Steve, what works for you is obviously different than what works for me. You asked why many owners have their dogs live inside their house, and I added my reasons to the others listed. There are physical risks that I worry about with having my dogs live outside (as others have posted) but I just wanted to add that even if those risks weren't present, I'd still choose to have them with me.

I wasn't judging your situation. Whatever works.

I agree being a former Floridian, now living in the Midwest. I never got out of the habit of bringing my dogs inside, even if it's to be in a crate part of the time.

My dogs are happier in and out of the house, as long as they are with their "pack".

Okay' It seems most Dog Owners in the USA like to have there Dogs indoors with them nothing wrong at all in that,But do all the Houses in the USA have Air Conditioning, I wonder because if not i could see the effect of having Heating on in the House affected our Dog Charlie when we first moved over to Belgium, In January middle of the winter, It was very cold indeed It bothered him that much that after four days i turned the Central Heating Off, whist he was living in the House and we all went cold until he was ready to live outside again, My thoughts are this Central heating is no good for Dogs, unless of course you have Air Conditioning that would make a huge difference

 Quote: steve patrick

Okay' It seems most Dog Owners in the USA like to have there Dogs indoors with them nothing wrong at all in that,

I also live in Orlando and let me assure you that the only thing that gets along with the heat are the multitudes of lizards that scatter whenever I open my door. It drives the cat crazy but I guess that's for another forum.

Anyway, my dogs want to be with me, whether I'm in or out in the heat. Needless to say we're mostly "in"! Anyway, in the unlikely event my dogs were needed to protect me it's probably better that they're in the home with me and not stuck outside.

I live out in California, and here on the central coast it rarely gets hotter than 80F in the summer or cooler than 55F (daytime)in the winter. Call me a wuss, but I have both AC and central heating and find that my doggies enjoy both. They also prefer to be indoors. It may be because they were raised that way and were conditioned to like that, but then so was I! (I would die if I had to live in NV or AZ with the heat, or anywhere that has snow!!!)

But back on track. My dogs have beautiful, shiny coats all year long with both systems running. Only time I noticed a dulling of the coat, is when stressed or shedding.
As far as what they would prefer, Rox will let me know that she wants to go out side and "tan" for a while and will also let me know that she has had enough after about 30 min. She also on likes to go out when Rob comes home at 3:00 AM. She'll just lay there and watch the sun come up . The rest of the time she likes to lounge around the house. As a senior citizen, she has earned the right to all of these quirks.

Quinn likes to be with me. Period. He goes where I go, and if he can't is in his crate. Heat, cold, AC or not.

The second, and just as important reason my dogs are inside, is lawsuits. I have had a woman walk into my backyard, while I was in the shower. Quinn was with me, but Rox was sunbathing. Well, was. She had this dumb woman cornered by the shed. She got the woman back there somehow, then lay down about 10 feet away, ignoring her. Every time the woman moved, Rox growled. Dumb woman thought my house was the one for rent(no sign???) and decided to help herself to the yard for a look. She was angry and accusing me of harboring a vicious dog (told her she was lucky it was that dog) and proceeded to threaten a lawsuit for unlawful detainment. Anyway, made me realize that I was indeed the lucky one that Quinn was in the house.

So long story short, with the type of dog I choose to own, it is my responsibility to make sure dumb people are safe from them. The best way to do that is to keep them safe (and comfortable) inside with me, strengthening our bond.

Jessica,

There's certainly a greater risk to leaving one's dog loose outdoors in a back yard.

My recommendation is to have the dog in a smaller fenced enclosure (with cover from sun/rain) within your fenced yard when you want the dog to be outside and you cannot be there too.

Seems Dogs which are bought up from Pups to live indoors can get along fine with Heating etc but Charlie certainly got stressed by it, enough for me to turn it off and to go cold for a near couple of weeks. In my garden I have a Hedge of Golden Leyandi bushes some 10ft high surrouding the border of the garden and behind the hedge is a chainlink fence. then a high gate, before we go along a path to the front of the house, then there is a metal fence sealing off the house entrance with lockable Gates Plus a Sign of a Dog to warn people to be wary and look when they come through the gate to the front door of the house
still it is interesting to know why so many people keep them indoors. again different customs in different countries
I can say that no one i spoke to at the GSD club feeds a Raw diet it seems that i am the only one who does out of about 25 dog owners, but i took note of you Guys and read up about the stuff that goes into Kibble and then made up my mind to change to a Raw Diet for Fred. again different customs for other countries, its a good job we all differ on some things, otherwise it would be a boring world

Steve, your property sounds so lovely to me. To have such a garden for you to enjoy and the dogs to live in makes me envious.

I have two adult Labs and one GSD pup and they live outdoors primarily because I have three indoor cats. I live in S.E. Texas where is gets quite muggy and hot. Over the last year in fact, I have been wanting to bring the dogs inside and integrate life with the cats. When I attempted to bring the labs in (pre-pup) they were completely uncomfortable and wanted to go back outside.

And, now I have the GSD pup (6 months old) and I have yet to introduce the cats to her...grave mistake, I know. Its an issue.

Its all in the conditioning...what they get used to. Pup doesn't know any different and is quite happy and healthy living outdoors. I have a few different kinds of kennels on property and pup gets rotated to each when unsupervised. Adult labs have the run of the property (1.5 acres). All kennels have fans and are in shady locations.

They have a doggy pool and we fill and keep fresh and cool when it is really hot; and sometimes they get in our pool.



Again, however, I long for them to be inside hanging with me when its time for me to be in the house. One day soon...

I can see how having dogs in kennels works better for some people...my personal reasons (aside from being a "velcro owner") for having the dogs indoors are as follows:
- Even up here in Canada it's a little too hot in the summer (well, and too cold in the winter), so I'd have to have a climate-controlled building or . Maybe I only think that because I've never had outdoor dogs, but I can tell you this, I have to DRAG my dogs outside for walks on hot/cold days and they try to convince me that a walk to the corner is good enough.
- I don't have a back yard (much to my displeasure)
- I live in a bad neighbourhood and I like people to see that two large dogs live with me
- I'm afraid of the dark

Ooops, did I say that last one out loud?