The Outdoor Dog

Imagine you are a dog kept outside. Imagine yourself locked in a cell or tethered to the end of a chain… for the rest of your life. You’re bored; in fact, you’re so bored you can feel yourself going crazy. You have nothing to do all day. Minutes seem like hours and hours like days. When someone does come out to visit with you, you are so frantic for attention you almost explode. Your visitor doesn’t appreciate this and, so, visits you less frequently. This makes you even crazier during each visit.

Many people believe that because they go out once or twice a day to deliver food, water, and a pat on the head to their outdoor dog, their dog is happy. Their dog is not happy. Their dog is lonely and sad and desperate for attention. Dogs are social animals. In the wild they live in packs. A pack is a group of dogs, which live together and work to find food and defend territory. Your dog has a natural instinct to be with a pack. You and your family are your dog’s pack. Your dog wants to be with you.

It’s easy to forget about your outdoor dog. After all, you’re busy all day, you have your job, friends, family, entertainment, etc. to keep you occupied every moment of every day. Your dog has only you. To help pass the lonely hours, your dog may take up solitary activities such as barking, digging or escaping.

It’s also easy to forget how hot or how bitter cold it is outside when you are enjoying the climate-controlled comfort inside your home. Just because a dog survives the winter, doesn’t mean it enjoyed one moment shivering through the bone-chilling weather.

Please bring your dog inside. Make your pet a part of your life -- a part of your pack. Take him places, play games, go to obedience classes. Consult a local obedience trainer or your veterinarian to learn how to properly housebreak your dog if he has never lived inside before. And as always, help control the pet overpopulation problem by having your pet spayed or neutered.

Richelle Smith, DVM