My English Pointer pup, 10 months, seems bored in our backyard.  I do take her to a woods daily for an off-leash run, and she gets an evening walk on leash.  But, when she is in the backyard she just wants to come right back in the house.  When she is put out, she will just sit and pout/beg at the back sliding glass door.  That glass will never be clean again... I realize the weather has not been great, but gee, I need a break throughout the day.  So, I was looking for ideas of things I can do to the yard to make it more interesting for her.  I suppose this does sound sort of silly. 

As a rule, dogs generally hate being on their own! Millennia of domestication has designed a creature that needs company - isolation is usually seen by them as the ultimate punishment. She will be wondering what she has done wrong ...

Dogs were designed to have company either human or canine, if you are going to leave your dog in the yard you need to provide it with some entertainment like a food ball or a kong, lots of chew toys and interesting places to explore. And limit the time that it is expected to entertain it's self, dogs are not able to do that, they need stimulation either from other dogs or yourself.

Perhaps if you left the door open she wouldnt feel isolated from you and with a few toys or chews might actually enjoy your backyard. We are sitting here freezing at the moment cos the dogs are playing or doing their business in the garden but an extra cardigan helps :p

Gina

hello

do you have a curtain or blinds that you can pull across the door so she can't see in? try wrapping a piece of chicken up in layers of cardboard then tie tightly round with thin rope, it takes then ages to tear all the cardboard off to get to the food and dogs love to rip things up so cardboard boxes are good also to keep them occupied.

i personally would'nt get her use to the door being left open its just not practical in the winter unless its a porch?

Hi,
I dont understand why you want to stick her out in the backyard all by herself in the first place
As others have said,dogs are pack animals,not solitary creatures.Your dog truly thinks that it has done something wrong by being isolated from you,this has always been an ultra touchy subject for me,this is not directed at you per say,but why have a dog when your'e just gonna plonk it in the backyard and not welcome him in as part of your family?
As i type i have 3 dogs sleeping by my feet,my dogs are my family,i want them around me all the time as they provide great companionship for us as we do for them,all our dogs want from us is food,love and to be with us,not seperated from us.
Maybe if you can explain why you want your dog to be outside,i may be able to better understand,the only times my dogs go out is on their walks and when they go out the backyard to pee the rest of the time they are by my side,we have a doggy door so they can come and go as they please but obviously they would rather be with me than outside by themselves.
The only solution i can give is to let her be inside with his pack(you) problem solved. I honestly cant blame your dog for being upset about this,have you thought about getting a companion for her?but not if you are going to put them both outside.

christine :)

My pup is a 10 month English Pointer so she is tall and very very full of energy.  I do not work outside the home, and I have children elementary age.  I also get take care of some of the neighborhood children in the mornings before school.  In the complete chaos of the mornings, the pup can be like another 10 children.  She is tall and fast.  She inhale a piece of toast a foot away while standing flat footed at the edge of the table.  We take her training very seriously, but good grief, I sometimes need a sanity check.  It would be nice if she would enjoy the backyard for say 30 monutes here or there.  Our yard is fenced in, and we do not have a kenneled area so she is not couped up.  She has a crate but I only wanted to use it for times we were not home or through the night.  I understand what everyone is saying about the companion concept.  I completely agree.  This dog can reach anything on my kitchen counters which is another issue we continue to work on.   There are times I must bake and leave food on the counters for a short term.  I did not think it unreasonable for a dog to be in the backyard for short periods of time.  

I agree with Christine.  I have five Elkhounds, considered and indepoendant breed, and they will not choose to stay outside for more than five minutes at a time, and really only go out there to toilet, or cool off on the concrete in summer.

You would be far better investing in a crate when you need to be able to keep him in check during your/youyr kids meals and chaotic times.  Mke this pleasant by giving him a chew toy, and praise him for staying there quietly.

Another way would be to use a tall baby gate to keep him out of the room where he isn't wanted for some reason, but that he can still see and hear the pack and not feel exiled :D

Also, about getting a companion for her....I had many recommendations that we should wait awhile until this teenager this is through. 

My GSD Sleeps in a kennel in the back garden, which he preferes to being inside as he gets too hot and pants non stop, when we are home and awake he is indoors with us but all through the day and night he askes to go out, he has toys out there and he plays by him self and has a great time, I do not think this is cruel, because I know he likes it.
Try putting shelter out side with some comfortable bedding and lots of toys and treats, dunno if it will work though, maybe worth a try :)

It is natural for a dog separated from their group (pack if you like) to become distress and do their best to get back with the group, a dog is not designed to function on it's own.

Half an hour is not too long but you need to train the pup to manage that with out becoming distressed, stuff a Kong, or make a parcel with a piece of chicken wrapped in an old rag, pop her in a room on her own for 5 minutes and then go and call her out, continue till she looks forward to being shut in with a toy each day and then start again but use a different room or may be the garden, but just because she is still trying to find the way into her parcel still call her in or out of the room and get her to join you in the kitchen to finish with the toy. You could also use the exercise to teach the 'give' by calling her out or in and getting her to give her toy in exchange for 5 minutes play with you. Once she is happy with 5 minutes try 10 and so on till she will be happy on her own for half an hour.

Or you could use the cage so she did not feel she has lost her group, mind you there will be times when you need to leave her whilst you go out and the cage is a far better place than the yard, so perhaps it would be best to get her used to staying in the cage when you want her from under your feet.

i can see nothing wrong in putting the dog in the back yard for a while this lady has a busy life she needs a break from an hectic pup now and again, once she learnt to play in the yard she'll have a great time and the fresh air will do it the world of good. she was'nt talking about leaving her out 24/7 just for short bursts, dogs have to be left alone sometimes theres no need to molly coddle them your just be setting yourself up for problems and to suggest she gets another one for company is bordering on ridiculous she'll just have 2 dogs barking at the door instead of one!  dogs can and do live just has happy if not more as a only dog and to say they need company all the time is rubbish thousands of people have only 1 dog and work and the dog leads a perfectly happy contented life, with the right training any dog will adapt to its family's way of life!

Sid, no one said it was wrong to put the dog in the yard for half an hour.

From the first post it appeared that the poster left the dog in the yard apart from a couple of walks during the day, the poster has now corrected that impression.

well i never got that impression when i read it, i think people are a bit quick to judge, she said when she needed a break?

The poster said >>I need a break throughout the day<< to me that read as all day. It has since been corrected.

http://www.aussiedog.com.au/

maybe this site will have some ideas for some yard toys for you.

Wow that stuff seems really expensive, that ball on a rope home alone thing for a large £44, or is there something special about it that I'm not seeing?