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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Come in if you have a dog...
What do you do with him/her during the day in the summertime?
The MM ladies are all over me because we plan to leave Dasher outside. I am extremely dog stupid but our vet claims she will be fine. Plus, we have a pool so she can keep cool.....Most of our neighbors leave their dogs out..what else should we be doing? I am NOT paying $400 a month for doggie daycare. Sorry, but no.
Re: Come in if you have a dog...
My dogs are outside during the day. We set up a kiddie pool in the summer and just make sure that they've got lots of good shade, food, and water. If it is extremely hot, I bring them inside.
I guess your other option is to crate her. We never used crates... our dogs have their own room (the garage that was converted into a room before we bought the house), and I really hate leaving them in there during the day if we're not home because it is probably super boring.
I think they are making a lot of assumptions but anyway...
We have a HUGE fenced in yard with tons of old trees that provide shade. We have a doggie house for her that is on the shady side of our house (gets no sun whatsoever). She isn't going to be running around in the hot @ss sun all day. She is crate trained but I think leaving her in a crate all day is mean.
That's exactly how I feel, too.
My dog stays inside. He is crate trained, but I never leave him in there anymore. We have a doggie door and he can come and go as he wants.
Honestly, I wouldn't leave him outside all day, summer or not, for a mulitude of reasons. One is the heat. Even in the shade in July and August, its very hot outside. I would be worried he'd knock his water bowl over or something and be in the heat with no water. I actually don't love the doggie door in the summer because I'm afraid he'll go out and somehow not be able to get back in. As for the pool, are you certain Dasher can swim? What if she got stuck in the pool all day? It's just really risky.
As former farm girl, I think leaving your dog outside all day is absolutely fine. As PP said, as long as you use common sense and make sure the dog has ample shade, food, and water, I don't think there are any serious risks. Dogs are tough, and every dog I've ever had enjoys being outside.
I'm lucky enough to have a DH that works from home, so Shiloh, our rat terrier, gets to go in and out as much as he wants. If we weren't able to accommodate him during the day, I wouldn't hesitate to leave him outside. Imo, letting the dog hang out outdoors is way more humane than crating all day.
Yes! She knows how to swim. She is quite the little swimmer.
We leave our dogs in the house, there is no way I would leave them outside during the day because it gets way too hot reguardless if there is shade or not.
I have two friends and one of them has a pool, the dog knew how to swim really well but one day she left her outside and when they came home the dog had drowned. It was very very traumatic for her and she still beats herself up about it.
The other friend was having a baby shower for a family member and stuck her dog outside on the shaded patio in her crate for about an hour so she could clean the house up. She went to check on the dog and she was breathing really heavy and drooling and in really bad shape. They rushed her to the E-vet and they almost lost her several times. She was in critical condition for about a week and it took several months before she was back to normal.
I'm not saying that these things would happen to Dasher, I'm just saying that you never know what could happen and I personally would rather be safe than sorry.
We crate one of our dogs during the day and any time we leave the house. We have to constantly defend ourselves against our family because they think that its crule also. Lucy LOVES her crate because that's her own special place and she feels safe and secure in it. There are several times when we can't find her and we go in her room and she's snuggled in her crate sleeping. To me, the crate is the safer option here.
We leave Callie outside in the backyard while we are at work, since we work hours that are too long for crating and are not able to go home during the day. During the summer, I'm home a little more since I just have classes and am not always gone as long as I would be for work, so it works out okay.
We just make sure she has plenty of water and pretty much our whole back yard is shaded. It gets warm, but she seems to like it and is never all that anxious to get inside. Our neighbor is outside a lot gardening in the summer and she keeps an eye on Callie, as well, and our other neighbor has two mostly outdoor Rots that Callie likes to run the fence with.
I also grew up in a family where dogs were outside all the time, except the Yorkie. My sister doesn't believe in leaving her dogs outside, but now that she lives in an apartment, crating is her only option and she goes home at lunch to pee and walk the dogs.
You have to figure out what's right for you. I find the Pets board to be a little too hardcore for me.
