Do you leave your dogs outside in the yard while you go to work all day?

[Ajierene]

[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]

Not quite the same, but my first gelding would stand at the fence when weather was going to be bad/was bad because he wanted in and stand with his head out of the stall anxiously wanting out when the weather was good. He could stay very contented as the only one in the barn so long as the storm was raging, but wanted out with everyone else once it cleared.

I have also known several other horses that stand at the gate or get anxious to be let in at certain time - feeding time or the flies are bothering them, or bad weather, or they are just done with being out.

For myself, when I owned my German Shepard, I had a doggy door installed to my fenced in backyard and had a gate to lock her in the kitchen. Most days, she would stay inside but if I was going to be gone for an extended period of time, she would get locked in the kitchen with enough food and water (automatic feeder and waterer) with a dog bed and the back door open. If I was away for more than a day, someone would come in and check on her about once a day, but this way she was not a burden to anyone.

[wendy]

Am I an over-protective dog owner?

yes.

I have a doggy door and a secure yard and the dogs can stay in or out as they please when people are gone. I think this is the ideal situation for dog keeping.
I don’t worry about people stealing them or letting them out because the gate is securely padlocked and no one can even see the dogs from the front of the house (yard in the back).

Most dogs probably don’t care one way or the other, though- various groups have studied dogs left alone in yards, and dogs generally don’t seem to do anything much if left out in a yard by themselves. They sit around and wait for their owners to come home. I do think leaving a dog out in a yard is far preferable to crating a dog for hours on end if you’re one of those people who has failed to teach your dog how to behave in a house.

[glfprncs]

As one who has been involved with a no-kill rescue, it amazes me at how many people come it to adopt a dog and say, “Well, our last dog was stolen out of our yard, so we need to get another yard dog.”

While it’s possible, in reality, in most cases the dog probably wasn’t stolen…it just lived out there 24/7 and managed to get out because no one ever did anything with it.

I’m NOT saying that all, or even many, people who leave their dogs out while they’re at work don’t do anything with their dogs. Sadly, though, that is often the case where I live.

I don’t leave my dogs out, and wouldn’t, for my own peace of mind (and also because I live in the South and it’s pretty much 95 degrees from late May until September). One of my boys is a Plott Hound, who is ruled by his nose, that I know would dig out. At the shelter, we’ve had dogs that could climb 6 foot fences (wooden and chain link), so no fence is going to keep them contained.

[Bedazzle]

Didn’t read all the responses - just responding to OP.

I grew up in a small neighborhood where my family knew all of our neighbors and we watched out for each other. We had two black labs that were friendly but would bark if someone tried to come into their territory. Our two dogs lived outside 100%. We had built them a doggie door into a large insulated and heated cage into the detached garage. They also had a large yard and a majority of the driveway. We had wooden fence (8’) surrounding our entire property. Never once growing up did I worry about my dogs staying out there.

These days I have a Chihuahua, and I don’t live in such a nice neighborhood as I did with my family growing up. Not in chance in the world I would leave my dog outside all day without supervision. I would be worried sick. What if she hurt herself, what if an animal got to her, what if someone decided she was cute and they wanted her for themselves. Nope, never. But then again, my dog rarely leaves my side as I’m able to take her to work with me and give her interaction throughout the day.

[Aggie4Bar]

I have a paranoia about house fire occurring when I’m not at home, so I worry when the dogs are indoors alone. I feel as though they’re safer outdoors. We’re also in a rural area with several acres and a securely fenced yard. They have shelter from the weather and the luxury of heated doggie beds while it’s cold. One of them actually prefers to be out. I’ve lost count the number of times she has woken me up at 2 am to pee and staunchly refused to come back inside. It does no good to catch her and drag her back inside; she’ll merely sit at the foot of the bed staring at me like a deranged cat until I “get it” and let her back out.

ETA: My “little” dog tips the scale around 55lb. I’d be forced to consider different threats if I smaller dogs. Hawks around here are huge.

