HELP! Puppy hates the rain!

[WYearta]

Boomer is this exact same way! He has been since day one. He doesn't even like to go outside first thing in the morning when the dew is on the grass. He prances like he's too good to get his feet wet! Luckily, we have a pretty high front porch, so I take him under it to potty if it's raining. And he knows where to go if he walks out onto the porch and it's raining he heads straight under, does his business and back on the porch in a flash!

 

[Bers]

Do a google search for dog umbrellas and you should find lots of places to buy them. They look pretty neat to me, maybe it would work for your situation. Also, just be patient, your pup is just a baby, only 8 wks. I had to housetrain Koda in the dead of winter, sometimes standing outside at 3 am, below zero temps., I know how miserable it can be. Keep at it, and don't lose your patience with your pup, it's not her fault.

 

[Kbryant]

Hopefully your pup will grow out of it my my Jake never has. Cleo is fine in the rain, she does what she has to do no matter the weather. But Jake (now 10 months old) hates the rain. I've tried umbrellas, I've tried taking him under the porch but since the rain still leaks through, he still gives me a very hard time. So, when it's raining, he'll hold it for as long as possible. If I take him on a leash out into the yard, he'll pull and run around and "freak out" and refuse to go. What happens is, even though he's certainly house trained, he'll go in the house if i don't watch him like a hawk. So, I have to really watch him and take him out when I can see he just can't hold it another second. then, he goes as fast as possible, and runs inside like the wetness could kill him! He always tries to go on the covered front porch too and sometimes I get so tired of watching his every move, I let him and go clean it. I guess it's something I just have to deal with. My concern now is the snow. I'm hoping he likes it since I live in CT up on a mountain so we get LOTS of snow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! If he does the same with snow as he does with rain, I'm in real trouble!

 

[jbbtlr]

Koda doesn't mind the wet to much, but he HATES the cold. And will not poop outside if it's cold. He'll pee but not poop....any suggestions?

I have even bought him a coat and he's not to fond of that either. I don't know what I would do if he didn't like the rain either.

~~Jeanette~~

 

[totallyhip]

Luke hates going out in the rain too, which sucks for us because it rains here alot on the "wetcoast" in the winter months. He is 19 months now. One time we went out in the rain and he tried to crawl underneath some bushes to get away from it. It was kinda cute actually. We have to pull him in the rain sometimes if its raining hard. But we don't have a choice cause we live in apartment so we don't have a yard to put him out for a quick piddle.
Luke won't walk thru any puddles and will avoid all the water on the sidewalk at all costs. He will only pee in the rain but will never poop.
I did buy him a raincoat which was even worse cause he wouldn't walk at all wearing it and absolutely hates it. I can't imagine him wanting to wear booties But I was thinking it wouldn't be a bad idea. For the cold weather I got him a fleece, which he loves wearing but I did notice the one time he wore it, he wouldn't pee in it either :(
What I have been doing with the coats is letting him know that their his. I let him smell them and he sleeps with them on his bed (couch) with his toys. I think once he gets use to the coats maybe he will like wearing them more.

 

[Idgie's Dad]

I know some boxers do not particularly like getting wet, stepping in puddles or even swimming, but I didn't realize how extreme the dislike of water/rain can be. In the absense of alternatives, I would say to try and get the outdoor routine going on command when its not raining and then try to continue it when it is raining lightly at first. I think two general principals work well with fear/nervous situations where there is nothing rational for your pup to be afraid of. Firstly, familiarity breeds contempt and if you persevere and are patient and try and ignore what is causing the fear, you will win out. Secondly try and use distraction techniques, such as giving the command, playing a game, do the play bow or your impersonation of 'running around the garden like a boxer with the devil on his tail' or throwing a ball!

For Jeanette, If you can exercise your puppy off the lead somewhere when it is cold, or even run with the dog on the lead, sometimes the running will get things moving - for the dog hopefully! Or when she is pooping in warmer weather, say the command and bags of praise to teach the command. I know its easy to say when you do not have the problem yourself, but this has worked with my dogs in the past. Good luck.

 

[lost1700]

When I got my boy at 9 weeks he wouldnt go in the rain either. I live in Florida and as everybody knows we have had several hurricanes. My boy is almost 6 months now and he would go out in the middle of the hurricane(3 hurricanes to be exact), ears flapping in the wind. Wind was blowing hard enough to where he would fall down and get blown around. But he went out and did his business. So, I think he'll get over it, it will take time though.

 

[boxerspirit33]

Our Bali never liked the rain either . She is 2 1/2 now and still hates it, she also doesn't like the cold . If it rains too long she will do whatever it takes to not go outside and if you open the door and see rain she looks up at you wondering if you are serious and run the other way . I have tryed the praise and treat but so far my best technique is to go outside holding her by the collar and after 5 secondes of getting wet ( and so am i ) she will go .They are just too cute and funny.

 

[Sugar's Mom]

True story: We live in Montreal, and have wicked storms and hard winters. We got Sugar in August, and then the cold and rainy fall arrived. One day it was really miserable, and had been raining for 3 days straight. I had managed to get the pup to pee, but never to poop. She must have been busting inside. She kept whining to go out and then refusing to when I opened the front door. Finally, in utter desperation for my pup's health, I prepared the garage floor with newspapers, opened the door and charged out and then back in with a scoop of poop. I deposited it strategically on the newspapers, then led Sugar to the garage and let her sniff the prize, while giving her command, which is "Go Potty!" She looked up at me in relief and hunched for a long one! Ah, the -------- smell of success!

 

[flboxer]

good luck

Not sure what to do for the hating rain problem. For some reason Bauer doesn't seem to mind it too much. He will pee in rain, and poop most the time. The only trouble we had was one of the 4 hurricane/tropical storms that hit us. The worst of the 4 storms, we would go out, and pee (well i just stood there and tried to block the wind for him, i didnt actually pee with him ) He would pee in the 70 MPH wind and rain, but he wouldn't take the time to poop. It was kinda funny to see him squatting, and his ears were blowing in the wind. Needless to say, we both got soaked, but didnt mind it.

good luck to you.