Question about Outside Time

[Jamila]

Okay I was wondering what kind of outside time your dogs have.

Like I use to keep my dogs outside when I was gone. I use to keep them outside a lot! Then my friend's dog got poisoned and I got to thinking about how I don't feel like it's safe to just keep them out there with out my supervision (I don't live in the best neighborhood anyways) so now they are inside more. Not only do I watch them while they are outside it seems they want right back in anyways. They use to love being outside but ever since I started taking them for daily walks they love being inside with me instead. I'm assuming this is okay for them?

What are your fur kids outside time like? Do they stay out a lot or a little?

[Punkygirl0101]

We have a dog door in the family room (Which is where the dogs hang out during the day) and its left open 24/7 for cat and dog use. the dogs pretty much go outside whenever they want. And of course I take the ones that can go to the dog park, and I take them for walks around the neighborhood.

Then when we are sleeping they are in our bedrooms with no outdoor access. I can see the entire yard from our office, and so I can see what they are doing when I am not watching them (The only time I am not in the family room, or my bedroom (Which they also have access to during the day) is when I am on the computer, or in the kitchen..or of course not home which is rare lol). And they are outside a lot by choice. Lucy doesn't go out much, except for maybe 30 minutes a day to sunbathe and when she has to go potty. But everyone else likes spending time outside.

Each dog is different though! As long as your dogs are getting adequate exercise, then I personally don't see a problem with them being inside most of the time!

[Swiftwind]

Harley and Abby have 24/7 access to inside and outside via their doggy door. I'd say that they both spend their time equally between the two, but prefer to be inside at night. They also get two walks a day, once in the morning and once in the evening.

[Rivsky]

We only have a small yard which makes it not really fair on River to leave him out there.

He's got a dog door and spends 95% of his time at home inside. He only goes outside to toilet, we're out there or the neighbours are making a noise and he has to investigate.

He gets 2 walks a day as well.

I really don't think having them inside the majority of the time is a problem (unless they're overly destructive) and think it makes them much more a part of the family as they're involved in just about everything you do.

[IceyBlueSibes]

Before we moved, the dogs had access to outside 24/7, which is a big change for them. We just left the back slider open, and they could come and go as they please, unless it was raining or the flies were really bad.

Now, we have to take them out on leads (the huskies atleast), and come right back in when they're finished. Occassionally in the afternoon they will sunbathe. So now they spend probably 25% of the time outside, the rest is inside... UNTIL WE GET THE FENCE UP! AAAHH LOL

When winter comes around, the huskies actually prefer to stay outside, and would probably stay out there all night, and most of the day. So winter time is when they were out the most, but the door was still always open to allow them free access to come in.

[GSD]

my dogs are never outside unless i am out there too. We live in town, a quiet part of town, but still we have neighbors. In the house they lounge and pretty much sleep till I get home. If I left them outside, they'd bark at the squirrels they can't get to, the bikers going by, people walking etc. Inside they just chill.

If I was out in the country, i'd have a couple dog yards for sure, but for now, they are inside unless i'm out doing something with them. But I do a lot with them as well. We do play/train sessions morning, noon, and evening ( a couple times) plus a few days dedicated to just training and tracking time.

If I let my dogs outside now and wasn't out there with them, they'd sit by the door wondering when I was going to get off my *** and come play with them.

[britishbandit]

My dogs will happily be outside all day if I'm with them, if I'm not (which is rare, and not for long periods of time), they just do their business and either sit/stand/lay down by the patio door.

[Ritz459]

Blackie and Rose are outside dogs, only coming in when the weather is bad or when I bring them in for some hanging out time in the evening. We live on ten acres, so they aren't crammed into a tiny backyard during the day. We used to walk them twice a day (in the morning and evening) for a mile or two each trip, but Blackie can't handle it anymore so we just go on short walks (1/4 mile) now. Rose will sometimes come out for the longer trips with Chloe and I, but it depends on how hot it is.

Chloe is an inside/outside dog. She's outside when I'm not home (in her kennel) or gated off in our house if the weather is bad. When I'm home and willing to deal with her (if she's being pain right after I get home from taking care of 30+ dogs, I'm not always in the mood) she is inside with free reign of the downstairs. She'll also go out on a 35' chain in our backyard if someone is around to watch her.
Once we get her trained on the electric fence (just got the long prongs we needed), she'll be outside loose when we are outside as well, so she won't be restrained by the chain. All in all, she spends about equal time indoors and out.

[oc_spirit]

My guys spend about 80% of their time outside. They are in thier kennel outside if I'm not home or I'm sleeping. If I am home I often bring them inside to hang out but they love ti so much they usually ask to go back out anyways LOL During warmer weather though they spend more time inside and if it is exceptionally hot they stay crated in the basement when I'm gone. Sometimes my mum brings them inside too.

[Dangels]

It always depends on the weather and each individual dog here. The dogs all sleep inside at night, but most of them enjoy going outside during the day to play. In the summer, they usually go in and out whenever they want, the only exception being when i'm at work.... then most of the dogs go outside until I get home, but I only work part time now. So, i'm usually home more often than not. We live out in the country, and we have severla very large dog runs set up in the backyard. The smallers being 20ft - 20ft, and the largest being 20ft wide by 40ft long. I also take them for walks, and we go to the lake or walking through trails in the woods on our other property at leash 2 times per week along with the daily walks. During the winter the dogs are inside a lot more because of the really bad weather that we get. In the winter, they usually stay inside almost all of the time, and I take them outside on a leash to go potty. Some of the dogs like being outside more then others, so really it depends on the dog and the weather.

[aquarian215]

Dudley will only go out to potty, and as soon as he is done he barks like mad to get back in. If we go out with him he will want to stay out and play, but all by himself, never, he would rather be with us. When we first got him we were still moving into our house, and we didn't have a kennel or anything so we thought it would be a good idea to leave him out on the deck (we have it gated in and it is covered so there is shade and at the time our fence was broken so he couldn't be left outside) well it was only for like an hour, and when we came back our screen door was in pieces. So needless to say that never happened again and we went and got a kennel, lol. Now he has the run run of the house when we are gone, and his seperation anxiety is gone.