transitioning goldendoodle to new home

Question
We just purchased a nearly 9-month-old goldendoodle today.  He has had no prior experience with housebreaking.  In fact, he has rarely, if ever, been in the home with the breeder -- instead, he was kept in an outbuilding on their 3-acre property.  However, he was socialized with the breeder's older children and taught a few basic commands -- stop and get down.  He is not neutered.

When we brought him home, he shook and would not go up the steps into our house.  After taking him through the backyard, in the hopes of his using the "facilities", we tried to get him into our house through the back steps.  When this did not work (even with a treat being offered), we tried to take him around the house to the front steps.  My husband had to pull with all of his might to coerce the dog to move past our fence.  Then, the walked fine on a leash until they came to the sidewalk.  Again, my husband had to pull with all of his might to get our dog to walk onto the sidewalk.  Once there, the dog halted at the front steps.  We finally were able to get him into the house by first lifting his front legs and then his rear legs until he was pushed into the house.  Once inside, he stood, panting and shaking, in the middle of the kitchen and took no more than three steps from his original point in the kitchen.

We could not get him to eat or drink.  We coerced him into going outside for a walk around the neighborhood (with the leash).  Upon returning from our walk, he had no problem passing our fence.  However, re-entering the house was the same problem as before where his front and then hind legs needed to be lifted as he was pushed into the house.

Near 11:00 P.M., I took him out to "go potty" with a great struggle to get him to go out the door.  Once outside, he sat down and then lay down on the ground.  He was accustomed to spending his time prior to today outside.  I, after 15 minutes outside with him and no bowel movement or urination, again struggled with him to get him to go into the house the same way as before.

Am I expecting too much from him?  Is this transition for him too difficult?  What can we do?

Answer
Hello Jennifer,

I feel so bad for your dog but am very glad that you all have him.  The poor dog has apparantly never been exposed to anything other than that outbuilding and a few people, which is definitely not enough for proper socialization.

You will have to take it very slow with him for the first few days as he is extremely scared.  It won't take long for him to learn to trust you.  Just be patient and gentle.  Don't push him too much.  As far as him not eating, that is normal when the dogs environment is changed.  You might try mixing a little bit of canned food in with the dry - and if that doesn't work, you could put a little chicken in it.  He'll most likely be eating well within 3 days.  Hopefully he'll pick at food some before then!!  

As far as getting him housebroken, I would recommend the use of a spacious open wire crate.   I am going to paste a website at the bottom of my note here which will have many many training tips that I think you will find useful as you have some work cut out for you.  

The one positive thing in all this, is that once the dog knows that you all are good people and you earn his trust -- he will be ever so devoted to you and will repay you over and over for all your extra efforts.  

As far as getting him inside and outside - if he is not too large and heavy - it might be easier to carry him outside.  That will be less tramatic for him.  

When I've worked with dogs similar to what you are experiencing, I've tried a holistic floral essence to calm the dogs and it has worked well.   The one that I like is rescue remedy.  It is sold online and at most health vitamin stores.  Just a drop in the water daily can help the dog relax.

So.. the first step is to get him to trust you with love and understanding.   Talk quietly and give him his space in the house.  He'll start taking treats and get used to your voice.   I would avoid sudden or loud noises, anything that may startle him.  

Once he seems to trust you a bit more - things will start to get easier.    You suspect you will see a great deal of improvement each day.      Then you can move on to crate training and than obedience training.   It will be important to get him out, once he is comfortable with you, to get him used to the world, or he may revert to this way when you have company etc.   

One thing I caution you about is to please be very careful that he doesn't get away from you when outside.   I suggest using a training collar so he doesn't slip out of his collar.   It would be terrible for him to get loose as he would be completely lost and terribly scared.   

Please contact me again in a few days when he starts to become a little more comfortable and then we can move on to other things.    

The website I mentioned above is:

http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/dog_tips.php

Cathy