Poll for dog owners!/ Update post #137

[hrh_disney_queen]

We have 2 200lb St. Bernard puppies (they're brothers) who sleep outside in their doggie townhouse. They come in during the day, but know they have to stay on the big rug by the front door. They lay there and snore all day long. The thought of having St. Bernard slobber from one end of the house to the other skeeves me out a bit. That stuff is like Gorilla Glue.

BTDT with our Newf, Mitch. (he was nicknamed "Slobbermouth" on another board I visited.) He wasn't 200 lbs, but his slobber was all over our house (even in the areas he didn't hang out in) until he died. On the walls, floors, ceiling, you name it. It is like Gorilla Glue! I found a product that worked really well, it is called Krud Kutter and you can find it at Home Depot in the paint section. It never hurt the paint on my walls, and it is non toxic. Works really well with those spots that they continually rub against, too.

 

[daisy2jae]

We just got a new puppy 4 weeks ago. Our little French Bulldog has free run of the house. She's not 100% potty trained so I try to keep her out of our son's bedroom since that seems to be her potty place. Otherwise she runs free. I'm home all day with my daycare kids so it allows me to keep lose tabs on her. Just in case she starts to chew on the tv stand or chairs. At night she sleeps in her kennel and if we are leaving the house for more than 30 minutes. She can't get on the furniture yet so the only time she's there is when we pick her up. We use to have English Bulldogs but we could never get them potty trained 100%. They were not allowed out of the kitchen unless we were there with them playing. Plus as heavy as they were being loose with 12 kids didn't work. That's why we didn't get another English. We felt terrible making them stay in the kitchen. They should have been loose in the house with us but it didn't work. A lot of it was our fault for being too busy and not giving them the attention they should have had. I'm the first to admit it was really us not them that caused them to me stuck in the kitchen. That's another reason our Molly has free run of the house. But she really is a GREAT puppy. Couldn't ask more much better. And the 12 kids love her just not the licking!

 

[robinb]

My dog, a Standard Poodle, lives inside and is allowed anywhere and everywhere including the couch and our bed. My previous dog, a Japanese Akita, lived inside but was not allowed on any of the furniture. The reason why there is a difference is the temperment of the two dogs. Akiko, the Akita, was a very dominant and independent dog and needed strict rules to reinforce her place in the pack. Darci, the Poodle, is a very submissive dog so the rules are more relaxed with her. Darci also does not shed while Akiko shed like crazy.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

We have 2 big hairy collies. They are aloud on the 1st floor (mainfloor). I don't allow them upstairs in our bedrooms. I do this because I usually run the sweeper at least every day if not twice a day during shedding season. So keeping them on the first floor limits somewhat where all their hair goes. And never ever on the furniture. They sleep in the basement at night.

Never ever ever would I keep a dog outside in a doghouse. I agree with a pp, why have a dog then?

 

[MushyMushy]

My dogs have always had run of the house. I don't agree with getting outside dogs that have little human interaction. You see that a lot where I live. Now, I know people who have outside dogs where the people ARE outside with them constantly, but those are few and far between.

 

[klacey1]

Our basset has free reign of the house. She used to sleep on people-beds or on a couch, but now that's she's older, it's too much stress on her little legs and she stays on the floor.
If you tried explaining to her that she was a dog and belonged outside, she'd look at you like you were crazy. She thinks she's a person and would be appalled at living anything but a luxurious life When she used to sleep in our bed, I'd find her in the middle of the day, stretched out vertically, head on pillow...why, because that's how the people sleep!

 

[Jennasis]

We hve three dogs... a greyhound, a lab/chow mix, and a bluetick coonhound. All three have free rein to go whereever, whenever. They sleep on the furniture or my bed. I wouldn't have pets otherwise but I understand people who feel differently.

 

[ElizK]

We have 3 dogs. All 3 are allowed in the main part of the downstairs. They are not allowed in our bedroom (downstairs), and they are not allowed upstairs. This is more to control allergies than anything. The dogs are not allowed on the furniture.

 

[kristilew]

My two Cairn Terriers have the run of the downstairs, and have one piece of furniture that they are allowed on - a chair/ottoman combo (so I guess that's two) that looks out at the bird feeder. We keep a cover on the seat and ottoman for them that is easily washable and can be removed when company is here and people need the chair.

They also have full access to the outside via two dog doors - from the laundry room to the garage and then from the garage out to the yard. When we are not home, we close the laundry room door and they can be in there, in the garage, or outside at will. They seem to prefer hanging out in their beds in the garage most of the time, even when we are home. I think they believe this is the most central location for any high alert situation (squirrel, cat, airplane, cheese sandwhich....)

The only time they go upstairs is at night to go to their kennels. I'm not a dog on the bed kind of person - they spend too much time digging and I don't want that in my bed!

I think if you're going to have an outside dog, you need to have more than one, so that they still have a pack. And it needs to be in a fenced in yard, not on a chain. But really, why get a dog at all if you're going to ignore it?

 

[Pumbaa_]

Dogs are pack animals and you are their pack!

 

[hiwaygal]

Our three dogs pretty much have free reign.

They are not allowed in the kitchen ('cause we got tired of cleaning up the stuff they dragged out of the trash can).

