see thats my point, with it being a working farm, there is pretty much something going on all the time. the dog is loose and follows the owners about when they are either with the horses, or moving the cows from fields to the sheds or sorting out the chickens etc. the ammount of time the dog spends on the chain and in her kennel is probably the time that if she was in the house, she would be asleep.

Out on the farm.


They have a farm, so have to much land to fence in.

The dog by your admission is used as a guard dog, one tied to a chain,

Seen to many people use this excuse and convince others the dogs are happy.

oh yeah she is out on the farm, so the majority of time is free when the owners are working. my friend says guard dog, as i havent seen her guard i have no idea how much this true. she didnt do much guarding when i walked in
like i said before she is tied to the chain, how different is that to a dog being shut in a kennel and run? is it different because she's tied up rather than enclosed?
i can only go of what ive seen and she is a happy well looked after dog.

My dogs are out at work with me all day. Currently they either stay in my adapted car or come round with me when I'm working. If I'm doing something where my attention has to be fully on the task at hand, i.e moving livestock, I tie them to an object near by on their leads, this is for their own safety as there is a lot of equipment around and the horses I work with aren't all dog friendly... They are perfectly happy with this and would happily stay tied to a fence all day as long as they had a bowl, water and shelter and could keep an eye on me walking to a fro. However soon we will be having staff kennels built and my boys will have to go in there all day. TBH I know mine would be happier tied up where they can see me than stuck in the kennels round the back.

I can understand chaining a dog on a farm where there are various pieces of equipment and numerous dangers to an unsupervised/part supervised dog. I can also understand why a farmer would prefer to secure the dog than have to worry about it whilst they are trying to work. Farming is one of the most dangerous jobs in the UK and unfocused workers are a risk to everyone. There was an incident earlier this year where a farmer entered a cattle field to rescue his dog and got crushed to death by an angry cow! If that dog had been secure that incident would never have happened.

However even with all of that taken into account I do not see a need for the dog to be outside all the time, after all even farmers sit down in the evenings, why not let the dog in then or atleast over night? I can understand not wanting to secure an area with the dog in as well, as if you want the dog in the main yard a chain link secure fence would drasctically reduce space and create problems for large vehicles turning round. This often leaves the only option of putting a run round the back of the buildings where the dog will get little to no interaction, not deliberately but just because that's the way it goes.

What I'm trying to say is that there are worse things than spending the daytime on a chain but at the same time I do not agree with dogs living 24/7 on a chain outside. If a dog is to be kept outside permanently (for a real reason) I would expect it to have it's own area where it does not have to be chained even if it only uses this over night so that it can see people coming and going during the day.

my friend lives on a farm, and their collies live outside, they did try to make one a 'house dog' but he hated it! He's a lot happier outside, they are in a kennel with a run overnight (11pm to 5am usually) and then they are free to roam when they are not working.

My great aunt used to farm and her collies roamed or worked all day and then slept just inside on the porch bit between the two front doors (if that makes sense) overnight. I know a lot of working farm dogs who do the same, out all day and then sleep in the kitchen.

I have absolutely no problem at all with how this rottie is kept. I would have a problem if she were chained 24/7, but she is not. She is taken out for regular walks, she has food, water, shelter and is obviously well-loved. Were she not chained up, and attacked someone, then there would be a hell of hoo haa. Chains are only bad if the dog is on them the whole time, we chain our 2 on the drive when we are working out there on the cars and doing the garden, they just lie down in the shade and watch us.

Having to keep ours on leads was why we gave up camping, they were tied all the time unless we took them for a walk. I just have a problem with dogs tied outside I guess.

Much prefer a fenced area where they can wander at will.

I dont post ofen, but i have 6 dogs 4 of which are outside.

Although it is not something i like, its the way it has to be (Were getting house renovated, so are living in a caravan) and its too much squeeze for 6 people and 6 dogs (We have two small dogs - who wouldnt cope with living out) who live in.

We have 2 which are loose 24/7 so come and go as they please (We are also on a small farm)

And for two of them who couldnt be left to roam loose while no one is out or anything, theyve had there own little garden fenced off, about a quater of an acre, i would think this would be better then maybe having them chained.. as they can play and run and do other things, also they sleep in childrens play houses filled with straw and are very happy.. theyve been like this for 3 years, and while this is there last year out ( were hoping to be in house before xmas) they are extrememly happy, well fed, and cared for have plenty of interaction with people, come in and out of caravan for cuddles so no i dont think keeping dogs outside is cruel imo

We had our 14 year old spaniel go in for a check up yesterday and everything was in full working order and vets couldnt believe she was 14, so obviously being outside works for her ( we did try bringing her in for night times and she wasnt happy wanted to be back outside so if thats what she wants...

Im not going to lie, i cant wait for them all to be back in and cuddled up in bed with me..

I think we would probably have our working dogs in the house overnight if a) we had a large kitchen or porch area and b) the dogs didn't get so sh*t up out working all day.

As it is, we currently have four outside and six in - and we really can't have any more inside, as trying to keep on top of hair and mess is a full time job already.

I actually believe that living outside is the very healthiest thing for all dogs - I just wish mine would listen to me!!