Integrating 7 Month Old Inside

[naturalgoodness]

I have a 7 month old desexed female Beagle that we have had since 12 weeks.

She has lived outside under the verandah, rarely being inside the house since then.

Now that the weather is turning, I am wanting to integrate her into being inside the house when we are home.

I will admit to not being the best obedience trainer! She does sit and follows some basic commands when calm enough to listen (and as long as smell does not win!)

She is a jumper (enough to push my 3 year old over) but does settle when backs are turned and she is ignored, however we are not over the initial jumping yet!

I am looking for suggestions on how to integrate her inside with us and am thinking:

- tether her to me on lead so she moves around the house with me

- set a timer to take her outside every 30 minutes or so

- set up her inside bed in a permanent spot with toys/treats on it

Is anyone able to offer suggestions on anything else?

I am aware that it will be trying for a while as she gets over the excitement and gets used to being inside when we are home - can anyone who has experienced this shed light on how long it might take?

Just to add - she will continue to be put outside when we are not home and when we go to bed at night.

Thank you

[Guest english.ivy]

Crate training her.

[Nekhbet]

why dont you purchase a crate and let the dog sleep inside as well at night. You will probably find the dog is quieter in general if it can at least be inside with you watching and just being in with its pack then outside all the time.

If you want, contact Mark Singer out there in SA to come and give you some pointers in general especially with the jumping, the dog should well and truely be out of that stage at that age.

[Dogsfevr]

In summer do you plan to stop inside visits because if so i would think twice before confusing the dog.

Make sure if she is to be out out at night you do so early.

Nothing worse than allowing the dog inside privileges where its warm & toasty & then there put outside into the cold.

Be prepared pup may object to being put out late & sticking to your routine.

How long it will take will depend on how consistent you are without being confusing

[persephone]

Nothing worse than allowing the dog inside privileges where its warm & toasty & then there put outside into the cold.

Be prepared pup may object to being put out late & sticking to your routine.

agree here.

I also much prefer my dogs contained at night- MUCH less chance of them being a nuisance for us/the neighbours ;)

perhaps get a nice kennel .. put it under shelter- with lots of snuggly old blankets etc

I would also recommend you contact the professional mentioned get help with the jumping ,and settling her down so that other things are made easier These things are better with someone alongside you - who can see exactly what's happening- and who has teh experience to share.

Best of luck with it all .. beagle pups are too darn cute !

Edited May 14, 2011 by persephone

[Rysup]

Please dont bring her inside because it is cold, get her used to it, and then chuck her back outside once the weather warms back up. If you dont intend to have her come inside forever more, then just buy her a nice warm jacket for winter.

[aussielover]

I would treat her as if she is an 8 week old puppy:

- very close supervision. when you can't directly supervise then put her in a crate/play pen or outside

- toilet breaks every 30 mins- 1 hr with rewards for going outside

- Invest in a crate and train her to settle in there- you can do this by feeding her in there, giving her lots of treats in there, you can even play games which involve the crate!

- Otherwise you could teach her to settle on her bed, but this is generally harder as they can get up whenever they want, I prefer to teach this when the dog is used to the crate and has a reaosnable level of obedience. But the same principle applies- reward heavily for the desired behaviour.

I think she will really benefit from being allowed inside sometimes, even if it is only for the evenings and night, so good on you for considering it

I think you will find her overall behavoiur improves because she will be used to being around the family regularly and be part of daily events.

[naturalgoodness]

Thank you everyone for your replies

- yes, we intend to keep her inside forever and simply sleep outside.

- she already has a lovely, well insulated and warm kennel under our back verandah right next to the back door that she sleeps in and likes, she will continue to sleep in this

- we have 2 younger children (3 and 6) and I can see that sometimes she likes being outside without them where she can relax and hang around in peace so that is why we are continuing with outside sleeping

I appreciate the suggestions everyone has given!