Dogs- inside or outside

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

I don't think I could leave my puppy in a crate all day or night.

Crate training your dog is the best thing you can do for him.

We have two girls and both are crate trained. We got one as a pup and trained her to the crate from the beginning. The other is a rescue dog and she had always been crated - probably too much. Her crate is larger than recommended so she won't feel confined or trapped. They are only crated when we are not home.

Both of our girls will go to their crates when told. You can tell them to "go to bed" from the back of the house, and they will go clear to the front of the house and get in, waiting for the door to be shut. They always get a treat and lots of praise for going in.

A crate, once learned, is a bed and a safe haven.

http://www.petfinder.com/videos/petfinder-how-and-why-to-crate-train.html

Their crates are in the office, and as I write this to you they are each lying in their open crates (something they often do). Actually, they've switched crates at the moment. They like to sleep in the others' bed when the doors are open.

It really is a good thing!

[Sayha or bust. 71]

Definitively inside! Why would you keep mans best friend outside!

[Caryh 5,206]

Minnesota is extreme weather for major parts of the year. Large short haired dogs are not built for Minnesota winters. Doggy doors are not good in Minnesota homes either. We use double doors in Minnesota and its still generally cold around them. A doggy door is going to make one part of your house very cold. If you want an out door dog, get a northern developed breed. Even those breeds are mostly kept inside now. Also you'll need to make sure they have decent shelter, and insulated dog house, adding hay in the winter and a flap over the entry to keep the wind out. Also you'll need to have a heated water source, as keeping a dog outside without fresh water is now considered animal abuse here. They have bowls you can plug in that keep the water thawed.

One thing about these northern breeds that can comfortably live outside in Minnesota winters is they generally shed like crazy when you bring them inside. They tend not to feel so comfortable when you bring them inside to, because normal human inside temps are just to warm for them when they get used to day time temps well below freezing.

I foster dogs with a rescue group here in Minnesota. And one thing our rescue insists on is none of our dogs are outside dogs. These are companion animals, and unless you're spending a lot of your time outside in the winter, you're not being a good companion to a dog adjusted to being outside in Minnesota kind of weather. Crate training is not cruel. A crate trained dog will find his crate is his comfort place and will retreat there when he feels uncomfortable for any reason. I'd really encourage you to keep your dog inside and crate train him. He'll get enough outside time when you're home and asks to go outside. He'll also get a lot more time enjoying his time with you when you are home. And get to know the breed you intend to get, what their general temperament is like and if its compatible with your life style. Some dogs need a lot more attention while others can be happy with the morning and evening pat on the head.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Yay for you, Caryh, being a foster parent!

Our littlest, Winnie, is a rescue girl. She was going to be put down the next day. But she was saved by Ellen of Ellen's Rescue. Ellen saw to it that Winnie got vet care, because she had a big mammary tumor.

When we saw Winnie the first time, we could tell she had been put through it. She had patchy fur and no upper or lower small front teeth. But she was such a calm little creature, and on the way to good health. We've had her 2.5 years now, and she's just a doll!

Bless you for the work you do with animals!

[X Factor 1,112]

It depends on where you live and what time of the year it is as well as the type of dog you have. If it is nice outside, I would have the dogs outdoors. If it is winter time and I have a heated dog house they will be outside. Otherwise they will be indoors.

[Moomin 292]

My dog, a German shepherd, wants company of humans. Leaving her outside would mean me sleeping in a tent. She follows me where I go and even though she only barks on command or when there are people entering the property/her domain without me greeting them first, it wouldn't be right for me to put her outside. Besides, she only likes it outside all the time during winter. My other dog, a collie(he's in my home country due to being 12 and probably not making it through a plane ride), wants to be outside by himself for some parts of the day. I do walk my dog about 3 times a day no matter the weather. To me, it really matter less if you put your dog inside a house or inside a crate; It matters that the dog uses its senses. Which means that training or playing with a dog inside is IMO much better than just letting it be by itself outside for hours.

Based on my dog and her behavior I voted inside.

Edited April 3, 2012 by moomin

[Caryh 5,206]

Yay for you, Caryh, being a foster parent!

Our littlest, Winnie, is a rescue girl. She was going to be put down the next day. But she was saved by Ellen of Ellen's Rescue. Ellen saw to it that Winnie got vet care, because she had a big mammary tumor.

When we saw Winnie the first time, we could tell she had been put through it. She had patchy fur and no upper or lower small front teeth. But she was such a calm little creature, and on the way to good health. We've had her 2.5 years now, and she's just a doll!

Bless you for the work you do with animals!

