OUTSIDE DOGS, somthing to think about
I have a part-time outside dog but thought this C&P was interesting.
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OUTSIDE DOGS
I'm familiar with hundreds of dog breeds, but what's an "outside dog?"
Unless you're medically intolerant of it (and therefore can't take care of
it in a medical emergency, so you shouldn't have it), making a dog stay
outside is a costly waste. If it's for protection, what do you think I want
to steal, your lawn? When you leave, do you put your valuables and your kids
out in your yard? Just what is the dog "protecting" out there? Most dogs
kept out cause far more nuisance complaints from barking and escaping than
any deterrent to intrusion. Such complaints cause teasing, antagonism,
release and poisoning. I lost count of the number of times I've heard: "NOW
I know why I find so many rocks, sticks and cans in my yard! They're
throwing them at my dog!" Or: "So that's why I've had to replace the padlock
on the fence 17 times in the past year!" With your dog a helpless victim,
it's no laughing matter.
If I'm a crook and your dog is out, your fence protects ME, not your
possessions or dog. If I just open the gate 9 out of 10 dogs will run off! I
can safely shoot, stab, spear, poison, snare, strangle or dart it through
the fence. You just lost your dog AND everything I steal! If it's tied and I
keep out of its reach, it's useless. It'll bark, but outside dogs bark so
much they're usually ignored. But let a dog hit the other side of a door or
window I'm breaking into and I'm GONE! I can't hurt it until it can hurt me,
and nothing you own is worth my arm. Deterrence is effective protection.
Protection and aggression are not the same. Protection is defensive,
reactive and often passive and threatens or injures no one. Aggression is
active, harmful and offensive, threatens all and benefits none. Yard dogs
often develop far more aggression than protectivity because everyone who
passes by or enters has already violated the territory that dog has marked
dozens of times a day for years. That's not protection, it's not desirable
and it overlooks two facts of life today:
1) Property owners have implied social contracts with others in the
community. Letter carriers, paper boys, delivery people, law enforcement,
emergency medical personnel, meter readers and others are allowed near and
at times on your property without your specific permission. Sure that
ten-year-old was not supposed to jump your fence after his ball, kite or
Frisbee; but neither you nor your dog are allowed to cause him injury if he
does. Imagine this: A neighbor looks into your yard or window and sees you,
your wife or your child laying on the floor in a pool of blood. They call
9-1-1 and your dog prevents paramedics from assisting! Should they shoot
your dog or just let you die? Great choice.
2) Even if the intruder is a felon, few places allow you or your dog to
cause physical injury to prevent property loss. Convicted felons have sued
the dog's owner from jail and won more in the suit than they could have
stolen! Appalling but true. Don't believe your homeowners insurance will
cover the loss. Now you see why many feel that an "outside dog" is a
no-brainer.
The more a dog is outdoors, the less behavioral control you have. It's
easier to solve four or five indoor problems than just one outdoors. The
reason is simple: The more you control the stimuli that reach the dog, the
more you control its responses. You've got a lot more control over your
living room than you do over your county! When it's bored but teased by
every dog, cat, bird, squirrel, motorcycle, paperboy, airplane, firecracker,
backfiring truck and rabbit in the county, OF COURSE it'll dig, chew and
bark. Would you sit still all day every day? Do you want unnecessary medical
and parasite fees, especially as the dog ages?
When a dog is alone indoors you're still 30% there because your scent and
things it associates with you constantly remind it of you and your training.
When it's out, it's alone whether you're home or not. Do you expect it to
keep YOU in mind while the entire world teases, distracts and stimulates it?
The media are full of stories about family dogs saving everyone during a
fire. How many people, including children, would be dead today if those dogs
were kept out? SURE you always get up to investigate every time your yard
dog barks. And I've got this bridge.....
An outdoor dog has an address, not a home. Does your dog get so much mail
that it needs its own address? The real value dogs offer is as companion
animals. Do you live out in your yard? Whose company does your yard dog keep
and protect? Stop behavior problems and start enjoying real protection and
companionship.
Bring your dogs in.
Copyright 1993 Dennis Fetko, Ph.D. (858-485-7433, Fax 858-485-0651). The
author authorizes this article to be copied, quoted or used however it will
do the most good as long as proper credit is given.
************************************************
OUTSIDE DOGS
I'm familiar with hundreds of dog breeds, but what's an "outside dog?"
