Runoff of the Daisy thread-kinda!

[Roxyluvsme13]

Okay, person with an outside dog right here. Before Pet Talk, it was okay to have Roxy on a chain 24/7. I would come out and see her and bring her treats and everything, and I walked her occasionally, but it was okay. Everyone has a chained dog or an outside dog. It was okay. Then, I joined Pet Talk and everybody was yelling at me for my mom's choices on Roxy being an outside dog. Sooo, I took some effort and convinced my mom to let her inside. I once even snuck her in and bathed her. Now, after all of the hard work, Roxy is allowed inside at night, she never has an accident, not counting last night..(but that wasn't her fault because she had an upset stomach, but we figured out it was this food, and she's not getting anymore), she's allowed to sleep in my room on my bed, and I can give her a bath practically anytime I want to. So, I've come a loooong way from having a 24/7 outside dog. Now, I have a housebroken, night-time inside dog, whose allowed free roam of the house and who I can put in the shower with me if I want to. I do love Roxy and I wouldn't trade her for the world.

[Pam]

Roxyluvsme13, your post was beautiful! If PT had no other reason for existing your story would be enough for me. (Of course us PTers know better and love it for many other reasons). Many of us as children grew up with parents whose ideas do not mesh with our own now. My parents were not really concerned with what food my dogs were fed (usually what was on sale and a lot of table scraps) but as we get older we get to think, and try, new things. I am so glad that your mom has allowed you a little more freedom with Roxy. If you show that you are attentive to her needs and keep her bathed, etc. she should have no reason to doubt your good intentions and she will earn more *house time.* Your post has put a big smile on my face. See for yourself......>

[Roxyluvsme13]

Roxyluvsme13, your post was beautiful! If PT had no other reason for existing your story would be enough for me. (Of course us PTers know better and love it for many other reasons). Many of us as children grew up with parents whose ideas do not mesh with our own now. My parents were not really concerned with what food my dogs were fed (usually what was on sale and a lot of table scraps) but as we get older we get to think, and try, new things. I am so glad that your mom has allowed you a little more freedom with Roxy. If you show that you are attentive to her needs and keep her bathed, etc. she should have no reason to doubt your good intentions and she will earn more *house time.* Your post has put a big smile on my face. See for yourself......>

Aw, thanks! My mom still doesn't believe half of the stuff I tell her PT says because she's so set in her ways. She and my grandpa both believe you're supposed to increase food in the winter, decrease it in the summer. Uh, no. My grandpa says Roxy's amount of dog food is too much, but on the lower amount, she was SO skinny. I wish I could find my USB cord and show how much weight she's gained and how happy she is.. Yeah, Pet Talk changed us. Sorry for getting so off-topic!

[Karen]

I know some dogs - huskies, for example, who like being outside. What surprised me was that a friend's family dog - a Dalmatian - insisted on being an "outside" dog. She had a nice bed in the garage so she could be out of the weather, but my friend said she thinks inside the hosue with 5 kids was just too much commotion for the dog, and she'd howl and basically destroyed a door saying "LET ME OUT!" when kept inside for any length of time, even just for an overnight. The kids and parents all loved and played with the dog, took her for walks, etc., she just insisted on being outside!

But I cannot stand to see dogs chained up to a length of chain, in an area so small they have paced the ground bare, and obviously get little human interaction and care. It's heartbreaking, thanksfully it doesn't happen much around here that I see.

And I am so, so, so glad that Bri did all the work and was so diligent and Roxy gets to be inside now!

[dukedogsmom]

Hey Roxy, I just now saw that. That is great! Something similar happened with Maria if any of you remember her here. Major is inside almost all the time now. It took a few years but her perseverance paid off. I, too, agree that dogs are family and should be inside. I wouldn't have it any other way.

[Canis-Lupess]

This is taken from the Border Collie rescue site in the UK.

"Bonding

They have a strong instinct to bond with one person and this is often over-stimulated in a pet home because of the intimate nature of our relationship with our pet animals. It is this attribute that makes the breed so attractive to us. We all want a loyal pet and it is flattering to be the centre of the dogs attention.

