Come live on a farm. I do not have keys for my house. My car keys are left in the ignition at night. My dogs have a doggie door and come and go as they please. And the horses live out in their fields 24/7
This is the way I have lived for decades and, hopefully, I will never have to change my ways.
Hahahahaha. Ours bark the minute they stop peeing or pooping, and sometimes they bark while they’re doing it. I don’t even step off the porch sometimes before they want to be back inside with us. I can’t even imagine the reaction we’d get from the neighbors if we tried to leave them out for an hour, let alone a day.
[QUOTE=Perfect Pony;7932599]
Wow, I didn’t realize this was an issue. Our dogs are out in the backyard all day, every day. We live in suburban SF Bay Area, have a yard with 7’ fences, a covered patio, dog house, dog beds. They hang outside and run around. They are in the house when we are here and sleep in the bed, but seem really happy in the yard all day.
We are really horrible people and left them in the yard for 2 weeks on vacation!! Our neighbors took care of them and said they were very good and happy…[/QUOTE]
I think this thread has proven that it’s NOT an issue - it’s a combination of environment, dog preference, and owner preference. It seems that we all do what works for our own and our dogs’ well-being, and we all are capable of adapting to our own individual living situations in ways that everyone can feel happy and safe (humans AND canines).
You are able to provide your dogs with a really sweet, safe environment that is not possible for every dog owner to provide. Those people do things differently than you do in order to keep their dogs safe and happy. That doesn’t automatically create an issue. It doesn’t make you horrible any more than it makes those who do things differently from you horrible.
Lord, we don’t even have a fence. Unless you count barbed wire and cattle guards. Dog stays out, unless she is too hot. Or too cold, or DD wants to hack down to the neighbor’s arena. Or it is bedtime. And then I only bring her in because she will be after coons and coyotes all night long!
My mom has neighbors (town home) that leave the dog out ALL DAY LONG. I know this because she yaps incessantly
I used to, especially when I had two dogs.
But when just Drover now, I’ve heard from both my side neighbors that he has howled on occasion. Sooo…no more, not for extended periods of time. I may leave him out for a couple hours, but not six hours or more like I used to.
[QUOTE=Abbie.S;7932598]
Don’t think so much 
That particular comment was a harmless response to the statement you made about the fact that, while your dog likely would do nothing in your absence, you would worry all the same about them if you left them out unattended. Nothing wrong with that. I find we as people tend to keep our animals based on what we feel most comfortable with: that isn’t “OK” or “not OK” one way or the other, simply an observation.[/QUOTE]
Sorry - I still don’t get your point. But it’s all good.
I see my dog as the eternal toddler. I’m not raising her to become an independent entity who will someday move out of my house and live on her own. My job is to train her to be the best toddler she can possibly be, but I took her on knowing that I am ultimately responsible for every aspect of her well-being until the day she dies. So in that way, I get to call the shots with regards to what’s “OK” and what’s not “OK”. She will never be capable of making those decisions for herself. And I fully realize that my rules might not work or be best for everyone, but they are the ones that work for me and for her.
My two personal dogs, never outside alone. They are small dogs (Chihuahua/poodle mix who only sets paw outside to potty, and Chinese Crested that accompanies me in all farm chores and hunts in the barn, real farm dog).
The border collies are outside if we are, either working or just getting in the way of us working.
The Livestock Guardian Dogs are always outside and woe betide anyone who thinks they can even get close.
So depends on the circumstance.
[QUOTE=ynl063w;7932666]
Sorry - I still don’t get your point. But it’s all good.
I see my dog as the eternal toddler. I’m not raising her to become an independent entity who will someday move out of my house and live on her own. My job is to train her to be the best toddler she can possibly be, but I took her on knowing that I am ultimately responsible for every aspect of her well-being until the day she dies. So in that way, I get to call the shots with regards to what’s “OK” and what’s not “OK”. She will never be capable of making those decisions for herself. And I fully realize that my rules might not work or be best for everyone, but they are the ones that work for me and for her.[/QUOTE]
You two are in agreement. Whatever makes you happy is what’s best.
[QUOTE=PeanutButterPony;7932682]
You two are in agreement. Whatever makes you happy is what’s best.[/QUOTE]
I will believe you PeanutButterPony, if only because your use name made me laugh.
I think it just totally depends on the circumstance. In my present circumstances I would not, but in other circumstances, depending on the dog and weather, I could see it.
No. That was one of the requirements when I adopted him 9 years ago. He could not be left outside (even in a fenced yard) when we were not home.
it’s fine with me. We are rarely away a whole day and if we are, our neighbours love to let him out, take him for a walk and feed him.
