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The Great, Awful Outdoors by Pat Miller
"How do I stop my dog from barking outside at night?" The solution seems simple
- bring the
dog indoors! Yet dog owners who pose the question generally have a bazillion
reasons this isn't
possible. There’s almost as many reasons it's vitally important for their dogs
to be indoors. When
compared to the risks a dog faces outside, even in a fenced yard, a little loss
of sleep seems like it
would be the least of caring dog owners' concerns. These are some reasons they
give for keeping
their dogs outdoors, none of them sufficient cause for banishing their dogs to a
life of isolation:
He needs fresh air, sunshine and exercise.
He likes to chase squirrels.
He likes to watch people go by on the sidewalk.
He's destructive in the house.
He's not housetrained.
I have to be gone too long.
He gets on furniture.
He steals food off counters.
He gets in the garbage.
My wife/husband doesn't want him in the house.
My child is allergic to dogs.
I don't want fleas, dog dirt and hair in the house.
His moving around wakes us up at night.
He's too hyper and out of control. We'll bring him indoors when he learns to be
better behaved.
The reasons fall into two categories: Inappropriate dog behavior that can be
managed and/or modified; human perception or behavior that can also be modified.
It's true a certain amount of outside time is good for a dog. Like us, they
benefit from fresh air, sunshine and exercise. But like us they can also suffer
from too much of good thing.
A dog outdoors 24 hours a day is deprived of human companionship. If you have other dogs, they can fulfill his critical need for pack mates, but he'll likely bond more closely with the other dogs than his human family members. You'll miss the joy that comes from a close mutual relationship with your best friend. If you don't have other dogs, you're sentencing your dog to a life sentence of solitary confinement, where a multitude of behavior problems arise. He's bored to tears and excruciating lonely. He learns to bark at any insignificant sound or movement for something to do and because he takes his sentry duty responsibilities seriously. He also learns to dig. He fence-fights with stray dogs who visit. He eats the siding off your house and redecorates the yard with your lawn furniture. He tries to escape by going over, under, around or through your fence. And when you do spend time with him, your presence so thrills him he's indeed out of control.
Risk Factors
Assuming you keep your dog responsibly confined to your yard, you still face serious risks keeping him outdoors. Even if he comes in at night when the family is home from work and school, he confronts daytime hazards that can cause him psychological and physical damage, even death:
Sunburn, which can lead to skin cancer.
Fly strike, which can lead to maggot infestation in open wounds.
Heartworm, transmitted by mosquitoes.
Tapeworm, ingested by swallowing fleas or eating small rodents.
Heatstroke from being over-stimulated on a hot day by activity as innocuous as the neighbor- mowing his lawn if the dog chases the mower back
and forth along the fence.
Teasing from unthinking neighborhood children, which can lead to aggression toward children.
Frustration from wanting to visit with passing dogs and humans, which can lead to barrier - aggression, which can translate to aggression toward
other dogs and humans.
Poisoning by neighbors irritated by nonstop day and nighttime barking.
Accidental release by a meandering child or meter reader.
Deliberate release by a neighbor fed up with barking.
Theft by a criminal intent on reselling him to a laboratory, puppy mill or unsuspecting member of the
public.
Some dogs even develop idiopathic obsessive behaviors including tail chasing, fly snapping and
self-mutilation as a result of their boredom and frustration. The biggest risk, however, is the failure of commitment you made to provide a lifelong, loving home for your dog. Outdoor dogs are much more likely to end up being given away, surrendered to an animal shelter or, worse, abandoned. This is generally because of inappropriate behaviors backyard dogs commonly display and also because owners who keep their dogs outdoors are less likely to develop that all-important mutual bond ensuring the dogs will be well-loved members of the family. Fortunately, we have as many creative solutions to the inside-out dilemma as reasons for keeping dogs outdoors. Owners need to accept the fact their dogs must be allowed at least some indoor time. Some have the best of intentions to bring Fido indoors as soon as he stops behaving like a crazy dog. Unfortunately, he won't learn how to behave properly in the house unless and until he's allowed inside. Nor will he learn to be housetrained until he spends supervised time in the house, and you routinely take
him outside -every hour on the hour at first -and reward him for appropriate bathroom behavior in his designated outdoor potty spot.
