Inside or outside?

[edthatsme]

Do you keep your GSD inside or Outside?... and what is your reason behind it?...

im not sure how i want to keep Sydnee... i know they will be fine either way... but im sure one is harder than the other...

So pros and cons, with your experience

[JerzeyGSD]

INSIDE!

I've never actually kept my dog outside but here are reasons why I think a GSD would be completely unhappy outside:

1. Jerzey is like my shadow. If I stand up, she stands up. If I leave the room, she leaves the room. She is under my feet to the point of being annoying but that is because GSDs just LOVE their families. I honestly think it would be unfair to leave a dog that finds so much pleasure in being around its people outside by itself.

2. Leaving the dog outside is just plain dangerous. Anyone could bait the dog, throw things at it, throw poisoned food over the fence, etc. Sure, all of these things sound a bit extreme but it's all possible and has happened.

3. I, personally, think that the dog would get bored outside by itself all day and that's more likely to leave to distructive behaviors like digging or trying to find a way over the fence!

4. I also think that a dog that is by itself outside all day will not get the training or socialization that is required for it to be a healthy dog. GSDs get a bad rap because of their size and it's too easy for them to be labeled "dangerous" over things that wouldn't be as big of a deal if another dog had done them. I just think that you are asking for an ill-mannered dog if it isn't around the family learning how to behave around people, in the house, around strangers, etc.

That's all the reasonings I can think of for now but I am sure others with more experience will offer more suggestions and advice. Good luck with your decision making.

[sagelfn]

Inside

my reasons:
I want him inside
GSDs need to be with their pack
its not safe for him to be left outside all the time (risk of ppl hurting him poison,shooting, etc.. plenty of stories out there)
bad winters hot summers
expense of having an outdoor all weather kennel
i wouldn't be able to bring him to peoples houses for sleepovers since he probably wouldn't know how to behave indoors
a dog can't protect you if its stuck outside
barking/howling

cons:
shedding
being followed to the bathroom ALL the time
not being able to move because a 75lb puppy fell asleep on you lap and then your legs start to fall asleep

[FloridaKerrin]

Definitely Inside for ALL the reasons stated above plus they're wonderfully warm lying next to you on a cold night

[Miikkas mom]

Inside

For all the reason mentioned above. Plus, I don’t want to be a rude neighbor. If I were away from home, running errands, at work, etc., there is no way of knowing what the dog is doing while it’s stuck outside. Is it barking and disturbing my neighbors all day? I don’t want an angry neighbor coming to my door complaining about my dog! Plus, I love her too much not to have her right next to me when I'm home.

[LDB158]

When I first got Speedy, I was living with my parents, so for the first 3 1/2 years, he stayed only OUTSIDE. They did not want him in the house, because they both had allergies. The only time he came inside was at night to go into his crate.

Now that I have my own house (as of Sept 09), he stays INSIDE with me. That was the reason I wanted to get my own house was so I could let him stay inside with me. I've never potty trained him, so I'm surprised he doesn't use the bathroom in the house. He's only had one accident since I've lived here. He probably spends a couple of hours in the day outside playing in the backyard, other than that he stays inside with me. When I let him outside, I can tell when he wants to come back in because he starts barking. At night time, I can't leave him outside at all, because he barks all night wanting to come inside to his crate. Sometimes if I leave the house (during the daytime only), I will leave him outside. If I let him inside when I am not home to roam free, which I've done once, he chews up stuff. I came home with paper towels tore up all over the floor.

Satin is also an inside dog. I got her at the beginning of the week and she had already been potty trained. She does good roaming around the house, I haven't had any problems with her chewing anything up yet. I did have a ripped up shade on the door from where she jumped up, but that needed to get rid of anyway. Lol.

I don't think either of them would like to be only an outside dog now. They follow me from room to room. They both fall asleep with me on the sofa. I don't know how I fit on the sofa with two gigantic dogs, but we make it work. Lol. They both sleep in my bed with me if I am not working and don't have to crate them. I was trying to keep them off furniture, but I don't think I have a problem with them listening to me. If I want them off the furniture, I say "Off" and they jump off. And Satin doesn't get on any furniture unless I'm on the furniture that she gets on. The good thing about them being inside is I pay extra close attention them and know when they get sick. Before, when Speedy was outside, he was "never" sick or so I thought, I may just not have noticed, with me not watching him so closely all the time.

I love having both of them as inside dogs. The only negative is that I have to sweep everyday. Lol. My house is covered in dog hair, as is some of my clothes. Lol. I baked food for work one day and all of my co-workers were like "There better not be dog hair in this!" So yeah. . Lol.

It's kinda crazy some of you were talking about throwing poisoned things over the fence. Both of my dogs got sick with vomiting, and that was the thing my mom asked me, if I thought someone threw something poisonous over the fence. And I was just like OMG!! I went walking all over my back yard with a flash light trying to see if I saw anything. I've decided now when I let them outside, I may just have to stand out there with them to make sure they don't eat anything they aren't supposed to.

[Chicagocanine]

Inside. I would never keep a German Shepherd outside unless outside was where I was!

There was just an incident on another forum I am on where someone's German Shepherd was poisoned when let out for a few minutes on their porch.

[Lucy Dog]

Lucy stays inside with me because she's part of my family. I wouldn't expect my mother to stay/sleep outside, so why would i expect anyone else in my family to?

[Syaoransbear]

Indoor/Outdoor

Outside when I'm not home, inside when I am.

Pros:
He gets some exercise while I'm gone and is free to potty when he needs to.
He doesn't scream and hurt himself trying to escape his crate.
He likes it, and willingly goes outside even though he knows I'm not following him out there.
Same amount of socialization as an indoor dog.
Less hair.
Don't have to worry about him escaping his crate and getting into the bird room and killing all of my birds.

Cons:
I can't really think of any.

I have a large yard that is surrounded by friendly neighbors that I know(and two are cops). I can't imagine why someone would poison him anyway since he does not bark when he's outside. It's likely most of our neighbors don't even know that he's ever even in the backyard. I've watched him before, he just sleeps in his dog house, poops, pees, checks the windows to see if I'm home yet, unburies toys, plays with them, then buries them again. Even when my one neighbor called his name, Chrono just stared at him and didn't move from lounging on the patio furniture. The only destructive thing he's ever done is dig up one of my birds that I had buried years ago. He doesn't even go in the garden in summer. He's extremely well mannered in the backyard and I've never got a single complaint about him, and I have a very, very cranky neighbor that would let us know if he was being noisy at all(this is the same neighbor that called Chrono's name and has said Chrono is his favorite dog on the block because he's the only one that doesn't bark or rush the fence).

[sagelfn]

FYI i was kidding about the cons, I love it..okay except for the shedding but its worth it