Dog People -- Is This a Normal Dog-Human Relationship?

[RPM]

[QUOTE=rockonxox;8994612]
My old college room mate had a dog (at her parents house that she grew up with) that they kept in the heated garage. They played with the dog outside (sometimes) and included it in family pictures, but it was not allowed in the house. I thought it was just the weirdest thing. What is the point of owning a dog if you don’t really interact with them and, what it seemed like to me at least, didn’t really want it?[/QUOTE]

When I was a kid a lot of people didn’t allow their dogs in the house. Some did, but many other dogs lived in a fenced yard and slept in a dog house. The difference was, the kids were outside most of the day, and the dog went with them when they rode their bikes or skated or played all over the neighborhood. The dads were out, too, at least on Saturdays, doing yard work, and also almost every evening, picking up trash, checking around the yard, playing with the kids, interacting with the dog. So the dog got plenty of attention, and of course many of them got out of their yards and went visiting around the neighborhood with the other dogs. They all knew each other.

Sometimes I think about this when I look outside nowadays and see no dogs around, only the odd one being walked, always on leash. They don’t interact with their walkers the way the family dogs did when I was a kid. Those dogs would basically follow their kids anywhere, and they were almost never on leash.

It was a different world.

[S1969]

[QUOTE=RPM;8994661]
So the dog got plenty of attention, and of course many of them got out of their yards and went visiting around the neighborhood with the other dogs. They all knew each other.

It was a different world.[/QUOTE]

Yes it is. Thankfully! Dogs spayed/neutered and contained so they don’t roam the neighborhood, have unwanted puppies, poop in other people’s yards and bite the kids.

There are, and will always be - bad dog owners. But at least it is no longer as socially acceptable to be one.

[cnvh]

I cannot fathom why anyone would want to have a dog if it is only to be contained in one room, or god forbid, outside on a chain.

My dogs have free access to the entire house, though I do keep my bedroom door closed during the day, because my two beasts love to pull the covers down and sleep directly on my sheets. I don’t mind dog hair everywhere, but I try to keep the bedsheet-hairiness to a minimum, lol… (They do sleep on the bed with me at night though, just on top of the covers!)

[fanfayre]

Hmmm, our old dog Benson (RIP) CHOSE to stay out in the garage under the stairs on his dog bed. We had to coax him into the house with the rest of us, and then he’d only stay in the main house 20-30mins max and want to go back out to his bed. Even when he was an only dog (he started out with us as a 2nd dog).
Our new dog Blaze- he’s in the house the WHOLE time. I can hear him now upstairs playing with his squeaky duck!

[talkofthetown]

Sounds like a cat.

Our dogs are Not Allowed In The House Ever, so they’re usually in the house…once or twice a day. :lol: They have beds in the mudroom, because they shed terribly and the house is completely carpet. They don’t get in the bed because we sleep on the second floor and the Old Man can’t handle the stairs. However if the dogs are super clean or I need to vacuum anyways, they’ll come inside and hang out. For the majority of the day, though, they are outside, free range on 15 acres.

[saultgirl]

My old dog has always had run of the house, but has never been allowed on the bed or couches. Now that he is older, he stays on the main floor only. Once in a blue moon he might come upstairs to sleep at the foot of the bed, but I think the stairs are getting difficult for him.

We trained the puppy right from the beginning to stay on the main floor only.

We want to remove the carpet from the stairs so we are waiting until old dog dies to do that, and we don’t want to be dealing with the same thing when puppy gets old.

The dogs don’t need to be upstairs while we are sleeping and it gives the cats a dog-free space to enjoy.

But if the dogs needs are being met I don’t really have a problem with the situation you describe.

[saultgirl]

I also want to mention that old dog chooses to sleep on the floor in the mudroom often, or even asks to be let outside so he can sleep on the deck, instead of sleepinng on the dog bed in the livingroom.

I think he gets too hot sometimes (newfoundland cross) and he is really quite content to be tied up on the deck for an hour or so to enjoy the fresh air (or the snow!); he bangs at the door when he wants in.