Unless you're medically intolerant of it (and therefore can't take care of
it in a medical emergency, so you shouldn't have it), making a dog stay
outside is a costly waste. If it's for protection, what do you think I want
to steal, your lawn? When you leave, do you put your valuables and your kids
out in your yard? Just what is the dog "protecting" out there? Most dogs
kept out cause far more nuisance complaints from barking and escaping than
any deterrent to intrusion. Such complaints cause teasing, antagonism,
release and poisoning. I lost count of the number of times I've heard: "NOW
I know why I find so many rocks, sticks and cans in my yard! They're
throwing them at my dog!" Or: "So that's why I've had to replace the padlock
on the fence 17 times in the past year!" With your dog a helpless victim,
it's no laughing matter.
If I'm a crook and your dog is out, your fence protects ME, not your
possessions or dog. If I just open the gate 9 out of 10 dogs will run off! I
can safely shoot, stab, spear, poison, snare, strangle or dart it through
the fence. You just lost your dog AND everything I steal! If it's tied and I
keep out of its reach, it's useless. It'll bark, but outside dogs bark so
much they're usually ignored. But let a dog hit the other side of a door or
window I'm breaking into and I'm GONE! I can't hurt it until it can hurt me,
and nothing you own is worth my arm. Deterrence is effective protection.
Protection and aggression are not the same. Protection is defensive,
reactive and often passive and threatens or injures no one. Aggression is
active, harmful and offensive, threatens all and benefits none. Yard dogs
often develop far more aggression than protectivity because everyone who
passes by or enters has already violated the territory that dog has marked
dozens of times a day for years. That's not protection, it's not desirable
and it overlooks two facts of life today:
1) Property owners have implied social contracts with others in the
community. Letter carriers, paper boys, delivery people, law enforcement,
emergency medical personnel, meter readers and others are allowed near and
at times on your property without your specific permission. Sure that
ten-year-old was not supposed to jump your fence after his ball, kite or
Frisbee; but neither you nor your dog are allowed to cause him injury if he
does. Imagine this: A neighbor looks into your yard or window and sees you,
your wife or your child laying on the floor in a pool of blood. They call
9-1-1 and your dog prevents paramedics from assisting! Should they shoot
your dog or just let you die? Great choice.
2) Even if the intruder is a felon, few places allow you or your dog to
cause physical injury to prevent property loss. Convicted felons have sued
the dog's owner from jail and won more in the suit than they could have
stolen! Appalling but true. Don't believe your homeowners insurance will
cover the loss. Now you see why many feel that an "outside dog" is a
no-brainer.
The more a dog is outdoors, the less behavioral control you have. It's
easier to solve four or five indoor problems than just one outdoors. The
reason is simple: The more you control the stimuli that reach the dog, the
more you control its responses. You've got a lot more control over your
living room than you do over your county! When it's bored but teased by
every dog, cat, bird, squirrel, motorcycle, paperboy, airplane, firecracker,
backfiring truck and rabbit in the county, OF COURSE it'll dig, chew and
bark. Would you sit still all day every day? Do you want unnecessary medical
and parasite fees, especially as the dog ages?
When a dog is alone indoors you're still 30% there because your scent and
things it associates with you constantly remind it of you and your training.
When it's out, it's alone whether you're home or not. Do you expect it to
keep YOU in mind while the entire world teases, distracts and stimulates it?
The media are full of stories about family dogs saving everyone during a
fire. How many people, including children, would be dead today if those dogs
were kept out? SURE you always get up to investigate every time your yard
dog barks. And I've got this bridge.....
An outdoor dog has an address, not a home. Does your dog get so much mail
that it needs its own address? The real value dogs offer is as companion
animals. Do you live out in your yard? Whose company does your yard dog keep
and protect? Stop behavior problems and start enjoying real protection and
companionship.
Bring your dogs in.
Copyright 1993 Dennis Fetko, Ph.D. (858-485-7433, Fax 858-485-0651). The
author authorizes this article to be copied, quoted or used however it will
do the most good as long as proper credit is given.
0
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Agreed, 100%. A dog is a companion animal, conditioned and bred to crave human company. He gets none when he is outside. He gets lonely and bored, so he barks at nothing, and becomes a nuisance to the neighbors.
Keeping a dog outside is animal abuse. You wanted a dog, right? So, keep the dog so that he will be happy and healthy. If you don't want to keep him as a companion, give him to someone who does.
Keeping man's best friend outside makes as much sense as having a baby and handing it over to a minimum wage daycare worker to raise it for you.0 -
I have always let mine go in or out as they pleased. I had a larged, fenced yard so it posed no problems. They had food and water inside and out. To me they were just furry children.
