Fence height to keep in GSD/rottie

MurphysMinder said:
I would have a good chat with the rescue, if they have had this lad for a while they should be aware of how he would cope being left, and if the life you could offer would be preferable to being shut up at a rescue kennel.
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I'm afraid this is the post that had the alarm bells ringing for me:

"Considering it, but I'm not sure if the rescue place would let me take on a dog if I kept it in a kennel all day (although I can't see a difference between that and being in the rescue kennel) the dog would be in a house at the weekend/at night and would be left in if I was going out for an hour or two, but I thought with a outdoor run he could be happily left to toilet etc all day.

I could lie to the rescue place, but I'm not very good at it, and they'll find me out!"

If I ran the rescue centre....
 
So the dog is in a kennel at the rescue centre. All day with some walks. And the addition of kennel stress, non-stop barking, coming and going, months without a family.
At home, the dog would be in a kennel during the day and in a home at night with a stable family and plenty more walks and stimulation and no kennel stress.

If I ran the rescue centre.....
 
Thanks CC :)

I do see your point DR - I'm not sure if you were unhappy about my circumstances or my mention of lying? I couldn't lie to the rescue, thats my point, although I am sure many others do. :)

Sadly I can't do anything about needing to work!
 
Tho I keep my dogs inside(am lucky that I work from home) I also think the life you can offer him sounds preferable to a rescue centre. If he doesn't cope and he is sociable enough,you may need to get him a little fwend... ;) Good luck.
 
Venevidivici said:
Tho I keep my dogs inside(am lucky that I work from home) I also think the life you can offer him sounds preferable to a rescue centre. If he doesn't cope and he is sociable enough,you may need to get him a little fwend... ;) Good luck.
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Well, I have considered this, but not mentioned it to the OH yet ;)
 
EAST KENT said:
It depends on the breed,but company is what most crave.Personally I think keeping a lone dog outside while you work ..mmm,not much of a life for a pack animal. It will occupy itself somehow,probably destroying and making a racket,my opinion is no,don`t do iot.Most rescues will refuse you .
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I'm with EK on this one. Kennelling, no probs, but to go a whole day without companionship from either a human or another dog to break up the hours is wrong imo. Dogs are sociable creatures even if they can behave anti-social in certain situations. I like my own company, can be anti-social if the mood takes me;) but ultimately without companionship, as much as I loathe to say it, would be detrimental to my mental wellbeing.
 
CaveCanem said:
So the dog is in a kennel at the rescue centre. All day with some walks. And the addition of kennel stress, non-stop barking, coming and going, months without a family.
At home, the dog would be in a kennel during the day and in a home at night with a stable family and plenty more walks and stimulation and no kennel stress.

If I ran the rescue centre.....
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All this assumes that the OP is the only one who will be prepared to offer the dog a home ie choice betweeen stressful rescue centre and lonely existence at OPs. There may be a third option; that someone with a better setup to offer a rescued large breed dog will come forward for this dog.

Not saying that will happen, but it might, and if it did, that would be better for the dog than what OP is offering. I think rescues should be flexible on some things they arent always but I wasnt convinced that I would have agreed to the dog going to OPs set up. Kennels are OK if the dog isnt kennel phobic, has dog company and has lots and lots of fun exercise when not in the kennel (and also has a coat appropriate to being outside).
 
There may be, but he has been in kennels 7 months now, so I think I may be one of the only people out there wanting to give him a home (I've been looking at him on their website for 3 months now - waiting for a job change, which will happen in the next month)

I would say he does have a coat appropriate to going outside (precisely why I haven't looked at smaller/short coated dogs) and would have access to an indoors with heated bed if needed. I don't think he is kennel phobic, just rescue kennels lots of dogs/comings and goings/stress he does not like. He would have fun exercise when we're around! There are lots of great walks near me, our fields, my big garden (not secure enough to leave a dog unattended) etc etc.

ETA they have already rehomed him twice to people who returned him, once after a week, and once after two days :( So they have found him a home twice unsuccessfully, maybe my set up is the ideal one?!?!?!?!?!
 
Years ago when both my OH and me worked full time we built a kennel and run and got two rescue dogs. I would never have dreamt of getting a single dog, knowing that I would be leaving it alone all day. Most days we also came home to walk them at lunch time. Dogs need company, either canine or human, but leaving a dog on its own most days for more than a few hours is unkind for a social animal.
 
Yeah, 'someone else' might be better, but this dog has been in kennels almost a year and the OP is dying about him, the 'someone else' hasn't turned up for him yet.
I don't know about the rescue kennels where you are, but where I am, and I am repeating myself, if I was a dog, I know where I would rather be. They are on FB constantly appealing for volunteers to help walk the dogs because they are not getting out. I once walked a dog like the one the OP is interested in, a GSD/Rott cross, he was a darling but no one wanted him because of his looks. He was in a kennel with other doggie company but his eyes were dead, he had given up, he stared in puddles at his own reflection.
Rescues are full to bursting, these ideal, perfect homes just don't exist for these dogs.

I am at home today and have just looked out the window, my high-drive working line dog is lying asleep in the sun with an empty Kong. I am taking him biking later.
My hyperactive showline dog is around the other side of the house and is...lying asleep in the sun. Not barking, howling or destroying anything.
I cannot speak for the OP and her activity levels but I am known even among my doggy friends as a bit of a nutter for the amount I do with my dogs...but they are clearly miserable because I have to go out to work some days to earn some money to feed them, and they have to be left alone!
 
Hmm, yes - there may be some people who remember my incessant posts about this dog! :o

When I asked at the kennels, he gets out 2-3 times a day for 10 mins, they shut at 5pm and return at 8.30 - so this dog is left alone there for 15 hours, and I doubt if he is the first walked every morning. I am not trashing the rescue, they do the best they can and also have every reason to get the right home for this dog.

He wouldn't always be left all day, but I want the facilities in place for this to be a possibility for when its needed. He will however be left downstairs in the house all night when I'm sleeping, and ok I rarely sleep 8 hours, but what do others do with their dogs at night?!
 
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So he gets 30 mins max of exercise/stimulation a day, whatever that may entail, out in a big run or an on-lead walk, and is kept kennelled for the rest of the time.
Again, I know what I would choose if I were a dog.
 
Thanks CC, I really am hoping to get new job contracts etc sorted soon, then I can buy the stuff to make a home for him. I need to reserve him before I start spending money though! :)
 
CaveCanem said:
So he gets 30 mins max of exercise/stimulation a day, whatever that may entail, out in a big run or an on-lead walk, and is kept kennelled for the rest of the time.
Again, I know what I would choose if I were a dog.
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You are right. Rescues do what they can, but they can never emulate the caring owner/dog, one on one relationship. But, to take a rescue dog out of an unsatisfactory environment into a slightly less unsatisfactory environment is not the right thing to do. I think SF should get the dog if company can be provided during the day, but it is unacceptable for the dog to be left on it's own for eight hours a day, five days a week.
 
To be fair, Stencilface (my sister) would have the intention of kennelling the dog when she was at work and my parents have said they would not be prepared to look after the dog even though they look after mine daily when i go to work (I got her in December). I can pretty much guarantee my parents would help with looking after the dog once it was actually there! They said no to mine to start with, then mum came with me to the rescue and suggested she'd look after a dog i would get and that was it, there was no going back!

So, the situation wouldn't actually be as 'lonely' as it may sound, I am pretty sure about that!
 
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