Where does your dog live?

[Vida Winter]

Our two dogs have free run of our yard, basement, and the first floor of our house. The master bedroom is on the first floor and they do get to go in there. They are not allowed on the second floor which is carpeted. We keep a gate at the stairs to remind them not to go there. I do have to keep an eye on them to make sure they are not tracking mud into the house but I have solved a lot of that by spreading wood chips over huge areas around the house.

 

~Dana

[Rose in BC]

All of our dogs have been indoor dogs. Until they are completely housetrained, they stay in a kennel when we are not home and sleep in it at night.

HTH!

 

This is our arrangement too. Our dogs are part of our family and we like having them around us. (Well, I like having THEM around, maybe not their hair so much. But you take the good with the bad. :001_smile:)

[hornblower]

Other

 

And I have strong feelings about this, being a rescue foster home. I believe unless you're getting a livestock guardian dog to guard your sheep etc. from predators, dogs should be indoors with you.

 

The guys here live in the house & have access to the yard.

And 2-3 30-40 min walks a day.

And agility classes.

And tracking classes.

And impromptu clicker training sessions just for fun to learn new tricks and keep the brain busy.

And weekly long outings on trails & fields just for fun.

And they usually go with me in the van when I'm driving around but my current foster is a scaredy baby about the car so I end up leaving them home a bit more than usual.

 

They are part of my pack.

 

My current foster actually IS a livestock guardian - a breed meant to live outdoors & indeed, many are still used for that purpose. He will only stay out if I'm there with him. :001_smile: He's a big baby and sleeps on dd's bed. A couple of my previous fosters were northern breed dogs which were a bit feral, but they figured out life indoors very quickly & again, wouldn't stay out long unless someone was with them. My own girl is a malamute x gsd x ??? & while she loves to suntan on the deck in the summer & to lie down in the snow in the winter, she'll only stay out for about 20 mins on her own.

 

I grew up with a terrier in an apartment & all my relatives (this is in Europe) had dogs in their apartments, including my aunt who had a huge GSD. Dogs don't really need yards. In fact, yards are pretty useless for dogs IMO. Dogs generally don't exercise themselves in there. If they're left there long by themselves, they grow bored and many will start to nuisance bark or dig huge holes, or jump fences. What they need to do is be with people & go for walks & for outings to parks etc.

 

And while we're on the subject of dogs, I'll highly recommend a couple dog blogs. It's fun to see what other people do with their dogs. Some absolutely amazing photos & funny stories of life with dogs.

 

http://threewoofs.blogspot.com/

http://herdoghasablog.blogspot.com/

[cathmom]

In the house.

[MicheleinMN]

Two dogs: 1 black lab and 1 bichon/cocker mix

 

Both are inside most of the time. They each have a crate for at night. They have free run of most of the public areas during the day. They are allowed on the couches. They have to be taken out for walks/potty because we do not have a fenced yard (live in the country), and they would take off running if not on a leash.

 

 

Michele

[Ellie]

Our dogs have always lived in the house, with free access to the yard. Even our greyhound was a house dog. :-)

 

Our current dog is the French bulldog we rescued last May. His original owner, who was a backyard breeder, had put him on a chain and left him in the back yard for 4 or 5 years when she to retire him. In the heat of Dallas. I was horrified when I read about it on the French Bulldog Rescue Network.

 

At any rate, Wrolf will go outside for personal business :-) and to scope out the yard (he can watch, through the windows, the birds and squirrels at the feeders, so sometimes he just has to inspect the grounds). If I could leave our back door open, he'd meander in and out (the other day he lay down right under the bird feeder, waiting...), but I think he's had enough of outdoors, because if I close the door, he patrols the perimeter of the yard and then comes back to the door, patiently waiting for me to let him in. Bless his heart.

 

We have not invited him up on the furniture or to go upstairs, and he's never asked to do either (we thought a dog-free zone upstairs would make the kitties happy, lol). He's crate-trained--a wonderful thing, which I plan to do with any future pups; when he's not sleeping on my feet or within touching distance of me, he'll go to his "room." We also have a bed for him in the family room, and he sleeps there, too.

 

FTR, most people we know here in Texas were born and raised in Texas, and they all allow their dogs in the house. :-)

Edited October 24, 2008 by Ellie

[sassenach]

We have 2 non dogs (chihuahuas), they live completely indoors, aside from supervised potty breaks. There is far too much wildlife out here for them to go out alone.

