Where should small dogs live?

[SKR8PN]

I'm getting up on my soapbox now...........




Every dog owner is a trainer.

Every trainer gets the dog they deserve.

Crate training is a good thing. Crate living is a bad thing.

A lot of people do not realize that every moment you spend with that pup, your training them. Right or wrong, you ARE training them. Just like raising children. It is a heck of a lot easier to do it right the first time, than to try to go back and correct your training errors.

Don't blame the dog for your shortcomings as a trainer! Remember he is only a dog!

The Wife and Gracie Sue in obedience class.

We use crates to train our dogs when they are pups. We also begin obedience training the day they come here at 8 weeks old. As soon as they displayed the proper behavior and could be trusted to not eat the furniture(or guests!) they were granted free run of the house. During the training period, the ONLY times they were ever in the crate, was night time, or when we were away and could not be there to supervise them. Whenever one of us was home, they were out. They were crated, on average, until they were about a year old. I want my dogs to have at least the basic training required to live happily with humans. They must be house broken and know the basic commands: sit, down, stay, stand, come, leave it, release, and heal. All these either on or off leash.

The command we use to get them in the crate is "go to your room".

This is the only picture I have, of any of our girls in a crate. Ginger was having a bad reaction to her shots, so she went to the safest place she knew, her "room".

I have zero problems with folks that provide shelter, food and water and keep their dogs outside no matter the breed.
Dogs have lived outside, with and without mans help, since before they were first domesticated and managed to survive just fine. Outside dogs are some of the happiest animals alive! They get free food and water, AND as a bonus, human companionship!! What more could a pup ask for!!


No...my dogs are not spoiled. Not at all.

I have one pet peave that I will air right now.

DOGS FORCED TO LIVE THEIR LIVES CHAINED TO A BOX AND IGNORED.

I don't care if you DO feed them and water them, that is no way to correct YOUR lack of training ability and it is no way for a dog to live. It is wrong on so many levels, the main one being the fact that dogs are pack animals and need to interact with their "pack". When there are no other dogs around, humans become the pack.
For a dog, being tied to a box and ignored, is no different than a human forced into solitary confinement. It is punishment for what? The dog just being a dog?



OK......I feel better now and am stepping off my soapbox.

 

[Farmfresh]

Man you said it all. My dogs live with me. We are a pack. We play together, work together and eat and sleep in the same room. It makes for a good life for us both.

Getting "Put Away" from the pack only happens when you commit a "crime". The more responsible you are the more freedom you have. It is how I want to live my life as well.

 

[Beekissed]

In rural WV this is still a very common practice because people keep hunting dogs. They do not like to treat hunting dogs like pets, for some reason, and they all get tied to a box. Personally I think the dogs would hunt better as a pack if they were able to establish and develope pack roles....maybe a very large fenced area of yard?

But, even if they aren't hunting dogs, many people do this here and it is not considered a bad thing by these country folk.

I have had to tie a dog once or twice for one reason or another but they never had to live that way. I never could see the reasoning behind getting a dog and then isolating it to a box and feeding it once a day....that's it, you get one pat and a bowl of food. Nice.

It is kind of sad....but I feel a little of the same way about the dogs and cats who must stay inside the house or apartment all day while everyone is at work. Or spend their lives in a kennel.

Anything but getting to be out on grass, lying in a dust bowl they've dug in the shade, wrestling and playing, putting that nose to the wind at night to see if anything dare come into their territory.....well, all of that seems kind of sad if they don't get to have it.

It would be nice if we all lived on remote farms on which our dogs could run free and be dogs.....of course, this might get a dog shot around here.

I never accept the responsibility of an animal unless I also take on their social training, their mental health, and their general well-being.

There are a lot of cute dogs, puppies and kittens out there and I get offered quite a few...there is a big need for homes for them all, it seems. But I turn them down...two cats and two dogs are all I need, all I have room for, all I can afford. Two of each gives companionship for when I am at work.

I know folks who can't turn down a stray or a puppy when offered and they have many, many animals and I often wonder how they find time to devote to their training and for doling out individual affection.

When I go to their house the dogs are jumping up on me and moiling around so badly I cannot take a step without tripping and I wonder if it is more like collecting than actually owning/living with an animal. There seems to be no intent or thought put into if the animal fits their life or their other animals, no training to see that this animal behaves.

Now....anyone else want a shot at the soapbox?

 

[TanksHill]

No soapbox for me.

Bee it's sad that this woman does not like the dog but will not give it to someone else who will appreciate it. It deserves to be withsomeone who will give it love and care.