Border Collies fare best when they spend day time with their owner in a working relationship and at night spend time apart from their owners in their own space. If you do not get the balance right the dog becomes so dependent on being around the owner that it become stressed and suffers trauma in the absence of the owner. this is known as separation anxiety and is a common problem with pet Border Collies.

They will tend to follow the owner around like they are attached to them with elastic - sometimes very close - sometimes a few foot away - but always at the heel of the owner. If you are familiar with working sheepdogs you may have noticed that the stockman's dog is always there, in the background watching, but is content to keep a distance until needed. unlike many pet Border Collies they do not feel the need to be so close they are constantly underfoot.

They can also get confused if they have to share a relationship with more than one individual. They are bred to bond to one person and although they can switch allegiance with little problem, if they have two or more people demanding their attention it conflicts with their need to bond to one. One man and his dog is no coincidence, although one man can get the adoration and loyalty of many dogs without conflict."

So for those who insist a dog should be with them 24/7, they are wrong. Dogs living like this get seperation anxiety and become over-attached.


Ok, I have always kept my dogs outdoors and some people in here may wonder why I have dogs if I don't keep them inside. Well, here are the reasons. I love dogs, I love training them, I love taking them out for walks, I love taking photos of them, grooming them, interacting with them etc....
I have a strong bond with my dogs and they live outside. The bond between my dogs and me is stronger than between many indoor dogs I know and their owners. When I take them out, they are well behaved, don't run off, come back when called and are good mannered with people. As they got older, they started to dislike small children but many dogs are that way whether they live inside or not.
When they were younger, I used to take them agility training every sunday morning and taught them to perform similar stunts on the seesaws, climbing frames, swings etc..at the local park. Our Monty also used to love the roundabout...we'd set it going round and he'd have a whale of a time chasing the handles for ages, haha....
At the weekends and in school holidays, I used to just get all the dogs and disappear off down the fields with them for up to 5-6 hours at a time...because I liked it. It was peaceful, interesting exploring the countryside, my friend often used to come too.

When I was a child, taking the dogs out for at least 2 long walks a day was the most notable thing about having them. It's what I grew up with. We always had about 5 dogs at once and they were all happy and well cared for and better behaved than many indoor dogs we used to know. I often used to go with my dad or grandad when they took the dogs out. My grandad would take them in the morning and then my dad would take them early evening time, both times an hour and a half or longer. As us kids got older, we'd also take them extra walks at other times when not at school to the point where they were hardly ever at home.

Fact is, a dog who lives outdoors but gets plenty of exercise and is trained and taken proper care of is better off than a dog that lives indoors but never gets taken out for walks and only gets being let out in the back garden to look forward to.
Yes, I know plenty of indoor dogs who never get taken for walks. Being indoors doesn't help them. They are often aggressive towards people when they do go out in public, often hyper and jump all over visitors to the house, totally untrained. My oldest sister has a dog who lives inside but she never takes out. He's completely hyper and uncontrollable.

I can't count the number of fellow dog walkers who asked me if I'd train their dogs for them over the years. Their dogs no doubt lived indoors, mine outdoors yet mine were better behaved and had better manners.

I am also perfectly aware of my dogs anatomy. They get groomed every day so I know if anything changes and they get veterinary treatment if anything is wrong with them.

Some people might ask why I don't keep them indoors if I love them so much. Well, as a child, we always just kept them outdoors. They had adequate shelter, kennels, sheds etc...it was just the way of things. Having a number of dogs also meant it wasn't practical to keep them indoors.
Now it's more down to the parents not allowing the dogs inside except an bonfire and new year to keep them away from fireworks. At night, I think it is important for a dog to spend that time alone as they state in the BC rescue site. Doesn't really matter whether they are outside or downstairs etc...especially for a hardy weather resistant dog like the BC who doesn't care if it's cold.
The ancestors of all our dogs were born and bred outside and lived outside on farms etc....It was the normal type of life for a BC.
I don't feel the need to have them with me 24/7 in order to love them. I generally need my own space even from other people and so do they.