[Duramax]

Our neighbors have a history of getting dogs as puppies (pit bulls, labs, rotties), putting them in their outdoor kennel and they throw food into the kennel once a day, remember to look at the water every few days, and yell out their back door whenever the dog barks. The dog never gets to leave the kennel and they never acknowledge the dog when they’re outside. Each dog usually only lasts with them a year or so and then, THANK GOD, they rehome it. The dogs get NO interaction, no affection, no exercise. It’s heartbreaking. I always feel guilty when I take my border collies out to play in our yard because the neighbor’s dogs can see us and whimper and cry because they are craving attention and mental stimulation.

(The neighbors always remark on how well behaved our border collies are and have asked us where we took them to get them trained. Have had to explain to them that they’re so calm because they are with me all day getting to do stuff and that I trained them myself- not rocket science, just takes willingness to devote some
time and attention to them. Sigh.)

[RPM]

[QUOTE=S1969;8994709]
Yes it is. Thankfully! Dogs spayed/neutered and contained so they don’t roam the neighborhood, have unwanted puppies, poop in other people’s yards and bite the kids.

There are, and will always be - bad dog owners. But at least it is no longer as socially acceptable to be one.[/QUOTE]

They weren’t considered bad dog owners. They were considered to be good dog people. Their dogs were well loved, well fed, happy, healthy, well socialized, knew all the kids and other humans in their neighborhood “extended pack,” got plenty of exercise, and knew how to play nice. You never saw one shivering with nerves, they never peed on the floor (because they rarely came indoors), they didn’t bark the house down whenever the doorbell rang (because they were out playing), and they didn’t bark alldaylong or allnightlong because they were used to being outside. They had rabies tags and nametags, they got regular shots, and many of them would hop in to the family car when invited and go for rides without getting carsick.

They were living free like their ancestors and some of them lived to be quite old dogs, so their owners must have been doing something right! Most were mixed breeds but some were purebreds.

But then kids had more freedom too. We knew our neighbors, and we knew when a stranger wandered into the neighborhood, human or canine. I only knew two kids who got bitten (and if they hadn’t been doing some stupid they wouldn’t have been), and yeah, it was reported, but we knew the dogs’ names, where they lived, their owners, and that their rabies shots were up to date.

[Highflyer]

A lot of things were acceptable in the good old days that aren’t now. A lot of them for good reason.

[dog_amp_horsemom]

There are alot of people who keep dogs in crates, kennels - basements, mud rooms. I don’t think any of those situations are ideal. My dogs and cats live in the house - they are walked around the farm several times a day - they hang out when I garden or ride - they go on trail rides with me on private trails - I make sure all of my dogs are well behaved - they are calm, they don’t bark, they are happy and healthy - they all get along well and are great with horses and other dogs. Alot of people don’t have time for a dog or don’t want the hair and dirty paws in the house so my advice is don’t get one or foster one or volunteer walking some at the shelter. Also - our dogs sleep where they want - in our bed, in their beds, on the couch - our house is their house!

[S1969]

[QUOTE=RPM;8995577]
They were living free like their ancestors and some of them lived to be quite old dogs, so their owners must have been doing something right! Most were mixed breeds but some were purebreds. [/QUOTE]

Ancestral dogs did not live in houses and get fed by humans.

Really this whole post is ridiculous. Many of these dogs were healthy and lived to be quite old, but probably lots got hit by cars, had worms, bit children and adults, impregnated the neighbor’s bitch, etc. etc.

Just because you don’t remember it happening in your idyllic neighborhood doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. I certainly remember it happening in mine. I am thankful my neighbors don’t allow their dogs to roam today.

[red_mares]

Just curious - when was the book written?

The dog-people relationship has changed quite a bit in the last 20 or so years. It used to be that people thought of dogs as dogs and not furry people who walk on 4 legs.

My father’s current dog is rarely allowed upstairs. He has an annoying tendency to crap on the floor. Other dogs we had were allowed throughout the house. The dog his mother had was kept similar to what the OP describes. My grandmother considered dogs to be animals.

I don’t get heart broken when someone keeps a pet as an animal. They adjust to what is allowed &/ expected of them. This isn’t the Secret Life of Pets, the dog in House A who isn’t allowed on the couch, doesn’t know that the dog in House B sleeps on a Posturepedic.