Why do allegedly caring dog owners leave them outside unattended for hours or even longer?
ByQuestion by Wdlane: Why do allegedly caring German Shepherd owners leave them outside unattended for hours or even longer?
We are in our house for about 1 1/2 years now. It has about a 80 x 80 area that is fenced in. Our Dachshund will be 2 in May. Luckily he is not a digger.
We have spent a lot of time outside especially in the summer. In the many hours spent outside I guarantee there is not a **total** of 10 minutes where my wife or I was not outside with him. This includes taking him on a leash 4+ times a day to walk him IN our yard to do his business.
Call me paranoid or whatever but we just can’t even think about leaving him outside unattended. He IS the center of our world. We live in a nice area but the story of our neighbor witnessing an attempted German Shepherd theft before we moved there has stuck with me.
Conversely the 2 German Shepherds across the street are outside most of the time in a yard where they could jump the fence if so motivated and they barking constantly! How annoying! The owners are not home when the German Shepherds are out so if they did get loose no one would know it.
Why have a German Shepherd if you are going to keep it outside? Do we care for our German Shepherd more?
Sorry – no German Shepherd sleds to pull or sheep to chase here in South Jersey. Dachshunds are so cute they don’t need to do such things.
For Bonnie L – Border Collies are the smartest German Shepherds in the world. Everyone knows that. Your German Shepherds are smarter when they are sleeping than my boy any time. You sure are spending a lot of money sending them to sheep herding training. I hope it works out for you. But perhaps you could send some money my way to pay for my therapy since you think I am so obsessive. Your last paragraph was a bit obsessive as well. You jump to some far reaching conclusions about me and how I care for my German Shepherd. He is very happy and fine.
I still maintain that German Shepherds should not be left completely unattended outdoors for great lengths of time. Even worse was a friends German Shepard that spent it’s entire life chained up in the backyard.
It is my question. I get to pick the winner. Thanks much to those that replied and were kind and considerate without being insulting. It is appreciated.
Best answer:
Answer by angeloneus
Depends on the kind of German Shepherd and its personality. You just cannot leave a doxie outside, it is too little. But another type of German Shepherd that is bigger and rowdier and has a lot of energy might actually prefer to be outside! I have a golden retriever and a golden mix, and it is actually difficult to get them to come inside and spend much time with us, outside is much more interesting to them. Neither is interested in leaving the fence, so they don’t. They are miserable when we keep them indoors on nasty weather days. So, you can’t judge every German Shepherd by yours.
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Many dogs prefer the outdoors, including mine. Mine have a dog door, and access (in a fenced yard) to the outside whenever they wish, when we aren’t home. What about guardian dogs who protect livestock, they are outside 24/7? I feel sorry for your dog, no free time to romp, being on a leash outside, never seeing the outside world, only your backyard. When we are home, my dogs enjoy romping on 40 acres, daily, and would never think of leaving the property. I have better things to do than walk my dogs in a fenced area. You need to get a life.
My dogs are Border Collies, and there is nothing more that they enjoy, is being outside and working sheep.
If the barking dogs are so annoying, why don’t you just speak to the owners of the dogs??? Apparently the fence is enough to keep your neighbor’s dogs in, so why are you so worried about it? You seem to be someone who doesn’t have enough to do, too much time on your hands, otherwise you wouldn’t worry about such things, you wouldn’t be on your computer posting rant/chat.
Perhaps you should seek some professional help regarding your obsessive behavior. Am I bad dog owner because my dogs enjoy being outside? Am I a bad owner because I have spent $500.00 a month, for many months, for my dogs to stay with a national champion sheepdog trainer? Am I a bad owner because I spend $50.00 and hour for lessons from this trainer?
We leave our Siberian outside unattended all the time. Suppose I am an uncaring, unconcerned, irresponsible dog owner cause I have other things to do then walk him around my FENCED yard waiting for him to drop a hammer? You and your wife are obsessive about this dog, and making him the center of your universe is bunk.