I should also add that my parents have always kept their dogs outside unless we are having really bad weather. They have a kiddie pool for them and always make sure they have fresh water and a shaded place.
I just prefer not to with my dogs but one of them is mostly black and gets really hot really fast and the other one likes to dig and odds are I would come home and it would look like land mines had blown up my yard!
Now that the husband works closer to home and plans to come home for lunch, I think having her outside is okay. Let's face it - she could drown in the pool or get attacked by a swarm of bees even if we were at home and had just put her outside to potty. Heatstroke is something else entirely, obviously....
I think if she is trained about the pool and your DH is coming home during the day to make sure she's not getting too hot and has plenty of water, she'll probably be fine.
My little guy is fragile and delicate and NEEEEDS me, so I'm still too paranoid to do it with him. (That is somewhat hyperbolic, but also somewhat true. I baby that dog just a wee bit.)
I think she'll be fine outside all day, especially if your vet agreed. The dogs you really have to worry about are those with a short snout or flat face.
On the contrary, I do not leave my lab outside when it's extremely hot/cold.
I totally agree. I also don't have kids and my dogs are my children so I would be devestated if anything ever happened to them.
I love dogs, and grew up with lots of animals that we always thought of as "part of the family." That said, our dogs were always happy and healthy, even when subjected to the horror of living outdoors.
I think it's personal preference, and certainly some dogs have different medical concerns than others, but I don't think it's fair to insinuate that people who keep their pets outside don't love them or aren't concerned about their well-being.
I absolutely agree with Sari. I also grew up on a farm with cats and dogs and every other animal imaginable running around. I loved them just as much as my indoor babies.
We tried that for awhile with Callie and she got urinary tract infections, and she's 65lbs! Maybe she just has a small bladder
Kaylee & Cole 06.14.08
8/6/11 First 5k! OG&E Expo Run 34:47
9/3/11 Brookhaven Run 5k 34:18
9/17/11 Healthy Sooners Fun Run 5k 33:38
10/15/11 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 33:31
10/29/11 Monster Dash 5k 32:06 PR!
11/11/11 Veteran's Day Run 11k in Dallas 1:13:15 Instant PR!
1/28/12 Texas Half Marathon 2:38:03 Instant PR!
3/25/12 Earlywine Dash
I do not agree with leaving dogs outside while away for long periods of time. Mine used to be crated for up to 13 hours when we were both working full time. My dogs both love their crates and sleep the entire time they are in them. That said, I am now home a lot more and even with me home you will almost always find my two on my bed asleep during the day. They have about 8 hours of awake time per day at the most and most of that is usually between 2 and 10 in the afternoon/evening. My dogs can not tolerate heat or cold because of their breed but even so, I would hate to come home to find them loose, injured, or covered in filth.
Crating is comfortable for most dogs because they think of it as their den and a safe place to rest. In no way do I think it is cruel.
This is me, too. I grew up on a ranch and we never had indoor animals while growing up, nor did any one I knew. In fact, I was completely shocked that my parents allowed my sister to have an indoor cat after I left for college. And, as I said before, I always let the dogs come in when it's hot, cold, or raining outside.
My two dogs stay inside during the day. We crated them at first, until we could trust them. Like Bri said, they love their crates plus they sleep most of the day anyway. Now we just make sure to close the doors to rooms that we don't want them going in while we're gone...they like to raid the bathroom trash and find dirty socks when they're bored.
My boys love going outside, but with their black fur they're panting within a few minutes when it's 90-100+ degrees in summer. I wouldn't leave them out all day in those temps.
Luckily, I don't work during the hottest part of the year so he spends a lot of time inside with me. I'll put him out for a bit in the morning when it's still cool and bring him in for the rest of the day. Working or not, no way would/do I leave him outside when it's 85 + outside. I feel bad having him cooped up in the house during that time, but I would feel worse leaving him out in that kind of heat.
Have you guys seen this?
http://youtu.be/nGeKSiCQkPw
So funny. I've watched it way too many times.