If you live in the city you may have little or no space that you can make an outdoor wonderland for a pet. An urban canine
your-pet to be more specific, may have to be restricted to a three or four walk-a-day schedule for exercising, socializing, and um, eliminating.
However, if your urban home comes equipped with some type of yard and a fence, keeping a dog becomes
less of a chore, and can be much easier to blend in with your lifestyle. The simplicity of giving your-dog his morning constitutional while you're still
garbed in a robe and slippers can't be beat.
Add a dog door, and you don't even have
to get out of bed! Your-canine can happily meet his own needs on his own schedule.
Problems between pet owners and their canines often occur when
inattentive guardians use the yard as a crutch, and, before you know it, the backyard becomes the Pet's entire world.
So just how much outdoors for your pet is too much of a good or bad thing?
Is this any life for a dog?
When dogs are just puppies of have become adolescents, they can't seem to get enough exercise, and their inconsistencies
often frustrate their guardian owners. One day your pet may seem all grown up; but the next day, he's scratching and chewing his
way through your home like a buzz saw.
In a fit of anger, the dog owner banishes the pet to the backyard.
At first it may be just during meals to prevent begging, or when company comes over, to prevent the dog from jumping or bothering the guest. Next,
it's during work hours so he doesn't soil or chew things he should not when left alone.
Happily living in the backyard?
Perhaps the biggest and most widely held misconception about dogs is the belief that they
will be healthy and quite happy living in the backyard.
However, nothing could be further from the truth.
Forcing a dog to live outside with little or no human companionship is one
of the most psychological damaging things a pet owner can do to a dog.
Dogs are Den Animals, as well as, Pack Animals, that thrive on companionship. Quite like their wolf ancestors....
dogs are very social. In fact,
dogs are more social than humans and need to be part of human families. When you own a dog, you become the dog's pack leader
and he wants to be with you, the head of his pack.
Your pet desires a secure place to sleep, rest, and hang out,
such as your home. Your dog has a wonderful ability to learn and therefore to be
easily housetrained.
A dog who resides more in your house than in the yard is a much happier, content animal, because of
the security of a den and your daily companionship.
Your canine pet instincts
tell him it is not good to be left alone or isolated from his pack, your dog can
become very stressed or anxious when left outside for long periods of time.
A dog exhibits stress by digging, barking, howling or whining,
chewing, escaping, and exhibiting hyperactivity. These problems can become so troublesome that your
neighbors may complain about the barking, howling, property destruction, or your dog escaping the yard.
BACKYARD DOGS MAKE LOUSY GUARD DOGS
As a dog becomes naturally protective of where he lives
(his territory or turf), he will only defend the place he lives in.
If he is never allowed in the house,
then the house will not become a place the dog will want to protect.
Most people keep their valuables inside their houses,
so they would want their dog to protect the inside of your house also.
Unless the dog has been allowed to live inside,
your dog will not develop that sense of territory. He will not sound the alarm when someone tries to
invade your house.
It is not uncommon to hear stories of families being robbed while their backyard dog
snoozed or even played with the villians through the whole episode.
TOP COMMENTS:
* Dogs kept outdoors are deprived of human companionship and have more trouble bonding with
human family members. They have more trouble learning to interact properly with humans.
And without adequate supervision and guidance from their owners, dogs can and will develop undesirable behaviors.
* Bored dogs left in yards often bark at every sound or movement to occupy themselves ... dig holes ...
fence-fight with neighboring dogs and other animals ... chew and damage fencing, siding, decks and outdoor furnishings
... dig under fencing ... and climb or jump over fences. And when the owners do visit the dog in the yard,
the dog is often out of control, having been starved of human companionship.
* Provide exercise each day. A tired dog is a well-behaved dog. Throw a ball with the dog. Go for
long walks. Give the dog a good exercise session before you leave for work in the morning.
* Provide the dog with lots of opportunities to display good behavior. And praise him whenever
he does the right thing. Positive reinforcement leads to repetition of desired behaviors.
* If I'm a crook and your dog is out, your fence protects ME, not your possessions or your dog.
If I just open the gate, 9 out of 10 dogs will run off! I can safely shoot, stab, spear, poison,
snare, strangle them, or dart through the fence and you just lost your dog AND everything I steal!
*
The media is full of stories about the family dog saving everyone's life during a fire.
How many people, including children, would be dead today if those dogs were kept outside?
*
An outdoor dog has an address, not a home. Dogs offer real value as companion animals.
Stop behavior problems and start enjoying real protection and companionship. Bring your dogs inside.
