It’s not so uncommon for you as a Labrador parent to face rather a strange situation in which your dog won’t go outside, not even for toilet business. Until recently your Lab hurried outside to play and now you have to drag him in order to get him out. What happened?
Sometimes being outside of their home makes Labradors feel anxious and scared. Dogs tend to make a strong association with different things, items, places, sounds, smells. Something scary could have happened during the last walk and now the Lab associate that scary thing with being outside. A sudden or loud sound ( other’s dog bark, construction work, or thunder), previous bad experience ( ant bite, being hurt, conflict with another dog), improper socialization can lead to reluctance to go outside. If Lab is rescued from the shelter, it might have a problem with walking on a leash. Also, the new location can make him fearful. Not to rule out the possibility of some pain or illness which causes your dog rather stay at home. However, making your dog face his fears is not a good idea.
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What Could Be The Reasons My Labrador Won’t Go Outside?
Going outside is a pure necessity for dogs. Not only for peeing and pooping business but also for play, exercise, and training. No matter how much energy your pooch has, he needs to walk/run/play every day. If something interrupts that routine, it’s clear that you need to do something about it.
Pain/ Illness
Perhaps the problem has nothing to do with behavioral/mental issues, maybe there is some underlying health condition that makes your dog reluctant to go outside. Observe your dog closely, does he show any sign of pain like panting, crying, excessive licking, appetite loss, etc? You should see the vet so he can run some tests, do the blood work and rule out any illness or injury that might be keeping your dog from play outside.
Strange/ Loud Sounds
You know that dog’s sense of hearing is far more sensitive than human’s as they can hear at a higher frequency range than us. That means your dog can hear things you cannot and those you can hear as well, he might be hearing very loud.
Labradors are afraid of loud sounds. What else makes them fearful is the strange sound they don’t know the source of. So if you were walking close to the construction site the other day when some extra loud sound suddenly startled you, note that your dog might be so afraid to experience this again that he prefers to stay inside.
Sounds that may scary your Lab so much that he refuses to go out :
- Thunders
- Firework / Firecracker
- Other dogs bark
- Construction noise
- Lawnmowers
- Loud neighbors/ people yelling
- Unexpected sounds like gunshots/car alarms
- Loud trucks /vehicles /sirens ( ambulance, police…)
- Even skateboard wheels on a sidewalk
Bad Experience
Labs can easily remember the bad experience they had. If they connect that bad experience with the outdoors, they will naturally hesitate to go out next time. They can perfectly remember when and where they experienced something ugly. That can be an encounter with some aggressive/mean dog, unfamiliar person, screaming child…
On the other hand, it doesn’t have to be so obvious. Maybe your Lab was bitten by an ant. Ant bite usually causes pain and swelling, rarely some serious allergic reaction. But that unpleasant feel might be the cause your Lab now won’t go outside.
Also, bite or sting by other insects like spiders, bees, wasps might ”convince” your Lab that staying inside is much safer and comfortable.
Lack Of Socialization
Puppies of any breed must go through a socialization process during their puppyhood. They should be safely exposed to different people, situations, places, sounds, smells by the age of 14 weeks.
If you have a Labrador that was not introduced to the outside world as it should, then you can face a situation in which your dog is too afraid of everything. He is afraid of people, common sounds, traffic noise, other animals.
A similar thing will happen if you get a dog that lived in the countryside and has just come to a big city. This Lab is not used to a crowd, a lot of people, buildings, traffic, loud sounds … so might be anxious and not willing to go outside. With this dog, you need to go baby steps and go through the socialization process very slowly but persistently.
Labrador From A Shelter / Stray Lab
If you have rescued a Lab from the street or adopted from the shelter, you might be struggling with a few things and one of them is the unwillingness of your dog to go outside, even for a toilette business.
One of the reasons is fear. Life on the street is rather cruel, your Lab was probably abused by other people, maybe was hurt by other dogs… normally, he doesn’t want to go back to the place he finally left.
Another reason when it comes to stray Lab is that wearing a leash and harness may represent additional stress, something like a trap. Unless the Lab is leash trained he will find this experience scary. Even if he was leash trained he might have some bad experience related to a leash ( pulling, choking ) so now he Is trying to avoid it at all costs.
Shelter Lab might not have the same issues as a stray dog but still, he ended up in a shelter because someone didn’t take good care of him. That means that you can face a poorly socialized Lab or a dog with numerous behavioral issues and fears.