[Tami]

Our American Bulldog (wonderful breed for families, btw) is a part of our family, and so she lives in the house. She does not "live" in the yard, though she has it thoroughly marked as hers. : ) Since dogs are pack animals, they are most comfortable when with their "pack" and can get lonely, unhappy, destructive or aggressive when left alone. I personally don't see the point of having an dog in the family if it's going to be left outside all the time, unless the family spends a LOT of time outdoors.

 

One of the benefits of having a dog in the house is that she deters not only burglers, but salesmen as well. Her bark intimidates them, and if the DO have enough guts to come to the door, I simply 'can't hear' their pitch over the dog's barking, LOL!

 

Our dog has a bed in at the end of the hallway, and has free roam of the house, other than the kitchen. Being a big girl, she has a mega bladder an never has accidents in the house. (I think small dogs may have a harder time with this.) We trained her from the time she was a puppy that she may not come in our kitchen. I find flying dog hair unsavory at meal prep time. Additionally, I can leave food out on the counter, and our dog wouldn't dream of coming in the kitchen so it stays where it is. At our house, she is also trained to stay off the furniture -- she has her own places to lie, toys, and stuffed animals.

 

Edit: I have noticed that the more she goes outdoors, the smellier she gets. I imagine that dogs love to roll around in dirt and all sorts of "delicious" items. Keeping her bathed, brushed, and with fresh bedding is important for encouraging cuddling. Our 'pack' has no interest in cudding with a smelly member. Running around in the yard all day makes for one stinky dog. We prefer daily walks together on-leash.

Edited October 24, 2008 by Tami

[Lisa in Jax]

They have free reign of the house when we're home, but they are not allowed on furniture w/o being invited. (They know when we say, "up," they can join us on the bed/couch and that they are not "invited" otherwise.)

 

At night, or when we're not home, they "go to bed" in their crate area. For their crate area, we put a baby gate across a 5' long (by 2.5' deep) linen closet, and put drapes in front of the baby gate. They have dog beds on the floor of the closet. There is storage above their heads, but it's high enough above them to allow them to stand up and turn around. (They're not big dogs.)

[EvergreenEclecticAcademy]

His mother was horrified at the idea of an inside dog - she was Texas born and bred, and dogs lived outside.

 

Native Texan here...as a child we only had an *outdoor* dog. She came in the house occasionally to get a treat, but other than that she was outside all the time. My mom crocheted a sweater for her to wear in the winter if it was too cold. She was very firm in her belief that dogs don't live in the house...until I moved out after college. Then she & my stepdad got a black lab pup who (gasp) became an INDOOR dog. I guess she needed another "child" to fill her empty nest! Anyway...short story long...that was the sweetest dog I'd ever met & he was largely the reason that my dh & I decided on a lab pup ourselves 10+ years ago. Best dog ever! Then we added a rescue to the mix 4+ years ago. Dog #2 has a few "issues" (i.e., separation anxiety), so when we leave the house she goes into "her room" (kennel). Dog #1 has free range of the entire house all the time. Both dogs sleep in our bedroom. Dog #1 has a dog bed in our room, but if it's really cold she likes to get on the bed with us. Dog #2 sleeps under the covers with her head on the pillow. :D

[joannqn]

I chose "other" because our dog, a smooth coat collie mix, lives inside our house rather than in the yard. When he indicates he wants out, we let him out. During the winter, he only goes outside to go potty as he hates the cold and rain. During the summer, he choses to spend more time outside but still spends the majority of his time inside with us.

[Mekanamom]

Our dogs are in the house, free range & access to all rooms. They have a dog door which they use to let themselves out whenever they need to use the lawn or get a drink of water. (They are fed and have their automatic water bowl in a sheltered place outside).

 

Even the puppy is mostly house trained- once he figured out he could use the dog door, he hasn't had many accidents at all! Yippee!

 

They are Labs and NOT allowed on the furniture, except the window seat in the school room. The window seat is right under the front window that faces the driveway- so we let the dogs up on that... helps them to do their watchdog duties... heh heh.

 

My dog sleeps beside my side of the bed. Oldest dd's dog (16 week old puppy) sleeps in a crate in her room. When each of the kids turn 12, they get a puppy. The plan is that each of them will have a dog sleeping in their rooms; like a Labrador alarm system. :D

 

I'm trying not to think of just what it will be like to have 4 Labs in the house.

