Hi everyone

Following advice to housetrain my new pup to go in the garden things have been going really well. Last night however I let him in the garden last night without his lead on (I normally take him out with a lead on) and he went crazy, running around like a lunatic and I had real trouble getting him back into the house as all he wanted to do was sniff about and eat the grass!

Anyway, this morning I tried to take him out again on his lead and he refused to go out. I had to literally pick him up to go out of the door and then he kept struggling on the lead once we were outside. I'm worried that I'll never be able to let him off his lead in a park or anything as he won't come back to be put on the lead again.

Any tips??

Jasperooni
xxx

Hiya
He's a puppy !! he's exploring his kingdom and it is exciting ! Murph charges out every morning like he's never seen the garden before :) He checks everything is still in it's Rightfull place and wees on the same bushes .
I wouldn't worry too much -let him have a good sniff around and then call him back to you .
The garden is a big wide world to a little puppy :)
Liz

why dont you try letting him loose with the lead on - that way he has his freedom but u can grab the lead when its time to come in!!

PUppies going crazy in the garden is normal - they love it - just enjoy his bounding around :-))

Hello
Ive also gone through this stage with sabre my 9 month old gsd. He still gos mad around the garden a 100 miles an hour its a normal puppy thing that they will grow out of even though its a pain. Before getting sabre i had a nice and tidy garden with flowers and grass now theirs nothing but holes and hes dug up every plant i had and theirs no grass at all just thick horrible mud (yuk). I to have he worry of will sabre come back to me but for differant reasons. At five months old we where told he had hip and elbow dysplasia so since then he haset been aloud to go of the lead at all but with our other dog i trained her with treats and it works really well. They know when they come back they get a nice treat do this for a while then cut the treats down untill you dont need them anymore this is what i will be doing with sabre onece he has had his op's good luck.
Alex, norfolk

Hi Alex, altho my pup is only 9 wks old, I can get his attention enough to follow me back into the house, mostly when he feels like it, and at other times when I phisically lift him up and carry him back into the house..I always reward him with some titbits when he comes back into the house.. I'm a bit frightened of overfeeding him.. and sometimes when he gets the urge to just go into the wild blue yonder then theres just no stopping him...and no matter what I do he just ignores me..does he have to be quite a mature dog before you can drop the treat that goes along with the command word?? Regards SandyXX

Hi
My sharpei is 6 monhts old, and she still does the garden thing, and occasionally around the house. I had her spayed this week, and believe me she still does exactly the same, I think its just a part of them

Hi Jasp,

Your pup's having a great time checking out his domain that's all! As long as your garden is securely fenced you've got no worries as far as I can see.

Just like Liz/Steve's Murph, my dobe (& my beagle) trembles with excitement every morning before he gets let out, then charges round the garden like an absolute loon. He's spent all night watching the hedgehogs, foxes, cats and birds strutting round his territory like they own it and off he goes peeing on everything he can find and tracking all the new scents.

Let him enjoy himself, watch him from the window and when he gets bored/tired call him in with your 'food' call (if you have one, if you don't then create one because they're invaluable at crucial moments) and give him a treat.

My beagle is the worst at wanting to stay out, so I've had to use reverse phsycology on him and actually shut him outside to do his doggy stuff, keeping him out longer than he wants then when he's whining at the back door I make him 'sit', then 'wait' as I open the door and finally 'come' for a treat. He now knows to come in when told (albeit reluctantly at times!)

Good luck and enjoy your pup - he sounds really cute!

Lady G

If you only take him out on the lead he will get excited and won't want to come in. If you let him run around and explore unfettered then the garden will soon become "Old Hat" and he will possibly have a mad moment first thing then settle back to a steady wander around. A puppy must have room to play, places to explore, shadows to chase. Somewhere to learn to be "Grown up"

First, make sure the garden is secure. Second open the door and let him have a run in the safety of the garden.

As a thought, I would be very careful letting a dog run with a lead on. It would not be the first dog to get the lead caught when running at speed and hang it's self! Sorry Emily :)

Regards, John

My advice would be take him out on his lead until he does his business then let him have his mad 10 minutes round the garden. Once he knows he'll get the freedom after he'll be quick to do his business and won't fight you so much.

Wendy