Hey everyone, Just wondering what everyone's opinions are on at what age is it ok to leave your puppy outdoors while at work/out? We have a lovely backyard with lots of room to run. Fully fenced with no gaps or holes. Undercover area to get out of the sun and wind and a nice bed/kennel to have naps in with water etc easily available. We love having her indoors in her play pen and she seems fine in there for now while we're out for a few hours so just wondering when we can let her be outdoors unsupervised without having to worry too much. Any feedback from experience would be most appreciated!! Thanks Tim
Hi Tim and welcome to the forum! This is one of those difficult questions... My personal answer would be 'never' - I would not leave a dog alone outside for fear it would be stolen. And I certainly wouldn't leave a puppy of under around a year old unsupervised in the garden - too much scope for eating poisonous stuff / digging holes in the lawn / eating twigs or stones / getting stuck under something / injuries / learning bad habits such as destructive behavior or barking at the neighbors. That said, I realize that this is viewed differently in different countries, and we do have members whose dogs are outside unsupervised, and it works for them. It depends on you, your puppy, your garden, your neighborhood. But for me, if your puppy is happy inside in the safe playpen, that's where I'd leave her.
Puppies can climb, dig and bark. And bark and bark and bark and bark. If you got tired of reading the word bark then multiple that ten fold by how your neighbours will feel listening to it. My childhood dog was outside and if I had that heavy coated dog again I'd leave him outside again, at least in winter. We had trouble with kids entering our yard and teasing him. He didn't bark because a good neighbour let us know and we worked on that, or my parents did. Not all neighbours are good. Somebody's bloody dog is outside right now barking, GRrrrrrrrrrr.
I think it depends where you live Tim and what sort of puppy you have. Once I get around to building an outside pen (behind a building and out of sight of the "road"), our boy will be staying outside in fine weather. I should add that we're in a rural location, 1km from the nearest tarmac with only one neighbour within 300m. Our puppy is not a barker (at least not yet )
I think this is so true. I don't think I took my eyes off my puppy untill he was quite a bit older or safely in his cage. I don't think ever really. Even now H is 5 years old, and hubby and I are curled up watching telly and H has gone off into another room, either one of us will tell the other to go and check on the dog. Of course he'll be all curled up safe and sound on the bed.
I agree with @Karen and @Jes72 - I wouldn't want my boy outside on his own - he is far too independent and likely to get into mischief that I would not dream would be possible, of that I am sure! My biggest fear would be he would hurt himself on something or somebody would take him. I accept that this is viewed differently in other countries but it is what suits you and keeps your pup safe
We have always had a dog door into the back yard. Once we were willing to give the pups the run of the house, they also had the run of the yard. I think that was about 16 weeks. If she dug a lot or barked a lot we would have had to change our plan, but neither Tilly or Cooper bark much, don't dig too much and do not try to get out of the yard. We don't have dangerous plants, but we do have lots of sticks and branches. I never really considered someone stealing my dog from my back yard, though I suppose it could happen. It is certainly not common here.
We've left Ella both inside and outside. I think a pen is a good idea for a puppy (whether inside or outside) and it might be worth doing a few tests to keep an eye on barking. We told our neighbour (retired lady) when we were first leaving Ella at home and asked her to let us know if Ella barked or cried. Thankfully she was fine.
Before Plum came along I had a vague notion that she could be outside in the Summer when I wasn't at home. I cleaned out my son's old playhouse with a view to putting a bed and a bowl of water in there. Now I have her I wouldn't trust her not to get up to mischief without being watched! She's 8 months. The garden is secure and there are no entry points (unless people decide to clamber over walls and fences) so I don't worry about her being taken or escaping. More that she will eat something she shouldn't or see a cat and go bonkers or see my neighbour through the fence and bark, bark, bark. I'm not ruling it out, but I don't see it happening until she's a fair bit older. I used to dog sit a lab and when I was out in the Summer I left my back door open so she could come in and out of the house as she pleased. All she did was potter and sleep but she was at least 7 years old when I started looking after her.
I'm in a similar situation. I used to leave the little collie we had before in our garden when I went to work, she had access to the shed with a bed and water. She was happier there than being shut in the house. When we got home from school/work the cat would be curled up in one garden chair and Angel the dog curled up in the one alongside. She would look slightly embarrassed but the cat did not of course. But Cassie at 14 months, not ready for that yet.
I don't leave Duggan outside for more then ten minutes and when I do it's to practice Recall with my whistle and he's a very well behaved boy. I prefer to have constant control and leadership over him so he doesn't learn to self reward and roam. He is never on lead at home in the unfenced garden and if left to his own devices he'd dig to China, hunt ever rodent within a 500 meter raduis of house and eat every form of vegetation possible. It is my belief his recall would suffer if left alone and as of now he's 100% with me and about 99% with my wife. If I had a fence I'd still not leave him alone. He's want to come in anyway if he was penned up. I'm also scared of theft. There is a notorious dog thief operating in the quiet rural areas of the Maritime Provinces in Canada. But I think everyone knows their own pet and has different expectations and conditioning. This is what works for us. And I personally think he's better off for it. Our new. Challenge will be keeping him on the sailboat this summer. He's a swimmer.
I like your logic JW, about not learning self-reward. I think Duggan is an adult (or nearly? ). If we didn't let our 14 weeker outside to wander and sniff around at his own pace, I don't think he would have opportunity to let off his "puppy steam", making him a terrorist inside.
Just re-read my post, i meant we don't let him outside by himself for more than 10 minutes. He's out with us all day long sometimes, just never unsupervised and without a bag of yummy treats.
Out of interest, how big is everyone's puppy play pens? I guess I'm just worried she's going to get bored in the play pen and put grow it eventually. Obviously I give her lots of toys and kongs etc to keep her entertained.
We never used a play pen. Puppy was free to roam certain sections of the house controlled by baby gates and closed doors. We also controlled his toys. He didn't get access to his toys whenever he wanted and was allowed one toy at a time and it was picked up after use. If you have a really smart pup she'll get bored more easily for sure and require more stimulating play than a toy. Usually they aren't interested in toys unless you are playing along with. We tried puzzles but couldn't find one challenging enough to keep him occupied. before kongs he got paper towel rolls to destroy, water bottles were a huge hit. We took the tops and rings off first. Sometimes I'd freeze a bit of water in one to make it more interesting but.