[JanM]

At my previous house I had an inner fence of chain link, with an outer chain fence on the perimeter of the yard. The inner fence was totally secure, and the gate had a chain and padlock securing it, so the dog had a doggie door. In Colorado I had a privacy fence, with a very secure lock for the gate, after someone pried my gate open twice (I could never prove it was the gas meter guy, but he was dumb as a post). After the hasp and lock was installed, my dogs had total yard access, but preferred my bed or the couches.

When I lived in another state about 15 plus years ago, my dogs were inside unless I was home, because of the awful incidents with animals in yards there.

[arapaloosa_lady]

Definitely not.

I would consider it if I move to a very rural location, but dogs left outside in a busy neighborhood tend to get stolen, “stolen” (aka escape through that hole you thought was impenetrable), or just irritate the neighbors with incessant barking. I like both my dog & my good neighbor-relationships enough to just keep her indoors unless I’m with her.

[Mallard]

My three Greyhounds would roll over and die if they couldn’t spend the entire day sound sleep in the house, curled up on their beds. Or my couch.

We’ve had many, many dogs over the years… GSD/Dobes/Springer/Pointer and now the Greys.
We are quite rural, but we do have a securely fenced yard and we’ve never had a dog that tried jumping out, but there is no way I’d leave the property unless all dogs were in the house.
I do leave the Greys out in the yard - with adequate softly-padded bedding, of course - when I’m riding or doing chores. Weather permitting…they hate the cold. And the heat. And the rain.
Of course the house is never locked and the keys are in the ignitions of all vehicles.

[Houndhill]

We are in a rural area, secure, front automatic gate, perimeter fence, inner fencing. Dog door to secure outdoor area, dogs never confined inside house, always have access to outdoors.

Dogs always choose to be outside when I am outside, always in when I am inside. When I am gone, DH says dogs are always either outside, or inside, not sleeping, but looking down the driveway, waiting for me.

This has been our pattern 30 plus years.

[wendy]

At the shelter, we’ve had dogs that could climb 6 foot fences (wooden and chain link), so no fence is going to keep them contained.

In my experience, dogs that are happy with their lives don’t make any effort to try to “escape” from fenced yards. It’s the dogs who never leave the yard- never get taken for walks or exercised, don’t have anything to do- that attempt to escape.
In fact, I recently “cured” a dog of regularly digging out of his yard simply by convincing his owners to hire a dog-walker to take him out for a walk three times a week. They were one of the many who mistakenly believed that all you have to do with a dog is shove it out in the yard and it magically exercises and entertains itself.
Most of the dogs who bark incessantly when left out in the yard also fall into this category.

[S1969]

[QUOTE=wendy;7934067]
In my experience, dogs that are happy with their lives don’t make any effort to try to “escape” from fenced yards. It’s the dogs who never leave the yard- never get taken for walks or exercised, don’t have anything to do- that attempt to escape. [/QUOTE]

Ha. Guess I’ll have to tell my dogs about this. I suspect that this varies as much by breed and situation as much as anything else. My dog would hunt all day long if he had the chance, which is the main reason he would try to escape…not because he’s neglected.

[Nezzy]

NO WAY. NOT SAFE. i don’t trust people. And if the dogs make a racket barking, they can become a target. It’s all about keeping them safe. That said, i am home most of the time and they have a fenced yard with a doggy door, so they are allowed out when i am there and they are not barking. at night they are crated in the house.

[glfprncs]

[QUOTE=S1969;7934098]
Ha. Guess I’ll have to tell my dogs about this. I suspect that this varies as much by breed and situation as much as anything else. My dog would hunt all day long if he had the chance, which is the main reason he would try to escape…not because he’s neglected.[/QUOTE]

My Plott Hound’s nose would get him to the other side of a fence one way or another. His greatest joy in the world is walking our neighborhood after the trash truck has been through. He actually has scraped the skin off his nose smelling the glorious liquid that has dripped from the garbage truck all the way around or subdivision.

