I have a 1 1/2 year old pit bull. It's getting cold outside and we built him a dog house, and he won't go in it. My husband and I are fire fighters and work 24 hr shifts so my dog is outside that whole time. The dog house is insulated and he has a bed in it with food and water. How do i get him to go in it?
Avalanche from Lisbon, WI
Put a mirror in there, maybe he's just lonely. (11/29/2007)
By joan pecsek
Try hiring a dog walker, this is what I do for my two rescued Dobies.
Jennifer
Northern Virginia (11/29/2007)
I would respectfully disagree with the idea that you can make any dog an outside dog that will be comfortable where it's at. That is simply not true in all cases, but is somewhat dependent on where you live. I live in Minnesota. If you look at the indigenous animals here, one thing you will find is that they grow heavy, double coats, and shed those coats in the summer. Just because you leave a lab or a rottie outside does not mean they will end up looking like a husky eventually. Dogs were bred with different characteristics over many, many decades, and you will not change that simply by putting them in a certain environment for a few weeks or months. For example, a lab is a water dog, has a short coat that repels water as that is where it was bred to jump and get the "bird". It will not ever develop the kind of coat it needs to stay outside throughout a Minnesota winter. A pit bull has much the same coat - it is thin and does not provide weather protection for cold temps. While some individuals may do better than others, just like people have different tolerances, you still need to understand where the breed ame from and its characteristics. Is there a pit bull group/organization/reputable breeder in your area you could contact for some insight?
Also, some dogs are claustrophobic just like humans. I have one now who is like that. She'd been born on a farm and had the wide open spaces to roam, but then the first owner kept her in a tiny bathroom while house training her. They found their child was allergic to dogs, so returned her to the farm. But she was traumatized by the bathroom. I could never get her to go into the doghouse we made for her, either. (nor will she go into our small bathroom). We had a larger shed (almost big enough for a small, compact car to fit), which was close to the house, and made her run line long enough so we cut a dog entry hole in that, and she would go into the shed. And, as suggested in another post, we did line it with old blankets that had been ours, and had our smell. But as a bassett, doberman, lab mix, she is not one that can tolerate the outside during our winter months, and is more than happy to be an inside dog from about Oct. to April.
Dogs are pack animals, and when incorporated into a family, you become their "pack". Most would rather be with you than left alone outside for any length of time. (12/03/2007)
By Deb
Maybe if you heat the doghouse, he might like it better. (12/18/2007)
By Sally
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