Originally posted by 4 Dog Mother
If you have taught your dogs to come on command, there may be a way to have a bit of both worlds. You could leave them in a fenced area when you cannot watch them and let them run free when you can. Dazzi is very good about staying in the area we are in and coming back when we say that is far enough. I often let her free especially when I am in the back yard working on the flower beds. She can roam but is close enough that I can call her back from whatever trouble she may be in.

And yes, I think a lot of farm dogs get to roam because the owners don't see them as family members but animals that can be replaced without much thought or grief.
I've taught them to come on command, but I don't think I could count on them doing it if they were preoccupied with something. I could trust Jake but Max would get focused on a squirrel or rabbit or something and that would be it.

The people who live out there now use their dogs to keep wild animals off the property. You can't have a garden out there unless you have a way to keep the deer away from it. They probably keep the small critters away from the chickens, too. I don't know why their dogs don't roam. They just don't! There's a farm about a mile away that has a border collie who helps out with the cows (keeps the coyotes away from the calves etc.). He stays put - doesn't roam at all. Maybe that's because he's a working dog and takes his job very seriously.