The dog house may be a good idea but leaving the dog unattended while no one is home even in a fenced in yard is not really a good thing. Many dogs will dig under or climb over a fence and escape. Not only is their dog lost but it can pose a threat to people and other animals. You can create a run or tie the dog up within the fence but that is not really “fun” for the dog.
Most dogs will not entertain themselves when they are alone. They are pack animals and need the pack for exercise and socialization.
A dog in a yard all day won’t do much more outside than inside other than not chew up the house or crap in it and they only do that if they aren’t trained properly. They are also prone to bark for long periods of time out of boredom.
You also can’t forsee threats from the neighborhood such as kids that may tease the dog through the fence while they are at work causing it to either become timid or mean.
Winner. We have done this several times in the past.
Boots was a 45 lb black and white lab mix that loved everybody, but if he heard someone he did not recognize outside the house his bark would rattle windows.
Indiana Bones was a Shepard mix at about 95 Lbs. Again loved everybody, but barked at everyone that used the front door (we all use the back door when we come home) We had a guy break in once when my daughter was home alone with the dog. The dog went ape shit and the guy left. Indy got steak that night. Our mailman was convinced that he was Cujo.
Now we have Toby, a pit /Shepard mix. He is about 60 lbs and is a true lover until someone comes to the door, then he barks like hell. As a bonus he has the head shape of a pit, and that alone scares people.
Boots and Indy were little puppies when we got them, Toby was a young adult.
We have a pure-bred Welsh Corgi we adopted from rescue and a big old mutt from the animal shelter.
Peanut, the Corgi, will use his high-pitched bark at anything that sounds like a knock on the door. Eddie, the mutt, doesn’t bark often, but when he does it sounds like a wolf about to kill a grizzly bear. Of course, he’s a coward, but when Peanut gets him going, I have no doubt that his bark and growl would chase off any thug.
Peanut will fight anything and Eddie will go and hide. For us, it’s a good combination.
Well if the dog can’t be seen I’m not sure if it matters how big it is. FWIW my mom has a hairy dachshund, and it barks at the door if I even open the screen door, but it doesn’t bite, and even when I play with it to play bite me, it’s unable to muster up enough strength to hurt at all. That said, with training, any dog will bark at burglers.
A dog that loves everyone, but barks at anything that goes by the house? The puppy in this album.
Now, do you want a dog that barks to alert you to an intruder outside, or a dog to scare intruders away with its bark?
The answer to this question will make the resulting dog quite different.
some friends of mine have a english bull mastif/moose thing. shes about 120pounds and when she barks, its hard to really describe the sound this dog makes, a really deep booming bark.
and while I was visiting the dog was sleeping on a mattress when their 2 year old girl runs, leaps into the air with her knees pointed forward like some mortal kombat fatality move landing on the dog, I thought I was watching her last moments on earth but the dog just looked at her then went back to sleep.
as for making a run
rope strong enough for the dog in question
at least 2 things to tie the rope to that are also strong enough for the dog in question
one (maybe more) pulley.
thread pulley onto rope, tie off the ends of rope, tie a lead for the dog to the pulley, now the dog can run around with a lot of freedom but still be restrained.
I made a run once shaped like a capitol T the top of the T was 2 trees in the front of the yard and had the same set up, one rope, one pulley.
then the leg of the T was tied to that pulley and the garage way at the back of the property. and the dogs lead tied to the leg of the T. so now he can run from front to back and left and right giving him almost total run of the yard.