Have you tried feeding him in the doghouse?

So far I tried placing his food in there, and he'll just grab the whole bowl and carry it out. lol... he is a funny and adorable pup, so it kills me to see him shivering like he does, cause he wont even go in his house when its raining.

However, I think I will try that tip, about putting some old clothes of mine in there. I'm really the only one he listens to anyway... hopefulyl it will work!!

Any more suggestions are very welcome, and greatly appreciated.

If possible, remove the doors or nail them in an open position so he can easily see inside. Some dogs don't like total enclosure and feel trapped.

In addition to probably feeling abandoned after living in the house, he may be confused as to what that contraption is for.

Why not build him a porch in addition to the house.......like the one in the site below, or put four posts in the ground and attach a tarp. Ideally, build him a enclosure with cyclone fencing and cover the top with tarp.

Is he in an enclosure or chained?

Here is a link that might be useful: houses

he is in the back yard... its fairly big, about equal in sq footage to the house, maybe three quarters. I like the idea of nailing the dog doors slightly open.

When it stops raining, I think I will get to work on a sort of porch for him. Thanks a bunch.

Now, this is a separate question, but his sister we gave to a friend, but she wont stop chewing or digging or anything like that, and she goes for walks often. The reason why Im asking is because I baby sat her for the weekend and she trashed our yard, and broke a couple holes in the fence, and got away twice. I finally had to put her in a little kennel. So what are my and my friends options?

This is just a suggestion, but maybe for the sister dog your friend could purchase a doggy back pack and fill both sides with books or 2, 2 liter bottles filled with water. Then when your friend goes on a walk with her it will give her a tad more exercise. Also, you could leave the backpack on her during the day. I would try walking like this at least twice a day. Good long walk. Also, on the chewing~~~ the things you don't want chewed use bitter apple spray. Someone on this link suggested it to me and it works fab. Also cayenne pepper mixed with water was suggested but I have not tried that one. Buy her lots and lots of large rawhides. Some people do not like them but I have always used them and I have never had a chewing problem, as my dogs know that is "their" chewy. Some others may have better suggestions. Also I have used a kong or other fillable toy and filled it with plain peanut butter. My dogs will sit for an hour just licking trying to get the peanut butter out. It's a great babysitter. LOL Also, I have used the ball that you can put their dry kibbles in and when they roll it around on the floor a piece of their kibbles will drop out, one at a time. My dogs love this also. Kibble drops out and they scarf it up and roll the ball again. Fun to watch and entertaining for them too. Might want to try this if you haven't already.

Wow.. okay thanks! this will help her a lot, as they dont have the time or money to take her to obedience classes. (college students)

Thanks everybody for the great help!!!

One other item that is great for 'entertaining' a dog for hours is a large, raw bone from a butcher (leg or hock is good, just make sure it doesn't have a lot of cartilege or small pieces that could be chewed off and choked on.
If you don't have a butcher, talk to someone in the meat dept of your grocery store.

I think your dog is smart.I would not want to be religated to a dog house either. Is there some other place, like a garage you could move your pup to? I have two thoughts, one is that the rain can be deafening inside a dog house, and it is possible he wont go in for that reason. The second thought I had, is can you move the dog house, maybe closer to the house, under a carport, something other than where it is. Has you tried offering the people you are staying with a free carpet cleaning and housekeeping when you leave if they will allow the dog in???

If they cannot afford to take the dog to obedience classes then they shouldn't have a dog. Plain and simple. I can understand how it might be too expensive for a college student but I pay more than a session of obedience classes on a single routine visit to the vet. The dog is obviously bored and needs some mental stimluation in addition to physical excercise. Obedience training will not fix destructive chewing and digging but it may help if they work on obedience with the dog throughout the day.

As for the doghouse issue I like Mazer's idea. In fact if you offered to keep the dog in a dog crate (a big cage) while you were not there to supervise this would virtually eliminate any risk.

