Scott, I totally agree with you on the behavioral changes. My dogs have been trained to be minimal on the barking (my landlord very very graciously doesn't charge me a deposit on any of my pets, so I have to make sure they are quiet and well behaved), but put them on the tie out cable when I'm inside vacuuming or something similiar, they just go nuts. Zoso my Mal will just bark and jump up and down four feet in the air if anyone or anything passes where as if I was out there with him, he'd probably would ignore it. For that reason, I don't tie them out except when they're under pretty direct supervision. Yard work would probably be fine though.

I want to add that I would also never chain any dog close to where children are playing.

Basically, don't chain up your dog. Find another way.

I definitely agree. I was in my living vacuuming one day (3 dogs produce a lot of fur) and had two of the three dogs out on their tie out right outside my front door. I heard Zoso start barking over the noise of the vacuum and I looked over and one of the neighborhood girls (about 7 or 8 years old) had just gotten off the school bus and was coming straight for them to pet them as she's met them before. I immediately went outside and told her never ever approach a dog on a tie out even if you've met the dog before. Even if they are friendly on a tie out or chain, it'd be very easy to get tripped and fall on the line.

yeah, when i say yard work i mean mowing the yard. my dogs are actually the opposite, they behave different when put in confining kennels. i only chain when i need to mow in their area. however, i never leave my dogs unattended when out front. they roam in a fenced back yard, my reason for chaining is that when i mow the dogs chase the mower an i occasioanlly project rocks and whatever else the mower shoots out. i chain mine for mowing safety reasons or for the a/c man.

I will ocassionally, like once a quarter, chain one of my adult dogs in the front yard. I use a 25' piece of steel cable attached to a large tree with another 6' steel cable around the trunk. I have signs beyond their reach on trees facing the road warning people to stay off of my yard and a video camera hooked to a DVR facing the road that records several days of video it's part of my system that video's all my property including the fenced back yard. I will be fencing the front yard when the ground thaws and putting an underground fence on top of the 4' fence. I'm not worried about the dogs getting loose rather people trying to pet them and getting bitten. I don't tie out dogs that would likely bite someone but you never know. My adult dogs do ok on the line for an hour or less. I think they sort of like it getting to hang out in a new place. The last time I tied one out was in December when my female was having pups and I didn't want dogs walking through the room she was in to get out back to do their thing. There isn't much foot traffic on my street in December, it's just to cold! I have signs on the fence in back as well. I don't like chaining as a child could easily walk up and that's the reason for the fence in the spring. The video system is nice, I have a monitor in my office, living room and can switch the tv in my bedroom to an output and see what is going on in the outdoor kennels or anywhere around the outside of the house. Personally I wouldn't tie them out at all if I couldn't keep a real close eye on what is going on. If you can watch them it's probably ok for short ammounts of time.

I like the video surveillance thing. I work from home so seeing my dog while he's outside would be quite nice. Currently he's alone for short periods in our fenced-in backyard but would like to leave him alone in the front once in a while (we have the electric fence for the front) but am uneasy with the idea. Video would be very nice to have. Is it expensive?

Just remember that an e-fence may keep your dog in, but it will NOT keep other dogs out <:-(