Inside dog gets the boot.

January 1, 2009 5:33 PM

How do I transition a dog to living outside?

Let me preface this by saying, I have worked extensively with dog rescue for years, and also was a vet tech for a few years in grad school. I have rehabilitated and trained dogs, and know a fair bit about caring for dogs. Now to the background, and I'll try to keep it brief.

I adopted 2 dobermans from a rescue group - my male about 7 years ago and my female about 6 years ago. The female is the one I am having trouble with. She was a special case from the beginning - had not been socialized or housetrained, and had lots of fear issues. I basically kept her to avoid having her put to sleep, as she was unadoptable.

The gist of the problem is that she pees. She pees in her crate, she pees when she is not in her crate. I have taken her to the vet numerous times, and there is not a thing wrong with her. Incontinence pills haven't helped. Currently, I crate her during the day and while I sleep, as I can't trust her not to pee everywhere. I have to change her blankets, scrub the crate, and bathe her CONSTANTLY, and even so, the area around her crate always smells like pee. Until I got married, I basically just dealt with it and did a lot of laundry. Now that I'm married and about to move into a new house, my husband has put his foot down - he doesn't want the carpet in the new house ruined, nor an entire room reeking of urine all the time, and frankly, I don't blame him.

So, I am considering moving her to being an outside dog when we move. At this point the only other option is euthanasia, which isn't really an option in my mind. We will have a spacious, fenced yard, and she will be brought in during bad weather and possibly every night. We live in Louisiana, so cold really isn't an issue, and she would have a shaded area for the summer. My questions are:

1) Has anyone ever taken an inside-only dog and transitioned it to outside? If so, are there any tips, hints, etc. that you can give me?

2) Other than securing the yard so that she can't get out, what else do I need to do to ensure her safety?

3) Considering she will be outside alone all day (my male will still be inside), what can I do to keep her from getting bored and possibly barking all day?

Thanks for any helpful advice you can give me. This is extremely hard for me, as I have never believed in dogs being stuck outside all the time. At this point I don't see another option.

posted by tryniti to Pets & Animals (11 answers total)

there are plenty of other options, including giving her back to the rescue. 6 years is a good innings. Send her back with a hefty donation. I commend you for caring so much.
posted by By The Grace of God at 6:01 PM on January 1, 2009

That's a sad situation. Why not put both dogs outside? Otherwise, she will probably cry all day long.
posted by metastability at 6:03 PM on January 1, 2009 [1 favorite]

What about seeking a consult with a dog behaviorist? I know you've said you've trained dogs, but seeking a professional trainer might help. Maybe the rescue has recommendations for someone?
posted by canine epigram at 6:40 PM on January 1, 2009

I can completely sympathize with the dog pee thing. We have three Frenchies that are less than dependably house broken. It's an ongoing battle and we do a crazy amount of 'dog laundry' because of it. Have you tried using doggie diapers? There are several dogs that have had neurological damage that I am aware of (I used to be involved in dog rescue as well), and short of using the dipes, those dogs would've been put down too. Yes, they look dorky, and they do require a certain amount of upkeep. But it's better than the alternative, especially if your Dobie is a nice, sweet dog.

Also, I can tell you outright that if you signed a contract similar to the ones that we used, (French Bulldog Rescue), if you felt that you couldn't continue to give the dog proper indoor housing year-round, you're obligated to return the dog to the Rescue (even if it was an 'unadoptable' dog). We had more than one difficult dog returned to us, so it's not like this sort of thing doesn't happen. Yes, it's less than ideal, but we'd rather have that happen and be aware of the situation, than the dog end up in a shelter, or escape the yard and get hit by a car or run off without tags and end up in a shelter, etc.

Please, please don't make her an outside dog. It's not fair to her, or her 'sibling' Dobie, or your neighbours. If your original Rescue isn't interested in taking her, I'm sure that you can find another Dobie Rescue that would.

I know this isn't easy on you, either - and I'm not trying to give you shit about this. But please. Find another alternative.
posted by dancinglamb at 6:45 PM on January 1, 2009 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: To the folks that have suggested returning her to the rescue, I got her from the same rescue group I worked with for years, and I know for a fact that she won't be adoptable. Besides her pee problems, she is extremely dominant with other dogs, has horrible manners, and has fear-based aggression with pretty much everyone. I know the folks at the rescue well enough to know that they would have no options with her. Her issues go WAY beyond the pee thing, and luckily I have had the ability to deal with her other issues without endangering other folks or kids. She's a super sweet dog with my husband and I, but I, as a responsible dog person, would not feel comfortable placing her in another home. I can only say this with certainty as I worked with Doberman rescue for about 7 years...I know the reality of the situation.
posted by tryniti at 7:16 PM on January 1, 2009

Are there any no-kill shelters in any sort of driving range that you could give her to?
posted by Solon and Thanks at 7:47 PM on January 1, 2009

"Besides her pee problems, she is extremely dominant with other dogs, has horrible manners, and has fear-based aggression with pretty much everyone."

