# "Outside dog"



## Indie_ivan (Jul 14, 2011)

So I was having a conversation with a friend about having dogs sleeping outside. I've always had my pets sleep inside, but they've always been small dogs. Now as I mentioned that. he said, he's always had his dogs sleep outside in their dog house. Now at this point we're both looking up information to back up our claim as to which is better for the dog. we love both our dogs so much. Just choose to let them sleep in different places. 

So now the question is how many of you let your dog(s) sleep outside? and how many let your dog(s) sleep inside?


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

This is in the Poll forum. Is there supposed to be a poll?


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## Indie_ivan (Jul 14, 2011)

I guess there was a glitch I tried creating it on my phone.


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## angelas (Aug 23, 2003)

I don't get the point unless it is a livestock guardian living with a herd. A house hold guard living outside is easily dealt with. Antifreeze laced ground beef over the fence a couple days ahead of time and a burglar won't have to deal with any barking.


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## yuriy (Dec 23, 2012)

There is no universal answer to this question. All dogs are different, as are the environments they live in.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I don't personally believe in having them sleep outside. Right now my back door is wide open and they can come and go but they are all inside. They choose to be wherever I am.


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## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

yuriy said:


> There is no universal answer to this question. All dogs are different, as are the environments they live in.


Some dogs are pets, some dogs are working dogs, and some dogs just prefer to be either inside or outside. 

I live in Ottawa, ON, Canada, and we have some REALLY cold winters. 

I have friends that have two Great Pyrenees - you couldn't get these dogs in the house in the winter if you tried. They absolutely love it. They live in the country and really didn't want to leave them out all the time, so they built a dog run / enclosure that is off the back door. There is a huge doggie door (I fit through it LOL) and the dogs can come into the mud room if they want. They never have, but my friend's have peace of mind LOL

I have another friend with a Samoyed - it's a pet too and same idea - flat out won't come in the house in the winter. 

I don't want my dog to sleep outside and I've never acclimatized her to it. However, she would probably be just fine if I built a dog house for her so she had shelter from the wind / snow, etc. 

Even in -40 with the windchill, she'll be sitting on the back deck chewing ice cubes, rolling around the snow and doesn't want to come in.


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## WateryTart (Sep 25, 2013)

yuriy said:


> There is no universal answer to this question. All dogs are different, as are the environments they live in.


I agree.

I wouldn't entertain the notion of leaving my dog to sleep outside, but we also have a pretty extreme climate (both cold and heat). I think it's safer for her to be inside, given that we don't have the equipment necessary for her to live outside during the winter.

I also think we all - dog included - like it better that she's in the house. It works for us.


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

I've never owned a dog who slept outside except for my Cocker Spaniel, Andy. He HATED being indoors ... whenever we brought him in the house he'd be happy for a few minutes then want to go right back outside. He had access to an outdoor dog house with a bed in the summer and we would put it inside during the winter (he had a tunnel and dog door to get inside the under-the-house garage anytime he wanted but he liked sleeping outside in the summer. He always had a bed in the garage when he didn't want to sleep in the dog house. When the temperature got bitter cold he had to sleep in my bedroom and he was MISERABLE ... he couldn't wait to get back outside. Other than Andy, all the rest of my dogs have preferred being in the house and stretching their legs outside for a couple hours several times a day.


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## Backwoods_Shepherd (Aug 11, 2015)

All of my large dogs have lived outside. I did have a 10lb inside mutt for 18 years. Our large dogs do very well living outside 99% of the time, only coming indoors for the night when it's below zero F. Our Border Collie lived like that for 16 years and never had a health problem.

Kevin


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## WateryTart (Sep 25, 2013)

WateryTart said:


> I agree.
> 
> I wouldn't entertain the notion of leaving my dog to sleep outside, but we also have a pretty extreme climate (both cold and heat). I think it's safer for her to be inside, given that we don't have the equipment necessary for her to live outside during the winter.
> 
> I also think we all - dog included - like it better that she's in the house. It works for us.


I'm so going to be eating these words.

My dog has lately decided this cool fall weather is perfect for outdoor sleeping. She would rather hang out in the yard than come inside to go to bed. I'll not hear a peep from her and go out to check and find her curled up on the deck furniture! She's pretty safe out there, I guess, but I'd rather have her inside. I'm the human so I win, but she lets it be known she doesn't agree.


