Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I see nothing wrong with keeping a dog outside if thats where it wants to be. I have five older lazy guys and one younger hyper girl. She spends a lot of time outside in the fenced yard (no neighbors to bother). She comes in to eat and spends some time when shes tired inside snoozing. The only "rule" I have is she has to come in when I go to bed. I have coyotes in the area and I feel better if she is inside.
It's funny, all I have to say is "Bed time Lucy" and she knows it's time to come in.
My dog would love nothing more than to be outside all the time, but I can't let him...he's too adept at escaping from fenced enclosures. It probably would have been better if a rural landowner had adopted him than us, urban-suburban dwellers, in retrospect. But he is definitely a dog who is not an indoor dog at heart, being forced into an indoor-dwelling dog mold. I have no problem with primarily outdoors dogs. This is an old thread, and I've probably weighed in on it somewhere already, but I grew up on a farm, with dogs that did not live in the house. They had access to shelter in the form of outbuildings during inclement weather, and that was fine. My current setting is inappropriate for a primarily outdoors dog, both because of his propensity for climbing fences, and because the neighbors wouldn't appreciate having to listen to him bark. Unfortunately, he's not really all that well-suited to indoor living.
A lot of people use to but now a days theres a lot less. Instead of buying labs and farmdogs people are buying chihuahas and yorkshire terriers which are not a dog meant to be outside all day. But personally I don't really care I love dogs and if they like to be outdoors they can do that or be indoors.
I think it all depends on where you live and what kind of dog you have and if they have a job.
Again, it's all a matter of common sense, where you live and what type of dog you have. If you spend quality time with your dog when your home it's enough. A side from work my dogs are my world and I spend a lot of quality time with them and they don't seem worse for wear when I'm gone at work during the day.
Exactly. My elderly pug and my 5 year old border collie stay inside and my Great Pyrenees (Guinness), who guards our livestock and farm from the big predators we have here, lives outside and roams free.
We live in the middle of nowhere by most people's standards, no close neighbors and our farm is surrounded by National Forest.
Guinness has a big horse barn with mountains of pine and cedar shavings to bed in or his own special dog shed stuffed with straw and a heat lamp in the coldest weather, heated water and free choice premium food.
He's groomed once a month to keep his coat fluffy and warm and he loves his life and we love him for keeping everything here and us safe.
While he gets plenty of people love, he also loves and is bonded with the other animals on the farm and can usually be found lying in hay outside one of our mare's stalls.
We've tried bringing him inside on bitterly cold nights but he's miserable. So to make us feel better, we found waterproof, well insulated dog coats, no mean feat with a dog his size, and he wears those in the worst weather.
I would never trust a electric fence and leave the property. We've had rabid raccoon summers, and there are coyotes living up in the conservation land a few houses away-I've seen them strut down the streets, and cats in the neighborhood are often posted as "missing." I saw a red fox go right past my gate. I live on the edge of a formerly rural town, near an interstate and there's a lot of wildlife around that could get *into* the property.
I have a 4-foot fenced yard. Sometimes I leave my dog Benny out when I do errands, if the weather is good, because he really likes spending hours outside by himself (he was hoarded for some time).
If someone doesn't want to be outside while I'm home, I hear barking and scratching.
If I lived somewhere rural and maybe had a working dog, I might consider letting him/her loose on the big property with an obvious place for the dog to bed down warmly outside.
Mine is an indoor dog for sure. When I loved in Florida, if I left him in the Lanai, he'd knock on the door, "Ok, I've had it with this heat. Please let me back in!"
Now we are in a different climate but he's indoor except for the twice a day walk. I don't like him going on Grass because he's white and he can easily get dirty. When we go out, he is left to roam. Frequently, I find him in one of a few places: the downstairs portable crate which is dark and has a soft fluffy pad, the couch, his upstairs crate where he sleeps or on our bed. I also don't want him exposed to insects outside. He's our little baby. I'd never get an outdoor dog, myself.
It also depends on how raise your dog. If the dog is raised outdoors it will always wanna be outdoors. If its raise as a couch potato thats where it will want to be.
My Dad always had a Border Collie for the farm. Never in the house, ever. Always outside. We just have a doggie door on the barn door for him and he sleeps inside at night. No fence, no rope. He knows what is expected of him and he doesn't wander. Dad is gone now but my Mom is still on the farm and still a Border Collie. Even when they went on vacation the dog stayed home alone, a neighbor would feed him.
My dogs get the run of the house all day when we are at work. The pup is still gated in a hallway but we are working towards giving her her freedom. The dogs are fine with us leaving, no problem at all.
It also depends on how raise your dog. If the dog is raised outdoors it will always wanna be outdoors. If its raise as a couch potato thats where it will want to be.
Very true.
The first time Rip came in the house he almost jumped though a picture window.
We spent a lot of time in the kitchen when ours were puppies, years ago. If we went out, they were crated but it was never for more than a few hours, otherwise they were gated in the kitchen. They got used to it and were fine although they do like to be in the same room as us which is hard sometimes if we're cleaning etc.
One comment about your OEB - would be very careful in letting her out for too long in the hot summer months - we're in the northeast and already we've had hot days - dogs w/ pushed-in faces (brachycephalic) just cant take the heat and really do best inside (preferably w/ air cond) in the hot summer months - we take them out for quick potty trips but that's it, have even curtailed walks esp. in the middle of the day, when it's very hot - have heard some horror stories of them going outside, falling asleep and getting disoriented about coming back in. Anyway, you probably are aware of your OEB and heat as you're a pug owner, just wanted to mention it for anyone reading this thread.
I too am a pug owner. I have two. I'll be moving to Florida in about 10 months. I'm so worried about them and the Florida heat. Any tips besides keeping them in? I'm so worried about them with regards to encountering snakes
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