The Rottie you have worries me. I know my dog. He does not do well unless allowed to expel his energy when necessary. He is smart enough to do some crazy stuff, mostly to get our attention when he wants to play. Not sure if you are trying to rehab the Rottie or just keep her happy while at your home, but be careful.

Good luck with all of it.

G

 

[Beekissed]

Gina, she is doing better while here but she will be returning to the same environment when she goes back, so there is little point to it.

We had a great evening with her this week where we let her off the line, let her try to play with our dogs and she really responded to my voice when she advanced on a chicken or sheep. She is a quick learner and could really make someone a sweet little dog if given the chance.

She picked up real quick on disapproval in my voice and immediately stops the undesired behavior. It only took her a couple of minutes to understand the "down" command and to repeat it when told. Before long she was side by side with my dogs in sitting, lying down, staying and heeling. It was great to see her working instead of worrying.

She will even look to me to see where I am and follow along with me as I walk and will look at my face for cues now. She just needs a heck of a lot of attention and training....too bad I only have her for a week. I could have probably turned her into a great farm dog and companion.

Yeah...there are many folks out there who will only give the animals they don't want to "good home"~translation: A home just like theirs.

 

[Wifezilla]

Dogs chained to a box make me mad to. A dog is a VERY social creature and needs to be an active part of a "pack". The most well behaved dogs I ever saw were raised with at least 1 parent at home full time with plenty of outside playtime.

Dogs are NOT lawn ornaments.

 

[TanksHill]

Awww, such a shame. She sounds like a really smart dog with a not so smart owner. We can only hope things get better for her.

At least she had a chance to visit an spend some time in a great environment like yours.

g

 

[Henrietta23]

Just to look at it from another angle for a second, is it possible her comment meant more about the attention the dog would receive rather than exposure to the elements? Maybe in this woman's mind an outdoor dog is a neglected dog. If you could persuade her otherwise she might change her mind.

 

[pioneergirl]

Quick story....

I received my Mastiff from a rich couple who kept him crated in the basement, bringing him out only to pee. They were frustrated with him because they said "He won't pee where we want him too, he is impossible". Turns out, in watching how they wanted him to behave, they required him to come out of the basement, up the stairs, walk down the LONG driveway, and go across the street to pee! We all know that when puppies have to go, the closest grassy spot gets it! Anyway, he was 18 months old and skinny and shy. I brought him home and he not once peed in the house! (He had supposedly peed in their house, right by the door). He would be put in a pen outside on nice days when I had to be gone for more than 3 hours. It had a house inside the shed (this kept it cool and warm) and the pen was 30 x 30. He would free roam the yard when I was home with no problems. Never roamed off, bothered the animals, nothing. He also had his crate inside for night time.

I then got the traveling job, and I found him a home with a (at the time) friend of mine. She had a boxer and she had shown Weims. She was single and as far as I knew her, loved dogs. She was happy to take him. After another year and few months, I come back and get an email "please take him back". I was elated!

She brings him here, and the once 200+ pound dog I had left with her is now 150lbs. He is lethargic and pooping blood. He has no manners, and she tells me he is a dog fighter. WHAT???? That is NOT the dog that left my house! She had him neutered (whatever) and says he is out of control. So I think to myself "I can fix this" ....she also informs me "He can't be outside for any length of time. He has allergies and just does NOT do well outside" Um, ok, what the...????

Well, the allergy thing is a myth. However, he has an eating disorder now because she never a)fed him properly for his size, and b) never fed him on even a semi-regular schedule. I can't put weight on him, and he is so used to spending endless hours in his crate that he is uncomfortable being out of it. He paces, whines, and has a general insecurity. If he is outside with me, he is either trying to run off down the road, or he is up my butt. He used to be so good!! I have fixed the dog aggression issue, and the hatred of other animals. He can coexist with the goat and chickens, the new pigs are another issue. He might eat today, he might not. He has taken a liking to vegetables over meat, and when before he would devour a raw bone, now he would rather eat a tomato.

Anyway, I'm not telling this story to hijack your thread. The point is, as I believe SKR8PN said it well...its all how they're raised. I think, despite this woman's misgivings, that the Scottie would love your digs! I also feel bad for the Rottie, but like you said, there's nothing you can do but make it comfy for him while he's there.

Sadly, my dog is now a mush brain who, no matter how much I try to engage him with training and games, will never be the same. It saddens me because he was my big baby and now has more issues than most teenagers these days. *sigh*

 

[Farmfresh]

UNLESS ...
You can convince the owner of the Rottie how much better off he would be at your place.