[Buzzie]

Hi All,

I'm new to the forum and hope that I may find some suggestions here.

My son recently returned home to Maryland from California and brought his dog with him. Deacon is a shepherd/pit/chow mix. He is a wonderful dog ... very loving. My son has clearly worked with him as Deacon listens well. We have two dogs ... a golden retriever and a rottie/shepherd mix and everyone is getting along pretty well.

Deacon used to live outside year-round in a fenced yard - but the yard had no grass. They had a pool, concrete deck and a dirt area to the side where the dogs were to do their business.

Now, Deacon lives in a home with a yard full of grass and he hates it. He refuses to go down the deck stairs to the back yard with our other two dogs. We have to take him out front on a lead. More often than not, it's a struggle to get him from the driveway to the grassy areas of the front yard. And if the grass is wet - you can forget it.

We're trying to play around in the grass - to help him learn that there isn't anything he needs to be afraid of, but he seems to resist more each day.

So ... what do you do with a dog who doesn't like to be on grass?

[Durbkat]

Slowly introduce it to him as it seems like he has never seen grass in his life. Try to get him really excited about a toy or a treat and toss it into the yard and hopefully he will go after it.