St Bernard Puppy not leaving the lounge

[Geoff1977]

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Hi
We bought our 9 week old St Bernard Puppy on Sunday and although he is settling in ok the problem we have is that he wont leave the lounge.
We have tried everything but he flatly refuses to go into the kitchen which leads to our garden. So we try to go out the front to our front garden and he again is stubborn.
Has anyone got any advice for us on trying to coax him out of the lounge.

 

[JoanneF]

He probably feels a bit overwhelmed but knows that the living room is safe so he is trying to stay in his comfort zone. He is also just learning to trust you.

Find a really tasty treat to lure him (squeezy cheese in a tube has magical properties, you can squeeze out just enough to keep him licking the end and draw him out). Don't go too fast - for example don't aim for living room to straight outside. See if you can get him into the hall, or the kitchen (pick one to work on at a time) then reward with more treats and huge praise. Then stop. Do that a few times until he is happy in the hall/kitchen. Then aim for sitting at the outside door watching outside - again with huge praise and rewards. Again repeat until he is ok. Then lure him out and when he goes outside, more praise and reward. Baby steps!

 

[Geoff1977]

He probably feels a bit overwhelmed but knows that the living room is safe so he is trying to stay in his comfort zone. He is also just learning to trust you.

Find a really tasty treat to lure him (squeezy cheese in a tube has magical properties, you can squeeze out just enough to keep him licking the end and draw him out). Don't go too fast - for example don't aim for living room to straight outside. See if you can get him into the hall, or the kitchen (pick one to work on at a time) then reward with more treats and huge praise. Then stop. Do that a few times until he is happy in the hall/kitchen. Then aim for sitting at the outside door watching outside - again with huge praise and rewards. Again repeat until he is ok. Then lure him out and when he goes outside, more praise and reward. Baby steps!

 

[Geoff1977]

Hi Joanne
Many thanks for your advice and we will tske this and try it out. We will update you on how well or not we do.

 

[Josie]

I don’t have a puppy but agree with @JoanneF with a super tasty treat and baby steps. It must all be so new and overwhelming for him.

Good luck!

 

[Mayblossom]

Just a thought....do you have carpet in your lounge and hard floors elsewhere? Our terrier wouldn’t walk on the hard floor in the kitchen so we had to put mats down so we could get her out! She also has to eat her dinner on a mat as she won't touch it if I put it on the tiled floor....

 

[JoanneF]

Just a thought....do you have carpet in your lounge and hard floors elsewhere? Our terrier wouldn’t walk on the hard floor in the kitchen so we had to put mats down so we could get her out! She also has to eat her dinner on a mat as she won't touch it if I put it on the tiled floor....

Good point!

 

[Geoff1977]

Thank you for the advice but we have hard floor in the lounge and a tiled floor in the kitchen. The floor in the lounge is light but in the kitchen it is dark. He goes to the door to the kitchen and stops like there is a barrier for him

 

[Mayblossom]

Oh how strange ! Hopefully with some treats you’ll manage to get him into the kitchen, where do you feed him?

 

[JudyN]

Sometimes I think they can feel the pressure of you trying to get them to do something. You could also try leaving a really lovely stinky treat just inside the kitchen and then ignoring him. If it's coming up to mealtime so he's a bit peckish, so much the better. Without having to worry about you wanting him to do something he's not sure of, he may then decide it's worth a try. Start with the treat where he has to stretch his head but not stand on the kitchen floor, then an inch further in, and so on.

 

[Geoff1977]

Thank you we will give this a try too

 

[Caro Perry]

Any luck? I still have to bribe mine at times to get him to go where I want him to! Hopefully natural puppy curiosity will kick in once he feels a bit more settled.

 

[hollysh]

That is odd. Just a thought but where did his breeder keep him, when you went to collect him? Perhaps he has picked up a habit from her/him.