# If you're a dog owner and you don't allow them to live in the house with you, you're a dick. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 18, 2015, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141 "2015-01-18T06:40:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141/41 "2015-01-19T03:58:22Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Yet apartment complexes everywhere welcome dogs and millions of dogs are happy and content living in an apartment. Go figure. Meh. There are lots of dogs who live outside who are happy and content\* living outside and have long and healthy lives. \*although I’m not exactly sure how anyone knows if a dog is subjectively happy and content ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141/42 "2015-01-19T04:05:09Z")
My favorite dog, ever, was a Border Collie-Samoyed cross who was absolutely miserable in the house. Dollar had the dense undercoat of the Samoyed. He had an insulated doghouse with blankets in it, but he would only go in it when the temperature dropped below zero. Most of the time he preferred to sleep out in the open yard, curled up with his generous fluffy tail over his nose and frost on his fur. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141/43 "2015-01-19T04:10:12Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > Meh. There are lots of dogs who live outside who are happy and content\* living outside and have long and healthy lives. > > \*although I’m not exactly sure how anyone knows if a dog is subjectively happy and content I won’t dispute that. I’m just saying it’s not cruel to keep a dog in an apartment, as **clairobscur** asserts. And yes, I can tell if a dog is happy and content, at least my own dog. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141/44 "2015-01-19T04:33:40Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I won’t dispute that. I’m just saying it’s not cruel to keep a dog in an apartment, as **clairobscur** asserts. And yes, I can tell if a dog is happy and content, at least my own dog. OK, I won’t dispute that either. I would suspect that if you asked them, a lot of people who have outside dogs feel like they can tell that their dog is happy and content as well. I think what a lot of people see in their dog is projection. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141/45 "2015-01-19T04:40:20Z")
Okay, why do people want to have dogs in the first place? If they have a useful purpose, even one that doesn’t exist except in the mind of the owner, insulated dog houses are comfortable enough for most large dogs even in really lousy weather. But, why dogs? Why not just let someone else deal with all the expense and trouble of properly housing and domesticating the animals.? Take a trip to a foreign country every year with the money you would have spent on a dog. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141/46 "2015-01-19T04:52:55Z")
I don’t speak for all dog owners, but I have mine for companionship. As for taking a foreign trip on the money I would save by not having a dog: HA! He costs me maybe $15 a month for food, $100 once a year for an examination and shots, and $10.50 for a license. Less than $300 a year. If I didn’t have a dog, I’d really be living large, I’ll tell ya! ---
**Author:** ![Boogly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Boogly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boogly)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141/47 "2015-01-19T05:34:55Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Isn’t it funny how every person posting thinks their climate is everyone else’s climate? > If your dog is specifically bred as a sled dog and you are having a Cold Northern Winter, ok then. The OP is talking about the “That’s Right! That’s what I’m talkin’ bout!” choir. The ones who think their German Shepard or Dachshund > is designed like a sled-dog and who posture (after they find it dead, frozen solid on its side in the morning) with crap like, “well, it was too Weak! I Tried to toughen it up, but it was just too sickly & Died. Served it Right”. :dubious: > Those are the folks who need to be chained to their own dog-posts on cold January nights until solidified. > > The Iditrarod had 76 Mushers this year. Lets assume 24 dogs per owner and that maybe there are 100x as many people trying as get in (going big as an estimate). That’s 180,000 Huskies/Malamutes. > According to [this cite](http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/countries-with-most-pet-dog-population.html), there are approx 76 million dogs in the US. Doing quick math, 1/5th of 1% of all dogs in the US, work or otherwise, can handle being kept outside in climates with cold winters year round. Thats ONE dog out of every 500. > And if that ONE dog can have thick enough skin to handle it, then maybe its owners should grow some because of the existence of the truly crappy dog owners who force dogs that aren’t meant for cold winters outside to freeze to death “cause I said so” style. Nowhere did I assume that my climate is the climate of any other dog owner. I don’t care what the climate of anyone another dog owner is. The OP claimed every dog outside is unloved. Assume what you want about sled dogs but having 12 short race ready dogs requires about 100 dogs, and often more than that. Just because you have 24 dogs doesn’t mean that you have 12 dogs that can run long distances competitively. Mushers care for of dogs from different families over generations. This is generations of dogs cared for and lost. When people miss a dog when it passes, mushers deal with this over generations. ---
**Author:** ![Boogly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Boogly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boogly)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141/48 "2015-01-19T05:49:16Z")
I am not a musher and all my dogs were companion dogs rescued from the pound. In Alaska for my mutts, in the winter they were inside, except for doggy PLAY TIME, and in the summer they were outside because they loved running (in a fenced yard); except for that one mutt who adopted me and was convinced I was unable to do anything unless she was next to me. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141/49 "2015-01-19T06:11:40Z")
