I recently got into an argument over the issue of walking my dog. I have a "border-aussie", a Border collie-australian shepherd mix we bought from a shelter. I don't use the term "rescue" because I wasn't out to save any dog, I was saving money by getting an unwanted dog, instead of one with "papers".
Turns out, I got a great deal. My dog, now a year old, is incredibly smart. And very good with my kids. The idiots at the shelter thought she was blind (see "ghost eyes" and australian shepherds) and deaf. She may have hearing loss in one ear, but she responds to commands. She loves going outside and has killed one naughty rabbit so far. My only complaint about this dog in fact, is that she follows me around everywhere, chews/slobbers on me all the time and is otherwise a canine groupie. And I'm told I should be grateful for all that attention.
Anyways, I bought the dog because the wife and kids wanted a little pampered furball to play with. I wanted a dog to scare away all the varmints that keep coming onto my property from the former-farm and wooded area behind us (neighborhood in front of us, wild area behind us). We get coons and possums that root in the trash making a horrible mess on my carport. We get squirrels that chew holes in the plastic lids of the garbage cans. We get birds crapping everywhere. We get rabbits that killed my arbor day tree last year by gnawing the leaves off. We see deer and foxes prowling outside our backfence. And we get feral wild cats crapping in our flower beds.
Since the neighbor to my left had three dogs for ten years that barked nonstop, and the people across the street had multiple barking dogs, I didn't think there'd be any problem with getting a dog myself. But now, almost a year later, one of my neighbors doesn't like my dog barking.
The dog behavior websites offer up some strange ideas for quieting my dog. For one, they all insist she's bored. Funny how when I look outside, I see her barking at birds, squirrels or cats, and that she quits when they go away. Sounds "territorial" to me.
The dog sites further claim that I should "crate" my dog all day, so the neighbors don't have to hear her barking. Crating is where you lock your dog in a cage that's barely big enough for them to turn around in (it's small to make them feel safe). Kinda of like a doggy prison. Then you hire a dog walker to come over three times daily to let your dog out to stretch it's legs.
What?!
Can you imagine if people treated their children that way? I'm no animal rights nut- I firmly believe dogs are property and not sentient beings. But lock them in a little cage all day? That's crazy.
When I was a kid, dogs spent all day in the yard. They had dog houses and shade trees. They didn't have toys. They had sticks, and any occasional wildlife that wandered into range. Farm dogs had it even better, wandering around wherever they damn well pleased, and maybe coming home for dinner.
The dog websites also advocate dog walking. Again, I have to look to my childhood. Walking the dog was what you did when you lived in an apartment or didn't have a fenced-in backyard. You took your dog outside, maybe on a leash, so it could crap and stretch it's legs. If you had a yard, you let it do it's own thing when it wanted. When I proposed this theory on one site, pointing out that wolves and coyotes don't get taken for walks and seem to do just fine, I was told that they get to roam miles and miles.
Hey, my collie runs circles around the yard. She ain't sittin' in one spot all day long.
Again, I have to compare this to kids. Primarily because it always irritates me when animal nuts go on and on about rescuing dogs but never work to feed or clothe children. I don't walk my kids. Oh, sure, I take them to the store and make them walk. I take them to the zoo and walk them around or sometimes take them to a park. But I don't walk around the neighborhood like a busy-body, dragging my kids with me. They have a yard they can play in- with a swing even. Not to mention, they'd rather be inside watching Spongebob or playing video games. Or reading a book.
Is it cruel I don't take my kids for walks? Maybe if I did, they'd be too tired to misbehave. That's one theory behind dog-walking. A tired dog is a good dog.
How can people who think their dogs are more important than people treat them so poorly? Locking them in solitary confinement all day, then dragging them around on a leash in the evening? How is it not cruelty to wear a dog out so that it is incapable of playing? Not feeding them produces the same results, and it's considered cruel.
Moreover, I want someone to explain to me how "letting" my dog bark is rude to my neighbors. I have to listen to kids yelling and birds singing. How rude. I have to listen to loud music from my neighbors' guests. How rude. If only there was some ultrasonic device I could hang outside my house, disguised as a bird house or some other innocuous-looking object, that would emit painful auditory pulses when my neighbors or the birds were being rude. I mean, they make them like that for dogs, so why not people?
I guess to be a "good dog owner" I need to lock my dog in a hamster cage, all day long, then drag her by the throat around the neighborhood, keeping her muzzeled to prevent her noise-making, while bombarding her ears with an ultrasonic dog whistle.
Yeah, that's humane.
Well, I have to respectfully disagree with you, Trog. I have a neighbor whose dog barks all hours of the night. It is beyond annoying. Now I’m just trying to get a good nights sleep. They keep the poor pooch tied up, which probably doesn’t help matters any. To top it all off, this is like their third dog. They get these dogs because they’re cute or whatever, keep em long enough for me to hate both the dog and its owners and then something “terrible” ends up happening. Usually, the poor thing ends up hit by a car, runs off, or gets dumped for another loud mouthed canine. It’s beyond rude. It’s cruel to torture both the dog and the neighbors.
