Dog Outdoors

Great site.. Lots of information to read.

I know I'm probably going to be shot down in flames for this one, but i see nothing wrong with tying a dog up. My dog is tied outside at night and while i'm at work. She has a warm shelter, food, water and heaps of toys to play with. She is not territory aggressive, she doesn't bark and she's not destructive. I am in no way agreeing with chaining a dog twenty four seven, but as a method of keeping control while you're not there i see absolutely nothing wrong with it. She gets a four kilometre run every day beside my bike, sometimes twice a day.

I can understand it while you are working(as long as you understand there are some risks), but why do you choose to leave her outside when you are home? I bet she would really enjoy your company. Just wondering.

I know this is not your situation but, I also think alot of dogs that are tied up have neglectful owners. No attention, Freezing water, forgotten feedings, and all around just getting ignored. My two neighbors have dogs like this tied up in their yard. One gets food once a day, and water once a day. The other is lucky to be fed and watered every two days. I stand at the fence and throw handfuls of food to her everynight. So sad. And you should see her dog house. Yuck.

I for one just really enjoy the canine company in my house.

Its only been proven 203948209348029384 times that chained dogs are much more likely to bite...to have behavioral problems, socialization problems, to become depressed (yes, dogs DO have depression)...neglected...

I'm completely against chaining dogs outside for the whole day...sure, why not let them run around in the backyard for some time....but why would you let your dog sleep outside in a dog house, or leave them out there unsupervised when you're at work?

I get tons of calls every day from people complaining that their dog was stolen, or got loose and now they're lost somewhere....when I ask them where it was, they always tell me the same thing "It was chained in the backyard"....I hate that response...

I'll never understand people who get a dog to leave it chained outside all the time. What's the point? Poor dogs...

And yes, I totally disagree with letting a dog outside even when the people are not home. Dogs get loose, get lost, get hit by a car, or get stolen all the time. That, plus I don't care that they have fur to keep them warm, but it gets really cold here.

yeah honestly..if the dog is just chained outside all the time, why have a dog? I don't understand the reason for it...

Get a goldfish instead...

The only time she's not inside with me is at night, when we're sleeping. Her bed is outside, which is where it has been since she was a puppy. She is comfortable with this arrangement and so am i. The only time she's been inside at night was during a cold spell in winter. It was like minus three and i didn't think she should be out. She disagreed. She drove everyone nuts all night trying to get out to where she belonged. I bought her more blankets, lined her kennel with straw and we're both happy.

Sorry, should have mentioned that she's also tied while i'm at work. I live in a small coastal town, in Australia. I'm about four kilometres from the town centre, i have a kilometre long driveway and my yard isn't fenced. She's tied on a run ( a length of wire pegged to the ground so it's tight, then a two metre length of insulated steel cable clipped to that so it slides along the wire.) and she's never, ever showed signs of being aggressive, depressed or obsessive compulsive. I've had dogs since i was five, and my dad has had them all his life. Every one of them has been tied at some point during their lives. We've never had a problem. As i said, no dog should EVER be tied up all day and all night with no exercise. I also don't agree with leaving a dog inside or in a crate while you're out or at work. Molly gets more exercise and mental stimulation outside on her run that she ever would inside.

Molly, I understand a bit of what you are saying. I try sooooo hard to keep my dogs inside during the winter. BUT...I have also had nights where they just don't want to be in.........and don't sleep. Ham, my GSD will pace constantly....Addie NEVER wants to be inside for more than 5 hrs. I have been filled with such despair at 3AM, on the 3rd night of no sleep....that I finally say..PUT THEM OUT!!!!! they aren't tied, tho...I do HATE that! they have their own yard with dog houses. I keep trying....but they will opt for outside probably 99% of the time. *sigh* I know most people would never understand this, but unless you're here.........you can't make judgement. it is horrible to want your dogs in..........when they only want OUT.

My dogs love it inside, but also would go crazy if they didn't have the "right" to run outside in our yard. It is fenced in and we also have a kennel run for seperation if needed. Usually the only one that would get kenneled is Shiloh because she is dog aggressive towards certain females. And Rocket is one of the targets.

I used to have a chow/malamute mix ( he died at about the age of 12 or 13).
But he used to love to go outside and sleep on the ground, he had a doghouse to use while he was outside, but very seldom did he even use it.
And you could tell he was very uncomfortable in the house if it reached near 70 degrees, he was one that loved cold weather.
Now in the summertime, if we had the air cond. running he would not want to go out if it was hot.

I totally agree, but I think it depends a lot on how the dog was trained when a puppy... A puppy used to sleeping outside when young will probably want to sleep outside when adult, sure, but is it the best for them? Personally, I don't think so. Between the cold and the various creatures that like coming at night (I don't know if you remember my raccoon story), in my opinion it's just much safer to get a dog used to sleeping inside - especially puppies.

But I guess it depends on what people want from a dog, personally I don't see the point to have a dog if they are to be outside 20 hours a day, I like having them with me, and they much prefer being with me too.