> [@crucible](#): > > Okay, why do people want to have dogs in the first place? If they have a useful purpose, even one that doesn’t exist except in the mind of the owner, insulated dog houses are comfortable enough for most large dogs even in really lousy weather. > > But, why dogs? Why not just let someone else deal with all the expense and trouble of properly housing and domesticating the animals.? Take a trip to a foreign country every year with the money you would have spent on a dog. Because postcards from foreign trips don’t want to snuggle with you and don’t bring rope toys to play with. Case in point, the dogs behind us go off with crazy barking several times a day. When their owner hears it he yells at them. Climate is not an issue here in Northern California, but why waste money on a non-working dog when you leave it outside? Doggie doors and heated garages aren’t outside. I do feel for those stuck with badly trained dogs. You guys got screwed. And people who buy dogs who are inappropriate for their circumstances (like border collies in a small apartment) should get pitted also. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141/50 "2015-01-19T14:56:23Z")
I would point out that the OP did say “do not allow them to live in the house with you”. I think that clearly excludes dogs that would prefer to stay out of doors. Imagine that Samoyed in Florida in August outside between 2 & 3 pm; would anyone seriously argue that wasn’t dickish? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141/51 "2015-01-19T17:22:28Z")
A columnist in our local paper says she trained her puggle to poop on command. The only problem is that when the dog gets mad at her, it poops without the command. Not every dog is made for indoor living. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141/52 "2015-01-19T17:45:12Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > This happened to us, except we didn’t need a heated dog house in S Cal for the non-housebroken, completely un-mannered eight year old dog we got stuck with. I tried to get it across to her that if she messed in the house, she wasn’t going to get house privileges but at that age, and given her temperament, it just didn’t happen. So she lived out in the back yard for another **EIGHT FUCKING YEARS** before she finally died. And got to watch the other dogs go in and out of the house and go on trips and all of that. > > It really wasn’t her fault she had no manners, and that she was essentially unable to change her ways at that age. But damn I was glad when that dog finally died. And I simply wasn’t going to clean the carpets in the front room and dining room every day so that ungrateful wretch could be indoors. You are one special kind of piece of shit, aren’t you **curlcoat**? I was all set to type something about my old Besenji mix and how the girl didn’t want to be inside, and then you post this crap. If you didn’t like the dog, you had **EIGHT FUCKING YEARS** to find it a home. But you did nothing. For eight fucking years you did nothing but wait for it to die. You were even glad when it was dead. Go to fucking hell. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141/53 "2015-01-19T21:24:11Z")
Who would take an eight year old non-housebroken, ill-mannered dog? Even I wouldn’t take it. And I definitely would not ask anyone else to. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141/54 "2015-01-19T22:13:18Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Who would take an eight year old non-housebroken, ill-mannered dog? Even I wouldn’t take it. And I definitely would not ask anyone else to. Then let me ask you a question. Hypothetically, if you _had_ to, what would you do? Would you spend another eight years just looking at the thing and hoping it dies? That’s the difference between **curlcoat** and most people. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141/55 "2015-01-19T23:08:35Z")
What’s the difference? **curlcoat** didn’t ask anyone else to take it; **j666** wouldn’t ask anyone else to take it. So, what, shoot it? ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141/56 "2015-01-19T23:31:46Z")
Shooting it, or putting it down (that’s not an expensive option) might have been more preferable. But **Curlcoat** was so incensed at this dog that she isolated it for, ahem, “EIGHT FUCKING YEARS”. She was quite vocal about that. Who the hell does that? If it’s truly beyond help, put it down, but she basically isolated it, and hated it, because it pooped in the house. Screw that. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141/57 "2015-01-19T23:50:21Z")
> [@armedmonkey](#): > > Then let me ask you a question. Hypothetically, if you _had_ to, what would you do? Would you spend another eight years just looking at the thing and hoping it dies? > > That’s the difference between **curlcoat** and most people. If I inherited an 8 year old untrained dog, under my current circumstance? I’d put it down; I wouldn’t try to palm it off on someone else and I definitely would not put it “up for adoption”. I’d suck it up, take the responsibility - which obviously the previous owner did not do - and put the dog down (and bitch a lot about being put in that position on an anonymous board). Unless I knew some one with a big yard or some land and a couple of other dogs, who could have an outdoor dog that wouldn’t be alone all the time. I might ask someone like that to foster the dog. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141/58 "2015-01-20T00:00:21Z")
> [@j666](#): > > I’d suck it up, take the responsibility - which obviously the previous owner did not do - and put the dog down (and bitch a lot about being put in that position on an anonymous board). And take a gigantic pile of “YOU MONSTER HOW COULD YOU” from other denizens of the same board. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141/59 "2015-01-20T00:23:26Z")
> [@j666](#): > > If I inherited an 8 year old untrained dog, under my current circumstance? I’d put it down; I wouldn’t try to palm it off on someone else and **I definitely would not put it “up for adoption”.** I’d suck it up, take the responsibility - which obviously the previous owner did not do - and put the dog down (and bitch a lot about being put in that position on an anonymous board). > > Unless I knew some one with a big yard or some land and a couple of other dogs, who could have an outdoor dog that wouldn’t be alone all the time. I might ask someone like that to foster the dog. Why the hell not? As long as you’re upfront and honest about the dogs issues, there is no sin in putting it up for adoption. My mother used to run one of the largest rescue shelters in southern Louisiana, you’d be surprised at some of the troubled dogs they were able to find homes for. It sure beats “Putting them down” which quite frankly, sounds borderline sociopathic. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141/60 "2015-01-20T01:00:04Z")
I’m still wrapping my head around the dog watching the other dogs go on trips. Where’d they get to go? Dog Disneyland? Canine Six Flags? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-a-dog-owner-and-you-dont-allow-them-to-live-in-the-house-with-you-youre-a-dick/710141.md?page=4)