I once had a husky that refused to come inside, even in -30 temps. He'd bury himself in the snow.0 -
I have a rotty that is about 12 years old. She stays outside during the day and comes in at night. She is mostly a outside dog.
I have no clue but at our old house when I left her inside all the time she would go into coma it seemed like. She would not move all day long even if I tried to mess with her. I figured ok she's getting old and is on her last leg probally.
Well then we moved to this other house and she has been staying mostly outside. She has come around 360 and is jumping around like a puppy and playing like she used to when she was much much younger. When I get home she is ready to go for her walk and I even have to pop her chain to remind her to heel now. I don't know what the real reason for the change in her is, but the only change we've done is she spends most of her time outside now.
She's a much happier and lively dog now. [:)]0 -
My mini dachshund is the same way. When she's at my parents, she can go in or out as she pleases, choosing to be mostly out if the weather is nice. When she's at my sister's in the city, the dog gets moody and comatose because she can't go out when she wants and when she does, she has to be on a leash. She does spent the night inside, though. 0 -
Mine get to see our home more than I do...VERY pampered and spoiled plain rotten. 0 -
Well myself, I say, your dog, any of your animals is your business. I personally aint gonna have no dogs, or any animals in the house. THey smell the house up. Everyone I know of that has animals in the house, there house stinks. They are used to it, and it don't bother them. The rest of folks aint though. 0 -
My son's dog is three years old and it still chews everything it can get its teeth on. He lives outside most of the time but I bring him in every day. I disagree that he cannot be a watchdog. Our dog is in the back yard and he barks only when animals like coyotes, skunks, groundhogs or people approach.
I agree tha that leaving a dog alone outside will make the dog anti-social, but I think you can have a compromise between inside and outside that will work for both the dog and the master.
Our dog knows that he sleeps outside but he also knows he will get inside a few hours per day. I dont feel as if he is being abused. Maybe he feels different but he's never said anything to me about it.0 -
When I lived in remote South Texas I had an outside dog. He absolutely would not come inside. However, the Ranch, and particularly the acre yard was his. We never locked our house - ever - in 10 years. If you got past Cherokee, you could have anything you wanted. No one ever got past him, even the 15 wets I found on top of my fence come sun up one morning. They said he put them up there about 3 hours before i found them, and they wouldn't get down until i put him in the truck. I fed them and sent them on down the sendero.
Now that i live in town (yuk), i have an inside dog. One day I stopped at a corner store and i walked in to buy a coke (diesel truck still running). When i came back, the guy (stranger) getting gas next to me condescendingly questioned my leaving the vehicle running. He said he could have stolen it with ease. I then asked him if he could drive without arms. "What do you mean?" he said. I told him he might very well get inside the truck, but once he got inside the 90 pounds of big black dog in the back seat, that loved me dearly, would welcome his thieving azz by eating both his arms. I told him i thought my big black dog trumped any fancy alarm around....0 -
I agree 110%. No sense in abusing an animal but keping it outside. That being said, I feel sorry for whomever tries to come through my door at night. If my catahoula cur don't get 'm, I know what will[:D] 0 -
My lab (Sam) is normaly with me 24/7 when I go to work she goes with me and at home a door is allways open to the back yard! The only time I leave her is when the wife and I go out to dinner or over to friends and she gets locked in the garage with plenty of food and toys. 0 -
dogs want, in this order:
1. your companionship
2. be outside
3. play
if you can't give them all 3, take off from the bottom of the list. not the top.
yes, I have experience. every single day of 11 year's worth.0 -
The only time my dog is outside is when I'm out with him. Sometimes, that's to give him a chance to play, sometimes it is to train him. Otherwise, he's in the house, waiting to show the burglars where all the valuable stuff is kept if they'd only give him a handful of treats. 0 -
I don't agree. My big dogs live outside. They have their doghouse and the back porch to get under so they have good shelter. They have an on-demand water bowl so they never thirst. The yard (an acre) is fenced, so no road trips for them. They roll in the grass and any time I'm outside or going to the gate, we have contact. They are also never chained and free to persue whatever enjoyment they want.
They have it better than most husbands....[:p][:D]0 -
I have "inside dogs" and a "outside dog". My outside dog likes to be outside. He can chase a squirrel when he wants. He can run when he wants. He does not lack for anything. He opens the screen door to get on the porch when he is ready. I find him sleeping outside even when it is cold. I guess he likes things the way they are. Don 0
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