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## dogfaeries (Feb 22, 2010)

This may horrify some of you, but... I have a dog door, and frankly I don't know where Russell sleeps at night. Sometimes I'll go to bed and he's outdoors, and when I get up in the morning he's outside. Did he come in? I have no clue. He LOVES being outside. In fact it's pouring down rain right now, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was sitting out in it. I just sent a text telling someone at my house to drag that big goofy thing in the house and shut the dog door if he's out there. 

Carly, however, has herself parked on the couch at night. She's all about comfort. No way she'd sleep outside, or sit out in a rainstorm! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Daisy&Lucky's Mom (Apr 24, 2011)

Mine allhave slept inside. daisy thought roughing it was sleeping on a floor. Lucky always wanted to be with us so he was inside . Chevy and Thunder same. Charlie depends somenights its a fight if she wants to prowl but she is very happy to be inside.


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## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

My dogs have always slept inside. In the winter my Boxer would make a mad dash to the far end of the yard go potty and be back at the door "Bark Bark Bark" before I could even turn around!

My GSD quite a bit different, if he is in the house he's always at my feet, 5 feet away is a bit to far! :crazy:

But if I let him outside day or night he will stay out there until I remember to let him in or he hears something different in the environment! The next door neighbors or there "constantly" barking dog"s mean nothing to him! 

He spent a couple of nights out all night when we first got him in the winter! This behavior was new to me?? These days when I let him out I turn on the out door light. Blk dog so yeah ...

I have tried to wait him out at night once or twice he'll sit outside the slider looking in and won't make a sound!! Daddy said outside so outside it is??

I usually give up and let him in after twenty minuets of "nothing!" Just a much different experience from my Bully's.


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## Nikitta (Nov 10, 2011)

My dogs live with me. I find no fault with the people here who let their dogs chose, via a doggy door, that want to be outside. My dogs would rather be inside. The people I dislike are those who MAKES them stay outside.


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## MagicHorse (Feb 3, 2016)

Ours stay inside with us at night. Growing up on a farm, our dogs stayed outside with shelter. Our new dog, Shepherd, doesn't seem to mind being outside, but we haven't had him very long and he's in his crate if he's not supervised. My dog, male Husky, loves being outside & loves cold. If there is 1 pile of snow left as it starts getting warmer, that's where he is laying. King of the mountain. Our other Husky, female, hates being outside & hates the cold. Go figure.


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## RubenZ (Jan 15, 2016)

My dogs have always been outside. I hate when people bash me on forums for it but I don't care. I've spent hundreds on dog houses, beds, pillows, blankets, warmers and my GSD and my Mini Ausie will hate to be inside or even in the dog house. I've pretty much given up trying to make warm places for them. Our winters here in South Texas are not like you all up north. We at BEST will have temps below 40 for a few hours and maybe once a week in Winter LOL. Our HIGH tomorrow is 95 and the following day 73 to the 80's by end of week.

I have have big yard on a corner lot and high 6+ foot wooden fence. We let dogs inside the house when we are home here and there but they would rather go outside. To me animals prefer the outdoors so I give them that.

The only time we FORCE them to be inside is New Years Eve, 4th of July and when we have bad storms and thats only because the 2 smaller dogs are frightened of loud pops and fireworks.


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## maxtmill (Dec 28, 2010)

My dogs have always slept indoors, in their crates in our bedroom. During the day, they come in and out a doggy door in the dining room, to a fenced in yard, but at night, we all go to bed! I love sleeping in the same room together!


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

I've always had inside dogs -- even as a child decades ago, our GSD lived with the family.

My comparison point is the outside dogs who've come to live with me as foster dogs, and become inside dogs. Nearly all these former outside dogs had _nasty _coats with very gross skin underneath (often with infections or parasites), and medical issues the owners just "didn't notice," since the dog lived outside. We noticed them right away because in the house, our hands are often on the dog, massaging, petting, picking through fur, whatever. 

My theory is that most dogs living outside just don't get the same level of care and attention that inside dogs get -- even when the owners mean well enough. Think about it: you know when there's any odd lump, bump, pimple, hot spot, foot boo boo, scrape, or anything else in your inside dog because you're constantly interacting and touching them. You know instantly when the dog is itchy because...thump, thump, thump next to the bed in the middle of the night. If that dog lived outside, your opportunities to pay attention or notice that stuff would be fewer. It thus makes sense to me that the inside dogs I see are in noticeably better health -- even the ones who come into rescue, we can almost tell right away when they were inside dogs, just by examining them.

