Outside access when no one is home?

BerryBye

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#1
Does anyone here let their dog have access to the backyard or a run while they are at work? I am considering making a “potty†area outside my back door that will attach to the mudroom. Then while I’m at work, leave him in the mudroom with his usual interactive toys, and allow him to have access to a small area outside where he could potty if needed.

Does anyone do this? How did you set it up so it is safe for them (ie can’t escape, no one can steal them or use it as a way to gain access to your house)?
Thank you!

(I should add that a dog walker won’t work for our situation)
 

Snark

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#2
My dogs have access to the yard during the day but I'm in a rural area, the yard is a couple of acres (some heavily wooded) and the house sits about 150 feet from the road. The fence along the road sits about 20 feet back. The house doesn't face the road either so if the dogs want to lay around on the covered porch, they won't be seen. They have access to the walkout basement as well, also out of sight of the road. My neighbor, who is retired, checks on them a couple of times a day.

For you - would it be impractical to have a 'roof' on your run (so your dog can't climb out)? Or maybe fence the area with a privacy fence so no one can see your dog?
 

milos_mommy

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#3
In this area I don't think it would be practical...

1. my dog is an escape artist
2. dog napping is quite common in my area

I think if you think it would be safe, then you could do it.
 

Amanda885

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#4
I would only do it if i trusted my neighborhood and my dog. Knowing me though, I might be way too worried , lol
 

BerryBye

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#5
Ok good to know some people do it. Here is why I am concerned. When I first brought my dog home I was renting a house in the country. Since the backyard wasn’t fenced, I built him an amazing (IMO) “play penâ€, with a dog house, a baby pool, some toys, a sand box and then I put him, a few kongs full of frozen delicious treats in the pen and went to go inside to “test†how he did in the pen.
…Well I barely made it to the window to peak out at him when I realized he had dug under the fence and was already running to the front door and from that point on was impossible to contain in that pen (frustrating).

Fast forward a year and we now live in a subdivision, with a fenced back yard (that he has never tried to escape from). So I could lock the big yard to keep dog thieves out, and put in a doggy door to keep burglars out, and fence a smaller portion up to that doggy door as a smaller “potty only†area. And I’m hoping that since he won’t be separated from the house like he was in the “play pen†instance he will be fine.

Thoughts?
 

Fran101

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#6
My house has a dog door, all the dogs have little "keys" attached to their collars so the door only opens for them and not racoon or w/e else.
It works for us, the fence is very secure and we live in a very safe neighborhood, and all the dogs don't really enjoy being outside, really its just for potty purposes.

Our neighbors (he works from home) his office faces our yard and he keeps an eye on them for us...just in case.
 

Taqroy

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#7
How big is your dog? I can easily fit through a large (possibly medium I'm not sure exactly what it was) sized doggie door (I know this because I habitually locked myself out of our last house...lol). If you go with one I'd get a cool high tech one like Fran was talking about or if you have a small dog you just have to worry about other stuff getting in your house. I blame the doggie door in that house for the crazy amount of spiders we had....although there were also a ton of holes in the floor down to the crawlspace so I'm sure that contributed.
 
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#8
I live in a rural area and we have four large outdoor kennels that my father built when he used to hunt. The floors are concrete, each has an attached dog house, there is an automatic water system and they have a roof. I originally crated my dogs when I had to be out during the day, but I've started using the kennels and they seem to enjoy it much more especially now that the weather is nice.
 

smkie

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#9
No never

I watched a dog jump a fence to start a fight with another dog.
I don't trust people, period so my dogs are not going out if I am not going out. Even so that neighborman had his doxi staked out last night and he was home. IF not his dog would be dead.
 
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#10
I'm turning the same issue over in my head, making a secure, smooth wood fenced area adjacent to my back porch so I can leave the door open in warm weather and let the dogs go out when I'm gone. My parents live in the house next door, so they'll keep an ear out.

My yard is huge -- it goes all the way across the block and they'd only have access to an area directly adjacent to the house.