They are not allowed in the bathrooms ('cause we got tired of cleaning up the shredded toilet paper).

They are not allowed in our bedroom ('cause if they slept on the bed, there would be no more room for me and hubby).

When we leave they are not allowed upstairs...mostly 'cause they don't really go up there when we're not home anyway.

They are allowed on the furniture and they are always close by one of us.

If you are going to get a dog to leave him outside...don't get a dog.

 

[Jennasis]

Our three dogs pretty much have free reign.

They are not allowed in the kitchen ('cause we got tired of cleaning up the stuff they dragged out of the trash can).

They are not allowed in the bathrooms ('cause we got tired of cleaning up the shredded toilet paper).

They are not allowed in our bedroom ('cause if they slept on the bed, there would be no more room for me and hubby).

When we leave they are not allowed upstairs...mostly 'cause they don't really go up there when we're not home anyway.

They are allowed on the furniture and they are always close by one of us.

If you are going to get a dog to leave him outside...don't get a dog.

Really? No bathroom, no upstairs unsupervised, no kitchen, and not in your bedroom. It would be easier to just name the room they can go in in your house.

 

[poohlover]

I have 5 dogs, 4 are large Newfoundlands, hair slobber & all are allowed pretty much free reign of the first floor of the house. The little terrier mix the same...she is the problem of letting the others upstairs she goes after the small animals the kid have in their rooms.

While they love to play outside in the snow (they are in heaven now) they also love to be with us as much as they can. 2 are laying at my feet right now, another at my elbow wanting to be petted.

We consider them part of the family, we try not to allow them on the furniture. If all 5 got a chair there would be non left for the humans in the family!

 

[MIGrandma]

I can't vote in your poll because none of the options apply in our situation.

We have an 11-year-old Chocolate Labrador and she is primarily an outdoor dog, but not by choice. She refused to be housebroken when she was a puppy, and even now if we let her in the house she will have an accident on the carpet if we let her in for too long a time so we don't let her inside very often.

She has a pen outside by the garage, with a well-insulated dog house and DH keeps a thick layer of cedar wood chips on the floor of it for her to sleep on. He has plywood boards against the outside of the pen by her dog house to keep the wind off it. She has a self-feeder for her food, and a heated water dish so she is quite comfortable.

She is let out of the pen daily, when DH is out and about, some days she's out most of the day. She goes in the truck with DH a lot, so she does get a lot of attention but just is not an "indoor" dog. When we got her we had every intention of having her in the house so it was very frustrating that she would not "take" to housebreaking.

During the winter when the temperature gets too cold outside we do let her sleep in the garage at night. She has a thick cloth bed to sleep on in there.

I don't feel there is a "right" or a "wrong" if a dog is an indoor dog or an outdoor dog, except of course in the case of a small dog. Michigan winters would not be kind to small dogs left outside I don't think. It's whatever is right for your own family though. Your decision and yours alone.

And those that make a general statement that no dog should ever be left outside obviously have never been on a farm. Many farm owners have outdoor dogs. And some say if you have an outdoor dog how much time can you really be spending with that dog? Well, for families where the kids are in school all day and both parents work outside the home the same thing can be said about them. If you're out of your home for 9-10 hours during the day, and you sleep for 8 hours, and you have school functions to attend, meetings, etc. in the evenings how much time are those families spending with their indoor dog? It can go both ways.

 

[hiwaygal]

Really? No bathroom, no upstairs unsupervised, no kitchen, and not in your bedroom. It would be easier to just name the room they can go in in your house.

it's a small house

They can go upstairs 'unsupervised' for the most part, but they choose not to, they like being with us.

The main room in our house is our living/dining room area and that's where we are most of the time and that's where they are most of the time. It's just as much free reign as I have, more or less.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

So Skywalker, who wins? You or your husband?

 

[Hercules10]

The truthful answer is my dogs let me stay in THEIR house.

 

[rszdtrvl]

No option for our rules :

The 3 bedrooms all have pet gates (baby gates) to keep the dogs out of them. They are rarely allowed in the bedrooms. However, they are allowed on the couch and on the easychair.

 

[marcyinPA]

I chose the middle one, but it's not entirely accurate in our situation.

Our dog is allowed in every room of our house, but he's NOT allowed on the furniture! (the little sneak does get up on the couch though, when nobody is looking, and as soon as he hears us walk towards the living room, we hear him jump down!)

 

[KandD]

I have three dogs and a foster dog. During the day they are in their crates (except for my husky he just sleeps on the couch all day, is completely housebroken and doesn't chew on anything or get into the garbage). When we are home they have free reign of the house but usually choose to be with us, they all sleep in the bedroom with us (when we got the third dog my boyfriend said there was no way they were all sleeping with us....that didn't even last a night!!)
We have a fenced in backyard but I don't trust the husky to not escape so we usually are outside with the dogs. They do their business, run around a bit, and then are ready to come back inside to snuggle!

ETA: Our main living space is on the first floor of the house so the dogs don't go upstairs where the two spare rooms are. They are the only rooms with carpeting (and it is white!!) But if we are upstairs on the computer or on the treadmill they can go up with us.