Even though my dogs live outside, they were always behaved when we brought them in at bonfire and they never had accidents on the floor either....funny that....!
They did used to lay there and pant and would often start pacing after a while, epsecially when the fireworks died down and they weren't scared anymore....Border collies are dogs that prefer to be outdoors generally. When we opened the door to let them out, they'd shoot out like rockets and back to where they were used to spending the night.

I take our Jess for three walks a day, 4 if I'm working a short day shift. I also bring her down into the porch for some of the time. It's basically just like an extension of the kitchen and the door inbetween is often left open if it's not too cold.
When she is tired, and she gets tired more now at 13, she likes to go up to her shed and go to bed. When they had their run and I got home from walks, I'd let them off their leads and they would go trotting straight to their run, even if I didn't follow them up to close the run door. There were a couple of times when I went indoors and forgot I'd not closed the run door but I found they didn't come out of the run, even if the door was open. It was their little haven where they retired to when they wanted to rest.
Now the run is gone and our Jess has a plot of lawn around the shed. The shed has a small opening with carpet cut into strips over it to help keep our draughts so that she can let herself in and out of the shed and onto the lawn at anytime. In her shed, she has a bed with blankets and such in and her water etc...She has loads of toys, some in the shed and some scattered about on the lawn. The shed has windows across the front so, in daylight, It's always bright in there. There is a main stable type door for me to get in and out and I can leave the whole thing open or just the top half when the weather is warmer.
There is also a work bench in there for repotting plants etc...
Nothing else is kept in the shed now but I can spend ages in there repotting cacti during the spring and summer, I have a 16ft x 6ft greenhouse full of them. This means that I'll also be with our Jess when repotting the plants etc...If I'm doing something in the greenhouse or the garden, I have her loose and with me anyway.

During summer, we spend much of our time at home out in the garden and she'll be able to spend even more time in our presence then.

I certainly don't agree with dogs being left outdoors with no attention, training or exercise but if they are given those things then I don't see there being a problem with it.

I also don't think it is fair to accuse people of neglecting their dogs just because they keep them outdoors. I see many dogs kept indoors that get neglected just as much.

[pitc9]

When I drive past a house where dogs are left outside 24/7 I send them a post card I bought from Dogs Deserve Better.

http://www.dogsdeservebetter.com/home.html

I send it to them in the mail (with no return address) because no dog deserves to live it's life alone.

edit:
This is one style of postcards I bought to send to houses that have dogs left outside all year long.
http://www.cafepress.com/dogsdeserve.8539313

[shais_mom]

When I drive past a house where dogs are left outside 24/7 I send them a post card I bought from Dogs Deserve Better.

http://www.dogsdeservebetter.com/home.html

I send it to them in the mail (with no return address) because no dog deserves to live it's life alone.

edit:
This is one style of postcards I bought to send to houses that have dogs left outside all year long.
http://www.cafepress.com/dogsdeserve.8539313

there is a house I pass every time I go to my parents house.......
that I ordered 2 sets of postcards and the block DDB sticker for my car
I'm sending them a postcard when they come in....

[dab_20]

My mom still doesn't believe half of the stuff I tell her PT says because she's so set in her ways.

My mom is the same way.

My RB Cocker Spaniel, Missy, spent the first few years of her life as an outside dog. I was 5 years old when we got her, so I just followed everything my parents said and had no problem with it. Eventually, when I was about 8, I started to feel really bad for Missy because I could tell she really wanted to be inside with us. I convinced my parents to let her inside and she was inside dog for the rest of her life. She had severe fear aggression, but we dealed with it and I loved her with all my heart. She died on July 4th, 2005, shortly after we got Molli. To this day, I think she was content, felt well loved, and passed to the RB a happy dog. Never EVER again, will I ever keep a dog outside all the time. Dogs are pack animals, and NEED human companionship to be truly happy. Now, I know their are exceptions, some outside dogs are well cared for and loved, and are happy. (like many farm/working dogs)