You don’t care for your dog anymore than I care for mine, you just take your obsession over the dog to an extreme.
i couldn’t agree with you more …there is so many horrible ignorant people out there that just should not have a dog or any other animal reality tells me also why do they have a dog if it has to live in the yard like a captive zoo animal its just absolutely wrong…i own dogs and eventually all my fam and friends are getting them because they see if you are humane to an animal it pays off in many ways …hope all you cruel people that may read this at least think twice about it …happy new year all..don’t get me wrong either not all dogs outside don’t have it bad i just mean the ones that may prefer being with humans more because of the way they were trained or breed who knows but anyway i did not want to offend anyone
Not all people have dogs as the center of their world.
I’m not prone to leaving my dogs outside, unattended… mostly for my neighbor’s and my yard’s sake rather than the dog’s.
Many people who care deeply for their dogs and people who work their dogs and people who have watch/guard dogs leave them outdoors. Leaving the dog outdoors does NOT equal not caring for it.
That said – dogs being kept as lawn art is a sign of a lazy, ignorant owner.
You are definitely a more conscientious dog owner. The people who leave their dogs out however, may not know they bark constantly. Also, they don’t jump the fence even though they may be capable of doing it. The owners probably know they don’t jump out so they feel they are safe.
If the owners work 8 hour days and have a commute and they left their dogs inside, they might feel that is cruel since the dogs would not be able to enjoy the sunshine or go to the bathroom anytime during that LONG day. They might also destroy something in the house the owners care about or chew something that could injure the dogs. They may want the dogs outside to deter burglars. Most police departments report fewer robberies in homes with dogs or next to dogs who bark. Of course if dogs bark all the time, this won’t really alert anyone to trouble.
If they could not leave the dogs outside, they might be faced with taking the dogs to a shelter and that would mean they don’t care about their dogs at all so obviously they do try to provide the best they can.
One of my dogs prefers to be in the yard all day whether I am out or not. I am home so I often leave the door open so the other dogs can come in and out. They prefer to be where I am. It’s possible these owners know that their dogs would rather be out than in. They do take the chance that someone will tease or steal the dogs but it’s not common. They may even have a security camera to protect the dogs. But if they do they should know the dogs are constantly barking and offer some toys or hire a dog walker to keep the dogs from being a nuisance or becoming anxious all the time.
You have to do what you think is best for your pet despite what friends or neighbors do with theirs. I have a Lab that goes in and out to my fenced back yard throughout the day but is never left out there for long periods of time, my neighbors on the other hand have a few yorkies that spend a lot of the day out in the yard and they seem just fine. It’s really to each’s own… if you feel comfortable with the way you are doing things now then just keep doing what you’re doing.
There are different factors: kind of dog, kind of house, kind of owners.
She sleeps under my bed every night & I also make sure she’s supervised every time she goes out. :p
If your neighbor’s dog was meant to be a guard house, then maybe that’s the reason why. Of course, guard dogs should also be given the proper care & protection, not just for the owners but people passing by. As their neighbor, you can do them a favor by just being watchful & immediately reporting it if you see any kind of animal abuse. If you’re strangers with your neighbor, maybe you can mention it also to animal control so they can ensure the dogs will be safe from being kidnapped too.
Your dog is obviously family to your household just like I treat my Shih Tzu as my daughter.
i also have a dachshund and he is never out of my site, i stay outside with him to go potty then he comes back in (i stay out longer in the summer time with him), he prefers to be indoors snuggling up on the sofa than being out for long periods, he also goes every where with me or he will bark and cry non stop until i get back.
Because he doesn’t like being indoors.
I have a GSD and he prefers to be out side and since I am home most of the time I can keep an eye on him. I would not leave a small dog out side for long periods of time mainly because we have coyotes in this area. I do bring mine in when it gets dark because there is nothing in my back yard worth stealing. We are both ok with this arrangement. You may have a noise ordnance in town call the police and find out and tell them what is going on. Ask them to contact the owners about the barking, and keep calling till they get a ticket if necessary, your name won’t be given out. I don’t know what the situation is with your neighbors, some people don’t have that much time to spend with them in which case why have it. Would rather see them outside as in a d___ cage. I guess what works for one doesn’t necessarily work for another
Smaller dogs, like Dachshunds, are NOT outside dogs. They are too “fragile” to be kept outside unattended.
