Sometimes people end up with dogs who have been living outdoors - perhaps due to allergies in a previous home, or because they never received training and are too rambunctious - and now the family wants to welcome their dog indoors with them. The first few tries may be disastrous, as the dog jumps all over the couch and coffee table, knocks things off the shelves, and steals the remote and any food left on the counter. How could you possibly teach such a dog to just hang out with you calmly?
This article presents one way to work through this transition. Please note that this does not cover potty training, integrating the dog with other animals already in the house, or teaching polite interactions with humans - though those things can be worked on simultaneously.
First things first
You must make sure that your dog is already getting sufficient physical exercise and mental stimulation/enrichment before you try bringing them indoors. No dog can settle calmly if they are full of energy and deeply bored.
The second thing for you to prioritize is arranging an area of your home so that your dog cannot easily get to the food, kids’ toys, decorative ceramics, etc. In most cases, a dog who has been living in a backyard or roaming a property has never learned that there are things that are “off limits” to them. You are going to be busy teaching your dog good habits and how to settle while in the house. If you are spending your time chasing him around and pulling things out of his mouth, you’re already off to a bad start.
Use baby gates and x-pens and closed doors to limit where your dog can go.
Put away everything in reach that’s valuable or dangerous.
Use a leash as needed to keep your dog close and under supervision.
Within the safe area, place your dog’s bed or mat, water bowl, several toys, and chews or food toys (see enrichment article for suggestions).
Once your dog is making progress with settling and engaging in appropriate activities, you can start trusting him with more freedom and progressively lowering the restrictions.
Teaching good habits
Take your dog out for a walk or run him around just before you bring him indoors, so that he’ll have an easier time relaxing. If needed, put him on leash in the house so that he can’t chase other pets, jump on the counters, etc. Let him sniff around your safe area otherwise, so that he can see what all the new stuff is.
After a minute or two, give him an appropriate activity to entertain him. You have several options:
A chew or food toy with which he can entertain himself on his own.
Play tug or fetch with him. (Note that for dogs that go crazy for fetch, you may want to keep that as an outdoor only activity.)
Do active training, such as teaching a down stay on a mat or tricks to work his brain.
Provide a massage as he relaxes.
Switch between the different options as you see fit. You can also periodically reward your dog for calm behavior, as shown in this video from Emily Larlham/KikoPup:
If your dog gets bored with one activity and starts getting into things he shouldn’t, you can:
rearrange your safe area to prevent that in the future
work on “leave it” or “settle” behaviors
provide him with more exercise (eg go for a walk or hike)
put him back outside
move him to a crate or small pen to nap
Shifting to full-time indoor living
Once the routine is working well within the initial safe area, slowly expand your dog’s territory.
A key things to keep in mind during this process:
The more time your dog spends indoors, the easier this will be. If he only gets to come in once or twice a week, the novelty and initial excitement won’t wear off.
The dog is often most rambunctious in the first 5-10 minutes, then settles down.
If you don’t provide enough appropriate outlets for his energy (both mentally and physically), it will be very difficult to keep him from stealing and chewing on things, jumping on everyone, harassing the other animals, etc.