New Home
If you moved to a new home, your dog might need some time to adjust. The lab that used to run all over your backyard now is hesitating to come out. You don’t see any reason, you moved to a house with an even bigger yard, your Lab has a lot of outdoor space but he seems not interested in outdoor play.
Well, he needs some time to adjust to a new space, new sounds, smells. Maybe you have a neighbor that has a dog, so your Lab anxiety can just increase when he feels the smell of another canine in the vicinity.
Senior Labs
Senior Labs go through different mental and physical changes. They don’t accept any change in their environment and routine easily ( new house, new people )
Apart from lack of energy, senior Labs can struggle with many painful conditions like arthritis, which makes them avoid walking/running and outdoor play. Also, older Labs may develop eye problems. Impaired vision may cause fear and anxiety especially outside.
Older Labs can also get a condition called Canine Cognitive Dysfunction which is like Dogs Dementia. As you may expect if your Lab is not capable to understand what is going on around him, nor remember what he needs to do, logically he will be very anxious and not willing to go outside.
In-home Issues
Have you thought that your Lab doesn’t have any problem with the outside world but does have issues with things that go just before he goes out? Does he have to go downstairs to come out? Maybe he is afraid of stairs? Does he need to go over a slippery floor in order to go outside?
If in-home factors are making your dog reluctant to go out, then try to change them. Put some piece of carpet on the slippery floor and if the stairs are the problem do read this article (Wikihow official website), maybe you find it helpful
Electric Fence
This is a rather popular solution for the people the has non-fenced yard but still like to let their dogs roam free. The problem is that you have to limit your dog somehow so he doesn’t run away. The electric fence gives a shock to your dog (through a collar on his neck) every time he crosses some line in your yard ( imaginable fence line ). This way, the Lab learns not to cross a certain point in the yard and stays within the parameters.
Some Labs do very well with this but others may become scared of every inch of the yard as they know they will get shocked at some point. This fear might keep them away from going outside.
Rain/Thunderstorms
There is no necessity explaining why thunderstorms keep your Lab inside, it’s simply a sudden and very loud sound that comes from nowhere so has all elements to scare your poor pooch to death.
On the other hand, you may discover that your Lab refuses to go outside even if it’s just raining. First of all, Labs don’t like that feel the raindrops hitting them. For humans, this is just an annoying experience but for dogs is rather a scary situation. Dogs are afraid of the sound of rain hitting the roof as well. Further, the rain makes all the smells much stronger.
Even your attitude towards rain can make your Lab’s anxiety bigger. Have you ever scolded your Lab because he came into the house wet with the mud on his feet? He might remember that and refuses to expose himself to your anger again. How do you react when starts raining? Does that fact ruin your good mood? Do you lower the blinds on the windows almost in panic? If you do, you send the message that rain is something bad. So if it’s bad, why come out?
What To Do If My Labrador Won’t Go Outside?
If your Lab won’t go outside, you need to do something about it. Try to discover the reason. If you have a puppy, that’s quite normal so just be patient and continue with socialization.
If you have a Lab that suddenly stopped going outside, you might want to consider some other reasons we’ve highlighted here.
In most cases, it’s about some bad experience. In that case, you need to find a trigger and remove it. What’s important is never force your dog to go outside if he doesn’t want to.
Don’t punish him, don’t yell at him. The most important thing- don’t force your Lab to face his fears. In dog psychology, things don’t go like that. They are not humans. If you force your dog to do something he is afraid of, that will just increase his fear.
In case your Lab had some bad experience out there, desensitizing process is the right way to go. Desensitization is a technique in which you gradually expose your Lab to a stimulus that normally would cause undesirable behavior. That means that if your Lab doesn’t want to go for a walk, let’s try slowly to take him into the yard.
You can try with treats, make a ”treat path” that goes outside. Put some favorite toys all over the yard. Make sure you are there every time you want your lab to go out. Your presence instills safety and heals fear in your dog. Try to make fun of every going outside, play with your dog, keep his mind occupied with some interactive toys and games.
You can also try moving his food bowl ( gradually, day by day) towards the entrance doors and the yard. Eventually, the food bowl will be outside, and for most dogs, mealtime is a pleasant part of the day so your Lab will associate going out with eating.
Remember that negative association is probably the cause that keeps your dog from going out so you should make a positive association now in order to fix the problem. So bottom line – encouragement and positive association are keys. Just bear in mind that might take time so be patient but persistent.