I’d agreed with you, Chad, that a dog barking all night is a nuisance- unless it’d driving away varmints or burglars, or maybe telling you your house is on fire.
But what about during the day? Aside from crickets and frogs, most animals make noise during the day. Why do dogs have to be quiet? Hell, even kids aren’t quiet during the day.
What irks me the most though, is the dog “lovers” who believe in solitary confinement and inducing fatigue in their “pets” (or prisoners) to stifle them.
I’d rather listen to a dog barking then all the damn birds that ruin my weekend sleep-ins. Or the kids shrieking in fun outside my window as they cavort in the neighbor’s front yard or the culdesac/playground.
I don’t like windchimes much either. They annoy me. And they’re not natural. Nowhere in nature will you hear windchimes.
And loud car stereos? Thanfully tickets can be written for that.
I’d have to say my dog barking- repelling varmints when they come near her territory, is far better than hearing one of my neighbors and his wife yelling at each other.
I totally disagree with this. When you said that wolfes and coyotes don’t go for long walks, I was seriously asking myself what is wrong with you. They are outside all day. Running cirlces in a backyard does not give a dog the exercise and especially the interaction it needs. It can lead to behavior problems and so much more. I have a Golden Retriever, they are fairly active dogs and I give my Golden at least 1.5 hours of exercise and if that means that I have to get up at 5:30AM just to take him on a quick jog or a bike ride. He’s extremely well behaved, knows all kinds of commands and follows them and NEVER barks because even when I do leave him outside, I give him “a job” or something to do…or he is simply exhausted enough from the exercise he received so that he is content. Having a dog is just like having a child. It’s a lot of work if you do it right and if you complain that you can’t find the time in your busy schedule to fulfill your dogs needs, maybe you should not get one in the first place. Buying a dog should not be a spontaneous decision, you need to sit down and make a long-term commitment…there is SO MUCH to know when owning a dog and sadly this kind of ignorance exists in many households, which just leads to more “misbehaved” dogs that end up in shelters. If a dog misbehaves, it’s almost always the owners fault. Sad to read an article like this. I hope you change your way of thinking for your dogs sake.
Uh… I didn’t say coyotes and wolves don’t go for long walks. I said they don’t get TAKEN for long walks. You made my point- wolves and coyotes run around all day getting exercise. God doesn’t have to hook up a Holy Leash and drag them around the neighborhood like so many pet owners.
By the way, dogs don’t need “exercise”. They need activity. Execrise is a substitute for activity. Like when you sit on the couch all day, eating bonbons, instead of cleaning. Your body starts to get all weak and flabby. Exercise, a short intense burst of activity in regular dosages, makes up for your Jabba the Hutt lethargy. My yard dog can run and jump and play all day, instead of being locked in solitary like so many pet-prisoners. She doesn’t need “Exercise”.
When did I complain I can’t find time for my dog? I didn’t buy her to pet- I bought her to work. She’s now fully trained (enough) for me; every morning I open the door, walk out with her, point to the back yard and say “on patrol!” and off she goes, ready to kill some more varmints (and apparently she doesn’t like the taste of squirrels, as she didn’t eat the last one she killed invading our yard).
I hope you change your way of thinking about your dog, Warden Eve. What did it ever do to deserve imprisonment in your medium-security home then being forced on a chaingang by your side. It’s a frickin’ RETRIEVER. It should be allowed to run free in a large back yard. You treat your dog like Commies treat their prisoners. Or the Japs. Your poor dog has to do a Bataan death march ever time you drag it around by the leash. By your own admission you think fatiguing your dog into “good behavior” is appropriate. What if it’s raining and you can’t go on the daily death march? Do you withhold food to tire the dog out?
Man, where’s PETA when all these poor, imprisoned, abused dogs need them?!
What is freakin’ wrong with you? There is absolutely nothing more annoying than a barking dog and you’re lucky you haven’t been charged with disturbing the peace or someone hasn’t poisoned the fleabag. If you are bothered by other barking dogs and/or loud music, file a complaint against the offending neighbors for disturbing the peace. If you’re bothered by yelling kids, tell the parents to keep their kids away from your property. As for the birds, only a total freak would complain about singing birds. Either stop your fleabag from barking or get rid of it!
So it’s okay for birds to disturb the peace, but not people or dogs? Where do you stand on airplanes? I live under a flight path- the UPS planes that fly over directly multiple times every day make way more noise than dog, bird or kid.
Dear Uneducated Dog Owner–take your dog back to the shelter so it can have a chance at finding a smarter owner; then, the next time you think you’d like a dog, go to a ceramics store and get yourself a statue. –IS
Hey, I-S, do you wear your college degree on your chest like Superman’s “S”, or is it just hanging on the wall? You sure put great import on your “intelligence”. Oh, and you’re not just a spectator if you interact by posting drivel like this.
Finally, I don’t think I’de find a statue at a ceramics store- they deal in sculptures.
I know I’m about 6 months late but I totally agree with you on this. I mean I’ll walk the dog if we both appear sufficiently bored but otherwise she plays in our large (very large) yard. She chases off cats and possums and is quite happy. She even sleeps in a kennel… outside! Gasp!