[StGermain]

I live in the country on13 acres. I have an acre or so fenced around the house and the dogs have a dog door to the (unheated) mudroom. when the weather isn’t too cold, I leave the door between the mudroom and the kitchen open for the dogs to come and go as they please. I also have a covered front porch and a covered porch on my shed with dog beds so they can hang out outside in comfort. When it’s really cold I would leave them all in the house, but my newest dog seems to go crazy when confined. She’s settling in, so I might try her indoors with another dog to keep her company, just for an hour or so.

StG

[DJohn]

NO WAY!

My GSD is a guard dog/house pet. He goes wherever I go. He only goes in the yard to do his business. My BFs dog is an “outdoor” cattle-herding breed and he would rather be outside shivering his butt off than inside. But, we do not ever leave him out if we aren’t home simply because someone could steal them. Our dogs are well trained, and much nicer to have around than all of the dogs I’ve seen in our neighborhood.

Even if we did live in the country, you never know when someone else’s crazed pit-bull/rottweiler pack may stumble upon your well-behaved dogs! I worry enough about my horses as, years ago, 2 loose rottweilers attacked a group of horses. Thankfully the horses killed them rather quickly and only sustained a few bite wounds to the face.

[vacation1]

I wouldn’t leave my dog out alone. I did with the first two, but as pit bulls and “troubled” rescue recycling became the norm, the risk started outweighing the rewards. There are lethally aggressive dogs out there, and most of them are being given repeat chances to kill thanks to the no-kill movement. You never know when one just moved in down the street.

[toady123]

I’m in the ‘it depends’ camp. I don’t think anyone can make a blanket statement about whether an animal should be in or out. It would depend on the dog, the house/yard, the neighborhood and the climate.

Mine stay in simply because we are not equipped to have them out all day. I also personally would be worried about the ‘what if’ scenarios. We have raccoons around and rabies is common. There could be bad weather, etc. We are right in the heart of our city, so their is also traffic, people wandering etc.

I do know others who do keep their dogs out and do provide the shelter and containment needed and I would certainly not judge them for making that choice.

I do take issue with those who leave their dogs to roam (or who have dogs prone to roaming and do nothing to try to contain them) and risk injury by cars, animals etc. In my mind that is just not responsible.

[Mao]

I have a mixed arrangement.

My (2) homebred Deerhound puppies are 6 months old. They are outside with fenced yard and heated dog room attached to our house. They come in for a couple hours in the evening. I also take them for an off-leash run around our farm most evenings. Deerhound puppies grow at a very rapid rate, and require a lot of exercise to develop proper bone/muscle.

And for now, my two adult Deerhound bitches stay inside the house when we are at work. That is because the puppies get on their very last nerve with their rambunctiousness. So to avoid any bad dynamics, I keep them separated when we aren’t home. But prior to the puppies, the adults were very content with dog room/yard access.

My two Chinese Crested, on the other hand, are never, ever, ever allowed outside unsupervised. They are also never, ever, ever allowed out with the Deerhounds in the yard. Inside the house, they are all fine together. Except the Cresteds wildly despise the Satan puppies from Hell and voluntarily leave the room when they are inside.

[stellaroo]

I have three dogs (GSD, lab, terrier) and a fenced yard with a dog door. My neighbors take my little one over the fence to their house every day. One day my GSD went over the fence presumably because he wanted to go too. He went over the wrong part of the fence, however, and another neighbor leashed him up and brought him home.

I fortified the fence. I’m in the “I’m not gonna make 'em hold their whiz” camp.

[Kat_Renee]

We only have one dog and he stays in while we are not home. In very very rare occasions (when he won’t come in lol), I will let him stay outside while I run a quick 10-min. errand. That happens maybe once a year. We have a chain-link fence that he has never escaped out of. Sometimes when we are home all day, he prefers to spend the day outside which I am fine with and will check on him periodically. He has a cat to keep him company in the house, so he isn’t home alone. He usually just sleeps on the bed.

The biggest reason why I don’t leave him out all day unattended is because there are a lot of dog fighting down here. Maybe not in my immediate area, but people who steal dogs for fighting will usually go into the neighboring cities. Of course, they would have to catch him first and he doesn’t let any strangers get near him :lol:.