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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how much our views on owning pets have changed. I grew up keeping all pets in the house. Everyone I knew did the same; the most they had were indoor-outdoor cats. Since moving down here, I’ve encountered other takes on pet ownership.
A lot of people in my area keep their dogs outside 90% of the time. They might only bring them inside during extreme weather: storms, particularly hot or cold days, etc. A lot of people also keep their cats outside all of the time, which is a more accepted practice. What’s most strange to me, however, is the woman on her street who lets her dogs roam free.
The week we moved in Jonathan met one of our neighbors when he was putting up our mail box. As they chatted she informed him that she had two dogs – one black, one tannish brown – that she let roam around outside. We live on a wooded private lane with only about seven houses, so it’s a small and somewhat isolated neighborhood.
I’ve seen the dogs around from time to time. They always run away when I approach them. I’m glad we learned about them so early. If I saw a dog wandering around like that I would chase after it, to try to see if it had a collar and tag (and thus an owner). Of course other people would be afraid of dogs running around without a leash: both are very good reasons not to let dogs run free (let alone that it’s illegal in most cases).
Around my neighborhood, though, no one cares. Most people keep their dogs outside, and in the evenings, when others come home from work and let their dogs out for a few hours, it can sound like the Twilight Bark from “101 Dalmatians.” It’s just sort of accepted that pets are animals and their place is outside.
When I look at it like that, it does make sense. Sometimes I feel like I don’t really have a right to judge them. Certainly there isn’t one accepted practice about keeping cats outside, and it’s not much different with dogs (as long as they’re provided with an enclosure).
I think about the image of a dog house: I know very few people who have one, who don’t basically keep their pets outside. The dog house is a piece of Americana, and yet in some schools of thought we’re shifting away from using it. We think that dogs should be inside pets.
I know how I feel about my neighbor letting her dogs roam. I’m worried for the dogs: I saw one run across a nearby road on which people usually drive 40 mph. What if they travel just a bit further afield and go to the 60 mph road? Also, I’m lucky that we met our neighbor and she told us about her dogs: otherwise, for all I knew, they could be wild dogs.
But I don’t feel as certain about people keeping their dogs outside. I want to say that they should let them inside, but the concept of doing so is so recent. I have my own biases about it, and I might not be correct. I guess I feel that as long as the dogs are kept healthy and taken to the vet regularly, they’re fine.
Do you think pets belong indoors or outdoors?
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Living with Dogs Might Improve Baby Health
Salmonella in Dog Food Infects Humans
*(This image by cogdogblog is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
