I have a couple of relatives who have dogs kept on chains, presumably because they don’t have fenced yards to keep them in (and out of the road).
Any opinions on this??? I’ve personally never liked the idea, and was wondering if that’s generally considered “OK.”
I think it is cruel and dangerous to the dog. It is also illegal in some areas to keep a dog chained when it is not in a fence.
Well personally I would never ever chain my dog to anything for two reason.
A) I have plenty of land for the dog to run on, and not bother anyone.
B) I have a Rhodesian Ridgeback, and she’d most likely break the chain 
I don’t like it, but I have chain my german shepherd for quick trips to the bathroom. He can’t be contained in my fenced in yard (unlike my doberman and airedale). Even when I kept him kenneled in a 6-ft high kennel I’d chain him inside it because he’s an escape artist. When left loose inside my house he learned to unlock my windows and open them up. He’s not in anyway a dangerous dog, but the neighbors were intimidated. My local dogpound doubles the fee each time they catch a dog, and the last time I got him out I had to pay $500 (it was supposed to be $800, but I talked them down). I now make very sure he’s kept contained, and he’s in a crate while I’m at work.
StG
My golden retreiver never barked and had a great temperment. Very friendly and always happy.
Unless he was chained. for some reason, he couldn’t stand it.
Chaining a dog is one of the worst things anyone can do. It disgusts me to see someone keep a dog on a chain, or even to keep a dog outside all the time. There is no reason for this that the proper care and training cannot solve.
Granted, some people do this and just don’t know any better, or think that the dog doesn’t mind. Some people do it because they just don’t care.
Don’t have a fence? Walk your dog. Take her to a park. Put the dog on a long tie-out for exercise while you stay outside and keep him company!
Your dog’s an escape artist? With proper training and love, your dog will not want to wander. A dog that tries to get out all the time is telling you he’s not happy where he is. Your dog wants to work (remember their breeding), and wants to please you. Take advantage of that natural instinct with training and lots of praise. It may take a while, months even, but the payoff is worth it.
Dogs are social animals, and look to you and your family as their pack. To isolate them is cruel. If someone wants an animal to keep outside all the time, they should get a cow or a goat instead.
Read more here, and pass this information on:
http://www.dogsdeservebetter.com/think.html
http://www.dogsdeservebetter.com/articles.html
Where we live, we are not allowed to put up fences (evil homeowner association).
Whe we are outside we let the dogs wander, but keep an eye on them, but when they just need to do thier business, we tie them out, but not for hours. The dogs bark once or twice to let us know they are done and ready to come in.
The barks are cute, not quite full blown barks, just little “woofs”.
Chaining a dog out side for thirty minutes while you are keepign and ear out for them isn’t an issue to me. It is the people who chain their dog up outside all day while they are gone that bother me.
If you don’t have a fence and your dog is chained to a tree what he going to do and where is he going to go if kids start picking on him or another dog comes after him? My sister once had a dog that choked its self on a chain while tied to a tree in the back yard. It just isn’t safe for the dog.
The only time my beloved Shep/Lab woofer is tethered (other than on a leash) is on a long tie-out when I’m out working in the yard or garden. She loves it. She can romp around and “help” by nosing out newly planted flowers, bringing me sticks to toss, etc.
This may sound weird, but her tie-out is attached to her collar with a small lock. People have tried to steal her twice. Both times happened when I was barely out of sight for a few minutes, i.e. ducked around the corner of the house and inside the garage putting gardening tools away for less than a couple of minutes. In the span of less than two minutes, one guy had unclipped her tie-out and was leading her away down the street. She’s so friendly she happily went along, just assuming he was another nice human who wanted to play with her. The fool said he thought 1. that she was a stray and 2 looked like a good fighting dog. Don’t think there wasn’t a fast, vicious little scene over THAT one. (I called the cops but he was long gone by the time they got there.)
Accidents and animal predators aren’t the only dangers to chained-out dogs.
Veb
IMO, a dog on a 10 ’ chain hooked to an 100’ run is a lot better off than one in a 8’ x 20’ chain link kennel when it comes time for the neighbor kids to trespass and attack the dog with squirt guns, BB guns, sprays and yelling and shouting and noise makers.
IMO, anyone who keeps an Siberian Husky in a warm house should be burned at the stake.
IMO, anyone who has a working dog or hunting dog and keeps them under physical control so they can not do what they are trained to do needs to be placed on a 6’ chain for 90 days. Take your dumps and urinate in full view and all.
There is a lot more to responsible per ownership than just keeping pets in houses and in fenced yards.
You won’t let me shot trespassers and you won’t let me chain my dog but when the trespass and sue me because the GUARD dog bit them you same people will award the $$$$$$$$$$$.
There is NOT a single answer to proper care of animals.
Quit acting like one answer fits all. :: sheesh :: :smack:
I chain my dog to let her outside to go to the bathroom. There’s a pole next to the door, and the chain (actually a plastic-coated cable line) is about thirty feet long, to give her plenty of room to roam around to find The Perfect Spot to pee. The length of time it takes to find The Perfect Spot is the reason why I just clip her to the cable and then let her out the door. She has a warm fur coat, whereas I do not. She is outside alone for less than 15 minutes at a time. There are no trees to worry about tangles.
Our neighborhood does not allow fences, and people that allow their dogs to roam (for some reason, inevitably to my yard) irritates me to no end. There is a highway less than 100 yards away, and our area is heavily populated with those sick wastes of human skin who steal pets for dog fighting. Thus, for me, chaining my dog up is the only sensible thing to do. I don’t think it’s cruel in the least.
Chaining, or tethering a dog for short periods is fine. If you don’t have a fence, or the dog is very selective about peeing and it’s cold, whatever, it’s not cruel. Though as mentioned, it’s important to keep an eye on your dog. No fence to keep the dog in also means no fence to keep a dog thief, or taunting neighbors, out. It’s the idea of a dog that spends its entire existance at the end of a chain which is cruel.
Well, if someone were trespassing and were bitten by a guard dog, I sure wouldn’t award them any money!
I can understand your point of view, but…
What’s worse, someone trespassing on your property, or someone trespassing in your house, like, when you and your family are asleep?
Now, where would you want your guard dog, outside on a chain, or in the house with you?
I agree with you there. My point that I did not get across was that the same people IMO who want one answer for dog care are the same people who do silly things like I mentioned concerning a guard dog. I don’t do dogs in the house but I also do not believe in dogs in the city either. Do0gs can be cared for quite well outside. I have even gone the heated house way when others had animals. YMMV
I am surprised more people do not insist that was keep all animals in special housing.
My dog stays inside with me, or outside with me. If we aren’t in the fenced back yard, she’s on a leash or on a 30’ tether so she can happily bark at and terrify all the neighborhood folks walking by toward the park. I can’t imagine any other lifestyle for us. I mean, why have a pet if that pet isn’t going to be an integral part of your life?
My sister in Michigan doesn’t have a fenced yard, so, in nice weather, she keeps their dog on a “run.” Sort of a high cable strung between 2 trees, with an attached sliding line that comes down to the dog’s collar. The dog can run the length of the line, with probably a 30’ radius. Allows him to have free run of the yard without escaping.
I hate seeing dogs chained up.
When my dog Maggie was a puppy (she’s a cockapoo, meaning that as a puppy she was absolutely tiny), she had different owners. She was kept outside, in the Arizona summer (110+ degrees), all day, with very little water. All of us hate chains.
Sometimes I take Maggie to the park and I attach her leash to something very near us so she doesn’t run off while I swing or whatever. She’s always really really close to us, but she hates it anyway so we never do it for longer than a minute.