The transition from inside to outside living

What kind of dog do you have?  Where do  you live?  Can you provide shelter for getting out of the heat or cold?  My dogs stay outside when we're not at home, but short of not being able to watch TV or have heat or AC on, there really isn't much difference. One of my dogs has access with a bed in the 3 car garage.  From that, she can go in/out the doggie door to the large side run area.  She has a 3 gallon bucket of fresh water every day, but she also has a lap licker hooked up to the hose, which she prefers.  My other dog has access to the larger area of the yard and has a covered patio, with an igloo dog house with lots of bedding in it.  She too has fresh water and a lap licker.  Both seem to do fine but I will say that the older dog is more guardy (barks more) because she's outside.  You may want to try leaving your dog outside and pretending like you're gone to see how it goes and then assess things from there.  Since my 2 girls don't get along well enough to allow them to be together when we're gone, I'm not a big advocate of the idea of getting another dog for company. It totally backfired on us...but it does work for many people.

I have a daschund.  She is very clingy and I'm just worried about her ability to handle this emotionally.  I live in Georgia so it gets hot here.  Of course measures would be taken to protect her from the heat/cold.  I was just wondering about the emotional part for her : )

I'm just going to suggest you read this:
[linkhttp://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_BackyardDogs.php]http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_BackyardDogs.php[/link]

I'm sure you have a good reason for putting your dog outside, but it's my opinion that you're going to have more problems.

I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but I'm very against making dogs live outside. I'm not judging you, though! Really, I promise. I just hope you can find another solution the whatever is causing you to consider this.

I have a daschund. She is very clingy and I'm just worried about her ability to handle this emotionally. I live in Georgia so it gets hot here. Of course measures would be taken to protect her from the heat/cold. I was just wondering about the emotional part for her : )

 
I think I'd be worried too. After 4 yrs inside, she's probably not going to take kindly to the change.  Is there any way you can compromise and she can stay inside but limited to certain areas?

She would be let inside daily but would be limited to certain areas (no couch, bed, so forth) and to certain amounts of time.  Is it possible that she could be just as happy spending most of her time outside or is that being unreasonable?

Welcome to the forum. I think this is going to take a creative solution. I agree that emotionally this will probably not be an easy transition for your dog considering her breed and her age. I am going to put my thinking cap on and hopefully together with a lot of the creative and knowledgable people heare, we will be able to come up with some ideas for you.
When are you getting married? Are you working on a deadline for the transition?

Hang in there!

Given the heat wave we've been having here in the SE, I can't imagine any dog doing well outside, especially an animal that hasn't been conditioned to temp extremes. Have you considered crating your dog inside instead (within reason in regards to length of course)? You get the same effect: no damaged stuff, less fur/dirt in the house, no access to dog-free areas, but she can still be part of the activity in the house and won't be exposed to the elements or possible theft/injury that occurs while dogs are outside unsupervised.

Getting married within the next 6 months.  Thanks for the care and concern.  Anything that will make it easier for my "best friend" would be welcomed with open arms.

Can you elaborate on the reason you are putting her outside? Is it allergies? Does your husband to be not like dogs? Does she have some habit that is unexceptable? If so, maybe we could solve the issue instead of moving her outdoors.

My future wife gets incredibly anxious with an animal running around in the house.  She's not scared of them by any means but has a unexplainable dislike for dogs indoors.  The dog has a few habits that could attribute to this.  Occasional pooping on the floor.  Maybe once every couple of weeks.  This is because I sometimes stay long hours from home.  Licking in the face and submissive urination are a couple others.  But even if these behaviors were fixed, I don't think my future wife would feel comfortable with a dog constantly indoors.  Hence, the compromise.  Sounds crazy but she's not a dog lover : ( 

I will be getting married soon and in order to compromise I must make this step.

hi mrw,

first off, congratulations on your decision to marry.

secondly, if i may ask, what was the other half of the compromise? to keep the dog? to be able to marry?

is there any way that you can get your future wife to engage and step beyong her fears & dislikes (this will be harder to do than retraining your dog to live outside but the benifit will far outweigh any consequences of moving your dog outside and your wife projecting all of that fear towards your dog which it will pick up on - i think there are 2 things that should be worked here 1) dog 2) human)

dogs are pack animals and you (and your future spouse) are part of the pack whether you think so or not - so by moving the dog into isolation is going to probably be problematic for your dog on an emotional level.... in that it may increase your dogs level of frustration.

if the dog MUST be outdoors (no exceptions to this rule), then that is OK but you are going to need to give somerhing that the dog needs to release any pent up frustration. i'd try doubling up on the daily dog walks (make them good long ones) and see how it goes during the transition. if you plan on getting another dog, that may or may not work in the near term. i would just take this one step at a time.

-just my 2 cents. you won't know until you get there. if your dog scratches the door to be let in, then you're going to have to ignore this. if you open the door up and give the dog affection and then close it back up, then that's what she's going to learn: to get affection, she needs to scratch the door. and that's no good cuz you won't have much of a door left after awhile. same goes with barking.

-coyote

 Sounds crazy but she's not a dog lover : ( 

I'd definitely nix the idea of getting a 2nd dog then [].  I really hope you'll consider the idea of using a crate. I think that your wife might just be fine with the idea of your girl remaining inside as long as there's no worries about accidents in the house.  Hopefully with time, she'll come to enjoy the dog and you'll come home to find them both cuddling together.  []

Believe it or not a lot of people who don't like dogs actually will like and even love their own. Take me. I love my own kids but I don't really like any others! LOL! I think you should enroll your new WIFE (sorry about the husband assumption) in an obedience or training class. Your best bet is to get them to bond better.

Wow. That would break my heart to be asked to do that. And I know my dogs would really become basket cases. They barely want to be outside without me just for a few minutes.  Can you put more emphasis on dealing with the current behavior problems than putting the dog out? The housetraining issue can be cleared up in a couple different ways and given that it's a dachshund any face licking is probably because she's getting on furniture without asking first, and that can be dealt with through some pretty simple training as well.

I am also going to bring up the "r-word". Rehoming. If the choice is between totally turning your girl's emotional world upside-down and finding a new home where she could fully be part of the family, well, it's something to think about. Dachshund rescue may be able to help you there.