Through my life I've owned nine dogs and had numerous other pets. Before I met my wife none of my previous six dogs would be considered "outdoor animals." When I was dating my wife she had two dogs (which are now also my dogs) which lived outside in the yard.
Both of my wife's dogs were well cared for and from what I could see generally happy. One of the two had issues peeing in the house but I trained her and it soon wasn't an issue. I tend to like the company or animals so I trained them both to behave inside and that's where they generally are now. Our three month old old puppy is house broken and always has been an indoor animal as well.
When I was growing up in suburbia dogs and animals were essentially indoor pets. Conversely my cousins in Minnesota had a large farm plot and had several outdoor dogs. Similarly these were cared for animals which by all accounts were generally happy. My wife grew up in a farming community and her entire family largely has outdoor animals.
To that end, what is the take the pet owners on the forum pertaining to indoor/outdoor animals? I can see the validity to both approaches but I probably wouldn't have a dog or animal live outside unless it was on a large plot of land.
They're definitely safer indoors.
My dog typically likes being outside in the daytime, even if I'm inside and it's hot outside. He'll hear noises that he'll inevitably want to investigate, and he'll bother me until I let him out. (I don't have a dog door because he's so big that a person would be able to finagle their way through one that would be wide enough for him.)
Having lost two cats who went out and never returned, since then I'm pretty adamant about no longer letting my current/future ones outside (though ironically my current cat was a stray herself that we took in). There are just too many things that can happen out there: vehicles, wild animal attacks, both man-made and natural environmental dangers, even possible strangers who find her and take her in who can't/don't want to return her.
Here in Orange County, North Carolina we recently had a vicious battle within PETA about whether it was cruel to keep pets outdoors versus cruel to keep pets indoors. Both sides have some valid points, but I think they are missing the big picture that the OP is referring us towards. We've had three dogs in a row that is/were too intense to keep indoors.
The first was a border collie mix that was bred to be a cattle dog and had to be kept outdoors all year long. Whenever we would bring her inside, she would act polite but chew on stuff even when you sat beside of her. She really wanted to be outdoors all of the time, even when it got too cold. She needed a well-padded doghouse with lots of wheat straw in the winter.
The second was also a border collie mix (that was a stray a neighbor found) that was intended to be an indoor dog. It was hyperactive indoors, but able to behave when kept on the back porch. He stayed outdoors most of the time, but we kept him on the back porch when it got cold. If the back porch got too cold, he could be crated indoors overnight. He would eventually calm down.
Our current dog is a boxer mix. She is wild and crazy outdoors, but turns into a couch potato indoors. I have had to develop a maximum-security penitentiary to keep her outside. She eats through the chain link fence in search of little children to curl up cozy with. Most of them are all miles away from here. Much of the pen is now double-walled chain link going 3 feet deep. I originally installed coyote rollers at 6-1/2 feet, both to keep her inside and keep the coyotes out (she stays on the back porch all year round at night, but in the winter the coyotes still get close in the evenings). She simply jumped over the coyote rollers. I relocated the coyote rollers to the 7-foot mark and she can't jump over them, but she can use them to clamp down and push through the top row of chain link. Now I've installed a partial fencing on top on all four sides. Seems to work. She has similar build and fur as the other two dogs, but she can't handle the cold weather and needs the back porch to be heated when the outdoor temps get below freezing. But she is quite happy being in a crate indoors, or of course, on the sofa.
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on June 18, 2021, 06:44:58 PM
Having lost two cats who went out and never returned, since then I'm pretty adamant about no longer letting my current/future ones outside (though ironically my current cat was a stray herself that we took in). There are just too many things that can happen out there: vehicles, wild animal attacks, both man-made and natural environmental dangers, even possible strangers who find her and take her in who can't/don't want to return her.
Same here. I literally have nightmares about my cats getting out. And one of my cats, Chloe, was a stray off the streets too.
For the bulk of the time I lived in Phoenix I had a lab/boxer mixed which I picked up when he was stray. That dog loved to be outside and was a infamous escape artist when he wanted out to explore. When I got him I lived on the edge of Scottsdale which backed up to the Salt River Reservation. It wasn't uncommon to find him on morning runs and have him follow me back home. This dog would get out of the yard by running at the cinder block wall and grabbing on so he could propel himself over. He stopped doing stuff like that once I started taking him for walks two times a day and it probably would have concerned me more if I was living more in the urban core.
My wife and I keep our cat inside. It's just easier that way - don't have to worry about her getting into fights with other animals or getting hit by a car, don't have to worry about her bringing fleas or other pests into the house, etc.
I won't fault anyone for letting their cats outside, though, since there are benefits to doing so. Both are legitimate methods; which is best depends on your preference and your cat's preference.
