I want to start this by saying my dog doesn't hate going out in the rain because I hate going out in the rain and she's feeding off of my energy. So anyone who is going to try and help me by saying that, please move on to a different post. I love being out in the rain, and prefer to do my jogging in the rain.
Now that that's out of the way, on to the reason for this post.
I have a 9 month old American Staffordshire Terrier/Rottweiler (I know this because the "laws" where I live require anyone owning a dog suspected to be of "pit bull lineage" to pay to have DNA testing done...that's a whole different frustrating, rant worthy post for another time and place) I've had Stella since she was roughly 3 months old. She is afraid of a great many things, most of which are things that make loud or strange noises (like when I peel a strip of aluminum foil off of the roll, or shake open a large garbage bag) She has made great strides in overcoming her fears, now instead of bolting right away she will simply take a few steps back and turn her head sideways and watch...almost like she's waiting to see if something bad is going to happen, but her body is always pointed towards the nearest exit.
She has never been a fan of the rain. If we are already outside and it starts to rain she starts walking faster and I know if I let her she would open up into a full run until we return home. She has never "asked" to go outside to pee while it's already raining (whether by coincidence, or on purpose I'll never know) but, today it has been raining for more then 12 hours and she refuses to go outside to pee. She whines at the door signaling she needs to use the bathroom, then sits and waits for her leash to be put on. Everything is fine and normal up until the point where I open the door and she sees the rain. She puts her ears back flat, holds her head up and sniffs then sits on her butt and won't budge, and I mean won't budge. She was just at the vet on Friday and measured 18 inches at front shoulder and weighs 55 lbs. She is solid and strong (it takes 3 vet techs to lift her onto the table as she refuses to get on it herself), add to that stubborn and you have a situation that I don't know how to manage.
I have tried everything, her favourite toy, favourite treat (she will sit there and drool ridiculously over the baby carrot but still won't budge) I even tried having my 15 year old daughter go outside with the ball, but Stella still won't move. She wags her tail and whines as if she's upset she can't join the fun, but refuses to move. If I do try to force her by pulling her leash or getting behind her and pushing she starts shaking like crazy and pees all over herself, which is the same reaction she has to thunder and fireworks. Incidentally, she also doesn't try to go back inside the house. She looks at me as if she's saying "I really have to go pee, so you really have to make it stop raining"
I know people are probably saying, just don't take her out in the rain however, that's not realistic. Not to mention the fact that aside from peeing on herself out of fear she didn't use the bathroom in over 10 hours and I know she had to go because she was whining and pacing around the house. My biggest concern is that she'll get a UTI or some other infection from not peeing.
Whether this was the right way to handle it or not, I finally just picked her up and carried her outside, which was not an easy task as she weighs half as much as I do, and once we got to the door she started kicking and scrambling to try and jump out of my arms. She never once growled or snapped at me, she whimpered and whined and looked terrified. My daughter said "now I understand the expression sad puppy dog eyes" I put her down on the gr$#@! and told her she wasn't going back home until she peed, finally she did and we went back inside. That was 2 hours ago and now she won't come anywhere near me. When I say her name she turns her head away from me, she was sitting on the couch and I went and sat down beside her and she got up and moved. If I give her the command come, she does but she doesn't do it with the same vigor as before. She used to wag her tail every time I entered the room, but not tonight. I don't know if I broke her trust in me by forcing her to do something she didn't want to do, or if she's just letting me know she's not impressed with me right now and will get over it.
Here are my questions...
1) How do I get her comfortable with going out in the rain, even if it's just long enough to use the bathroom? I am fully prepared to put in as much time/effort/repetition as necessary.
2) If I did damage her trust in me for more then just one nights worth of her pouting, how do I go about trying to repair it and show her in the future she can trust me?
3) How should I have handled this situation, or any future situation where I need her to do something she is afraid of, so as to not damage her trust?
On a side note...is stubbornness a typical trait, or is it stemming from her fears? Because she can be seriously stubborn when she wants to be. There is a house on our street she refuses to walk past. It's the same thing with the rain, she sits and won't move. I eventually just turn around and go the other way. I feel like on one hand I shouldn't force her as there must be a reason why she won't walk past the house, but on the other hand I'm the boss and I want to walk that way so shouldn't she just do it because I say so? On this topic I should mention, she used to walk past this house fine but last month new people moved in and we were walking past one day and they were outside and she turned her head toward them and smelled the air for like 2 minutes and then refused to go any further. I haven't forced the issue with her because I figure something she smelled caused her to be cautious and her instincts are there for a reason. Should I just avoid this house, or work on making her walk by it?