If this is the case, I would put her in a fully enclosed run with a secure, insulated, properly sun-shielded house inside of it to ensure her safety and the safety of any creature who happens near or into your backyard, since accidents do happen and the responsibility rests on the guardian to prevent harm in either direction. You can set these up with a self-refreshing water source and automatic feeder, even, to lessen your worries further.

Your long experience with Dobermans will likely produce many memories and experiences of dogs jumping, digging, or forcing their way out of fences to go "exploring" and then getting into trouble because of poor socialisation or sheer excitability...or just happening into the path of the wrong person or vehicle. If you've known more unfortunate Dobies, as I have, you also know some sad stories of encounters with terrified pole workers or beloved neighbourhood cats.

With the details you've provided above, I'd say your pup is a top candidate for that sort of adventure, and an enclosed run is the most humane and loving place for her when you're not home to prevent any sorrow or trauma.
posted by batmonkey at 8:15 PM on January 1, 2009

tryniti, my heart goes out to you -- I can imagine that this must be a terribly difficult situation for you to be in -- but from reading what you have written, your dog does not sound like a happy dog. It sounds like you have been able to work around her issues, but not solve them. I really don't see how keeping her outside, away from her family, away from her doggie brother, away from the comfort of just being indoors, is going to do her any good. It will do you good insofar as you will get to keep her and not have to deal with the pain of giving her up or putting her to sleep, but keeping her outside will only make her life less happy. There have been other posts here about dogs who are not happy dogs, and the consensus is usually that euthanasia is not the absolute worst thing you can do to a dog if the dog is suffering. In your case, going off of what you have written here, I would say that your dog is suffering some degree of emotional anguish.

Clearly the dog had issues before she came to you and you are to be commended for all you have done for her, but I think it's time for you to take a step back and think about what is best for the dog now that you are in a new situation.

One final thought: You keep describing your dog as "unadoptable," but someone did adopt her -- you did. There may well be someone else out there who can deal with her problems and would love to welcome her into their family.
posted by kitty teeth at 8:24 PM on January 1, 2009 [3 favorites]

My indoor dog spent 8 months as an outdoor dog when I was younger. Let me preface this by saying she is an extremely prissy, princess of a dog- the kind that won't go outside when it rains. The kind that won't lie on hard floors or get her paws dirty by walking in mud. This was compounded by the fact that it was winter when we moved there and she hates the cold.

She was fine.

I kept her in an outbuilding that I was able to secure. There was another dog in there and they both had enclosed little beds in an old horse stall that we shut them into at night. The stall was about 12'x16' and the dog boxes were kennel sized but warmer, not made of plastic. The beds were filled with straw which got dumped every day in the case of the other dog who was also incontinent and every few days for my dog. They were warm and snuggly and perfectly happy in there, no matter the temperature. In fact, after a few days of being Very Angry she decided that she liked her nest so much she would often hang out in there when she had free run of the property. When I tried to make her an indoor dog again she had a fit it so we compromised by her having a nice kennel outdoors in a fenced yard when I was at work and sleeping indoors at night. Now that she is very old she mostly chills indoors but in nice weather she's always outside.

I was able to spend most of the day with her at the time and she had another dog for company so she didn't suffer from loneliness or boredom like some kenneled dogs can. She wasn't cold or hungry or scared because she had a buddy and a place to sleep and once she got over her snit-fit at being banned from the house she adapted perfectly fine. I think she liked having her own "house".
posted by fshgrl at 8:42 PM on January 1, 2009

You can get a climate-controlled dog house (just Google that term to find suppliers, options, plans for building one yourself, etc.) if you are worried about temperature. We're going to do that for our dogs as soon as we move into our new place, since we live in an area where it is too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter, but we hate keeping them crated all day/night when we are out or sleeping.
posted by Jacqueline at 10:26 PM on January 1, 2009

I empathize with you on this. I'm dealing with something similar, on a much, much smaller scale and it's keeping me up at night. Having said that, however... You have, by your own admission, a dominant, poorly socialized dog with horrible manners and fear-based aggression. And she's incontinent to boot. She sounds like a pretty sad pup to me.

I think keeping her outside is risky; what if she escapes and gets terrified by someone trying to help her and bites? If she's anxious and unhappy all the time inside, keeping her outside is not going to improve any of that.

She sounds like she's suffering despite your heroic attempts to the contrary. Maybe euthanasia would be the kinder option for her, as sad as it is to think about. She's alive, but what's her quality of life? What would her quality of life be if you moved her outside?
posted by crankylex at 10:09 AM on January 5, 2009