Do you have a yard?

[Paige]

Yes or no? Fence? Not fenced? Do you leave your dogs unattended in it? Do you walk your dog on top of yard time? Every day? Some times? And if you don't have a yard how to you exercise your pooch?


I live in a basement suite but have full run of the yard. It isn't entirely fenced in but that doesn't matter as Bandit won't leave it unless I do. He isn't left unattended in it. He also gets daily walks on top of it. I take him out in the morning and late at night. He also gets an evening stroll with my landlord as he walks at about 5pm every day and takes Bandit along. He's a mechanic and does stuff out of his garage so when I'm at work Bandit is usually hanging out with him. He's a lucky dog.

 

[smkie]

Yes I have a yard.
No I do not have a fence.
No I do not leave my dogs unattended.
I would not leave them unattended even if I did have a fence.
Not because I do not trust them, but because I do not trust people.
WE walk, or I take them to the woods where they can run.
Yesterday and today it will be too cold to do either so we will do inside fun and games.
Not enough to equal a walk but better than nothing.

 

[adojrts]

Yes, I have a yard and it is fenced. The dog yard is a reasonable size 60 x 80 with lots of trees & brush in one section. I also live on a small farm, so one or two can go with me to the barn twice a day to do horse chores. But having said that I have to be careful when my dogs are off leash now, the neighbors often have their dogs (GSD's) loose and don't keep them home, therefore if their dogs are loose, I can't take my guys out off leash and that has really restricted our time out.
Yes I will leave the dogs including the pups outside unsurpvised, but never when we are not at home. Therefore, they are checked and given a head count often lol. (Fence is new, very high, buried in the ground as well and checked each week and they can't climb out)
I usually try to take one or two dogs out to blast around the farm, twice a day, rotating who goes.
Going for walks, depends on my health and that changes from day to day.

 

[KenyiGirl]

I have a yard, its medium sized, it is fully fenced all around by a 6 ft fence, then its divided into two sections so that I can have a garden that the dogs don't dig in

I was leaving them unattended to play, but they got in their first fight day before yesterday. There was blood and now I don't feel comfortable leaving them out by themselves. If I'm with them I know I can stop anything before it starts, so no more unattended play for my pups!

I do not walk them, they get their exercise from playing with each other.

 

[mrose_s]

Yes, over an acre of dog fenced yard, its beautiful. Plus 15 acres of paddocks. Most of they're excercise is now in the paddocks mainly but I still like to walk Buster into town a few times a week to keep his exposure to stuff up. Plus I don't trust him with the horses so he's always on a long leash when out of the houseyard.

 

[Gustav]

Yep, my garden has 7ft stone walls all the way around it, and I live in the middle of a terrace.. So noone is getting in from behind or either side..

In summer the dogs have free rein as far as the garden is concerned, I leave the door open, even when i'm not here and they can come and go as they please.

In winter they just go out there when they ask to, it's too darn cold to leave the door open.

 

[JessLough]

Yes, I have a yard. yes, I have a fence. Yes, Rosey is put outside alone and not supervised, but is always inside when nobody is home. She goes for several walks a day, and gets offleash front yard time as well

 

[elegy]

i have a small mud pit, but i guess that counts. six foot wooden privacy fences. my computer desk is right inside the back door, so i will leave one dog out unsupervised at a time in certain situations. mushroom cannot be out unsupervised even to pee if the neighbor is home, because he wants to eat the neighbor dog, but when she's not home, i'll leave him outside to sunbathe. sometimes i'll leave luce out to sunbathe. mostly they don't want to be outside without me.

they really don't use the yard to exercise on their own. i'll play fetch or flirtpole with steve out there sometimes, but not much because it's so muddy. mostly it's just a bathroom.

 

[BostonBanker]

Our "yard" is about four square feet, unfenced. She gets short neighborhood walks twice a day for poop breaks (she will pee on our grass), but mainly gets her exercise by going to the barn with me, off-leash hikes, or fetch on the green.

 

[CaliTerp07]

No yard. We live in an apartment on the ground floor, so there is grass outside the door, but only a few feet of it and its really just separation from the parking lot.

We exercise through 2 decent daily walks (I walk before work, my husband takes her when he gets home) In the summer when the days are longer, we go to the dog park for an hour or two 4x a week. Now that its dark so early, we just go weekends.

 

[Amber]

We have yard, fenced. The dogs can ask to go out any time, but they get a daily 2 mile walk anyway.

 

[Snark]

Got about 3 acres (some heavily wooded) fenced around the house for the dogs, and yes, they're left out unattended but can get into the basement if they want. We are one of the few around here (rural area) who actually keep our dogs contained by a fence. Evening walks have been curtailed with the days getting dark early (don't feel safe walking on the road - no shoulders, no sidewalk and people drive like idiots). I do take the dogs walking off leash on the weekends (neighbor lets me walk on their fenced 60 acres and the dogs like to play in the lake.)

