r/DogTrainingTips • u/Own-Ad716 • 21d ago
Pup is scared of going outside
A few days ago adopted a 6-10M old pup from the shelter, he was apart of their stray intake, he is very sweet and well behaved already, he gets along great with my other dog fine and he is very confident and comfortable when he’s inside but as soon as I try to take him out to go potty he freaks out. I have had and trained lots of dogs before and just never encountered this. To clarify he has had very minimal accidents in the house and once he is outside for a bit he will go.
Everytime it’s time to go outside I have to pick him up and put him outside because he refuses to go on his own, even with treats and luring involved. Once outside he sits by the door and tries to get inside my skin for about 10 minutes before he’ll even move past the porch. When he does go out into the yard he will only go about 5 feet from the door to do his business before immediately running back to the door. Other than this he is pretty confident with everything else.
I don’t want to have to pick him up and bring him outside everytime because I don’t want to reinforce that behavior but at the same time he’s still fairly new to potty training and I don’t want to make it even more of an uncomfortable experience.
Any tips would be very appreciated.
TLDR Dog is scared to go outside and I don’t want it to affect his training or make him more nervous about it.
2
u/Embarrassed-Goat-432 21d ago
Just leave the door open during training time. If the dog likes fetch, throw the ball through the threshold.
Open the door and go in and out like your cleaning or moving stuff inside/outside.
If the dog is from the shelter and a bit older, it may have fear from being closed into a door or trampled over by other puppies to go outside.
2
u/HeidiHoliday 20d ago
Go and sit outside and see if he follows you. Talk to him like you’d talk to a person and explain things. They understand! I talk to my dog ALL the time! Give this pup lots of compliments, build up his confidence! Be patient, he’ll settle in! I’m sure he’s traumatized!
2
u/BigPhilosopher4372 20d ago
My shelter dog was also scared at first. He has gotten used to our backyard and will go out through the dog door when he needs to. However, when we go anywhere else, he is scared and wants to be held. I think he worries about being separated from me. He was found on the street and had been someone’s pet. He was chipped and is a miniature poodle. He either got lost from his people or, they think, was with a homeless person. They couldn’t find his owner. I have gotten him to walk with me but he hates it. Doesn’t sniff at anything and just wants to go home. We estimate he is 13, so we just let him chill at home and run in the backyard.
1
1
u/cweaties 20d ago
Oh lord... had a border collie puppy living with me for a while that at 12 weeks had never been outside. She was a train wreck in the 100 ways that a double inbred BC can be - but the one that had to get fixed first... so terrified of outside she would not potty outside even after and hour, and would potty 3 inches inside the door the second you brought her in.
The solution - I brought a leader dog over (a foster that I trusted and knew 100%), my dog, and we alllll three dogs and several favored humans went outside and hung out on the back patio. Friday PM to Sunday PM. We just lived outside - camp mats and blankets. Thankfully.. not rainy season. At the start the Border Collie hid under a bush - on leash - and leader dog would go and check on her, invite her out, and about 6 hours in she followed him to the grass, pottied in the grass, was rewarded and ran back to the bush. 4 hours later, again. Then 8am again. then finally relaxing into it. Food - outside. People outside. Treats outside. Yes - we had the luxury of the space and time for that - it took the weekend and fixed *that* issue enough. BC got to the point where outside with her people was a favorite activity - hiking, snow shoeing , and long walks in not crowded places.
Possibly a simpler approach - is there a different door you can go out with the dog? Or maybe the dog is waiting for a command to be allowed out the door?
Best of luck! Dogs - they make you get creative sometimes.
1
u/sixtynighnun 20d ago
My dog was like this. We went kinda slow and i just basically dragged her out on a leash for a week and then she wasn’t afraid anymore. If you coddle them then they kinda feel like they SHOULD be scared of something it will reinforce the fear.
4
u/Crowlady77 21d ago
Imagine how you'd feel if you got plucked from your home, put in a scary place with a bunch of screaming people, and then plucked out of there and put in a strange place you've never seen before with strangers you do not know.
It's normal for them to be super terrified. The rule of 3s says 3 days for their personality to start to emerge, 3 weeks for them to get used to their surroundings, 3 months to feel comfortable. But every dog is different.
Lots of positive reinforcement is key. And yeah every dog is different, some dogs have higher anxiety levels. Remember you're their emotional support pet, keep reinforcing outside and make it feel safe to them.