[dirty ethel rackham]

Around us, the city and suburban folk have inside dogs. However, most of the people we know in rural areas have outside dogs. My sister lives on a farm. Her husband was aghast at the idea of an inside dog - it just wasn't done on the farm. Cats weren't even in the house - although they had to amend that rule to deal with the vermin. Her dogs live in a section of the barn, which is just across the driveway from the house. Since the family does have to be outside to do farm tasks, they are with the dogs everyday. Not as close as lap dogs, but the dogs are very protective of their peeps. She has a yellow lab and a chocolate lab.

[Melanie]

Our dog, a 75 pound mutt, lives indoors and has access to all rooms and all furniture except for our beds. He can go outside to our fenced yard whenever he wants, and we take him on a 2 mile walk every night.

[Kate CA]

His mother was horrified at the idea of an inside dog - she was Texas born and bred, and dogs lived outside.

 

Laura

 

Laura, what kind of dog are you talking about? I think it completely depends on the dog. Our dog, a little dachshund, would be completely distraught outside. She is an extremely social dog and is meant to live inside with the family. She would not manage outside *at all.* We are home all day so it is not an issue. She misses us when we are gone and is wildly excited when we come home. It is kind of nice to be so loved by a little creature. She sleeps with one of my daughters burrowing under her covers. Our cat has the same roaming ability and sleeps with another daughter.

[Annie Laurie]

I have a chihuahua (about 15 lbs) and he lives indoors and has free range. He sleeps in the master bedroom at night with dh and I, on his dog bed. I do close my door so he stays in with us. He has dog beds but is not allowed on the furniture, he sheds these little white hairs something awful. He goes out in the fenced backyard to potty and lay in the sun occasionally, but he would be very unhappy outdoors all the time. He can not handle when the weather gets even a little chilly, he shivers.

 

ETA: I think it depends both on the climate where you live and breed or type of dog. I'm in Texas, it's been chilly here lately for October and my dog shivers standing outside on a 60 degree day. Chihuahuas like heat, he'll lay out in the sun when it's near 100.

Edited October 24, 2008 by Annie Laurie

[Sarah CB]

Dogs are pack animals and every dog I've owned would be terribly lonely if left outdoors all the time. Our dog is indoors most of the time, but also has his own large yard outside. He loves to lay on the floor by dh's feet in the evenings and he enjoys being close to the family during the day. He'd be a very sad boy if he was left out by himself too often. He's big, too - 125lbs but I have to say he is less intrusive inside than our old Jack Russell Terrier was.

 

I don't think it's terribly fair to isolate a dog outdoors. If I had to keep a dog outdoors I'd get a second dog so that they would have some company and I'd have to commit to spending a great deal of time with them outside.

 

And this is coming from a very non-dog person.

[jg_puppy]

Our dogs are allowed in the yard and all of the house except the kids bedrooms. I couldn't check not allowed in any bedroom because they are allowed in the master bedroom.

 

Jan

[tibbyl]

Our three dogs have free range of house. They have a pet door that leads to a large fenced in backyard. I answered "other" because they only go outside these days to relieve themselves or to bark under certain circumstances.

[Just Me]

I replied "other" because our two dogs are mostly indoors, with frequent trips to the backyard when needed - or when a squirrel is spotted. Our Border Collie is 4 years old, and no longer sleeps in a crate. Our Mini-poodle is 1 year old, and puts herself to bed at night in her little crate. It is so cute, because it is the only time of day she ever goes in it! We always say "Fibi must be ready for bed" If the door is shut, she will stand in front of it waiting for us to let her in. So cute!

[Jenny in Atl]

All of our animals are always house pets, yard for playing and doing their business.

[LaxMom]

Ours lives in the house (and sleeps in our bed) but has free range of the yard to do her business (which she is very polite about and keeps to the fence line) and bark and random falling leaves. :001_smile:

[ma23peas]

I have a beagle puppy laying on my neck, never realized how ATTACHED they are to humans and other animals....she HAS to be touching something living at all times.

 

We also have a 3 year old black lab/border collie mix, she puts up with baby beagle...we live on a a farm but have no fenced in area (other than where the horses are) so we leash walk them for exercise and they sleep in our bedroom, have full run of the place..well, baby beagle can not go upstairs where the carpet is (wood floors down) until she's 100% accident free...

