# Dogs- Outside or inside



## lehi (Sep 13, 2007)

Do any of you guys keep your dogs outside year round? Spring summer and part of fall, my dog will stay outside, but he sleeps in the basement during winter at night, but stays outside in his doghouse during the day. It still gets pretty **** cold during the day. I am asking this because I am reading a book called "Training the Versatile Hunting dog" , and it says it is best to keep a dog inside all the time so that it will be better socialized with people, and that kennel trained dogs won't be as "socialized". If it were my choice, I WOULD keep my dog inside, but since I am a college student still living at home, and with strict parents..... :x I can't keep him inside. :? 

This is a pathetic cry for help but what can I tell my parents to convice them that my hunting mutt should be able to stay inside?


----------



## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

I have never heard of that and what does socialization have to do with a hunting dog? Unless you are walking him at the Humane Society's parade at Sugarhouse Park I don't see the application personally. My dogs, my parent's dogs, my uncle's dogs, brother's and neighbor's dogs stay outside nearly 100% of the time. We have ours in on the mat right at the door for Sunday breakfast and such, but that is it. My other dog who just dies was really old with arthritis was allowed to sleep in the garage on the extra cold nights.


----------



## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

I do it just like you, Lehi. My dogs are outside for most of the year and only come inside during the winter at night or on really cold days. Then again, my boys are both built for cold weather and their house is almost as well insulated as my own home.


----------



## Packfish (Oct 30, 2007)

He's outside during the day- inside in the evening- he could be outside year round but those other 9 months of the year he's more than a hunting dog to me.


----------



## TAK (Sep 9, 2007)

As I type this out I have kids that bought them a Lab that is going make her home in the house...
All my dogs are outside dogs, and will continue to be....
But as far as being better socialized? I don't think so. Maybe a different set of manners/rules but not anymore socialized than a dog that lives it's life outside. 
I think this part you read in the book was more along the lines of a PAGE FILLER... 
Sure if you go and get a dog and throw it in a kennel and forget it is there exept to dump some feed and maybe clean a place to have it sleep. But that is not the norm with bird dog people. All my dogs sleep outside, cold and hot, I just make their home comfy!
The key is the time you spend with them. Most times if I am outside they are out with me.
Your dog is what you make out of it... lots of time and you will have the same dog in or out of the house!


----------



## Texscala (Sep 8, 2007)

My dog goes outside to use the bathroom, play, and hunt. Other than that indoors.


----------



## lehi (Sep 13, 2007)

Now I don't feel so bad. I have lots of straw and wood shavings in his house and that keeps him pretty warm during the day (during winter). I guess Ill just continue to let him sleep downstairs and keep him outside during the day.


----------



## Dekashika (Oct 23, 2007)

Huge29 said:


> I have never heard of that and *what does socialization have to do with a **hunting dog?* Unless you are walking him at the Humane Society's parade at Sugarhouse Park I don't see the application personally. My dogs, my parent's dogs, my uncle's dogs, brother's and neighbor's dogs stay outside nearly 100% of the time. We have ours in on the mat right at the door for Sunday breakfast and such, but that is it. My other dog who just dies was really old with arthritis was allowed to sleep in the garage on the extra cold nights.


There are many(me included) who beleive that the best way to socialize a dog is to bring him in the home. "What does socialization have to do with a hunting dog?" :shock: EVERYTHING! Obviously, they have a chance to interract more with their pack, which does make a difference in my mind. I am not saying that an outside dog cannot have a great bond with its owners, and be a great dog, but there is a difference IMO. I have tried both ways. Tak, made some excellent points. Now an inside dog is not an option for everyone, in which case making them as comfortable as possible in their home environment is all you can do. Sounds like you are taking good care of your pup Lehi.

To answer your question Lehi.......How did I convince my parents to let me bring the dog in the house?..............I grew up, moved out, bought my own house, and they were just fine with that.


----------



## Artoxx (Nov 12, 2008)

My dogs sleep outside. They also LIVE outside.
Rarely if it is REALLY cold, I will put them in the garage in kennels if it is like 20deg or lower, and storming, but the doghouse I built for them is WAY better insulated than any house you will ever see, and is just barely big enough for them both to snuggle up in without killing each other. On even the coldest nights that I have left them out, one or the other will have their head out at any given moment, so obviously they are warm enough.
Both my dogs get along with any human they meet, and any dog that does not start crap with them. So I am confident that they are plenty well socialized.

They also hunt really well, so it has not hurt them in that regard either. So I am sure that your dog will be fine, just do what works for you and give him lots of love and you will be just fine.


----------



## proutdoors (Sep 24, 2007)

Texscala said:


> My dog goes outside to use the bathroom, play, and hunt. Other than that indoors.


+1, mostly because the wife thinks the dogs are kids. My lab gets let out and she heads right for the snow patches and plops down. I kennel train them right along with house training. Makes it easy to run errands w/o coming home to a torn up sofa.


----------



## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

proutdoors said:


> Texscala said:
> 
> 
> > My dog goes outside to use the bathroom, play, and hunt. Other than that indoors.
> ...


So, where do you sleep when you are in trouble if there is no dog house?


----------



## proutdoors (Sep 24, 2007)

Garage!


----------



## sittingbull (Feb 1, 2008)

I read the same book. My GSP is an indoor dog and is part of the family. She sleeps in her kennel at night and we kennel her when we go somewhere. What the author of Training the Versatile Hunting Dog was saying is that the indoor dog, being around the master more, learns the idiosyncrasies of the master and developes a much closer bond. So much so, that the dog is able to read your body language much easier and anticipates what you want to do. Take it or leave it, but I believe the guy knows what he's talking about.


