I’m familiar with hundreds of dog breeds, but what is an “outdoor dog”? Unless you’re medically intolerant (and therefore unable to care for him in a medical emergency, so you shouldn’t have him), keeping a dog outside is an expensive waste. If it’s for protection, what do you think I want to steal, your lawn? When you leave, do you leave your valuables and children in your garden? What is the dog “protecting” out there?

Most dogs kept outside cause far more nuisance barking and escape complaints than any impediment to intrusion. Such complaints provoke teasing, antagonism, liberation, and poisoning. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard, “NOW I know why I find so many rocks, sticks, and cans in my yard! They’re being thrown at my dog!” With your dog as a helpless victim, it’s no laughing matter.

If I am a thief and your dog is outside, your fence protects ME, not your possessions or your dog. If I open the door, 9 out of 10 dogs will run out! I can safely shoot, stab, throw, poison, catch or strangle through the fence. You just lost your dog AND everything I stole from you! If he’s tied up and I stay out of his reach, it’s useless. He will bark, but the dogs outside bark so much that they are usually ignored. But let a dog hit the other side of a door or window I’m walking through and I’M OUT!

Protection and aggression are not the same thing. Garden dogs often develop much more aggression than protection because everyone who passes or enters has already violated the territory that the dog has marked dozens of times a day for years. That is not protection, it is not desirable, and it overlooks two facts of life today:

1) Owners have implicit social contracts with others in the community. Mail carriers, newsboys, delivery men, law enforcement, meter readers, and others may be near and sometimes on your property without your specific permission.

Picture this: A neighbor looks out your patio or window and sees you, your wife, or your child lying on the ground in a pool of blood. They call 911 and your dog prevents the paramedics from attending! Should they shoot your dog or just let you die? Great choice.

2) Even if the trespasser is a criminal, few places allow you or your dog to cause physical injury to prevent property loss. The convicted felons sued the dog’s owner from jail and won more in the lawsuit than they could have stolen! Don’t think your homeowners insurance will cover the loss. Now see why many feel that an “external dog” is a no-brainer.

The longer a dog is outdoors, the less behavioral control he has. It is easier to solve four or five problems indoors than just one outside. The reason is simple: the more you control the stimuli that reach the dog, the more you control his responses. You have much more control over your living room than you do over your county!

When he’s bored but annoyed by all the dogs, cats, birds, squirrels, motorcycles, paperboys, airplanes, firecrackers, firecracker trucks, and rabbits in the county, OF COURSE he’ll dig, chew, and bark. Would you stay still all day every day? Do you want unnecessary parasites and medical fees, especially as the dog ages?

When a dog is alone indoors, you are still 30% there because your scent and the things he associates with you constantly remind him of you and your training. When he’s out, he’s alone, whether you’re home or not.

The media is full of stories about family dogs that saved everyone during a fire. How many people, including children, would be dead today if those dogs were kept away? SURE you always get up to investigate every time your dog barks. And I have this bridge…

An outdoor dog has an address, not a home. Does your dog get so much mail that he needs his own address? A real value that dogs offer is as companion animals. Do you live in your garden? Whose company maintains and protects your garden dog? Stop behavior problems and start enjoying true protection and companionship.

Bring your dogs inside.

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