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Should dogs be indoor or outdoor pets?
Results so far:
| Outdoor | 32% | 497 votes | Total: 1565 votes | |
| Indoor | 68% | 1068 votes |
Outdoor
by Ted Sherman
Created on: April 05, 2008
Before I respond to the title answer, please allow me to ask another question. Should your kids be indoor or outdoor kids? The only logical answer when referring to dogs and kids is that they should be both. In very rare occasions, of course, when the dog is a toy variety and the owners live in a big city high-rise apartment, circumstances require that their pet be 90 percent indoor. But even that little critter deserves to enjoy several daily walks out in the world of fresh air, grass, to exchange sniffs with other dogs and make occasional visits to fire plugs.
There was a recent documentary on TV about the worst cases of puppy mills, where dogs are raised for the retail pet store market. The hidden camera showed caged dogs tightly crowded together day and night like chickens on the way to market. Many of the breeding mother dogs spend their entire lives in filthy cages, bearing litter after litter of puppies, until worn out at about age eight, they are put to death. Disease, vermin and filth run rampant through the worst of the breeding farms, and as with other viewers, I was saddened and offended that man's best friend can be so cruelly abused.
Why do humans consider the lives of one class of domestic animas, dogs, much more meaningful than those of chickens? There are strong emotional and co-dependent bonds between the two animal species. It probably started when wild dogs and wolf hybrids first dared to venture close to the cooking fires of prehistoric man a million years ago. Gradually, the four-footed friends became willing to share their lives and give their loyalty to the upright, naked creatures who agreed to share their food and shelter with them.
Today, dogs are integral parts of families and society as a whole, from the working sheep herder to the police dog to the handi-dog to the apartment toy poodle. We feel more empathy for them than we do for any other creature, including many fellow humans. Even pet cats, who live with mankind only for their own convenience, are a bit too aloof and independent to show loving emotions the way dogs do. Humans enjoy the close companionship and the natural canine eagerness to please.
I feel I must vote on the outdoor side, because in virtually every dog-human living situation, most people would consider keeping dogs full-time indoors to be as cruel as keeping their kids locked in the house. Just observing the joy and enthusiasm of dogs and kids as they burst out of a house into the world beyond proves they are primarily outdoor creatures. But, have no fear of losing them. If they know there's a lot of love, a hot meal and a warm bed in the house, they'll always come home again.
Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
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Indoor
by Jim Tompkins
Created on: March 31, 2008
Dogs should be kept primarily indoors because they are naturally an outside animal. Oops, have I contradicted myself? No, and here is why it makes sense to keep outdoor dogs indoors.
Dogs, who are closely related to the wolf, by nature needs to roam and hunt for food. They hunt in packs, often traveling far distances to find food.
The pack also requires a pack leader whose responsibility is to ensure survival of the pack as well as future generations. The rest of the pack is willing to submit to the leader and are thus, followers. If a pack leader does not properly lead the pack, another member of the pack will assume the leadership role.
In deciding to remove a dog from its natural state and adopt it as a pet, you must be the pack leader in order to have a calm, well balanced dog. You must be the Big Dog and make sure the pack's needs are meet. Failure to do so will likely create a dog with issues as its basic needs are not being provided.
Cesar Millan, known as the Dog Whisperer, says a dog needs exercise, discipline and affection, in that order. Most dogs, however, get lots of affection, inadequate discipline and not nearly enough exercise to satisfy the primal need to hunt.
With a built-in desire for working for food, dogs must get a lot of exercise to be happy, calm and well balanced. It is too easy to think our dog is getting enough exercise if the dog is kept outdoors. Most responsible dog owners have a fenced yard and it is not realistic to think a dog can meet their need to roam in a back yard. The exercise needs of a dog cannot be met by chasing a squirrel. A dog needs to be taken for long walks of 30-60 minutes at least once a day.
A well exercised dog can satisfy its natural urge to work for its food. When a dog has a job to accomplish, it results in a calmer, more fulfilled animal. Dogs, like people, generally have low self-esteem when they have no purpose in life. A dog is supposed to work for its food and without the exercise of the hunt this instinctual desire cannot be met.
It is also important to maintain proper discipline, which requires you to be a strong pack leader. In the wild, it is necessary to maintain discipline in the pack to ensure survival of the pack. No one dog is more important than the pack. How much discipline does an outdoor dog receive?
If you are indoors and your dog is outdoors, you create a dog without a pack. A packless, leaderless dog is a dog absent its natural rhythm. Most outdoor dogs are left to fend for themselves, rarely interacting with their owner except for perhaps a few minutes each day.
If your dog is outdoors, it is too easy to abdicate your responsibility to your pet of being the pack leader. Being a pack leader is a 24 hour a day job and requires interaction with your dog. It is too easy to leave an outdoor dog to itself. A dog left to fend for itself too easily develops issues without exercise, discipline and affection. That is why in order to force us to to be good pack leaders, a dog should be kept indoors.
Learn more about this author, Jim Tompkins.
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