I've had a lot of foster dogs that needed rehabilitation. Some medical, some behavior, and some both. Only a fraction were dogs ready to be adopted out right away. Which is kind of why there are foster groups. Those dogs are often put down by humane societies and shelters, which can only handle adoptable dogs. In fact some of the dogs I rehabilitated were from shelters where they stayed too long and got messed up in the head. They do what they can, but some dogs just do very poorly in shelters. Now that my wife has her EAD and has started working we're taking a short break from fostering. Once she has her license, a car and things settle in we may start again. But its hard for her saying goodbye to the foster dogs to. She ends up wanting to adopt every dog we bring in We went through about 8 foster dogs in the six months she's been here. One we just had adopted out had a mast cell tumor. She had a number of physical issues when we got here, then we discovered the tumor. In a bad spot to, we were really worried if they could operate on her. It turned out ok though, and it was a grade 1 tumor, so it will probably never reoccur. Personality wise, she was one the the sweetest and most well behaved dogs I've ever fostered, even if medically she was a mess. We had her for four months so when she did get adopted we were both sad to see her go. For me its weird having only one dog now. I've gotten so used to having two or three around and constantly being in training and nursing mode.

[Xanax 349]

Thanks everyone for your insight, we have decided we will keep him / her inside and partition a part of the living room for sleeping or in the laundry room. No doggy doors and we wont be keeping him/ her outside alone at all . I have read so much about crate training, but I am still not sure I want to do it.

Thanks again guys, our first disagreement and we managed to find a compromise with the help of VJ!

[Sandra G. 5,047]

My labrador (95 pounds) stays INSIDE the house when I am working, he takes naps, watch tv,LOL, but each four hours a friend of mine comes over to let him go outside to pee. I think is cruel to leave the dog alone all day outside and inside the house. The best option is to leave him inside for sure, but someone should let the poor dog go outside for a while to do his thing,lol at least each five hours.

Edited April 3, 2012 by sandranj

[Caryh 5,206]

Thanks everyone for your insight, we have decided we will keep him / her inside and partition a part of the living room for sleeping or in the laundry room. No doggy doors and we wont be keeping him/ her outside alone at all . I have read so much about crate training, but I am still not sure I want to do it.

Thanks again guys, our first disagreement and we managed to find a compromise with the help of VJ!

Glad to hear you worked it out. I hope every disagreement doesn't need a VJ pole to decide though. Although it seemed to have helped you two come to a decision. You'll have to come back and let us know what kind of dog you got.

[rlogan 2,036]

Think about a northern breed dog. They can handle the cold. Quiet dogs. Bigger dogs are better for guarding your property too.

[Visitor 90]

We have a 2 story house and have a puppy door upstairs and downstairs. They have run of the house and we free feed with food and water inside upstairs and down.

Because of our isolated location and dangerous predators including cougars, coyotes and bears we have a 10ft x 10ft roofed caged/fenced grassed area which their downstairs puppy door goes to and we close the gate on that at night so they can go potty there at night without disturbing our sleep and without going into the main yard at night. The downstairs puppy door is off our bedroom so they don't have access to upstairs at night. They like to stay close to us but we leave them on their own to go out shopping etc for a day. Even though their yard is fenced the fence only keeps them in but wouldn't keep predators out so their night time caged area is a safe zone for them and peace of mind for us. Our dogs are big chickens so if they even smell a skunk they run inside....and speaking of skunks we've never had any undesirable critters come in through the puppy door so the system works great for us and the dogs. At this point I should mention they don't know they are dogs. They are our fur kids and we love 'em to bits.

[Xanax 349]

Thanks everyone who gave feedback and advice - I thought I would share my story with y'all.

Daniel and I adopted a 7 week old puppy when I got here (here for 3 month holiday). Our puppy is a "retriever X" and we adopted her from the locale humane society. Though she is said to be a retriever X, 3 vets have told us she looks like she is a pit bull X, so we are not really sure.

We had our puppy for only a few days before she got very sick with parvo and then(now) she developed aspiration pneumonia from vomiting with parvo. She has been in critical care units for a week now and is looking like she will get better but it has been very touch and go. They also discovered she is not making neutrophils very quickly and has a low white blood cell count which makes her more susceptible to infection.

Because of her precarious situation we have decided she will be purely an inside dog (apart from walking and play times). She has developed a heart murmur as well and has already got some scarring in her GI track and possibly in her lungs and heart (we will have a heart ultrasound when she is better to determine if there has been any damage from the parvo) so we really do not want to put her at any further risk by spending a lot of time outdoors, especially if she continues to have a low white blood cell count.

- - - -

Well that was therapeutic, typing it all out! We have been so stressed by this whole thing, even if no one reads this or replies it was nice to be able to tell a proverbial someone (apart from Vanessa- btw thanks for everything <3) about our problems!

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Looks like a pitbull to me as well. That will be an expensive dog, but she looks like a sweetheart. I hope she lives a long and happy life as a member of your family.

[Visitor 90]

BrittandDan, such a sad story but she is blessed that you took her in and gave her a loving home. She looks like she might have "some" pitbull in her but not much. Who cares. She's a dog and dogs are the purest form of unconditional love. I hope she heals and has a happy and long life with you. Whatever age she lives to, know that you have given her love and that's all that matters. I hope her collar can come off soon. Blessings to you for taking her in. She will give you much joy.