My wife and I recently picked a new puppy up from our local animal shelter.  We already have a Australian Shepherd and decided we wanted another dog.  The dogs are mainly outside dogs, coming in for about 5 hours per night when we are both home for work.  The dog is very intelligent and very well behaved with the exception of one thing - she whines and cries all night long when we put her outside.  She has a dog house that she sleeps in when she finally goes down but last night she cried and scratched at both the back door and the side gate to the front yard.  Her and our other dog get along great so I dont think she is crying about that.  I have a few questions that I was hoping some of you dog experts could help me out with.  She is a border collie mix (possibly with some type of shepherd)

Should we still be crate training her at 5.5 months?  She was a stray so I doubt she was ever crate trained.  I would prefer not to do this cause she is ultimately going to be an outside dog with inside priviledges so I feel we would just be delaying the inevitable by bringing her in.

Should I tie her to a leash at night so she cant get to the side gate and scratch?  I feel like her next step might be trying to get out if she continues to paw at the gate

How should I be disciplining?  I have been trying to ignore her but when she has been scratching incessantly at the door, I have been opening it and scolding her.  As soon as I close the door though, she begins to cry again.  Is the best method to just totally ignore?

Is this normal?  Is this something I could expect to die down after a bit of time and understanding of her role as an outside dog?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks for your time. =)

Please never leave your dog tied up unsupervised, she could hang herself.

Dogs understand the laws of cause and effect, she scratches you open the door and give her attention; as any attention is better than being ignored you are just training her to keep on scratching and whining.

Please do not scold your dog for wanting to be with you, she is in a new place, she may be worried, frightened, confused etc.

If you want her to stop scratching and whining just ignore her when she does this and only pay attention to her when she is quiet.

Ensure she has something warm and comforting with her, perhaps a piece of your clothing, she is fed and the more she feels secure and the less she is scolded the quicker she will settle down.

Please don't tie her up - it's not unheard-of for a dog to strangle itself this way. And also she'd be fair game for any dog who attacked her while she was outside. If it's essential she lives outside (domestic dogs generally prefer to be with people than away from them, and she's no doubt very insecure if you haven't had her long) I suggest you build a secure run around her kennel so she can be safe there.

How do you scold her because you should never hit a dog, also is your other dog with her when she is outside, i believe personally that when she cries you should take her into your bedroom so she knows your going to be there eventually when she stays in the back.  It's all very truamatic to her if she has never stayed in a humans home for long for all she knows she mighten be there long.  You just need to reassure her that you are going to be there and build a relationship.  By taking her in your room i dont mean all the time just a few nights then gradually build her upto living in the backyard and if she still cries then ignore her dont be to harsh as she has to adapt. i dont like putting dogs on a lead in the back yard.

warm regards frank

Are you in the States? as it's more usual to keep dogs outside there. Just wondered :)

Lindsay
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