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1 year old German shepherd

1K views 12 replies 6 participants last post by  bobzander 
#1 ·
Hi we have a 1 year old German Shepherd and build a 20ft X 30ft area for him to live in. How long can we keep him in there for? I am away for 6-7 hours so is it safe to keep him in there for that long? I would keep him out so he can run around because we have a big area but he alway tries to chase bikers so we cant. Thanks
 
#2 ·
With some type of shelter from the rain, sun, snow; and a pail of water, solid footing he cannot dig out of (usually concrete or maybe patio blocks), 24/7. Of course you have to clean poop daily, and ensure that the water is not spilled and changed frequently.

That is a large kennel area and fine for one dog or two.

But, if it is just one dog, then it depends on where you live. If you have kids that will torment the dog, neighbors that will object to lonely barking, a dog that will chew on himself out of boredom, or a neighborhood where dogs are stolen, poisoned or shot, then it may not be safe to keep him out.

Another thought is to have a doggy door to this secure area. An x-pen in the inside of the doggy door will prevent him from jumping all over your couch when he is full of rain or mud. If you do not want the door to go into the house, you can do it to a garage, and keep the whole area behind your house where it is not visible to the road.
 
#6 ·
It depends on where you live, really. My dogs have been outside when I am gone, or they have in/out doggy door, since I have moved her back in 2001. I have never had a dog bothered or stolen.

Can it happen?

Yes. It can happen. It can happen if they are inside in a crate too.

Most kennels do have a hole on the latch for putting a pad-lock. Not fool-proof of course, one could attach a chain to the kennel and a vehicle and pull the kennel apart. Or someone can get into your house and steal your dog. A padlock will make your dogs safer though. I have padlocked a bitch with puppies, just because they are more of an enticement, as people will sell puppies without papers if they are stolen.

It depends on the neighborhood.
 
#4 ·
Yeah, we have an area in it that has a roof that protects him from rain and since our property is 10 acres and no one is around barking won't bother anyone. We dont bring him inside because he is super hyper so he would knock down the furniture but we will train him not to soon.
 
#7 ·
We dont bring him inside because he is super hyper so he would knock down the furniture but we will train him not to soon.
I would start working on that sooner rather than later. It's exciting to be in the house since it's a novelty, which is why he's hyper. Spending all his time outdoors isn't doing anything to train him to be good in the house, the only way to accomplish that is for him to actually be in the house! Keeping him on leash or tethered to you or another family member can keep him from running around knocking over furniture while he's inside.

Has he had any training at all? The best way to get him to calm down and settle in the house is to reinforce (reward) the behavior you want, while minimizing his opportunities to practice the behavior you don't want - a combination of training and maintenance. If you don't start now, you're just delaying the inevitable, because nothing will change without some time and effort on your part, and probably some annoyance along the way too. If you're not sure how to go about it, working with an experienced trainer can help.
 
#8 ·
In our area dogs get stolen out of yards and kennels,taken from tie outs, with or without cameras present. Just because you can see your yard on a camera, doesn't guarantee that you are fast enough. It is big business for dog fighters and drug dealers and anyone else who wants free money.
 
#10 ·
Same thing here. We had a dog from every house near me stolen except mine, they took one of my Bengal cats, less than a year ago. I'm very rural. A couple of years ago I went to a National and because I had a Border Collie who was a Houdini and my dog sitter was afraid of him getting out on her another friend with a padlocked backyard and a padlocked covered pen offered to hold on to him for me. They cut both padlocks and stole my dog and hers. My houdini escaped from them but was hit by a car on the road heading home to me.
 
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