Good Manners
You have to teach good manners - they don't just happen. An important first step: Enroll in a
well-run, positive training class, where the trainer uses rewards and praise rather than physical
corrections. You can easily tell the house dogs in a training class from the backyard dogs. House dogs advance in their studies more quickly. Their owners are more likely to complete the entire six-week course and return for more advanced classes. The backyard dogs are so thrilled to be away from their prisons that the presence of other dogs and people distracts them. They're much less likely to settle down and work well in class. This frustrates owners and makes training an unpleasant experience. A training class by itself will not perfect your dog's house manners. You must also provide adequate exercise. A tired dog is a well-behaved dog. Outdoor dogs don't generally run around the yard all day. They usually sleep on the porch or in a cool damp spot they have dug up in your flowerbed. An occasional charge after a marauding squirrel doesn't begin to tap the reservoir of energy your dog saves for the excitement of seeing you. If you have a hyper hound, the first thing to do before bringing him indoors is to throw a stick or ball for him until his tongue is dragging, and he flops at your feet. Be careful in warm weather you don't exercise him into heat stroke.
Call Timeout!
If you 'ye done your exercise duties well, he may come in and collapse on the cool tile. If he still
seems determined to romp, you can use a crate or a tether to restrict his activities. Be sure you use these as a short and pleasant time-out, not as harsh punishment. If Fido leaps on your shoulders instead of lying quietly on the floor, say "Oops, time-out!" in a cheerful voice to mark the inappropriate behavior, and invite him into his crate with an irresistible stuffed Kong or some other desirable toy or treat. When he's had a few minutes to settle in his crate, tell him "Yes " in a calm but happy voice to mark the good behavior, feed him a treat, and let him out of the crate. If he revs up again, do another "Oops, time-out." Remember to keep it cheerful - we simply want him to understand out-of-control behavior makes his freedom go away. We're not trying to intimidate him into submission. You may use a tether instead of a crate for time-outs. A tether is a 4-foot plastic-coated cable with snaps on both ends. One end is secured around the leg of a heavy piece of furniture to an eyebolt screwed into a solid wall or to a 2-inch by 4-inch block of wood you can slip under a closed door to hold the tether in place. The tether is not intended as a tool for long-term restraint. Use it under your direct supervision. You can secure the tether in the room you're in so your dog can serve his time-out in your presence, and you can easily move the tether from one room to the next as you go about your daily activities. Remember, whether your dog is on a tether or in a crate, a time out is a short, pleasant interlude. He should have a soft bed and toys to chew on to keep him occupied until you release him to give him another opportunity to do the right thing.
Control Behavior
You can also use tethers and crates to restrain your dog during meal times and company visits
until his lessons on good manners are complete. The goal is to get him to control his own behavior, so eventually you won't need to tether or crate him. Of course, if your dog is destructive, you can't leave him loose in the house while you're gone. If you're away four hours or fewer, you can crate him. This prevents counter-surfing, garbage raiding and furniture-lounging as well as destruction. Other management tools: Avoid leaving food and garbage where your dog has access to them. Clear off counters, and put garbage cans in closets or cans with tightly fitting covers. If you have to be gone longer than you can expect your dog to "hold it," of course, you can't crate him or leave him loose in the house to eliminate at will. Still, do not subject him to the dangers of the outdoors, even in a fenced yard It's no more responsible to subject your neighbors to daytime barking than it is to disturb their sleep at night with a canine chorus. Some dog owners litterbox-train their dogs using a commercial dog litter that can be changed like a cat litter. You can also set up a box with Astroturf, which you can hose off, or even sod, where the dog can relieve himself if necessary. Or you can arrange for a neighbor to come by in the middle of the day to let your dog out. A responsible teen might perform this service for a reasonable fee, or you could hire a professional pet-sitter.
- Compromise Time
While it's ideal to have your dog as a full-fledged family member, sometimes it's impossible. A
child suffering from severe allergies or asthma, or a spouse intractably refusing Fido to share your home can seem like insurmountable obstacles. Compromises are often possible, however. With creative use of baby gates, your dog may be able to spend time in designated areas of the house. Perhaps he can at least be indoors at night, crated, which gives him eight hours to be a member of the pack and eliminates nighttime barking complaints. More frequent brushing, bathing and vacuuming can minimize spousal complaints about dirt and dog hair, and reduce hair and dander that contribute to allergies. Modern flea control products are non-toxic to humans and highly effective against fleas, so a dog need not be flea-ridden, indoors or out. We adopt dogs to be our best friends and companions, to share our joys and sorrows, and to be our protectors. How can they do all of that if they're stuck in the back yard? If we really want them to share our hearts, we have to invite them indoors to share our homes.
Pat Miller is a positive-reinforcement trainer and behavior consultant in Chattanooga, Tennessee
