Dogs: Leash vs Fence

[catherine]

It is 9:57am on the East Coast, and I'm still in my robe. I did have early telephone interviews, so I might have an excuse, but, frankly, I'm amazed that these days, I stay in my robe for hours.

I attribute this to a reaction against decades of having to dress immediately upon arising to walk the dog. Since Nessie died two years ago, I have never gotten dressed right after getting out of bed. Thankfully, I work from home 100% of the time these days!

I think about getting another dog, but then I think about having to return to popping out of bed and getting dressed, no matter the weather, to walk the dog. DH is not a dog-walker. I told him I'd get a dog if he got us a fence, but he hates fences. OTOH, I have always appreciated that my dogs have made me healthier by forcing twice-daily long walks.

How do you manage the dog-walking dilemma? Do you walk? Do you fence? Do you have an electronic fence? My friend just got a Samoyed and the collar can be set to go off within a certain diameter of her house (as opposed to installing an electronic fence on property boundaries).

I love dogs. I love my robe. Any advice?

[Yppej]

I am a pajamas person not so much a robe person, and when I had a dog would go out in the yard with him in my pajamas. An alternative is to sleep in something comfortable like sweatpants that are more presentable in public if walking the dog off your property. But if you sleep naked, I guess that wouldn't work.

[catherine]

But if you sleep naked, I guess that wouldn't work.

lol!!

One of the joys of living in Vermont is that many people are like my neighbor who does his lawn/garden work in his pajama bottoms. My neighbor on the other side once came over for Friday night drinks in his pajama bottoms. SO different from my NJ friends, to say the least!

So, your suggestion is a good one as far as appropriate dog-walking outfits goes, but then there's the time situation, where I don't want to get up when the dog feels the urge. I like deciding to stay in bed for another hour. But then I would feel very guilty about forcing my dog to hold it for so long.

[Tybee]

We put up a simple temporary fence with wire fencing and step in posts like you would use for electric fencing with horses. Then you can just open the door and let the dog out in the morning, which is what we do. We made a small yard, basically, between house and barn, not as big as I would like, but it was the middle of winter and ground frozen when we got here.

[iris lilies]

We fence. I’m not walking a dog even though it’s good for them. There’s nothing like throwing open the back door and booting the dog outdoors.

If/when I have dogs at our condo I will have to be dressed minimally and take our dog out to walk around the back yard. We’re not gonna go for a walk I’ll just walk around the condo grounds, get some sniffs in, and some poops in.

My current dog has a bladder like a bull, he seems to be able to go outside only twice a day. We encourage him to go out more often, but I’m not sure that he needs to.

[razz]

It depends on the dog.

If you want a 75 lb active dog or a 5 lb shih tzu or something in between. My 30 lb beagle loves his walks but after making sure that he has his early morning 6am comfort break, I walk him 3-5 km on my schedule, somewhere between 7:30 and 10am. He gets another walk around 5pm. While a lively little guy, he loves being inside as my shadow.
I found that I wanted a fence for when I am sitting outside, am or pm, with a cup of tea relaxing. He roams around sniffing everything. I also got tired of walking him for his early comfort break especially in rain or on ice or with blowing snow. The long walks were not a problem later in the day.
Lots to consider. The electronic fence is outside my experience.

[Tybee]

One problem with the electric fence (had one years ago) is that they don't fence other dogs out, or fence in a dog without the collar and training, so if your daughter brought a dog to play, it couldn't be safely out in the yard with your dog.

[iris lilies]

I don’t like the idea of electronic fences anyway. Bulldogs are notoriously highly tolerant of pain and they just breakthrough the fence. And in Hermann everyone has a dog and there’s always a neighbor dog running through our yard so it won’t work for us there.
In Hermann he will have a small fenced area for poop and pee. He gets to that small area from the deck. So, he’ll be able to have a nice view of the yard from up on the the deck but it’s not going to be as nice as the big yard he has here in the city.

Current dog really does like to run, and he like all previous dogs loves seeing people walk by on our front sidewalk, sometimes with other dogs, and they rush along our front area and bark at people. It is the entertainment for our dogs.

[pinkytoe]

I don't have dogs anymore (which has been very freeing) but we always had a private, fenced backyard and just opened the back door. I wouldn't hesitate to go out in a robe though if I didn't have a fenced area.

[iris lilies]

I don’t wear pajamas, robes, etc. I wear soft cotton clothing which functions as day wear or night wear. I have mentioned that I look wrinkly and like a bag lady and this is why. I’m almost always dressed for public, but not dressed nicely at all.