 

[Tankstar]

Depends what you count as a yard lol. Our yard is about 15 feet by 15 feet
Yes he gets put out un supervised. Its about 8 feet high, no way to escape. Not like he would if he could any way. He is to much of a home body to try to wander away lol
I dont believe bac yards really excersise a dog at all Blaze just lounges in any large back yard we go to. he needs encouragement to run. So even i we had a lage back yard I wouldnt leave it up to him to excersise.
Yes he gets (normaly) a 2-3 hour hike/romp ith friends in thewoods daily If not h gets a 5km or so bike ride a day. Now that its wintrer and its dark here by 5pm. He dosent get to go every single day, but 5 or so days a week he spends about 2 or so hours at the woods/dog park with his buddies. Bike riding is pretty much out as its just a to cold for even me to handle (an Im goodwith the cold. But not whipping arond in minus anything weather on a bike lol

 

[hanslynch]

We have a large yard that Lucy can spend hours in just walking around sniffing and sunning herself. Kona on the other hand just likes to go to take care of business and then cme right back in.

They both get walks on a regular basis. On weekends we go for about an hour and then they sleep for most of the rest of the day.

 

[ACooper]

We have a yard, front and back. The backyard is fenced with a 6ft privacy fence. The dogs also have a VERY small fenced off kennel about 10x6 with a dog house in it which is mostly just their potty area.

Running around the backyard free? No, not really we are out there with them unless it's just a minute to run in and grab the mustard or something, LOL. It really isn't for their safety though, I don't want them destroying plants, drinking out of the little fake pond, etc.

Being inside their kennel, inside the fenced yard? Yes, unsupervised. I will put Orson in there when company comes with small children as long as the weather is nice. (he doesn't care a lot of small kids, just being safe to avoid potential hazards) I will also put him in there for an hour or so (again, in nice weather) to go shopping, to eat, etc. And once in a while, when he's pushed his luck about something, he'll be put in there for a time out, LOL........not usually though.

Otherwise, no, the dogs aren't really left outdoors unsupervised.

 

[Lolas Dad]

Yes we have a yard front and back. It is not fenced in. No I don't leave Lola unattended in it and even if it was fenced in I would still be out their with her. We also have a park and a beach across the street. One of my sisters has a fenced in yard and when I take her over their to play with their big black lab she is off leash but I am out their with her. The same goes for when I bring Lola to my brothers house, his back yard is totally fenced in and when Lola is over their playing with my nieces I am out their with her. If the property I am on is not fully fenced in she remains on leash but has a lot of freedom because I have her on a 16 foot leash.

Why some people that live in the suburbs leave their dogs unattended in the yard I do not know why. Lately I have seen a lot of people posting about their lost or stolen dog on CL. About 2 weeks ago someone posted their 4 month old puppy dug under the fence and was lost. Fortunately they found him but it took a full 24 hours and the neighbor found the dog in their yard.

Last week someone made another post on CL for their stolen dog. It was a Yorkie and the person that made the post said that they seen the dog stolen from the window and gave a description of the person as well as the vehicle they were driving. They also gave the police the information. I'd blame the owner because they were not responsible enough to be outside with their dog.

A few months back on the news they had shown a video of someone stealing 2 Yorkies out of a yard. The first one the guy carried and the second one followed him outside the fence. Being it was in the city and a high crime area the homeowner had surveillance cameras installed and the cameras picked up the whole event. The next day the dogs were returned. Someone had dropped them off in the yard they were stolen from.

 

[BullMastiffMama]

Yes or no? Fence? Not fenced? Do you leave your dogs unattended in it? Do you walk your dog on top of yard time? Every day? Some times? And if you don't have a yard how to you exercise your pooch?

Yep, about a half acre(-ish.)
No fence for us.
Never outside unattended, with or without fencing.
Yes, we walk (though not as religiously as when the weather's nice) them on top of that. Usually everyday, unless it's super windy with the cold, and in that case they're chauffeured a quarter mile to Petsmart, and we walk in there.
Probably three or four times a week we take them to a kids' baseball diamond and run 'em hard. As long as we clean up behind them (we do), the park folks don't mind. When the schedule gets tight, Capone does agility practice in the yard with me and gets crated for a good nap, Cassius learns a couple things out there and he runs his butt off playing with the flirt pole.

 

[PeggyPup]

We have a beautiful and spacious backyard, about 1 acre. We cleared the brush from it so the boys have plenty of space to run. It's completely fenced in with a 6 foot privacy fence.

Luke can go outside unattended as long as he likes all year round. He gets most of his exercise chasing the cars from behind the fence(HE DOESN'T do this when he's out of the backyard. I think it's just a territory thing). In warm weather, Oliver can stay out there unattended for about a half hour, but that's all my nerves can take for such a small dog. Just enough to get his business done. Any longer and I'm out there with him. In the winter he does not go out unattended. We have a nice front yard, but only Luke is allowed out there and I have to be there with him. Oliver can't go in the front because he doesn't always listen.

Oliver gets enough exercise running in the back. Luke gets a daily walk.

 

[~Jessie~]

We have a yard.
It has a 6 foot wood privacy fence.
I don't leave the dogs unattended outside.
We walk the dogs most days on top of exercising them in the yard.

 

[eddieq]

I have a yard, but it's not fenced. I do bring Xena to the yard sometimes to do her business, but more often, I walk her around the school (across the street) because there is more land and stuff for her to sniff. And, of course, I pick up after her. She generally gets at least two miles worth of walks a day. It is probably less in the winter, just because my wife hates the cold and doesn't want to go far. She almost never gets outdoor off-leash time unless it's at a neighbor's place. She has a sheltie mix and tends to keep Xena in line. We sometimes let her off leash on the football/softball fields across the street as well, but that's not often.