Many of the outside dogs also come to us in rescue with storm phobia that seems to sometimes have a PTSD component, due to the weather patterns in our region. If they were left out in bad, bad tropical storms (and even hurricanes), they often tend to develop some residual reaction to the electrical fields that form when it storms. Some of them become absolutely terrified when lightening and thunder are happening, to the point of needing to be medicated. It makes me sad to think what it must have been like for them, alone in the dark outside while this stuff was going on. Even if they aren't naturally fearful dogs, there's often something weird about their reactions to rain or standing water -- one of them who became a housedog after living outside in a yard during a hurricane and several tropical storms decided she'd no longer step on wet grass again--ever. She would try to hold her bladder forever to keep from going outside and stepping on wetness. She simply hated it.


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## RubenZ (Jan 15, 2016)

Magwart said:


> I've always had inside dogs -- even as a child decades ago, our GSD lived with the family.
> 
> My comparison point is the outside dogs who've come to live with me as foster dogs, and become inside dogs. Nearly all these former outside dogs had _nasty _coats with very gross skin underneath (often with infections or parasites), and medical issues the owners just "didn't notice," since the dog lived outside. We noticed them right away because in the house, our hands are often on the dog, massaging, petting, picking through fur, whatever.
> 
> ...


Everything you mention is purely neglect by the owner.


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## cloudpump (Oct 20, 2015)

In my opinion a dog that lives outside cannot form the same bond as one that l lives inside. I wanted a dog for that bond. 
Part of having a dog is having interaction and a companion. 
Just my opinion


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## newlie (Feb 12, 2013)

Our winters generally are pretty moderate and I have to keep a closer eye on Newlie in the heat than the cold. He is an inside dog though. He would probably be OK outside as long as I was willing to stay out there with him, but that's not going to happen, lol.


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## koRn (Jan 7, 2016)

Brutus has his very warm dog house, and prefers to be outside. When it gets cold, around 15 and below he prefers to stay in the laundry/mudroom. 
Cato at only 13 weeks, obviously is inside. But he will get the same style house built this spring and have the same choice for the most part.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

I bring my dogs in at night. One thing that impacts this decision in the south is Chagas disease. Typically I try to keep the period between dusk and dawn inside. My dogs are outside during the day as much as possible for temperature acclimitization


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## Dalko43 (Mar 30, 2015)

I think some people treat their dogs as pets.

I think other people treat their dogs as both pets and tools designed to perform a certain function (guard dog, Livestock Guardians, LEO/Mil K9's, ect.)

Nothing wrong with either approach. Just because someone has a more utilitarian reason for having a dog (other than just emotional fulfillment/attachment), doesn't mean that he/she is incapable of treating the dog properly.

On the one hand, I don't see any reason for me personally to keep my dog outside (it can get subzero here in upstate NY). There is no need for him to guard or patrol anything at night. He can stay a bit warmer/refreshed (since he is outdoors for most of my work day). 

On the other hand, if I were working a dog on patrol day in day out, I would likely keep him/her outside simply to reinforce the nature of our bond; I'm in charge and he works for me. I know some cops do keep an outdoor cage/kennel for that exact reason.

On a side note, I did learn that my dog needs extra layers/cover and something for his paws for sub zero temperatures....The Adirondacks was terribly cold a week ago when I went hiking with him.


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## faith5 (Dec 2, 2015)

I personally prefer to have 1 GSD and keep him/her inside. When I live alone. But now I've got a husband and a toddler, and we have 3 dogs, and keeping them inside our TINY house isn't practical. 

They have a fenced kennel with strong, sturdy, warm places to sleep. We're in Alabama, so it's not too cold. We live in the woods, own 400 acres around our home, and our nearest neighbors are family, about 1/2 mile away. They don't stay in the kennel all the time, but they sleep there at night. When we just had the older two (recently got a young one), they slept on the front porch at night and stayed around the house all day. the young one is more prone to wander, so we pen them up until we can watch them or go out with them.

It is important to me, however, that the dogs are able to stay inside if necessary. Must be house trained, crate trained, well behaved, etc. There's no telling when someone might get a different job & we might have to move, and not have the luxury of plenty of outside space.


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