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Does/Do your dog/dogs or cat/cats stay outside chained up or roam free.. or do they stay inside in a cage or just roam around in the house?

We keep all our cats and my Pom inside. The dog is the only one who really gets to go out into the back yard and that's only when we're out there with him. Even then, he has to be watched so closely because one, he can fall into the pool and while he knows how to swim he doesn't always know where the steps are to get out. Two, there are holes in the fence he can squeeze under/through. Three, lots of people keep their cats outside in my area and we also have large birds (big enough to attack or even pick up my dog) and raccoons, possums and coyotes, all of which are big enough to attack my Pom.

To me, I don't see a point in keeping a dog outside unless you spend a lot of time outside. Dogs love being near their owners. It makes sense to allow the dog to spend most of it's time with you. I can't even leave to go to the bathroom (we need to keep all the doors in our house shut because my two year old can't be trusted with the cats nor can they be trusted with him, some of them attack some of the older cats that stay in one room and because I have a fish tank in my room) without my dog literally gnawing on my bedroom door to get to me sweatdrop

I didn't used to be against keeping dogs outside until I lived in Milwaukee and our neighbor kept their german shepard in a small, contained area out side all day, all year. That's when I became really against it.

I understand you not being able to trust one of your dogs to roam about the house though... whenever I leave we always leave Nanaki (the pompooch, as we call him) in our room to do as he wants. Our bedroom is connected to a "sunroom" so he has lots of space. We always come home to him having destroyed something v.v Generally if we're making a "food run" after the kid goes to bed we just take the dog with us.

I'm sure your dog has all the necessities though to stay outside but chaining up can be dangerous if not supervised, especially depending on where you live. Too hot/too cold/wild animals, etc are all very real dangers to an animal that can only go so far. I'd be more worried about someone stealing him :< That terrifies me so much I rarely let Nanaki out of my sight but he's my fur baby...and pretty spoiled lol

all my animals spend most of their time inside. the cats go out on leahses and the dog just follows me wherever i go. if im going to just sit on the front porch and read then ill have her on a leahs but if im able to pay attention to her then i dont bother with the leash

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My family always had a fenced yard, and my mother smoked (well, still does), so the dog got to go out frequently. We never kept her out there unless she didn't want to come inside, in which case we let her stay & she would bark once to be let back inside (then wait a couple minutes and bark again if no one answered). I don't much like the idea of keeping dogs outside-only, but that's a personal thing.

My cats are indoor-only ALTHOUGH I am letting our youngest explore the yard on sunny days. It's fenced in, which doesn't mean escape-proof, but she's been mindful of her boundaries so far. She's got the best outside manners out of all 3, so she has the privilege there-- but it can and does get revoked if she starts acting up.

Im telling you, my town is safe. No big birds, only crows, cardinals, blue jays.. robins. No large predators except for wolves which if we see one, we take him in. My mom is a babysitter and once he's been trained and stuff, he's allowed to stay in with the kids and stuff. It's not my fault. Actually, a couple of days ago, i asked my parents if Choncho could be an inside dog. But when Choncho gets to stay inside for a couple hours, every time the door opens, he runs outside and alot of people take walks where i live and he barks at them, he chases cars and birds, when people go in (i live by my church) my church, he gets in and he's not supposed to be in the church. Oh, and he barks alot but when we try to get him in, he'll run away. He barks all night long, too.

You might not see them, but yeah, birds of prey are EVERYWHERE. I was finding lots of bloody feathers around my bird feeder for a while before I finally saw the huge bird... sitting on a light pole a bit down the street, tearing feathers off... And I'm in the middle of my city. If I didn't have a bird feeder up, I wouldn't have ever even suspected!

My cats are strictly inside cats. Don't feel like dealing with the horrors of having them be outside. I've seen too many cats flat on the road...

When I get a dog, it'll be inside. It'll be a companion dog, no matter the size. It might get tied up outside on a nice day, but I'd likely be outside with it. If it's a nice day, then why not enjoy it with the dog? ;D

My dog stays inside then we take him out on a leash for exercise and potty, than our cats stay inside but we have a window so they can sunbath in and the dog can look out it also so it works. 3nodding All of them are allowed to roam the house.

Thank you for not judging me!