Is it cruel to leave a dog outside all day?

[Glittertips]

I am currently a few days in to a month long hospital stay. From my room I can see in to a few gardens which back on to the hospital grounds. On the first day I noticed a husky in one of the gardens and on day two it dawned on me that he was outside in the garden every single time I looked out the window.

Having been in for a few days now I realise the owner is leaving the husky outside all day when she is at work, even once she is home he doesn’t tend to go inside until around 8pm. I don’t have a full view in to the garden as the view is obscured by a tree, but from what I can see he lies on the decking most of the day.

I feel like it’s cruel leaving the dog outside all day, in all weathers (I don’t know if it has access to food and water - I sure hope so) but my partner made the point that it’s no different from people leaving their dogs in the house all day while they’re at work and at least this dog can go to the toilet.

Should I mind my own business? Should I call the RSPCA?

YABU = mind your business, its not cruel
YANBU = poor dog, call the RSPCA

speak to raspca and see what they say

If the dog has access to water and is being fed, the rspca will not be interested sadly.
I would report it anyway, so at least that can be checked.

It's probably bored shitless; does it get walked at all?

Keeping dogs outside

It depends on the dog. Some dogs love to be outside - huskies are able to be outside in worse weather than most.

A friend of mine has a dog that is clawing at the door to go outside as soon as they are up, and will stay outside until she's hungry. The only way to get her inside without a fuss is to make it obvious she's getting to go out in the car - because that means longer walks in new places!

Thanks, I suppose because I can’t tell whether it has access to shelter or food and water it would be worth reporting it just in case.

As far as I can tell, the dog doesn’t get walked (I spend a lot of time looking aimlessly out the window!). But I can’t be sure that it isn’t being walked when I’m sleeping etc. It must be so bored!

Poor dog.
What is the point in having him/her.

and 47% thinking it isn’t cruel. FML all of you.

Yes I think it is cruel. We have a thick furred dog that avoids the garden as much as possible when it's sunny and can be quite miserable in hot weather. Worse (to me) is leaving a dog/pack animal alone all day until 8pm. I know of a bearded collie that had a breakdown from being constantly left on its own.

Doubt RSCPCA would be interested, but hope so.

I’m working from home and my dog is outside. She could come in but would rather be out. I always think it must be boring for dogs to lie on a sofa all day. The garden has interesting scents (apparently) trees for shade. She like to keep an eye on the chickens. Next doors cats come and cuddle in whenever she has a snooze. Although she will shoo them out while awake if she finds one sleeping on her cushion she lies down and goes to sleep with it.

On the face of it, I think it's probably fine. My dog mostly lies inside all day. She has food at the appropriate times (realistically most dogs are fed twice a day, not all day every day) and she has water. She goes out for a wee once at lunch time. She gets a walk or plays in the garden before and after work.

On the face of it, it doesn't sound in any way different than a dog being outside all day, as long as there is some shade from the sun somewhere. My dog, even if it's the hottest day ever, will still choose to lie baking on the hot drive in the sun than lie in the shade. They like warmth, so no surprise it's lying on the decking.

I mean, if you knew it had no water all day, then yes, that would be a concern, but since you don't, I wouldn't really be getting worked up about this. Many working dogs are literally crated all day unless they are out working (which doesn't seem kind at all). We have a working dog (she is not crated, she lives a very cushy life on a very fluffy bed lying in the sun in the kitchen all day), but her mum literally lived in a crate in a barn all day when she wasn't out doing her job. Chilling in the sun in the garden doesn't sound too bad really.

It's cruel if the dog is locked out in a tiny, paved garden with no interaction or stimulation.

However most people I know with dogs generally have them outside all day, coming in at night to sleep. I think it's far crueler to have a dog couped up in the house all day with no access to fresh air.

I grew up with outdoor farm dogs who would actively fight you if you tried to bring them inside (vets trips were always fun...).

