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Loving the outdoors

akarned

Member
Hello, I have a question about my 14 month male who loves to go outside. He lets us know when he wants to go outside which I am very happy about. The problem is he likes to go out to play around so he asks often to go out. I struggle with it because I always think well maybe he has to go. Does anyone else have this problem? It gets old sometimes and I am not sure exactly what to do about it. I don't want to discourage him from asking to go out. Thanks
 
Can you look into a doggie door? If you have sliding glass doors you can buy an insert that doesn't need to be "installed" meaning not demo!!!!!!!
 
We have a "doggie door" so Leo can go out to our garden as he likes (when we're in of course). I'd only recommend this if you are at home and if your garden is very secure......ours is walled in. It does allow him the freedom to go outside when he feels like it.

Mel
 
We live on 5 acres of woods with no fencing so a doggy door wouldn't work. I wish I could do that, it would be great.
 
I wish I could do that too. We live on an acre and a half and I am outside a lot with Charlie; summer, fall AND winter. It would be nice if he had an enclosed garden and a doggie door.
 
Have you considered putting in a fence? You wouldn't need to run the fence all the way out to your property line...20 or 30 yards or so off the back side of your home would do. We do have a fenced yard and our Abby does the same thing. She gets bored in the house and wants out to play and sniff and do other dog things. And at times I think she just wants a treat when she comes back inside since she has us so well trained. But even though we have a fenced yard, we still tend to go out with her the majority of the time. There are self retracting tie-outs available (can be attached near a door) that allows the dog to range out several feet. The main problem with those is the dog getting it wrapped around something. Good luck!
 
I'd guess the issue here may be that your dog actually needs more exercise. A 14 month old male will be absolutely full of energy. :) Healthy dogs need about an hour of active exercise -- and active generally means more than a leisurely ramble and definitely more than a 20-minute walk. EG alongside a vigorous walk, the chance to play fetch, really run and so on. I'd agree with above suggestion that fencing a portion of your property would be a lot nicer for a dog -- and make life considerably easier. Please do not consider those horrible elctric neck collars ("electric fence") -- these are well-linked to serious behaviour and fear aggression issues in some dogs but are useless -- if a dog goes through it the likelihood is it will run and run and not risk going back to the house side of the 'fence'. Also anyone or thing can come take a dog left outside with one of these fences. And they shock dogs on the neck -- in this breed, definitely something to avoid with the risk of syringomyelia already significant in any cavalier.

A fenced area would allow for safe dog games and a lot more active fun.

If this is impossible for you, then the issue is probably alternatively, getting your dog out every day for vigorous exercise early or mid-day, so that he is happy and tired and asks to go out the rest of the day, primarily to relieve himself. If you cannot give him this kind of exercise and have the opportunity of sending him to a dog daycare facility where he will get lots of exercise and play, that's also an alternative.

I have a 10 year old dog that remains extremely active and needs significant exercise, so this is likely to be a longer-term issue that comes hand in hand with dog ownership and is of course, a great part of the fun of having a dog! :D

I'd just add that trainers would generally view tie outs as very dangerous precisely because (as correctly noted above) they can wind around legs or neck or body and constrict/choke, and also can be very much contributory to serious behaviour issues (chains, ropes or retractable are all problem solutions unless the person is right there with the dog, which tends not to be what people get them for. As a rule I'd never use a chain for anything). The only ones considered OK for SHORT periods outside are overhead lines where the dog can range back and forth. (y)
 
I'm sure more activity would help but it has been an extremely cold winter, 10 to -20 below plus wind chill for the last month and a half. Very few days to go for a walk. He just likes to go out and snoop around a bit and then back in. I am home with him and do play indoors with him. We also have a springer spaniel in the house who also has lots of energy but he is more content when he is not being played with to find things to do in the house. We spend a lot of time with our dogs and have had dogs for many years. I just have never had one that wants to go in and out as much. As for fencing, that is not an option. We spend a lot of time playing outdoors when it's warmer out, the dogs have a lot of room to run. I will try and play a little more fetch indoors or work on tricks and obedience. Maybe this is just something I will have to put up with during the cold winter months when we cant get outside as much. Thanks for all the ideas.
 
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