I apologize for the long post. Any and all genuine help/tips/info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Now that that's out of the way, on to the reason for this post.
I have a 9 month old American Staffordshire Terrier/Rottweiler (I know this because the "laws" where I live require anyone owning a dog suspected to be of "pit bull lineage" to pay to have DNA testing done...that's a whole different frustrating, rant worthy post for another time and place) I've had Stella since she was roughly 3 months old. She is afraid of a great many things, most of which are things that make loud or strange noises (like when I peel a strip of aluminum foil off of the roll, or shake open a large garbage bag) She has made great strides in overcoming her fears, now instead of bolting right away she will simply take a few steps back and turn her head sideways and watch...almost like she's waiting to see if something bad is going to happen, but her body is always pointed towards the nearest exit.
She has never been a fan of the rain. If we are already outside and it starts to rain she starts walking faster and I know if I let her she would open up into a full run until we return home. She has never "asked" to go outside to pee while it's already raining (whether by coincidence, or on purpose I'll never know) but, today it has been raining for more then 12 hours and she refuses to go outside to pee. She whines at the door signaling she needs to use the bathroom, then sits and waits for her leash to be put on. Everything is fine and normal up until the point where I open the door and she sees the rain. She puts her ears back flat, holds her head up and sniffs then sits on her butt and won't budge, and I mean won't budge. She was just at the vet on Friday and measured 18 inches at front shoulder and weighs 55 lbs. She is solid and strong (it takes 3 vet techs to lift her onto the table as she refuses to get on it herself), add to that stubborn and you have a situation that I don't know how to manage.
I have tried everything, her favourite toy, favourite treat (she will sit there and drool ridiculously over the baby carrot but still won't budge) I even tried having my 15 year old daughter go outside with the ball, but Stella still won't move. She wags her tail and whines as if she's upset she can't join the fun, but refuses to move. If I do try to force her by pulling her leash or getting behind her and pushing she starts shaking like crazy and pees all over herself, which is the same reaction she has to thunder and fireworks. Incidentally, she also doesn't try to go back inside the house. She looks at me as if she's saying "I really have to go pee, so you really have to make it stop raining"
I know people are probably saying, just don't take her out in the rain however, that's not realistic. Not to mention the fact that aside from peeing on herself out of fear she didn't use the bathroom in over 10 hours and I know she had to go because she was whining and pacing around the house. My biggest concern is that she'll get a UTI or some other infection from not peeing.
Whether this was the right way to handle it or not, I finally just picked her up and carried her outside, which was not an easy task as she weighs half as much as I do, and once we got to the door she started kicking and scrambling to try and jump out of my arms. She never once growled or snapped at me, she whimpered and whined and looked terrified. My daughter said "now I understand the expression sad puppy dog eyes" I put her down on the gr$#@! and told her she wasn't going back home until she peed, finally she did and we went back inside. That was 2 hours ago and now she won't come anywhere near me. When I say her name she turns her head away from me, she was sitting on the couch and I went and sat down beside her and she got up and moved. If I give her the command come, she does but she doesn't do it with the same vigor as before. She used to wag her tail every time I entered the room, but not tonight. I don't know if I broke her trust in me by forcing her to do something she didn't want to do, or if she's just letting me know she's not impressed with me right now and will get over it.
Here are my questions...
1) How do I get her comfortable with going out in the rain, even if it's just long enough to use the bathroom? I am fully prepared to put in as much time/effort/repetition as necessary.
2) If I did damage her trust in me for more then just one nights worth of her pouting, how do I go about trying to repair it and show her in the future she can trust me?
3) How should I have handled this situation, or any future situation where I need her to do something she is afraid of, so as to not damage her trust?
On a side note...is stubbornness a typical trait, or is it stemming from her fears? Because she can be seriously stubborn when she wants to be. There is a house on our street she refuses to walk past. It's the same thing with the rain, she sits and won't move. I eventually just turn around and go the other way. I feel like on one hand I shouldn't force her as there must be a reason why she won't walk past the house, but on the other hand I'm the boss and I want to walk that way so shouldn't she just do it because I say so? On this topic I should mention, she used to walk past this house fine but last month new people moved in and we were walking past one day and they were outside and she turned her head toward them and smelled the air for like 2 minutes and then refused to go any further. I haven't forced the issue with her because I figure something she smelled caused her to be cautious and her instincts are there for a reason. Should I just avoid this house, or work on making her walk by it?
I apologize for the long post. Any and all genuine help/tips/info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
HELP! My dog refuses to go out in the rain, even to pee.
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