Dogs are fine to be outside as long as they have shelter, food, and water. I'm more concerned that this dog is being left alone for such a long time and not being walked, rather than the fact it's outside. Huskies especially are very hardy.

Dogs need company and stimulation / exercise. Leaving them on their own in a small back garden all day won't give them that.

Huskies like being outside they are not really house dogs I know 2 huskies who plod about the garden and are fine although a neighbour keeps reporting the. The dog warden.

Huskies are typically pretty independent and it’s probably a lot happier outside than cooped up indoors all day. Yes, it’s probably bored - but plenty of people seem to feel it’s fine to keep their dogs indoors for all or most of the day with little stimulation so it’s not going to be any more bored for being outdoors.

It's not much of a life for the poor dog is it? No stimulation for one thing.

A husky outside is going to be happier than a husky inside.

This has made me wonder if my neighbours think I’m neglecting my dog!

She's let out first thing and spends most of her day lying on the path watching the world go by, interspersed by sleeping. She’s very old and not entirely with it.

She comes inside and goes outside when she wants, while I work upstairs, often late into the evening. Unfortunately, she also insists on lying outside when it rains, it’s her choice and makes her happy. I’ve tried keeping her in and it distresses her.

We go for a walk, very short walks, due to her age, but if someone isn’t looking out the window for those 10 mins, well, perhaps they think I’m not walking her.

@PlatinumBrunette that makes me feel better that the dog is probably happy enough outside. I think I feel sad for it because it doesn’t have the choice to go inside if it wanted to, but then once the owner is home it does appear to choose to stay out for some time!

@Glittertips Huskies aren’t real dogs - they’re chaos, idiocy, intelligence and charm on four legs. If he was unhappy, the whole town would be hearing about it!

It depends really, does it have some sort of kennel for shelter? Access to water? Toys?
Huskies are built for being outdoor dogs so possibly it's happier there than stuck in the house.
We have a border collie and do leave him outside in summer, not all day though and only when we're WFH and can check he's ok, there is shade and he has water. He always gets a lunchtime walk too. Just a change of scene for him instead of being in the house.
I remind myself that dogs are kept outside all the time, especially working dog breeds. Farm dogs usually sleep outside in kennels or barns too.

Obviously different situation but my back door is left open all day and my dog invariably is out in the garden. He has his favourite spot and just lies down. Goes for an occasional wander and sniff different things but he's happiest outside.

Dogs living outside in all kinds of weather, chained up - yes that is cruel and wrong. But then... there are dogs... who have designated beds, are allowed on the sofas, have humans AT HOME, have nice woodland and beach walks daily, have open patio doors and can go inside any moment. But regardless, choose to stay in the garden all day long and only can be bribed to go indoors if they hear rattling of the leash, because leash means walkies, and walkies means even more of the outside. Those dogs might be mine, yes.

Most working dogs are usually in large kennels where they can walk around, sleep, stretch etc, then they are taken out for training/working.

Lots of pets are crated whilst the owners are at work.

As long as the Husky has access to water and shelter it will be absolutely fine.

I have a small dog who LOVES the garden, he would spend all his life out there if I let him!

Op, I look after dogs for a living, and I would report this. Better safe than sorry. In this hot weather, I'd be concerned whether the dog had shade and water. In any case, the poor dog must be bored stiff. Probably not much the RSPCA can do about that, but what a shame.

As long as he can move around into the shade and has access to water he'll be happy enough.
Husky's have big thick coats designed for the Arctic, not central heated houses.

I wfh and there's a dog in the area who is out from dusk till dawn in all weathers. The noise it makes is so distressing. You can tell it's really unhappy and crying constantly. It breaks my heart. I called the SSPCA and they said unless I have a specific address, they can't do anything. The lay out of the flats here means I can't work out where the dog is as all I hear is the barking. I've had to move from where I normally work as it's so upsetting. I wish I could tell where the poor thing was.