Up at the farm, they have constant access via a dog door. When we had only the one dog, there was no front fence (he was good about staying in the yard), when we got the second, I put up mesh fence to keep them in the back. They respect it and do no leave the yard (they could go out the back through the neighbor’s but they know they are not allowed to cross the property line… and yes, they actually respect that… even when Oz is in full pursuit of an interloping deer…or cat he does stop at the fenceline…
When we came down here, I was a little worried. They still have a dog door, but we have a 7 foot fence around the property and the fence has a locked gate. I wouldn’t want someone to accidently let them out.
Will full access to outdoors, they never go out except to pee… Mostly just sleep on the couch waiting for our return…
Up at the farm, they would go out when the UPS man showed up, but just up on the deck… to bark and wait for cookies…
I have a doggie door to a rockwalled backyard with padlocked gates. Walls are over 5 feet tall. Safe neighborhood. The dogs go out whenever they feel like it. I have tile floors everwhere except bedrooms and leather furniture so I dont worry about mud. I can shut bdm doors if its raining.
Where I live there are people who make a living out of picking up stray dogs and selling them to laboratories for research! I learned this from volunteering at the local shelter. When a call about a stray dog would come in we were instructed to call one of these people to go pick up the dog but most of the time the dog never made it into the shelter.
So NO! I would never leave a dog out in a yard unprotected–ever!
I wish I had a nickel for every “dog missing” sign I’ve seen posted in the local grocery stores over the years. Do I think all those dogs have run away from home? No! I worked with a girl who left her dog in the yard and it disappeared–she never found him. :no:
I wasn’t about to become one of those people.
It depends on the circumstances. When I moved into my house, it had a dog door to the porch and to the backyard, and he enjoyed being able to come and go as he pleased (he’s a chi/sheltie cross of some sort, about 20 lbs of pure muscles). However, as I got used to the neighborhood, I was less inclined to let him do that, as we have TONS of raccoons and other creatures (even though we’re in the suburbs, I’m backed up to a nature preserve). Plus, my huge lab that was his constant companion/protector died of old age (he was 14!). So now he stays inside except when accompanied, after a couple of critter encounters. We also acquired a cat! so the option to use the dog doors is out. I have the one to the porch still active, but blocked the one to outside so the cat can’t get out. My lab did stay out all day, though, and enjoyed it hugely.
I live in Lord Helpus’s neck of the woods. :lol: I live far FAR out in the country; if ours get out of their fence during the day they’re at risk from the coyotes and rattlesnakes but little else. I have a Great Pyrenees that is always out and we leave the big dogs (aussies and a gsd) when we’re gone during the summer. Spoiled in the winter get to stay inside. The little and old dogs stay in the house while we’re gone. I wouldn’t leave them just loose outside b/c they will wander too far but they would just be over open country, there isn’t another house for several miles.
If I lived in town though, no… I’d have them in the house when we were gone. A relative had their dog stolen out of their back yard in Albuquerque and it was a horrible feeling. He turned up at a local shelter and they got him back, luckily.
If we moved to town I would have to leave the Great Pyrenees with this place; he could never live in town.
I have 11 dogs. Some stay in all day some are out all day but our property is perimeter fenced. Our eldest Pom has the run of the house while we are gone to work; 3 other Poms, 1 Rat Terrier and 1 Red Heeler stay in crates in the basement while we are gone to work; 1 Pom stays out all day, weather permitting; and the 3 LGDs stay out 24/7. The only reason the Red Heeler stays up is because he’s a terrible brat and will make a nuisance of himself to the cats and horses all day if left to his own devices. We have 17.5 acres.
[QUOTE=ynl063w;7932450]
In my mind, horses are different than dogs. Sure, they’re both domesticated animals, but they’re domesticated at different levels. Most horses don’t come to the back door of the house and ask to come inside so they can curl up on the couch for a nap, or get fed and have a drink of water. Your experience must be different than mine, but I just can’t understand comparing leaving a horse outside to leaving a dog outside.[/QUOTE]
I’m confused. Are you comparing a horse that’s happy out in the pasture, to a dog that’s hungry and thirsty and upset? Because in my mind I’m comparing contented animals in safe set-ups… so I’m not sure what the difference is.
btw the horses do come to stand at the gate when they figure it’s supper time
I have small dogs and live in a suburban house. My dogs can go out when I am away, but it is a belt and suspenders kind of setup. I have a doggie door that opens into a 5 X 10 dog run of 6’ chain link. This is in my backyard which is surrounded by 6’ stockade fencing. So they can watch their yard and relieve themselves and I feel they are pretty secure.
The more I think about this topic, the more I think it depends. At my farm, with my dogs - no, I wouldn’t trust them not to find a way out, or for something else to find its way in. Not to mention, I think my dogs really like sleeping on my bed when I’m not home.
But lots of dog breeds do not want to be inside, and are bred to be outside. It would be unfair to own certain breeds and not allow them to be outside all the time. And, if the environment was safe enough to leave dogs outside (whatever breed), many dogs would be just as happy.
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