But I'm really torn . . .

The one thing I DON'T worry about, lol, is someone gaining access to my house via the dogs' area :rofl1: Can you imagine???? :D
 

elegy

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#11
not if i lived in a subdivision. too many kids and too much risk of somebody doing something stupid and/or cruel to my dogs. stupid kid jumps the fence and your dog jumps on him in a friendly manner and knocks him down or scratches him, and your dog is on death row.

of course, owning pit bulls, i'm especially paranoid. but with any medium or large breed dog, i'd expect it's a risk.
 
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#12
If I lived in a subdivision there's no way I'd be considering it either, but, then, I hate a subdivision with a passion. I'm in the old part of town and with the exception of the Latino family across the street whose kids are never out unsupervised and never out of their own yard, there aren't any kids.

I may, though, just so I can say it's there, run a hot wire around the top of the fence.
 

Willow0709

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#14
No , our dogs never have access to the outside when we are not home . I prefer them indoors crated where I know they are safe and out of trouble . I should ad that I'm home most of the day anyway so they are rarely crated for more than a few hours at most . We live on a busy main road in a busier area . Dog theft in our area is not uncommon . I would also worry about someone escaping and getting injured or even killed . For me in our situation the risks far outweigh the benefits .
 

Saeleofu

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#15
I wouldn't let a dog have access while I'm gone. I don't even let my dog outside without me watching his every move. Maybe I'm just over protective.
 

puppydog

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#16
My dogs don't have access at the moment. That is one of the main reasons we are wanting to move. I firmly believe that dogs needs to be outdoors and enjoy themselves. I will probably build a run for them to ensure that they are safe and warm though.
 

FoxyWench

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#18
i dont, but i also have toy breeds, 3 of which are smalle enough to be taken by hawks and ALL except charlie are bobcat bait..., not to mention we have bald and golden eagles who are large enough to take all but charlie, and then the coyotes.
then theres the ground hogs and skunks that enjoy "helping" to make soft spots under fences and offering my dogs perfume :p

once i get my own place im planning on fencing off a small area off a back door and ROOFING it with hardware cloth...the whole thing will open onto a larger yard too when im home...but at least i wont have to worry about birds of prey that way...
plus ill bury hardware cloth about 1ft down so noones digging in or out...

its just impractical to do it at my parents house.
 

smkie

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#19
I wouldn't let a dog have access while I'm gone. I don't even let my dog outside without me watching his every move. Maybe I'm just over protective.
Considering how the man's doxi at the end of the street was just attacked I don't see that as over protective. I won't let mine out without me either. If i had I wouldn't have seen the porkchops my nieghbors threw over the fence that my dogs were so excited about. An inch thick porkchop each! My neighbors hated dogs. I wouldnt' have seen the turkey leg bone that Pepper found when my neighbor at a different house thought you put cooked bones in your compost heap. Something had drug the bone in my yard. I caught Pepper just in time.
 

theresa92841

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#20
I let them have access via doggy doors to the back and side yards. The entire yard is fenced. And has a locked gate, so somebody would have to climb a 6 foot fence to get in. My dogs are friendly but if a stranger comes in the yard, they will run into the house. I know this because one day a month, I have my yard sprayed for bugs. I leave the gate unlocked. I am home so I see how the dogs bark and bark at him and run into the house for me to protect them. lol.

A small child could fit thru the doggy door, but otherwise not.

I know that my dogs won't dig under the fence in the amount of time they are alone. And I check to make sure the yard is secure every day. My dogs would rather be at my house than racing around the neighborhood, so they don't have a lot of motivation to try to dig out.

I do have some concerns about the ability of hawks or owls to grab them. They are toy dogs so it is possible. Or even for a rare coyote to make it into my yard and grab them. In the end, I assessed that although those risks exist, they are really small and I can't protect my dogs from every small risk in the world. Unless I put them in a bubble. :D And what sort of life would that be? So I just try to be cautious but not overly anxious.
 

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