I've been window-shopping for rescue dogs lately, and on a lot of the dogs' profiles it says "MUST HAVE FENCED-IN YARD." Why?? If I got the dog it would be taken for potty breaks on a leash. I feel the fenced-in yard invites Joe Average Pet Owner to just let the dog out in the backyard and that's the animal's "exercise."

I can see legitimate reasons for requiring a fence, I guess, but this really makes it harder for a future apartment-dweller who wants to get a GSD but would rather start with a rescued one first.

 Quote: ashley hiebing

I feel the fenced-in yard invites Joe Average Pet Owner to just let the dog out in the backyard and that's the animal's "exercise."

This is the mentality of "most" pet owners and shelters. I think rescue organizations are a little more educated about needs of a dog.
"Fenced in yard, with room to run" is a concept that most people think gives their dog the exercise it needs (the only plus I see is the fenced yard may deter some that would otherwise leave the dog out all the time and only deal with it when they felt like it). They do not realize that you can put a dog out by itself but the dog will not exercise itself. Most likely it will lay around, sleep, chew, dig, destroy and get into things, aggravate the owner and then all will wonder why the dog has such bad habits.

I think this fits with Valeries thread on owner responsibility when a dog becomes or show aggression towards people. Left to their own devices, dogs will choose to do what they think is correct, not what the owner has taught them to be acceptable behavior.

What really sucks is that the dogs that don't require a fence appear to be the really lazy ones. NOT WHAT I WANT, THANKS.

That's exactly right. I foster for Aussie rescue and I used to foster for GSD rescue. We absolutely required fenced yards for the higher energy dogs and would allow the low energy dogs to go to homes without them. Even with the fenced yards, we always stress how important it is to get the dog out for walks and car rides for their mental and physical health.

For the dogs that come into recue, it's easy to tell which ones have been kept tied up. They have even more mental and behavioral problems than the fenced dogs.

There is no way that we can come to the adopters' homes and make them take the dog out for walks every day, so the best we can do is at least make sure they have the space they need to frolic in a yard. The dogs that come into rescue have usually had a hard life and we do our best to ensure they will have a better and more successful life in their next home and that usually means a fenced yard.

We do get a lot of applicants without yards and we do sometimes call them to talk to them and almost always they intend to let the dog loose to potty. A number of them will talk about how their previous dog was killed on the road, ran away and never came back, kept getting into the neighbors trash, or was killed for chasing livestock on the neighbor's farms. So we are also looking at keeping the dogs contained, safe, and alive.

I'm sure there are people without fences that can provide a good, safe home for an active dog, but I will have to say in general they are few and far between.

So it looks like there's no way to negotiate... unfortunate. Looks like I'm stuck waiting for one at the local humane society.

EDIT:
Oh, wait! It looks like there's another rescue in-state that doesn't require fences! Exciting!

Carol, for me "fenced in yard with room to run" means I can play Frisbee and fetch with Hans and not have to worry about him seeing a deer in the woods and running off. It means I have a large area to work with him off leash and if the neighbor dogs start barking, he can't get out to go after them. It means that if my wife wants to garden, Hans can sun himself in the yard while she does so. Or he can help her (not that she wants that kind of help.) He has been trained to use a gravel covered potty area in the corner of the back yard. With the fence, I can just open the door, tell him to "go potty", and not have to follow him out there in the wind, rain, and/or snow. I can't imagine having my dog without a fence.

Most people adopting from a pound or rescue are novice owners. They are unaware of how to professionally handle a dog. They have to keep a policy of certain minimum requirements. These policies lead to the Healthy adoption of more pets. Think of the consequences of not having the policies.
The dog also may be prone to barking. I would be upset if I lived in apartment and the dog next door barked.

Ha, I have a neighbor whose dog is kept in their yard and he barks his fool head off, annoying everyone in the neighborhood. But yes, I see your point =)

Rich,
I totally agree with you and your way of thinking about fencing. I am not saying that people cannot put their dogs out in the yard, however, there are lots of people that leave the dog out and then wonder why it finds things to do when left on it's own for long periods of time.
Hope that makes sense.

I only have hands on experience with Greyhound rescue, and peripheral experience with other rescues locally, but I know there are three very basic reason fences are required:

1) To make sure dogs are not left tied up. People that want to leave their dogs tied up in the back yard often don't get why that's not a nice thing to do, at least in my experience. Easier than arguing or taking chances, the seriousness is conveyed by refusal to adopt out to anyone without a fenced yard.

2) to make sure that there is actually space for the dog, and that it's safe space (no other dogs/animals can get into the yard).

3) To make 'oopses' less frequent. New dog people like the idea of having their dogs off leash, often LONG before the dog is ever ready for it (some never are, like Greyhounds).

I haven't enjoyed spending hours in the woods looking for a dog after taking the time to explain to a new owner why the dog should not be loose in the first place. I don't enjoy hearing about a dog who broke it's neck while tied out on it's run (against rules) because it saw a squirrel. I don't like hearing about dogs getting hit by cars. You can screen the hell out of people, and they can be great people who care very deeply but make mistakes that can be fatal, often with the best intentions. Having a fenced yard just takes a whole lot of potential trouble out of the equation.