 

We love our dogs! :)

Tara

[jensway]

We also have a black lab/border collie mix "Rocky". He is really smart. When he was younger we crate trained him. He was in the crate when we were gone and at night. He has not used his crate for 2 yrs. now. I put a bell on a rope on the back door knob and in 2 days after we got him at 3-4 months of age I had him trained to ring the bell when he wanted to go outside.

 

He has full run of the backyard and house. He sleeps with our son in his bedroom. Only place in the house he is not allowed is 1 couch, other than that he is part of the family.:D

[Jlynn]

I had to put "Other" because our dog is an indoor dog and we let him out in the yard to go to the bathroom, but he doesn't live out there. We also walk him daily. We kennel trained him as a puppy and haven't had a problem with him at all. He's a Miniature Dachshund and we don't allow him on the furniture since its bad to get him in the habit of jumping off due to possible back problems.

[Paz]

Our dogs, 1 medium sized (34 lbs) and 1 larger sized (54 lbs) live indoors with occassional potty breaks and walks. Neither go outside without a leash. Medium dog would run the neighborhood for hours and large dog would visit the neigbhor's rotties which are trained attack dogs.

[H.S. Burrow]

We have a small boxer and she is an indoor dog, meaning that she spends time every day outside in the yard and going on walks, etc. but she sleeps indoors in a crate in our room. She basically likes to be whereever we are, so that's no problem for us! She's a pack animal as the previous poster said, and she wants to be with her pack. She's trained to ring a bell when she needs to go out and she has a nice yard with lots of room to roam when she has the urge. We just let her decide where she wants to be!

 

This most closely describes our situation also, except our puppy is a 50 pound yellow lab. He sleeps in his crate, goes out in the yard if he wants to play, and is basically with us the rest of the time.

 

When he is *totally* house trained, he will sleep in DS's room...probably on his bed.

 

By totally, I mean when we can get him to bark at the door when he needs out. Right now, he just goes over to it and stands there.

[Parrothead]

Baxter lives in the house. When we got him we had a fenced back yard. He climbed the fence every day and roamed the neighbor hood if he let himself out of the house. He knew how to open the screen door.

 

Now that we haven't had a fenced yard for a couple of years he has forgotten how to open the screen doors. He is free to roam the house but usually sits at the other end of the couch from me. He thinks I won't find him in the bed if he gets under the covers close to the foot of the bed. Every night I have to chase him onto his pillows before I get in bed.

 

He has to be leashed when he has to go out. He has started walking three miles a day this week though.

[Puma Mom]

Other.

 

We have a Brittany spaniel. Mostly she's an inside dog, although she has a small fenced area that she can get to via a ramp to a basement window and we let her out in the yard to run frequently. Inside, she is allowed anywhere not carpeted, so the tiled, finished basement and the tiled kitchen/breakfast room and foyer are open to her. Dh works in the basement when he's not traveling, so usually she's under his desk when he's home.

 

She is really good about not even trying to come in the carpeted rooms UNLESS there is a thunderstorm when someone has to sit with her on the tile or she will come on the carpet. At night, we leave the basement door open so she can get outside. She generally sleeps on a dog bed in the breakfast room. If is is thundering, she will try to come upstairs, so dh sleeps on the basement couch when heavy rain/thunder is forecasted.

 

She was a rescue dog and is extremely nervous/neurotic. Trying to crate-train her was disastrous. She actually does MUCH better when we go out of town now that we leave her in the basement (with access to her outside pen) with water and an automatic feeder and have friends come over every day to love on her than it did to take her to a kennel.

 

The whole dog thing was dh's idea, so I was feeling extremely generous to have her in the house at all. I grew up with an outside-only dog. Dh had an inside dog. But I did recognize that this dog needed to be with people, and am okay with the arrangement we have.

[Aggie]

I haven't read all the posts so this may be a repeat.

 

Dogs are pack animals and love to be around their pack, whether human or canine. A dog will be lonely outside by itself. :(

 

Aggie

[SonshineLearner]

We have our dog inside (70 lbs) and he has free range, while we are here. He's inside one of our 3 crates in the van, downstairs when we're gone, or inside our bedroom when we're sleeping. I read a book before I got him about how dogs need to be with their leaders as they are pack members. I really took to heart the part about them bonding with you while you sleep in the same room. If you having them in your room isn't practical, pick one of the kids that it sounds like fun for. We have a special foam mattress for our dogs crate in the bedroom, so he circles round...goes to sleep and settles down for the night.

He goes outside to run around for a bit and to have playdates with the neighbor dog.

