# Encouraging them to be outside alone



## Dog1404 (Dec 5, 2021)

Hey, we have a three and half month old male Vizsla Obi who is a good boy! Of course we had to spend a lot of time in the first week establishing a routine but he settled in quite quickly and is very happy! 
Obi will go outside to go toilet but then hasn’t much interesting in Staying outside to play unless we are with him. We’d love for him to be able to run around outside when it’s warm and dry as we’ve a large fenced in area.
Any tips on encouraging him to stay outside by himself for a while to explore? At the moment if we put him outside by himself he will just sit at the door and wait to be brought back in.
Thank you!


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

You're fighting one of his defining breed traits. At 14 weeks old, he's not going to want to be spending a lot of time alone by himself
Vizsla's like to be with people, and it is generally accepted that they do not do well when left alone, or kenneled.
As he gets older his time outside will increase as he gets busy exploring. Even then, it won't be for long. As adults they can run for hours seemingly ignoring their owners, but the reality is that they will be very aware of where their owners are.
It's a fine line between ensuring your puppy gets out enough to keep his brain engaged, develop physically, be allowed to go to the bathroom, and leaving him alone longer than he finds comfortable. No one gets it right 100% of the time.
Don't stress, let him hang out with you.


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## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

Ellie is 1yr3mos now. She still will not stay outside in our fenced backyard alone. We have to stand out there with her during her potty breaks. We've tried many times to leave her for a few minutes. She instantly knows when we try to sneak off and will just jump on the door and bark until we come back out. We've pretty much succumbed to the notion that she will never want to be outside alone, and if she ever does come around to it, we'll take it as a welcome treat!

As @gunnr mentioned about the breed, when out and about in the woods and fields, Ellie will happily appear to run off a bit out of sight doing her thing. We've learned to not be worried because no matter what if we call her , or sometimes a little vibe on her e-collar, she zooms right back to us with pinpoint accuracy even if we walked along for a quarter mile down the trail.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

By the time they are seniors, they don’t mind a little sunning in the backyard without you. Mind you it normally happens when your trying to go somewhere. They refuse to come in, because they’re just not ready yet. 🤣🤣 
Before that time plan on being out there with them most of the time. The exception is if it’s very early in the morning, or late a night. They have found some unknown thing that needs to be continuously barked at. While your trying to get them in, so they don’t wake up the whole neighborhood. They would gladly stay out there barking without you.


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## Gabica (Jan 20, 2018)

The closest what i do with my 2 boys in terms of being outside alone is leaving the door to the backyard open (weather permitting) while i do something in the adjourning kitchen/livingroom. They would then still come inside to check on me several times, and even try to sneak out an indoor toy here and there in the hope that i will follow them  if i happen to move into a different part of the house, they immediately come in to search for me. if it is warm they jump into the pool just to get out and come inside trying to turn the house to a pool as well - so i have learned not to do the leaving the backyard door open those days... also this is the way how we end up getting those lizards in the house.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Funny, but not.
Just accidentally let a quail get loose from you. Once your Vizsla finds it in the yard a couple of times, they never want to come in, and could careless if your out there with them.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

texasred said:


> Funny, but not.
> Just accidentally let a quail get loose from you. Once your Vizsla finds it in the yard a couple of times, they never want to come in, and could careless if your out there with them.


The reply above is exactly what is going on at my house right now. When I was transferring birds from the transport crate to the pen, one of them escaped. Shine, who I’ve been working hard to have her steady on birds, can’t resist chasing it (trying to catch it) when she finds it in the yard. So far, it’s escaped over the fence. She wants to be outside constantly searching for it, and could careless if I’m out there. I guess, I’m going to have to invest in a recall pen.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

Yep, as long as they believe those birds are out there, they're not coming back in.
On the flip side, if you need to get some chores done, now's the time.


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## samdora7 (Jun 13, 2019)

At this age my boy would also not even consider being outside on his own. The time we spent in the backyard was always together. Mostly playing but he would often also go off and explore. I didn’t want him to dig out holes in the grass so I always made sure I was around to redirect him if he would do that. 

Now, at 2 and 1/2 he sometimes goes and sits in front of the door to be let outside. If it’s a nice warm sunny day, he’ll chill on the deck for a while. If the weather is not great he’ll be asking to come inside in no time. We don’t have a doggy door but I can hear him scratching and that the cue to let him in. 


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