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I would never leave my BC or Pug outside but our Great Pyrenees? Yeah, of course. They lived outside (with excellent shelters) 100 percent of the time. They were working dogs and kept our property clear of predators. They were with the sheep and horses and that was their job. No neighbors to bother so it was a great situation. Whenever I hear people say dogs should never be left outside I think they must forget there are working dogs out there.
I would never leave my BC or Pug outside but our Great Pyrenees? Yeah, of course. They lived outside (with excellent shelters) 100 percent of the time. They were working dogs and kept our property clear of predators. They were with the sheep and horses and that was their job. No neighbors to bother so it was a great situation. Whenever I hear people say dogs should never be left outside I think they must forget there are working dogs out there.
Livestock guardian dogs are different. If a dog is bred and trained to guard livestock, that's one thing. However the vast majority of outside dogs are not in this category. I should have been clearer in my previous post.
When I had a blue tick coonhound back in WV she was outside 24/7/365. She was uncomfortable in the house. She had an insulated dog house, access to the garage and free roam of our property.
She was the kind of dog that took the role as 'outdoor guardian'. We played every day and she was awesome with my young kids, but when we weren't there- she kept vigil. That property was bordered by two continuous streams, and she kept the raccoons, fox and snakes at bay (pardon the pun).
It wasn't until old age setting in that she finally came in.
I am just wondering, How many people think it is ok to leave a dog outside whether you are home or not?
Of course with shelter and water. Why is this better or not better than keeping them crated all day inside?
Those are not the only options. You can gate off a small area/room or crate in a huge crate to give the dog lots of room while still preventing unwanted behaviors. I have two Great Dane sized crates for my 25 pound Mini Aussie rescues as needed.
So much can go wrong when a dog is outside unsupervised (fenced I assume). Others have listed some of the nasty scenarios. The tragic stories are endless. That said, many people do it and their dogs have survived just fine. Can't help but wonder about the relationships with their neighbors though. Bored dogs often bark and if a dog is outside alone and not bored it is usually engaged in a behavior you will find undesirable.
Oh wait, one more awesome story. My father HATES owls. But there's a reason.
Back in the 60s or 70s, he ended up with a pair of young pups during the winter. At the time, he was on a remote country road and his house was set well-back from the road. So he left the pups out to play in the snow for a few minutes while he went in to make himself some coffee. It was dusk. He came out and there was only one pup in the yard. The other pup's tracks went off in the snow and stopped quite suddenly.
Yep, an owl had taken it.
When you leave a dog or puppy outside, you leave it at the mercy of a thousand variables you cannot anticipate, even with a fenced yard. There are always risks, but at least if you leave a dog inside, you can control those risk factors much better.
I have a fenced-in backyard, but my and my roommate's dogs are only loose unattended in the yard if we are in the living room (which has a massive picture window overlooking the yard) or the kitchen (which has multiple windows overlooking the yard).
This reminded me of the time a Great Horned Owl swooped down thinking he'd snatch my 53 pound Aussie for dinner. It was dark and my boy was helping me get the mail at the end of the driveway. At about 25 feet that owl put the brakes on big. At first I thought it was a huge blanket floating then flapping in the night sky. Quite a visual for me and a lesson to watch any puppies/small dogs very carefully.
That's an absurdly broad statement. I lived on our family farm in Ohio when I was a kid (1,000+ acres) and we had two Shepherds that lived outside or in the barns. They never came in the farmhouse, ever.
My blue tick never wanted to be inside so I made her comfortable quarters outside and she didn't come in the house until she was older. I was a Sr. VP for a bank and made a comfortable living. My neighbors dogs were mostly outside or in the cellar when it was colder, and he is the captain of the fire department. Certainly not 'poor' by and standard.
Of course we lived in the country, so obviously I think that has a lot to do with it. City people generally don't see dogs with working value.
What I gather from a lot of these responses is that very few ever really owned 'working dogs', and if you did or do, you'd rather them not exercise their traits or abilities. That is kinda sad, actually. I pity the aussies or the bird dogs that never get a chance to do what they were bred (and enjoy to do).
That's an absurdly broad statement. I lived on our family farm in Ohio when I was a kid (1,000+ acres) and we had two Shepherds that lived outside or in the barns. They never came in the farmhouse, ever.
My blue tick never wanted to be inside so I made her comfortable quarters outside and she didn't come in the house until she was older. I was a Sr. VP for a bank and made a comfortable living. My neighbors dogs were mostly outside or in the cellar when it was colder, and he is the captain of the fire department. Certainly not 'poor' by and standard.
Of course we lived in the country, so obviously I think that has a lot to do with it. City people generally don't see dogs with working value.
What I gather from a lot of these responses is that very few ever really owned 'working dogs', and if you did or do, you'd rather them not exercise their traits or abilities. That is kinda sad, actually. I pity the aussies or the bird dogs that never get a chance to do what they were bred (and enjoy to do).
Actually, I've found that "board statement" to be mostly true. In inner cities you see many more dogs out in yards all day in lower income neighborhoods. Heck, half of them aren't even just in the yard, they are chained with hopefully a dog house.
My parents live 30 miles outside of a small town in the woods and most of the dogs we see outside are outside of falling down mobile homes. Those dogs are not serving a purpose, I don't even know they they have them.
I cringe whenever we drive by and the dogs rush out to the road to chase cars, they get hit every so often and then a few weeks later the people have a new dog
You are an exception to that statement, I see very few true working/protection dogs with responsible owners outside.
The vast majority are associated(based on the appearance of the homes/cars) with lower-income homes and are just kinda thrown out in the yard.
My mom has an outside dog, but he has a purpose. He's a trained guard dog since its just her on 100 acres. But like yours, he is made comfortable. He has a climate controlled dog house(its more of large shed) and is kept in the fenced yard so he can't roam, and does have a room in the house for when it gets really bad weather wise.
That's an absurdly broad statement. I lived on our family farm in Ohio when I was a kid (1,000+ acres) and we had two Shepherds that lived outside or in the barns. They never came in the farmhouse, ever.
My blue tick never wanted to be inside so I made her comfortable quarters outside and she didn't come in the house until she was older. I was a Sr. VP for a bank and made a comfortable living. My neighbors dogs were mostly outside or in the cellar when it was colder, and he is the captain of the fire department. Certainly not 'poor' by and standard.
Of course we lived in the country, so obviously I think that has a lot to do with it. City people generally don't see dogs with working value.
What I gather from a lot of these responses is that very few ever really owned 'working dogs', and if you did or do, you'd rather them not exercise their traits or abilities. That is kinda sad, actually. I pity the aussies or the bird dogs that never get a chance to do what they were bred (and enjoy to do).
I never forced my dog into his crate. He went on his own and I never closed the door.
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