I keep the kids outside too!
This is ridicolous. The people in here who are saying keep the dogs inside are also including instructions on how to do it. A little judgemental? :rolleyes:
I also find it incredible that these people encourage keeping your dogs inside as if part of the household but most likely keep their hamsters in a glass cage. How natural is that? Didn't someone mention people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones?
Keeping dogs outside isn't ghetto or abusive to them. This is their natural habitat. If it wasn't, they'd found a way to install cable tv outside by now!
Get real and don't pass judgement on the situation each person lives with when owning their pets. Inside or outside it doesn't matter as long as they are loved and fed!!!
Re: I keep the kids outside too!
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Originally posted by Scooby4
This is their natural habitat.
There hasn't been anything "natural" about dogs since man created dog breeds. These aren't wolves we're talking about. Humans took on the dog as their "pack" and by keeping a dog separated from it's pack by forcing it to live outside while the human lives inside is unnatural. Like bckrazy said, why get a dog if it's just going to be a backyard ornament that only gets attention when YOU want to give it to them.
Re: I keep the kids outside too!
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Originally posted by Scooby4
I also find it incredible that these people encourage keeping your dogs inside as if part of the household but most likely keep their hamsters in a glass cage.
I don't have a hamster. And people who do have hamsters, probably keep them in cages/enclosures because they dont want the hamster getting trapped in walls, or running out the door and getting eaten, or getting stepped on :p anyway.. thats off topic. It also isn't natural that we keep dogs as pets! We crossed the line of "nature" when we domesticated dogs. When people worked outside all the time, it was much more understandable that their dogs were primarily outside. People also didn't realize or care about all of the myriad health problems an "outside" dog risks, including skin problems due to weather, bug bites, sun, wind, rain, etc. Now, most people are inside 80-100% of the day and very little contact or love is shared with their "outside" dogs. That's why I generally believe that dogs should be where their people are - inside or out.
I completely, 100% agree with Pit Chick!! Dogs crave inside time with their people, even if its just a few hours a day and at night to sleep. I did not recommend that your dogs spend their entire days inside. It is wonderful that they have a farm to run around on, I wish I had 350 acres for my dog. That doesn't mean that it's in their best interest, healthwish and tempermentally, to sit outside 24/7/365! I know many, many wonderful Border Collie breeders and owners, who have acreage and own working dogs. Their dogs work with them during the day, and sleep with them at night. Why? Because they want their dogs to fully respect, love, protect, and be loyal to them. Forcing your dogs to live outside their entire lives give them a sense of being apart from your pack and your house, they form their own pack and naturally that makes them less social. I do think it'd be very beneficial to your dogs that you began introducing them to spending time in the house. No - Dobermans were not bred to sit outside and be guard dogs, they were bred as a companion, and their coat and structure is not designed for harsh weather.
Ok, obviously, the reason I suggest that your Dobe is an inside dog, is because he is an older dog experiencing health problems. In order to more easily monitor his health, apply and give medications, protect his skin from the damaging affects of weather and bugs and dirt, it would be best to keep him inside with supervised walks and time outside. And as for your dogs never having been acquainted with living inside with their people, that is your fault, not theirs. I honestly do think keeping your sick Doberman inside would help his condition, and you asked for advice, so you got it :p
Umm... start with one thing
and end with another.
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red blister like bumps that will actually get large enough to erupt like a volcano; his hair is extremly thin from his shoulder blades to about his hip bones; it's so thin that during all this cold weather had to make him a fortress out of blankets, he does live outside 24/7/365 with his other two buddies (an Aust. Shephard and a Siberian Huskey-which neither have this same trouble). His skin looks dry and flakey, but I rarely catch him scratching. Everytime I take him to the vet they do the same thing; medicated bath (two of them before they let me pick him up) and they give him a antibotic; none of this really helps much, maybe a little but nothing major. They tell me to try and keep him out of the dirt, like that's a simple task when we live on a farm
First your Vet needs to give you a referral to a doggy dermatologist. The chances are your dog has almost a chronic skin infection, and antibiotics help, but you are not getting at the root cause of the problem. Although one can not rule out an allergy, it sounds like something more serious is occuring. Dobermans are genetically prone to an increased incidence of hypothyroidism, and a auto-immune skin disease called Pemphigus foliaceus.
Hypothyroidism typically occurs in geriatric dogs, and as just noted Dobermans have an increased incidence of hypothroidism. Low thyroid levels would make the dog less tolerant towards temperature extremes both hot and cold. This could also account for the thinning skin, and flakey scaley appearance. Suspectability to infections can also occur with hypothroidism.
Pemphigus foliaceus. The following description is given by Rosenkrantz (Journal of Veternary Dematology 2004, 15:90-98)
Clinical lesions are variable and include pustules, crusts, erosions, ulcers and alopecia. However, clinical presentations may vary depending on the breed, triggering factors and the cyclical nature of the disease itself. Lesions include pustules, crusts, erosions, ulcers and alopecia. Some cases may remain localized to the head, face and pinnae, while others may generalize and develop additional systemic symptoms.
The treatment for this disease is to suppress the immune system. Sometimes large doses of Prednisone can control it. Other cases may require powerful immuno-suppressant drugs such as Cytoxin, or even Azathioprine.
One can also not rule out Demodex mange, which is also a sign of a suppressed immune system, and possible cancer lurking in an old dog.
Not to inflame the fire, but indeed IF it turns out to be thyroid or Pemphigus the best place for this dog will be inside - as much as possible. The reason being the more controlled climate inside, and a cleaner one. Else trying to control skin infections is going to be very difficult. IF Pemphigus, the treatment for the condition will leave puppy wide open to infection.
Once upon a time with my previous Daisy dog, I had started her outside at night. Every morning I would let her in, and then go off to work putting her outside again. Then when I came home I let her out of the pen. She actually didn't seem to mind the routine. At about 7 months I was due to take a trip up North to Indiana in the middle of winter. So I decided one night to try letting her sleep inside. It came the usual time when I would have put her out. Instead I invited her upstairs, it was though her eyes lighted up. She ran upstairs to the bedroom, and 15 minutes later was sound asleep. Thereafter she was inside at night. What I had going for me in this was that an outside dog will consider the house, especially if they are invited in regularly as the inner most part of their territory. In another words the house becomes just a huge den to them. Housebreaking is automatic.
You should consider letting them in at night. Try to make sure they did their doggy duties first. And you need to consider making sure the dog's contact with fecal dust or other animal excretement outside is minimal. I just quickly scanned through this thread, but somewhere you must have mentioned allergies as a problem. Get a good air filter such as the product from Sharper Image. That will help keep some of the dander down, although your sick puppy will probably produce a lot of it initially. For the other dogs a good brushing once per day will help.
Of course the choice is yours, but if the skin condition is more serious than an allergy, then it's going to be very difficult to bring under control in a barn. Young to middle age dogs are low maintenance. Geriatric dogs are high maintenance. Most important - get a referral to a dermatology, else things will get worse.
