Puppy afraid of the rain! ! ! HELP ! ! !

    • Bronze

    Puppy afraid of the rain! ! ! HELP ! ! !

    Hey all
    We have an 11 week old puppy who has a problem. She is a miniture daschaund who is affraid of the rain and wet grass.
    She was doing really well with the house training untill this week when it has rained a lot. in the first week we had her home she started to sit at the back door and whimper when she had to go outside , sh would run right out on the grass do her business and then go off and play. when the grass is wet she will not walk on it and will not step on it and freaks out, even worse if the grass is wet because it is currently raining. when we bring her back inside we find puddles or piles around the corner. she has stopped going to the door to ask to go out, now she just sneaks around the corner makes a mess and then runs to hide in the back of her cage. Any ideas?

    Thanks Andrew

    • Gold Top Dog
    perfect age to train this fear out of her...
     
     
    when she is at the door and begins to whimper, that is your cue to stop the whimpering by issuing a leaders command to stop whimpering. a cesar millan "shhhh" can really do the trick. or a "ceasar millan dog bite gesture"  combined with the "shhhh" is even better. do not praise the dog at this point because you would only reinforce the whimpering.
     
    at the same time, proceed to take the dog out onto the wet grass or rain (carry an umbrella if it's raining) and imerse the dog in her fear. you can even have her on a leash. if she whimpers and puts up a fight, tug sideways on the leash to get her attention back to you, the leader.
     
    in short time, and perserverance, she'll be knocked out of this fearful state. don't let her whimpers put you into a state of mind that says something like "poor baby" where you bend down and start petting her for comfort because that will only reinforce her fearful behavior. take command and imerse her into her fears by going into the situation.
     
    it may sound mean but it is not. remember that this is how things occur in the wild in order to survive.
     
    my 2 cents.
    • Gold Top Dog
    I just stood outside in the rain with Jamison when he was a pup.  He eventually figured out that while the rain was unpleasant, it wouldn't hurt him.  Now he just zips out and does his business as quickly as possible and zips back in when raining.
     
    Deb W.
    • Gold Top Dog
    mr_a_bird [sm=welcome2.gif]

    I don't have any suggestions for you, but I wanted to welcome you to the forum!
    Our forum members have a range of experience and styles of working with dogs.
    I hope you enjoy the variety of suggestions you'll get to consider and choose from!

    [:D]

    ETA: spelling [8|]
    • Gold Top Dog
    Prancer isn't fond of the rain either (she's 1yo) but she's better than she was.   She didn't like to get her feet wet.  We got over it by me going out into the dog run in the rain first (no umbrella - yeah, I got wet ! LOL and I'm sure I sounded just a wee bit foolish saying "weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, this is FUN !!! while standing there dripping wet) - she'd cautiously follow at first .... then she came out right along side me .... now she'll go out while I wait at the door.  She goes FAST.  And she still won't go out if its pouring, so I have weewee pads I can put right by the door for those days;  luckily she caught onto the weewee pad thing quickly and hasn't transferred the behavior to in the house.
    As for the wet feet sydrome .... we got over that one by going outside right after the lawn sprinklers went off when it was sunny .... she LOVES running in the backyard.  At first she wouldn't go onto the grass but once she saw I had a fistful of treats she was more than happy to follow me.  Once she realized that dirty paws aren't the end of the world she's never had a problem with wet grass again.
    Hope that helps.
    • Gold Top Dog

    mr_a_bird
    We have an 11 week old puppy who has a problem.

    The others addressed the rain, so I will address the house training.  She is too young to be reliably trained at this point, because she doesn't even have good bladder control yet.  Many good breeders now don't even release their pups until 10 weeks.
     
    You need to clean all the pee spots with a good enzymatic cleaner to get rid of the odor.  If not, she will be able to smell it even you don't.  Then I suggest you start over with house training.
     
    Do not scold her for soiling the house.  If you scold when you catch her at it, you teach her to hide it.  If you scold after the fact, she doesn't know what you are scolding her for. 
     
    Go outside with her and, if she pees/poops, throw a party and give her a treat.  Don't go back in immediately (unless she wants to), so that peeing doesn't mean she has to stop playing.
     
    Keep track of her pee times and if you think she needs to pee/poop, but she did not, then she goes in her crate.  Try again in 10 minutes.  The fastest and most effective house training occurs when the pup is not given the opportunity to make a mistake.

    My suggested way of doing house training:

    http://forum.dog.com/discus/messages/48/117345.html#POST400222
     
     
    A thread with lots of info (and links to more) in case you are a first time puppy owner:
    http://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=360822
    • Gold Top Dog
    good advice janet.
     
     
    now that we've talked about rain & getting wet... what about those baths?
     
    how many of your dogs hate getting baths but don't care about getting all wet in the rain?
    hehehehehehe
    • Bronze
    My Sweetie Pie was terrified of the rain. As a puppy we had many a walk where I had to pick her up and carry her under my shirt to keep moving. Otherwise she stayed under whatever shelter she could find. At about 8 months, it stopped being a problem. She doesn't like to get soaked, but doesn't like to cut short any outside time she has. Also, at about 6 months I got a raincoat for her. She decided wet was better than dressed.[:D]
    Baths are still an ordeal, but the ocassional rain shower is cool.
    But heres an interesting twist - as a pup she didn't even notice the thunder and lightning storms. Slept right thru them. Now she gets the shivers and hides under the furniture, unless she's crated, then all is right with the world!
    • Gold Top Dog
    Max doesn't like rain either.  Yet, one of his favorite things in the world is to have someone turn on the hose and spray him with it. He takes it right in the face trying to bite the water spray.  Go figure.
     
    Joyce
    • Gold Top Dog
    ORIGINAL: fuzzy_dogs_mom

    Max doesn't like rain either.  Yet, one of his favorite things in the world is to have someone turn on the hose and spray him with it. He takes it right in the face trying to bite the water spray.  Go figure.
     
    Joyce

     
    LoL!!!   My Siberians aren't fond of rain.  They love snow.  But the female will trudge out in the rain to "go".  My male will hold it until forever!!    She sometimes will actually find a spot under a tree and hang out there.   It is funny because she will call him out, and he won't budge.
     
    When they were puppies, they got used to going out on leash out into that stuff.  Can't say I blame a dog about that.  But routine will improve if you just keep at it.  Janet Rose seems to have an excellent formula.  I totally disagree with roughing a dog into a behavior.  Non punitive, gentle and firm teaching works best when training young learners.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Riley is a strange dog. He's a big, strong Lab who LOVES to swim, but he is terrified of (1) rain, (2) sprinklers and (3) puddles. He saw his first fountain last week and was absolutely dumbfounded - you could see his brain cycling back and forth between "pool! I love swimming!" and "OMG giant sprinkler thing! Run!"

    Dogs are funny creatures [:)]