It's a (British) dogs life

[Cruddles]

To set the scene, I'm originally from Australia and my wife is from London, and we live in the South East of England. We have two children under 5. My wife has always talked about getting a dog one day.

A few weeks ago we moved into our forever home, part of it is a fairly decent size garden, would be about 20m long by 8m wide. Also there's a large garage at the rear of the garden, and a utility room in the house accessable from the side.

When the discussion of having a dog comes up it seems my wife and i have very differing views of how it's managed. Growing up in Australia we always had a dog. It would live in the garden and provided with a kennel. At night we would put the dog in the garage with a basket with blankets in it. The dog would be allowed in the house when the family was at home, but there would be strict rules about where in the house it could go, bedrooms were definitely a no no. The dog would be walked 3-5 times a week, weather dependent, and it never travelled in the car anywhere.

My wife's experience of having a dog is it lives inside with the family, including sleeping on beds. It would remain inside if everyone was out, letting it out in the garden was just for going to the toilet or having a play. It would be walked two times a day, no matter the weather, and would often go in the car with them to places.

I believe that our house provides the kind of set to i had in Australia for keeping dogs, and I'd be happy to get an appropriate dog now. My wife insists that the "Australian" way is cruel for the UK as Australia "is always hot" so dogs can live outside. This is utter jibberish and my wife partly says it tongue in cheek, but she insists the "British" way is the only way to keep a dog. I would be happy to set up an area in the garage or the utility room that the dog could access that would have heating for the really cold days as a compromise, but this isn't enough.

If it is the "British" way i don't think i ever want a dog. I already have two children, i don't want a hairy, slobbering third one.

So my question is, is my wife correct? Does everyone else keep dogs the "British" way and I'm cruel, or is she over the top?

Just to say our dogs lived in the house fully but sleeping on beds is a no no. They had their own bed on the floor in my bedroom.

I’m not sure it has to be either extreme. Our dogs growing up lived in the house but spent a fair amount of time outside (sniffing around, rolling on the grass, digging newly planted shrubs, asleep). They weren’t allowed on furniture or upstairs and definitely not on beds. They were very much part of the family. They had a long walk every day (whatever the weather) but had access to the garden the rest of the time. We sometimes took them with us in the car, depending on where we were going. They slept in dog beds downstairs.
Pet dogs don’t usually live outside in the uk and it’s accepted that they are walked daily but otherwise the house rules are quite variable.

@Cruddles

Unless you’re saying you both work out of the house FT and you want the dog outside all day when no one is home? In which case it’s not the right time for you to have a dog.

And if it had a suitable shelter such as a heated garage or utility room, why not?

Because dogs are sociable pack animals (as has been explained a lot on this thread) so need either canine company or human company for a large part of the day.

It’s not about shelter & access to the outdoors vs indoors. If you can’t offer it your time - if you want it lonely outside 5 days a week, and can’t even walk it (or pay for a dog walker) - then it’s not the right time for your family to get a dog. Sorry.

What about barking upsetting the neighbours if left outside all day?

I bet your childhood experience didn’t have close neighbours did it?

I've lived in rural Oz for years and outside dogs are pretty common here. And not just working dogs.
None of the ones I know are chained up and all seem perfectly happy.
Nobody bats an eyelid. (Apart from me as a pom)
The practice i really abhor is when you see them chained in the tray on the back of a Ute swaying around. That makes me furious.
But I also know a lot of people whose dogs live inside, and are raised, I suppose, the "British way". Mine included.
I guess outside dogs are part of Aussie culture here in woop woop . Can't comment on city pups!
But the British dog owning culture is definitely dogs inside with the family and you will never win your argument! I think you're going to have to have a big rethink.

I think it's a rural/ urban- suburban split.

I'm in Sydney and all the dogs I know live indoors.

In fact I'd be MORE worried about dogs here living outside in the height of summer, than British dogs in their coldest months.

It can be in the 40s and higher for weeks, and the dogs we've had have always needed somewhere to retreat from that.

A garage or shed, by definition, has no kind of insulation. A cold dog can benefit from the right bedding and blankets, you can't find a similar way to help a dog when it's still 34 degrees at 9pm.

All the dogs I know are house dogs, unless they're on a farm or property.

Again, even then it's different because they're sleeping with other dogs around, not alone. That would be a horrible thing to do to a sociable creature.

Being outside is not just about the weather @Cruddles, it is about the dog - its safety (as dog theft is ridiculously prevalent) and about your dog being with its family.

My dog can happily spend the day inside while I'm in work, fast asleep on his bed. He doesn't dirty or bark or get upset. I've checked by coming back to watch him or coming home early. But will not happily settle outside. If left outside will lie at the door waiting to get back in.
My thoughts are that when he is in the house, he knows he is safe and we'll come back.