like he was before.

My recommendation is simple. Don't ignore him. Don't force him to stay outside alone. Start slow and give him time.

Let him out on his own. If he barks once, let him in. Do this for a few weeks. Then once in a while, when he barks, tell him "just a minute" and wait 20-60 seconds before letting him him. Keep doing this. 

In addition, at least once a day, go outside with him but don't play. Just stand or sit and let him explore. Be his security not his playmate. This lets him learn to be outside without being entertained.

The goal is to teach him that YOU have his back. You aren't going to just abandon him to the world. As he learns that you are not abandoning him, he will start to be comfortable enough to explore his yard on his own. It may only be 5-10 minutes at first. As he gains confidence and trust, the time between letting him out and his bark will increase. He may never be happy out on his own for hours at a time. That's fine. Don't force him to accept isolation - especially with his history.

Think about how you would feel in his paws. You spent all your life with no playmates locked up in this little room. Then one day, people came and started playing with you. It was fun. You realized how lonely you had been all that time. Then after a month, they started to send you to a room to play by yourself for hours. You'd be confused and hurt and unhappy. So is he.

And remember sone breeds and some individual dogs crave a ton of human interaction while others don't need as much. My Cat-dog (shepherd) is happy to wander around her backyard for a few hours at a time. Tornado-dog (russell terrier mix) isn't. Until he was one, he refused to stay outside unless I was out there with him. I did the above. Now at two years, he can hang outside for as long as an hour - depending on the weather. But through it all, I never forced him to be unhappy. 

Some will say that's "giving in to the dog's demand". I say "so what". If he is miserable being outside alone, I would rather give up some control in exchange for his happiness. I'm not his boss - I'm his family.


----------



## DaySleepers (Apr 9, 2011)

It sounds like this dog has never lived inside before from your other post, is that right? If that's the case, this may be an adjustment period where he's pushing boundaries and trying to figure out what's normal, or he's just extra anxious and needy because it's a totally new environment he has no idea how to handle. You may find that it eases naturally as he settles into your routine and becomes more comfortable being part of your household.

He may also be a dog who needs to be taught how to settle himself. Some dogs are born with a natural "off switch", and are happy to take a nap or find a nice chew when their humans aren't entertaining them, but others need us to help them learn these skills. I like to start with Karen Overall's Relaxation Protocol, which is free online many places. It focuses on teaching a relaxed down-stay (relaxed being the key!), even when people are doing potentially exciting things nearby (like, you know, getting up for a coffee break - some dogs have a very low bar for 'exciting'). As a bonus, doing more training will also help work his brain and hopefully make him feel more mentally 'exercised', which can be a big help to getting a settled dog.

Have you tried stuffed food toys, like the Kong Classic or the West Paw Toppl? If he'll eat out of one, they'll be your best friend. You may have to start slowly with just filling it with loose kibble that falls out super easy, then starting to mix it with a bit of something wetter (water, wet food, pumpkin, plain yoghurt, peanut butter, etc.) so it's more sticky and challenging, then freezing it so it takes a while to chew and lick all the goodies out. When my youngest was an obnoxious teenager with no off switch, I fed portions of his daily food allowance this way, so I could give him 2-3 Kongs a day without adding tons of extra calories. Bonus: licking and chewing are naturally calming actions that put your pup in a more settled mindset. I'd also recommend making at least one of those daily walks a "sniffari", if you aren't already - just let him sniff around as much as he wants. Leashed walks aren't much in the way of physical exercise for a young, healthy dog, but letting them explore the world with their nose while you do it can get you more bang for your buck in terms of mental stimulation.

Two other things really helped with my no-off-switch boy when he was really into demand barking (or sceaming). The first was looking for behavior I DID want. This can be tricky, because "sitting quietly waiting for attention" isn't always something you notice to give praise to, but it's super important for teaching him what he should be doing. I also rewarded him bringing us a toy to ask for play/attention instead of screaming. The good thing is, if you know it's attention he wants, then that's all you need to reward the behavior! If you don't have a treat on you, but you see him being polite, just go over and give him some calm petting and gentle praise (I say "calm" and "gentle" because sometimes exuberant praise can amp a dog up and make them go back to the more obnoxious, high-energy behavior). 

The other thing is to only take him out on boring potty breaks when he screamed at us. Leash on, the most boring spot outside, minimal interaction with the human holding the leash (we were still reinforcing potty training, so he did get praised/a small treat if he did happen to potty, but that's it). If nothing happened in 5-ish minutes, back inside we went, rinse and repeat the next time barking/screaming starts, even if it's right away. This way we were communicating that we'd respond to his biological needs, but he couldn't get the interaction he really wanted by being rude. He's not perfect by any means, he'll always be a vocal dog, but he rarely screams just because he's bored anymore, and when he does, it's usually because his physical and mental needs aren't getting met; for example, when he's had a couple days of fewer/shorter walks because one of us is sick or the weather is really bad.


----------



## melissann00 (2 mo ago)

Thank you everyone for your advice!!! MUCH appreciated. I will definitely try making the kong toy a little easier with loose kibble. I think he doesn't understand it quite yet.
I also completely agree that he is fearful of being abandoned out back. We often go out there with him and just walk around while he walks around (not super fun right now as it's December and cold in our area lol).

I didn't realize before all of your input but he definitely needs help learning how to settle. I've noticed that when we instruct him to lay down he'll immediately start yawning and doze off. I think he just doesn't know to lay down when he's tired due to living outside. Thanks again!


----------



## DaySleepers (Apr 9, 2011)

My boy is three and still occasionally needs us to enforce naptime when he gets cranky and hyperactive like an overtired toddler! Much less than he needed when he was a puppy and teenager, though, so it does get better, hang in there. With consistent guidence from you about when and how to relax, I'm sure you'll see good progress. Wishing you lots of luck!


----------