However, there are larger breeds who do better outside. Leaving a dog outside doesn’t mean that someone doesn’t care for their dog. I have no problem with people having outside pets, as long as them being outside doesn’t mean the dog gets less exercise or attention.
If I had a big enough yard, my Border Collies would LOVE to be outside dogs. They hate being cooped up in the house all day. I got both of my Border Collies from farms, where their parents were cattle herders. Their parents have never been inside a house, because they WORK. My dogs live in the house, but they are no happier or more loved than the Border Collies that live in a barn and work for a living.
back in the day, dogs were outdoor animals. they enjoying sleeping on the porch more than in the living room where their is nothing to do. Dogs are decedants from wolves, larger dogs with fur prefer to be in 20 degrees outside vs 70 degrees inside.
What can a dog do inside. a 90lb dog isnt going to have any fun being locked indoors, and owners cant give dogs their undevided attention all the time and have a social life too and people arent going to try to dognap a medium-large dog breed. they tend to bark at strangers and can be very intimidating considering nobody knows whether or not a strange dog will bite
Not all dogs are strictly indoor dogs and they are much better served being allowed or kept outdoors.
We have a Black Lab that is free to come and go from the house as he pleases. In the Summer he prefers to be outside in ‘his’ yard. A yard, I might add, that is surrounded by a very sturdy 4 foot chain link fence.
In the Winter his visits outside are a wee bit shorter but he does ask the be let out for a few hours at a time.
……………….. and then there are the true working dogs. My son keeps sled dogs and they rarely are in the house because they are not suitable animals to have in a house. Sled dogs have a hierarchy system that makes them incompatible with house living.
The simple fact of the matter is that people who insist on owning dogs such as mine or my son’s should not live in an urban area where their dog can interfere with the quality of life of their neighbours.
My small dogs have a doggie door, so they can be inside or outside, as they choose. They frequently choose to be outside.
I also have one large dog who really does not like to be inside. She insists on staying outside unless it is either very hot or very cold. The other large dog prefers to be inside most of the time.
Frankly, I find your behavior a little obsessive. The odds of someone trying to steal your dog just because you are not hovering over him are pretty slim.
*****
I am the center of my dogs lives, not the reverse.
When I leave my dogs I want the peace of mind that comes from the knowledge that they are secured on my property, inside the locked, security alarmed house.
That is my personal preference because of dog theft, my breed of choice it not best suited to being kennelled or left outside, as act as if they would melt in the rain & have low tolerate to hot weather, & prefer to be inside.
I do not have an issue with people who have dogs that prefer to be outside & have adequate kennelling & are properly cared for, but have no time for owners who purchase dogs then dump them in the garden, largely forgotten or fail to securely them safely on their property.
Growing up, we had a German Shepherd Dog. She lived outside. She had a full half of our 1/3 acre yard to race around in, and she had access to the deck with a sliding glass window that looked in on the main living space. She lived outside her whole life, she was very happy, healthy and well cared for. We loved that dog, and it offends me to think that you would think that we did not “care for her more”.
Currently I have lots of little dogs… they on the other hand cannot be left outside for very long at all. One of these reasons being we do not have a fenced yard (although now the dogs will be getting an hour or two of being left outside since we just got a 12 x 6 kennel for them to play in), and another reason being we have hawkes and eagles around here who would very much like a yorkie or shih tzu snack. Their kennel will be covered, eliminating that hazard.
But IF they were bigger, and IF we had a fenced yard, sure, I would frequently let them out into the yard to sniff around and do as they please… but that wouldn’t mean I didn’t “care” for my dog.
My dogs are part of my life, but definately not the center. I love them and spending time with them, but not ALL my time..