I have just had an outside kennel and run put up for Sparky. (The kennel itself is 3 foot by 5 foot and he has a run area 5ft by 5ft) - he doesn't sleep in it, it's purely for the two mornings I work. I can't trust him not to chew the house alarm wires yet, and I thought it would be better than being in his crate for a number of reasons: He loves being outside; I thought it would give him more space to move around and stretch his legs; I can fit more toys etc in it than in his crate, which is beginning to look too small for him; and in case I get delayed in traffic coming home (I work 4 hours, twice a week and it's only 5 mins away, but one tractor can cause havoc!). He seems to enjoy being in there at the moment - though not quite as much as his crate, but he won't wee or poo in it without barking like mad (presumably to tell us he's done it). I've hopefully pre-empted complaints from the neighbours by warning them he might bark a bit more than usual until he gets used to it, but I hate to think of him either having to hold on that long, or distressed that he has messed in his den. I'm trying putting a small pile of soil in one corner of the run, well away from the kennel entrance, in the hope he will realise it's OK to go there - but does anyone have any other ideas?

You could always try taking him straight to that corner to perform whe you let him out of the house, much as you did when first house training him.

Thanks,
Will give that a go.

hi i am thinking about doing this the oppisite way round,my 5 month old akita-inusleeps outside at night at the minute but as it is coming into the winter we are going to bring her inside to sleep at nights.we had always intended to have her sleep in the house,but thought that we would wait for a while untill she was trained a bit.does anyone have any suggestions as to how we could make this change as smooth as possible.

Why have you decided to bring her in? Why not make her cosy outside? I know from my own experience that it's me that worries about the cold, etc but my dog doesn't mind a bit. She is always snug and warm in her kennel and her coat adjusts to the outside. We often put human feeling onto animals unjustly.

Is she house-trained when inside?

hi jackie,she is house trained but we don't know what she would be like staying indoors all night.as for wanting her to be indoors,i work night shift so it would be company for my partner and i think that it would be better for the dog as well.

I agree that she would be company but am not totally convinced that it would be better for the dog. Could you not just put her out in her kennel before bedtime? Mine stay in the house during the evening then as part of our nightly routine they go in the kennel until I get up when I let them out before doing anything else. I am sure eveyone who has kennels will agree that it's US that get bothered by them, and NOT the dogs!

Couldn't agree more - my akita loves being outside and the few times that we have let her sleep in she usually wakes us up because she gets too hot.

I'm really interested in all these comments as since my last post Sparky has really taken to his run and kennel. It is the first place he runs to when I let him out in the morning, and the barking is stopping after a few seconds now. (I confess I came back home this morning after leaving for work just to check on him!)

Tracy