What about my Two dogs who live outside in a Steel fenced Run 7ft.8 high with a roof over it, they can move about in there run and they play in the Garden once a Day,
Twice a day they are taken for walks and a bit of obediance but not everytime they go out for walks, makes it too regimental and they get a bit fed up, perhaps ten minutes only for work the rest play
Then they go for SchH training three times a week
I think they have a pretty good life overall

 Quote: Carol Boche

Rich,
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.

Carol, it makes a lot of sense. We have learned that we do not want Hans to get bored when he is in the yard by himself. Nothing good happens when he is both unsupervised and bored

 Quote: Ashley Hiebing

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 =)

Remember that if a dog is barking a lot, it's never his fault. It's always the owner's fault. Lack of attention to and lack of interaction with a dog will cause endless barking in some dogs.

As to fences, most dog owners need them. Interpret that how you want

Sandy, trust me, some dogs are just annoying :p They will yip yip yip endlessly no matter how much exercise or attention they get, they just like to sit in the kennel and yip yip yip away.

Are we talking Chihuahuas

If Cujo is a Chihuahua x GSD cross then yes, absolutely

LOL . I concede there are exceptions to every "rule"

My Two Dogs bark only if they are disturbed by someone coming to the front Door or they will give an excited bark when they know its dinner time. otherwise they do not bark,
They can see each other through the bars of the pens and they lie down next to each other one each side in there own compartment,
They never Bark at night unless they are disturbed , Never have done from nine week old Pups, when they were put outside. Fred had 'Old Charlie' for company when he was a Baby,
Goran had Fred ,
But all i ever have done over 50 odd years of having a Pup is when i bring the Pup home, and i may say all of my Dogs have lived outside i used to wrap an old Clock up in a bit of blanket bought from where the mother and the litter used and the 'TICK TOCK' acted as the mothers heartbeat, after one night and it was only one night never more the pups never made a sound at night
When they start to bring the Clock outside there kennel they sleep in then it was time to be taken away
By the way, Charlie and Fred in the Summer sleep outside the Kennels and just lie down and sleep in the Pen they hardly sleep inside,
Their Coats gleam and they keep in beautiful condition, Regardless of the choices and i know many do not have a choice i would prefer my Dogs to live outside,
They never lack company for most of the day we are outside with them doing something during our working hours and they total about 14 to 15 hours a day sometimes longer
No, i think they are lucky Dogs and if i thought i could do better for them i would, but i think we have it covered
Should have said
Its Law here to have a Dog Warning Notice so people can see there are Dogs, We have Two signs in Dutch with Shepherd Dogs showing, no one will walk around the back of the house, and at night the Gate is Locked and the Front Metal Gates of the Property are also locked, so after nine oclock in the evening no one can enter

When we originaly were going to adopt, we didn't have a fenced in yard and we were approved. Yes some people still either tie or just let their dog in the yard all day to entertain itself. We don't, we play and train in the yard with him. The other reason for requiring fences in my town, there is a leash law, if my dog is outside he either needs to be on a leash or contained in the yard. That's fine because most don't follow the law and the fence keeps other dogs out of my yard. We stopped walking my neighborhood because of the loose dogs and finally Zeus getting attacked. I imagine the requirement of a fence for adopting dogs is more trying to be on the safe side due to many owners being irresponsible.

I volunteer for a GSD rescue and they do require fences, or some kind of an enclosed area. There is an exception for city-dwellers and for people looking to adopt older GSDs.

The fence issue is one they're rock-solid on (with the above exceptions), as well as not adopting out to families with children under 7 years of age...and those are the two main reasons why people aren't approved for a dog that I see.

From what I've been told, containment issues and issues with children are what put many of these dogs in the foster care in the first place, and so that's why they have this rule. They agree that there are plenty of people with kids and no fences that would be okay with even a high-energy dog, but they want to err on the side of caution and increase the odds that once the dog is adopted, it doesn't need to be returned. I guess it's a better safe than sorry policy.