My latest thing is feeding him raw food. I'm so excited about it. I'm trying to feed him for the same price as when we did dog food. SO, at least since I've been studying how to feed puppies, I've realized that I really think it's important for them to eat no grain. Dogs eat protein...cows eat grain:-)

Carrie:-)

PS, The best thing we did was go to dog training with someone who has trained German Shephards used for Police Training. It has saved us and it only was $85 and you can go back free for the life of the dog.

(Except he still steals off the counter!)

Carrie:-)

[Aggie]

My latest thing is feeding him raw food. I'm so excited about it. I'm trying to feed him for the same price as when we did dog food. SO, at least since I've been studying how to feed puppies, I've realized that I really think it's important for them to eat no grain. Dogs eat protein...cows eat grain:-)

Carrie:-)

PS, The best thing we did was go to dog training with someone who has trained German Shephards used for Police Training. It has saved us and it only was $85 and you can go back free for the life of the dog.

(Except he still steals off the counter!)

Carrie:-)

 

Did you read the Skansen Kennel site? It has wonderful information about a raw diet! http://www.skansen.com/nutrition/

 

Aggie

[PollyOR]

Oregon is very wet in the winter so...

 

Inside, free range of the house (except kitchen). She has a kennel in the living room.

 

Locked in her kennel when:

 

 

1. We leave home (keeps her off the furniture)
   
2. At night (keeps her out of the kitchen)
   

 

 

We have relatives who say it is okay for the dog to come with us overnight but then they expect her to stay outside. She is NOT an outdoor dog even if she did originally come from a ranch. She thinks she's a person and would be miserable outside or in a garage the entire visit. Now when we go on vacation or visits we send her to a kennel.

[The Governess]

We have two Italian greyhounds. They used to be complete indoor dogs, but now spend most of their time outside, and sleep together in a little house in the (attached) garage. After dd4 was born my allergies got worse, and it was hard for me having the two dogs in the house with a baby because EVERYONE wanted to be on my lap at all times and I just couldn't take it! One of our dogs is a bit neurotic and was constantly waking the girls up with her barking. Now that they are outdoors she barks so much less. Dh is happier too, he never really liked the idea of indoor dogs and Italian greyhounds are notoriously hard to housebreak so we never got to the point where they were completely accident free.

 

We have a fenced yard and they usually spend the day laying and sniffing and running around. We're out there a lot with them, and we do let them come in a few times a day - they usually "clean up" under dd2's chair after she eats and we'll snuggle a bit. During the winter they come in and lay in front of the fireplace if we have a fire going (we're in So. Cal so it doesn't really get too cold here). It's nice with the two of them, because they really are little buddies, keeping each other company and snuggling together at night, otherwise I would feel bad about keeping them outside.

[Sunny]

I voted that they have free range of house, however, that is only when we allow them!

They are crated in the garage at night for bedtime. They are crated also when we leave the house for more than 30 minutes, otherwise they stay in the yard when we make a quick trip to the neighbors or are not inside with them. They do not go to the bedrooms when we are downstairs. They RARELY are upstairs at all, although have access there. They pretty much stay by us in the schoolroom/family room/ kitchen area.

I know some people put baby gates at the staircase so the dog cannot have access to other rooms. This works for smaller dogs. Mine would agily jump right over if they wanted to.

Crates are much safer for dogs when left alone. Because they were raised this way from puppyhood, they much prefer this place to sleep too. We've tried to put a dog in the boys' rooms at night, and they pace and keep the kids up. They actually prefer their crates to sleep soundly, and it sure helps with cleanliness, accidents, and all around happy family/dogs.

[Sunny]

Devoted to a dog that remains outside is an interesting concept.

 

My grandparents had a working dog on their farm. I would say they "loved" the dog and were thankful for its abilities and devotion, because it was a working member of the farm. It was not treated as a person in any way, and NEVER came inside, even in freezing weather. It had the barn or under the front steps to retreat to.

 

I would not say they were devoted to the dog in a way that city people would relate. In most cases, people want dog pets. Pets are companions that are around them and we are "typcially" indoor people when we don't have land to work. Most people I know that have outdoor "pet dogs" that do not farm or ranch do not spend adequate time with the outdoor dog to be "devoted". They are more of a possession or needed guard/protection dog.

 

It would be interesting to know if those who have strickly outdoor dogs feel at times guilty of not paying enough attention to the dog?