If you live in the south, I wouldn't worry about the dog not using the house. My border collie doesn't like to be confined. As a 10-week old pup she bit me the third time I crated her. End of crate training! She totally freaks in a confined area. If your dog goes in the dog house sometimes as you said, he knows it's available. Leave it at that.

No amount of obedience classes will slow down a digging, chewing dog. If her people work all day and she's alone, there is a big problem. One hour alone and bored and she will dig/chew. Now that the habit is ingrained, the best thing to do is confine her in a place where she cannot dig and give her lots and lots of chew toys.
Dogs left alone outside will develope horrible habits. It's not their fault, they need stimulation for their active minds.

"If they cannot afford to take the dog to obedience classes then they shouldn't have a dog. Plain and simple."

Well, I guess ideally, everybody should have enough money to take their dogs to obedience class, to take their children to ballet, & to send their high school seniors off to the best colleges.

but even if they don't, I bet their dogs, children, & high school seniors are still beloved to them.

WIth regard to your friends dog, the sister of your dog. There are labs (read Marley and Me) which are going to be like a run away frieght train no matter howmuch you take them for walks, the best idea in that case is to find a place to run her. I am talking at least an hour, preferably on a beach somewhere or at al lake. Take those cheapo beach towels you can get from Wal-Mart or other store and a water container for rinsing off her dog. My firend had a lab like this who she took to a local lake every morning and every afternoon after work. She sat and read a book or did her work while the dog swam and swam. She sat there for hours on the weekend. Those kind of labs take alot of work, if she can not do it herself, she needs to hire a dogwalker, and that dog walker needs to be willing to flat out run that dog twice a day for 45 minutes. There is just no getting around it.

Scenario: A rainy night in Georgia. "Dog" owns the best big dog house that money can buy. "Dog" needs to be trained how to use "her new dog house!"

At this pivotal moment our family dog does not understand her new dog house at all! I truly believe she assumes that I purchased this dog house to annoy her. She looks at the dog house as if it were a giant germ. My family and I all have severe allergies, but fortunately we reside in the subtropical area of the US. So the weather is moderate throughout the year, which makes it wonderful for our pet. She is allowed to come in for a short period, but not for long.

My mission is to apply a carry-kennel door to the entry door of her dog house, then put her in her new house and shut the kennel door. I plan to sit and talk to her to make her feel comfortable in her new house, then take her out after several minutes. But if she becomes bothered, I will try another day. I plan to work with her till she understands her new dog house is safe, and she becomes comfortable enough to go into her new dog house "by herself!" Got my fingers crossed! I'll let you know if my little experiment works in the weeks to come...
And of course if she does good, I will give her a treat.

I HAVE A LARGE FENCED YARD A LARGE DOG HOUSE CARPET ON FLOOR LARGE SOFT COVERED PILLOW IN HIS HOUSE HE REFUSES TO GO IN HIS HOUSE WHEN IT RAINS HE SEEMS TO PANIC WHEN IT RAINS I HAVE EVEN TRIED BRINGING HIM IN THE HOUSE WHEN IT RAINS HE STILL SEEMS TO PANIC EVEN IF I AM IN THE SAME ROOM WITH HIM. HE HAS ONE LIGHT BLUE EYE AND ONE BROWN HIS MOTHER ALSO HAD THIS EYE COLOR.I DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO ANY SUGGESTIONS

First, Barbara, please don't scream at us by using all caps. It also helps to write with punctuation so we know where you sentences begin and end. These tips may get you some answers to your questions. Right now your post is too difficult to read.

Emory go home it is not that hard lol

nothing like resurrecting an ancient thread!

LOL!! A very old thread but Emory is perfectly correct in his/her observations. Caps are considered yelling online and lack of punctuation does make it difficult to read.

Somehow when using electronic devices, many folks lose the ability to communicate politely and intelligently and to follow correct grammatical practices.

btw, Donald, you could use some punctuation as well :-))

"Emory go home it is not that hard lol"

And this from the Punctuation and Usage Police? LOL