cats are by nature solitary creatures, sure the lion is but if you know anything about cats you know that domestic cats share very few traits with lions, they are more like leopards, bobcats, tigers, and of course were domesticated through several of the small african cats such as the golden cat, or others depending on whos research you read. dogs were domesticated from wolves, some say african wild dogs (which through recent research we now know are a subspecies of wolf). nearly all species of wild dogs are pack animals, they live in mid-large sized tighly organized family groups and are rarely solitary. comparing cats to dogs gets you nowhere just about the only thing they have in common is that they are carnivores/predators. another reason you cant argue that an outside dog must be happy because outside cats are happy is because cats are not truly domesticated. the only alterations we have made to felines is appearance, we have not rerouted their instincts as we have with dogs (we took the predatory/hunt instinct and made it into herding, etc), dump a dog in the woods and it will survive for a while but will quickly die from exposure to elements, inability to hunt and so on; dump a cat in the woods and it will survive until a owl or coyote, heart worms or other enemy kills it, cats never lost their ability to hunt and survive on their own. personally I think cats should be kept indoors to protect them from dogs, cars, hawks, snakes, poisons, etc. also to prevent them from killing birds, if you think they should then why are you feeding them? a well fed cat will still kill and in many places they are decimating wildlife populations, not only the animals they kill but the natural predators who compete with them.
anyway, this topic is not about cats, you just cant use cats as an argument for outside dogs. outside dogs are more prone to problems, both health and temperament problems. you never did answer the question though...is there anything in the garage besides the dog and her things??? are you the only one with a garage door opener or do your family/roommates have one as well? are you also aware that 90% of home invasions start at the garage door? its the easiest point of entry.
anyway, this topic is not about cats, you just cant use cats as an argument for outside dogs. outside dogs are more prone to problems, both health and temperament problems. you never did answer the question though...is there anything in the garage besides the dog and her things??? are you the only one with a garage door opener or do your family/roommates have one as well? are you also aware that 90% of home invasions start at the garage door? its the easiest point of entry.