Dogs... I'm not a dog person but I am intrigued that this question even applies since dogs, unlike cats, must go outside by necessity.
Outdoor cats kill billions of birds and small mammals annually. Keep them indoors.
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2380
My black-mouth cur loves being outside. Heavy rain/snow? She refuses to come in. High heat/brutal cold? The heat she doesn't mind, but the cold makes her want to come in very quickly. she loves watching the squirrels and will wait for them to come down.
Quote from: Bruce on June 20, 2021, 06:44:16 PM
Outdoor cats kill billions of birds and small mammals annually. Keep them indoors.
So should we keep alligators indoors because they eat small mammals and birds? Cats help control the mice population anyways.
My dog would probably be dead within 1 hour of being let loose outside.
The dog I mentioned above was big on killing birds. He kept eating them for a couple years before he became more domesticated. After that he would bring them in to show me what he caught.
Quote from: CoreySamson on June 20, 2021, 06:58:45 PM
Quote from: Bruce on June 20, 2021, 06:44:16 PM
Outdoor cats kill billions of birds and small mammals annually. Keep them indoors.
So should we keep alligators indoors because they eat small mammals and birds? Cats help control the mice population anyways.
According to the article Bruce linked, cats are invasive species, although I'm not sure if that's true everywhere. Alligators are not invasive unless you move them.
I like animals but pets are too much of a hassle for me.
Quote from: Duke87 on June 20, 2021, 02:19:34 PM
My wife and I keep our cat inside. It's just easier that way - don't have to worry about her getting into fights with other animals or getting hit by a car, don't have to worry about her bringing fleas or other pests into the house, etc.
I won't fault anyone for letting their cats outside, though, since there are benefits to doing so. Both are legitimate methods; which is best depends on your preference and your cat's preference.
Dogs... I'm not a dog person but I am intrigued that this question even applies since dogs, unlike cats, must go outside by necessity.
Looking at the OP, this seems to be more about pets that live outside, not just go outside during the course of the day. So like Snoopy with his doghouse, which for some reason seems inconceivable to me as something that happens in the real world (especially with dogs; it was common for cats to roam the neighborhood during the day when I was young). If this something that used to be more common, or maybe there's an urban/rural divide?
We keep all of our animals indoors, two cats and one dog. The dog only goes outside for about five to ten minutes at a time unless one of us are in the backyard with her. Even then, she really doesn't like being outside for longer than she needs to be, and will signal that she wants to go inside if anyone comes near the door, even if her favorite human (my wife) is still outside.
Quote from: CoreySamson on June 20, 2021, 06:58:45 PM
Quote from: Bruce on June 20, 2021, 06:44:16 PM
Outdoor cats kill billions of birds and small mammals annually. Keep them indoors.
So should we keep alligators indoors because they eat small mammals and birds? Cats help control the mice population anyways.
Alligators are a natural part of the ecosystem. Cats are not. Nobody breeds large numbers of alligators and releases them into the wild to come and go as they please.
Quote from: vdeane on June 20, 2021, 10:29:32 PM
Quote from: Duke87 on June 20, 2021, 02:19:34 PM
My wife and I keep our cat inside. It's just easier that way - don't have to worry about her getting into fights with other animals or getting hit by a car, don't have to worry about her bringing fleas or other pests into the house, etc.
I won't fault anyone for letting their cats outside, though, since there are benefits to doing so. Both are legitimate methods; which is best depends on your preference and your cat's preference.
Dogs... I'm not a dog person but I am intrigued that this question even applies since dogs, unlike cats, must go outside by necessity.
Looking at the OP, this seems to be more about pets that live outside, not just go outside during the course of the day. So like Snoopy with his doghouse, which for some reason seems inconceivable to me as something that happens in the real world (especially with dogs; it was common for cats to roam the neighborhood during the day when I was young). If this something that used to be more common, or maybe there's an urban/rural divide?
That's kind of the scenario I had in mind. My current three dogs have a house and dog run on the side of the house. We usually don't leave them out there overnight but during the spring and fall it isn't uncommon for them to be out there all day.
Quote from: Bruce on June 20, 2021, 06:44:16 PM
Outdoor cats kill billions of birds and small mammals annually. Keep them indoors.
One thing worth noting: per the abstract of the linked paper, the majority of the impact on birds and small mammals comes from feral/stray cats, not from people's pets that they let outside. Which makes sense - people's pets are usually well-fed and don't need to take down prey in order to eat.
So if you want to help with this problem, feed your local stray cats (and ensure they are spayed/neutered). Helps save the birds even if they never come inside.
...or take measures to reduce the feral cat population.