# My dog sleeps outside



## fairyezu (Jul 25, 2010)

I do all this yet when I search about how or if people make their dog sleep outside - All I find is that a lot of people think whoever makes their dog sleep outside is a worse version of hitler and that they should give up their dog if they wont let it sleep inside.


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

fairyezu said:


> Do you think it's cruel that I make my dog sleep outside at night? In my area there is no extreme weather, no snow or below 0 temp. In summer at night it stays cool there is no extreme heat in summer nights.
> 
> She is a adult west highland terrier, very independent girl. She has always slept outside at night but she is indoor the rest of the time, from the morning till at night when I goto sleep which can be anywhere between 10:30pm and 12-1am.
> 
> ...


I don't think it's cruel--if you've provided her with shelter and everything, and she's in the house during the day. It sounds like she prefers it, has she ever spent the night inside?
In the fall and winter, my GSD prefers to sleep in an unfinished room off my living room. It's cooler there, and he has a dog door to go into the yard. I tried to make him stay inside when it was really cold out (around 0 degrees F) and he did nothing but pant and pace all evening. He was too warm, even though I don't heat my house very warm in the winter. He drove me nuts!


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## pugmom (Sep 10, 2008)

I don't think its cruel as long as you are providing shelter and providing she is safe from anything that might get into the yard (animal/people)


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## Nargle (Oct 1, 2007)

I don't think it's very cruel necessarily if she has access to non-frozen, clean water, and has a shelter that does a good job of keeping her out of the elements. However, I am never comfortable leaving my own dog outside unsupervised because I feel that there is quite a bit of risk in doing so. There's a number of things that could go wrong that could be dangerous for your dog. #1 problem is people. People could harass your dog, throw things at it, throw poisoned meat in your yard, let her out or steal her. A storm or a quick wind could knock down your fence and she could escape, or she could dig her way out. And there's always a risk of predators, such as eagles, snakes, coyotes, wolves, bears, mountain lions, etc (depending on where you live), especially since she's a small dog. It may sound kind of paranoid, but it's not like I'm making this up. People have lost dogs to the previously mentioned circumstances, even large dogs that can "defend" themselves. I just personally would never feel comfortable leaving my dog out alone, and it's something worth considering.

Are you opposed to keeping your dog in a safe, dog-proof room at night, like a bathroom or a closet, or even a hallway or kitchen with a baby gate put up?


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

I'd just install a doggie door so if she has to go to the bathroom, she can go out to do so. Since she likes it inside, she'd probably just sleep most of the night in the bedroom. Or if you are concerned about her getting into something downstairs, close her in the bedroom with you by shutting the bedroom door. She is old enough to "hold it" all night.


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## fairyezu (Jul 25, 2010)

I woke up to get a drink of water and figured I'd come and reply to my thread.

I live in Australia, in a safe inner-city suburb, a lot of elderly people in my area, it's quite an aging area. Our backyard only accessible from one side if you're not inside the house... by jumping an 8 foot fence. No one can see in the backyard unless you're inside the house. She doesn't bark at all when she is put out at night (unless she hears or see's something), so she isn't annoying to the neighbors or anything. The fences are all reinforced at the bottom so she isn't able to dig under them as she use to try to do as a young pup. She is quick to raise an alarm if she smells or see's anyone she doesn't know approach the house. She won't bark if myself or my girlfriend or friends and family she knows that come often approach the house. By the way there isn't any wild-life in the inner-city suburbs so no other animals to worry about. She has a clean bowl of water under-cover that I throw out and replenish every single day.

The only time she has slept inside was when she got spayed, she slept inside for a bout 3 weeks in a crate. She had no problem going back to sleeping outside after all her stuff was completely healed, she started sleeping outside again as if she never stopped. I am pretty sure she prefers her outdoor kennel over her crate inside as she went back to sleeping outside with zero issues.

I should mention when we first got her at 10 weeks old, she slept inside at night till she was about 5 months old. I say she is very independent as she only cried 2 nights after we got her at night for 30minutes...after the 3rd night she had stopped crying completely when she was sleeping by herself. The day she started sleeping outside, she almost seemed excited like a new kid that just got a new room or something, she has never complained about having to sleep outside.

She isn't a push-over by any means, she can be extremely stubborn at times, but with this she has no issues with it.


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## Jetta (Jul 23, 2010)

So long as she's happy and healthy then it's down to what you think is right for you all as a family her included.

There are lots of options though. We crated our two as pups because that's what everybody said we should do and they're our first dogs. Then we put them both in together in a very very oversized cage for two small dogs and there was a litter tray in there too. Then we changed to a pen instead which was even bigger and we were much happier with this, it was in the corner of the kitchen and we'd fold it up in the day. Bunny (our Papillon) loves to use a litter tray she's very feline in a lot of ways but Loki would just go wherever he fancied inside or out so we stuck with the pen for ages till now at 18 months old he's finaly earned his stripes and all of our reservations and previous intentions have long gone out the window and he sleeps on the end of our bed and never does any of business in our room though he still has the odd poo in a corner from time to time in other parts of the house. He's half sheltie and half chihuahua so about terrier size plus a few pounds of extra fur.

Wales is too wet, windy and cold so sleeping outside has never been an option here.

Our Papillon sleeps with us too either on our bed or one of the dog beds in the room but at the moment she's in the pen by our bed with her puppies, food, water and her litter tray so she's got all she needs in there but it'll change again as the pups are getting older.

Trial and error and whatever you all feel is best


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## MusherChic (Nov 6, 2010)

All of my dogs sleep outside because they prefer it. We can have some pretty crazy weather here in Michigan but they all have good dog houses and they are packed with hay in the winter. Some like to come in once and a while but I usually have to put them out before I go to bed because they can't stand the heat. 
(I know this is an old post but I am finishing up a house and dog sitting job at a friends house and I was extremely bored so I came here.  )


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