My pup HATED the rain since the first day I got her. When she knew that it was raining outside she would potty indoors! Arg!
Is your dog food motivated? Does he like any particular activities? (like playing fetch, frisbee)
I also live in a very wet city, it rains here very often. These are some of the things I've tried:
- using REALLY REALLY good treats. Treats that she only gets when she potties outside when it's raining/wet. She's very food motivated so I can lure her outside. As soon as she's done, we'll go right back inside so she knows that the sooner she does her business the quicker we can go back inside to a warm apartment.
- I purchased a good rain jacket for her. She's a staffordshire bull terrier mix so she doesn't have a thick coat so she does get cold very quickly. At first it didn't really make a difference, she still hated it but I still used the treats to lure her and get her to continue to walk and now she doesn't mind the jacket as much.
- She loves going in the trails by our place. She gets distracted by other dogs, people and smells so she forgets about the rain.
- She is ball obsessed so when it's a little wet/rainy outside I will take her out, again with the ball as a distraction she forgets that she's getting soaked!
- Walking with other doggy friends. She's got a few pup friends that are not afraid of the rain. Sometimes we will go walk all together so she's somewhat distracted.
- Any time it's just drizzling I will quickly take her out and do some fun activities so she can slowly get used to the rain. Or I'll try and arrange a playdate outside.
She's 10 months now and of course she would still prefer to stay indoors when it's pouring out, but now she doesn't hate it as much. Especially when we get to do something fun like walk in the trails or play fetch.
Good luck!
