Hi All,

I love the collective wisdom on this forum, and was wondering if anyone can comment on our dog's behavior.  Our boy is currently 9 months old, we've had him since 4 months.  Me and my husband are first time GSP-owners, and first time owning a sporting/working dog - just to clarify why I attempt to (over)analyze and worry about every little behavior . 

Our boy does not want to leave the house.  I keep reading about dogs who beg to go out, and our guy never does it.  He only pushes to go out when he really-really needs to do his potty.  So a typical routine is that one of us, me or my husband, opens the door and grabs the dog's leash, while our boy sits and observes from a distance, and doesn't respond to verbal encouragement.  Even if he was rushing around exuberantly in the house a second ago and clearly has the energy for an outing.  Sometimes he finally grudgingly does approach the door, sometimes we coax him by pretending we are leaving without him, in which case he follows as he doesn't want to be left behind.  Sometimes we use treats to bribe him to come. Once outside the house front door, he is completely fine, confident, and does not stall anymore. (However, the same routine repeats if we go to the garage instead of the street, in which case he does not want to get into the car and leave the garage)  Like I said, once already on the outing - a walk in the neighborhood, hike or snowshoe in the forest, or dog park visit, he seems happy, tireless and confident.  It's just every time we leave the house I feel he drags his feet and acts as if it's a punishment, not a reward!  Am I just overthinking/worrying this?  One, perhaps really naive thought I have is that he is expecting treats.  When he was younger, it was impossible to wake him up to go to potty, especially early in the morning, so we pretty much always used a "trail of crumbs" to lead him to the door and out - which he happily then followed.  We still sometimes do it.  Could it be that what our boy is doing is now not so much please-don't-make-me-go-out behavior, but rather if-I-stall-I-often-get-treats-so-let's-wait-this-out?

Thank you in advance!

If he is fine once out and not acting fearful of leaving, I wouldn't worry about it. He may be quite amused by your antics (they are incredibly intelligent) and waiting to see what "game" is going to come about this time. If it were me, I wouln't make a big deal what so ever about going out and just do so matter of factly (if that means leashing him indoors and walking him outdoors and directly into the car). Dogs like routine and knowing what the expect out of us (much as we like knowing what to expect out of our dogs).

I wouldn't want to leave that place in front of the fire either! Sounds like you have found a solution by leashing before going out.  Hanna would not go out in the rain either when she was a Pup . Now that shes over a year old it doesn't deter her.