In my youth I stayed over at a friends house, he was a shepherd and had a lovely working collie, in my ignorance I persuaded him to let Jess come into the house for the night, thinking she'd be over the moon to be allowed into a comfy warm cottage, not a bit of it !. The whole night she paced and whined to get back to her kennel

As long as a dog's happy living outside, I see nothing wrong with it, it wouldn't be for me, but that doesn't make it wrong.
The chain aspect, I don't like, but given the choice of the Rottie potentially being run over, or kept safe, then I see it as a necessary evil.

Like others, I think it depends on the dog and the circumstances. My two whippets are not at all designed for outdoor living; they just don't have the right kind of insulation and would be miserable. They also love being around humans more than anything and would get terribly lonely. Plus, my main reason for getting dogs was as companions. I want to have them in the house with me; I want to stroke and cuddle them when I'm chilling out at home. However, I can see that plenty of breeds and circumstancs would be fine outside, assuming all the necessary provisions were made and the dog had enough interaction etc.

When I adopted Billy he came from outdoor living. His fur had turned into a real kennel coat: thick, woolly, rough and greasy. Not at all like a whippet's coat should be! That tells me that, although his body may be able to adapt to outdoor/kennel living, it's not the best thing for him. He's been inside with me over a year now and has a lovely sleek, shiny, soft and silky coat. Just how a whippet should be

I aggree with this

Dog in Kitchen all though free to roam around has much less to see and do cooped up in the way then a dog that is part time chained up.

I think pet owners forget the averege farm dog/working dog that is outside is way more active when not chained/kenneled then a house pet.

I would challenge that somewhat.

I make no secret of the fact my dogs only have access to the kitchen. However, the door is open most of the day so they have access to the garden, and people are always pottering about in the kitchen so they are never short of company.

But I dont have a problem with dogs being outdoors anyway. Dogs mean different things to different people. I like to be able to shut my dogs away from me as their attention can become too much at times.

None of my dogs get shut in anywhere when I go out as they go with me, they are with me 24/7, unless you count the travelling we do in my van & me going into a shop/cafe etc they are never shut in

My friend has several dogs, all kennelled, never in the house. They were born in kennels, they know no different. They have access to large runs and have a large yard for exercise as well as a paddock. They are kennelled in small groups and get human attention several times a day.

Just because they live in kennels doesn't make them less of a pet.

well good for you, but the majority of people arent like that are they?

exactly.

Yes it is, it is left to guard at night and when no one is outdoors.

In the very first post it was stated the dog is a guard dog......

I don't see how that's true. If you compare a dog that lives inside, sleeps on it's owners bed at night and sits on their knee while they're watching telly to one who lives in the backgarden and has little to not access to the family, then of course it is 'less of a pet' if that's even the right way to say it, because it's contact with it's owners is much less. I honestly think the connection between a dog who lives continually in the house compared to one who lives continually outside is very different. Especially if you think that the majority of outside dogs are probably working dogs, which aren't usually viewed merely as pets.

and yes as ive put since maybe i should of used the word watch, as guard was used very loosely as my friend, and she didnt do much guarding when i walked in