----------



## lehi (Sep 13, 2007)

Sittingbull,

It is a great book! Thats exactly the reason I started this thread was to see other peoples opinions on keeping a dog inside or out. When I read his book it made a lot of sense that the master should be around the dog a lot. He has been breeding GWP's for a long time.


----------



## vdogs (Sep 22, 2007)

lehi said:


> Sittingbull,
> 
> It is a great book! Thats exactly the reason I started this thread was to see other peoples opinions on keeping a dog inside or out. When I read his book it made a lot of sense that the master should be around the dog a lot. He has been breeding GWP's for a long time.


I believe what the author says in this book is truthful. How can you not have a closer bond with your dog if it's with you all the time? Having said that, it's not an option in our home. We have kids with allergies so the dogs are outside 99% of the time.

Really, the dogs do just fine either way. As long as you provide a warm shelter for them.. and spend plenty of time with them, it's all good!


----------



## Texscala (Sep 8, 2007)

I may have just been lucky but after about 8 months Arrow stopped chewing up stuff. She won't get into the garbage, is never kenneled, and keeps my little girl out of trouble (most of the time).

We have a 6 month old son who love to pull her hair and pat her head. I am sure if she was an outside dog she would still be great but it is hard to imagine we would have so many experiences with her.

the dog sleeps in my daughters bed, will take on anything that tries to get near my daughter (not saying she would win but she has shown that when other dogs come and try to get near her she will defend the little one)

Here are a few pics of the pup and my experiences. I completely understand why a dog would be kept outside and am not trying to prove that inside dogs have any advantages but for me it sure makes things fun.

spoiled since she got home


----------



## Packbasket (Oct 29, 2009)

lehi said:


> This is a pathetic cry for help but what can I tell my parents to convice them that my hunting mutt should be able to stay inside?


you dogs will be part of the pack of the house and hunt better and listen to commands better and hunt FOR YOU rather than NEAR YOU if you live with them, either you go outside or they come in.

now for houdns and winter hunting season dogs the worst thing I can do is raise them inside on carpets and warm floors, they can't take the cold like they can when they live outside.

that said I lost a dog friday night so with only 3 dogs left I moved them inside with us, i cant take the cold of hunting 20 below anymore anyway so when they are cold and ready to call it a day thats fine with me.

ask your parents if they had kept in the the garage or shed when you were growing up how attached to them would you be today versus being raised in the house with them?


----------



## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

I have a few thoughts.

First, keeping dogs in your house will trash your carpets and furniture much faster than not having dogs in your house. To the point that indoor dogs will nullify any kind of warrantee on your flooring. You’ll also have dog hair on your clothes, carpeting and furniture on a regular basis. If your parents don’t want this in their house, then that is their deal. As was said, when you are out of school and have your own house, you can ruin your carpeting with the dog in side.

Second, dogs are not people. They do not need to be treated like people. They need to be treated like dogs. 

Third, I’ve heard it said many times from many other hunters that you can have a great family dog, or you can have a great bird dog. But it is hard to have both. One friend who spent several years guiding pheasant hunters said that every sport that brought his half-trained family dog to hunt birds had named his dog the same thing – “you sonovabeetch! Get back here!”

Fourth, I love dogs. We have two – one smart one (my springer) and one cute one (my wife’s shihtzu). Which when I think about it, wouldn’t be a bad thing for choosing wives! My springer is a fair bird dog. I only get him on pheasants a couple of days a year and he performs okay. Not great, but I’m not chasing him all the time either. He stays close, works as he should, and can sniff out and flush a bird, as well as retrieve it when I shoot it. When I got him, I decided it was more important for him to be a family dog – especially for my oldest son who is autistic. He sleeps in the boys room, and oft on my son’s bed. When my son is at school, I can find the dog more often than not, in my son’s room. 

Lastly, everyone is different, and what they want out of their dog is different. I’ve accepted that the carpets will get trashed (the carpet guy just left after deep cleaning my carpets actually) and all the negatives that go with having dogs in the house. But to me, the positives of having the dogs be a very integrated part of our family is worth the trade-off.


----------



## Texscala (Sep 8, 2007)

GaryFish said:


> Third, I've heard it said many times from many other hunters that you can have a great family dog, or you can have a great bird dog. But it is hard to have both. One friend who spent several years guiding pheasant hunters said that every sport that brought his half-trained family dog to hunt birds had named his dog the same thing - "you sonovabeetch! Get back here!"


While a few of your points are noteworthy, I feel this one is not accurate. It does not take any more effort to have both. If the dog is going to be inside that does not make it a person and as long as all people caring for the dog are consistent I would argue training is actually easier. I FF my dog on my couch, she transitioned outside to it fine.

Arrow is a great house dog and she is pretty dang good at finding, pointing, and retrieving birds, especially chukar.

There is more hair when the dog is inside which means I have to vacuum a bit more but other than that my little girl does more to clean the house than to dirty it. Anything that is spilled on the floor can quickly be cleaned by telling her "dead bird" otherwise she will sit and wait.

There are plenty of reasons to keep dogs outside but the idea that indoor dogs will be less likely to be good hunting dogs does not have much merit.


----------



## Packfish (Oct 30, 2007)

DITTO


----------



## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

That's fair enough. I've not had enough experience one way or the other to make a first-hand call on it.


----------



## lehi (Sep 13, 2007)

Thanks for the extra responses guys! I will just have to spend a lot more time with him outside. At least he gets to sleep in the basement.


----------



## keny glasscock (Jan 20, 2009)

I have 2 outside 100% of the time and 2 inside of which one sleeps in a kennel and one by my bed on a dog bed. They all hunt. They all get run 5-6 day a week. They all get equal attention. They are all socialized by neighborhood kids.


----------

