I think in certain situations it's ok to have outdoor dogs, but it's not something I would ever do. Growing up my family always had outdoor dogs, I know they were happy but I still wish my family had at least tried to bring them inside. We grew up on a ranch so all of our dogs were strays that people would dump out in the country. They got lots of attention because someone was always outside working on stuff. Overall I think my familys dogs have a good and happy life, much better than where they could have ended up seeing as how most of them were strays. If a dog doesn't seem happy my dad will take it to the shelter so it will have a change at a life it will love. Right now they are down to only 1 dog who we found in a ditch outside of our house. I think my parents have actually tried bringing her in a few times and she's wanted nothing to do with it.