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.

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