wHAT SIZE GARDEN/YARD DOES YOUR DOG HAVE?

Stinkbomb

Stinkbomb

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As in the title really! I currently have quite a good sized garden for Alfie. He doesnt live out side and in the winter only goes out for a pee when he needs to. In summer the doors are left open and sometimes he has a good play but not often. Usually he just potters about it.
Now im having to sell the house due to divorce and the kind of places i can afford on my own dont have much garden. Ive found a lovely house right next to the farm so i can walk there but the only con to it is that there is no private garden, except a private driveway that could be fenced off. :( It has communal gardens but im not relying on them as they are not enclosed and sometimes others dont appreciate dogs in them and i understand that.
The driveway is large enough to fit a large sized car with about 1 metre either side and 2 metres extra front and back but once fenced off would be safe for Alfie to be let out and have a wee if needed.
Now the pro to this house is that everything is fab inside and its about 50metres from the farm so i would be able to take Alfie with me and he could have the run of the place! ( only my horses in the fields and Alf doesnt bother with them! )

How much space does a dog need if they dont live out? Would this be enough? Obviously Alfies welfare comes first.

edited to add, feel free to post pics of your space ( as long as its not too big and will make me jelous! )
 
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I would say that would be big enough as you state he doesn't really run round and your next to fields so can walk often.
What dog is he?
We have got a lab and our garden is about 25x30ft roughly.
 
I don't really think you need a garden if they get walked enough and there's somewhere to nip for a quick leak if needs be :) don't stress it, sounds like a nice life, some dogs have a big garden and crap 10 min walks....I know what I'd prefer :)

ETA my garden is massive, but the dogs DART across it and stand by the gate waiting to go onto the farm, they couldn't really care LESS about the garden :D it's all about the walk!!!
 
He gets walked about 1hr - 1half hours a day as it is but too far to the farm at the moment so he stays at home! However in summer it would be really easy to bring him with me!

Hes a boxer by the way, so not small :)

I think im just panacking but its like i say he doesnt live outside, hes a pampered pooch, lives in watching mtv all day :D Im just used to a much bigger garden.
 
We don't really have a garden, when the dogs are not being walked or in the house then they are kept in a flagged, roofed kennel run with a box each and the big dog is usually out the back in the 'exercise' one which has gravel, a wooden fence, two kennels and a lean-to shelter. He usually lies in the lean-to shelter :p
We do have a crappy field but they are never alone/unsupervised out there because the fencing is crap.

TBH I would rather a dog has a small area at home and a tonne of exercise outside the home than a big garden but never walked/little stimulation.
 
We have about half an acre, perhaps a bit more but Elsie doesn't go out off lead as she chases the hens at the moment! We plan to fence a bit off for the hens so Elsie can run about, but she seems more than happy with a quick 'wee walk' first thing, a good hour to an hour and a half on the beach with the other (outside) dogs, OH takes her out for an hour around tea time and she has another quick wee walk before bed. Of course she sometimes wants to go out for a wee inbetween, in which case she goes out on the lead into the garden.

As long as a dog is walked often enough and has chance to run about off lead I don't see a problem with tiny gardens or even flats.
 
We don't have a garden at all, just an alleyway and shed at the back of the house (with a shared access gate so it can't be secured). It's not ideal and we are scrimping and saving to be able to afford a house with a garden but it's really not the end of the world. We walk a LOT, we have fantastic contryside beginning about 50 yards from the back gate, they have lots of jobs to do.

Once a week they go to visit MIL who has a huge fenced grassy garden - apart from pee-marking furiously for the first ten minutes they are not fussed about it and come in to sleep in the kitchen, which reassured me a lot.
 
Fairly decent sized. However he has literally used it to toilet in since the winter came, so no reason why he could not survive the summer without one either. Utmost respect for those who have to take their dogs out to pee.
 
i live in a flat and have 3 dogs.i have a garage conversion attatched to the flat as i have my own private stairs.my dogs live in the garage when im at home.i take them towork with me and they have 4 hours exercise per day .most of my work is at night as a cleaner.have a communal garden which they use occassionally to potty in but thats about it.they r not destructive or anything.in the summer i might leave them at home longer if its hot.
 
I have a GSP, so similar size and energy and I couldn't tell you the last time he went out in the garden!!! We have trained him not to use it as a toilet and he gets ample exercise so no need for it really. Only time he goes out there regularly is in the summer to sunbathe!! lol!
 
Sounds like the amount of space mine has, but with a tiny lawn. Its good enough for playing in, or sun bathing. Its lovely when the weather is warm enough to have the back door open so he can wander in and out as he likes, as its secure. Best of all, he prefers not to wee/poo there as the house backs onto fields :)
 
I don't think it matters if you have a garden if your dog gets wenough exercise and, from the sounds of it you have some outside space you can use so I am sure that'd be plenty good enough.
 
Stinkbomb, can I say something, as someone who has been in exactly the same position. I had 2 springers when I left a violent relationship, had been living on a farm with big garden and lovely fields, all I could afford on my own was a tiny terrace with a long narrow garden and shared access across the back. I made sure the girls had two good walks every day and a shorter one midday and they adapted just fine, the most important thing to them seemed to be my company. One thing I would say is try to make sure there is a secure area where you can let them out for a toilet break just in case you are ever completely unable to get them out (assuming you will be alone with no help). I remember being very ill with flu, no way did I have the strength to manage a walk and the little garden was invaluable.
 
Aww thanks everyone. Yes the house ive been looking at at the moment has an open driveway that i hoping i would be able to fence off to make it a secure area. If this house doesnt suit ill still have to find another and will only be able to afford something with a smallish garden but this thread has made me feel better!
 
We have about 8 acres, (a large garden and 2 fields). The dogs go into the fields when walked but are happiest with me round the house. They can get out of the open back door in good weather, but usually only go out by themselves a few times a day though the lurcher is quite capable of jumping over into the field if he wants to. Even when he is rabbiting in the garden, he doesn`t go far. Dogs are basically lazy and I think they value companionship most.
 
When I first had Tara I lived in a maisonette above a shop with a walkway outside so I had no privat space, she just got a decent walk morning and evening and a pee walk at lunchtime and was fine. When I moved to a house with a garden I don't think she ever went out on her own anyway - that could have had something to do with a rather nasty scary squirrel that she was terrified of though ;)

Where I live now we can't fence off our gardens (conservation area and odd layout of listed cottages) most of my neighbours have dogs and manage with regular walks, we have miles of fields and footpaths so they are better exercised than the dogs from the "big houses" with acre plus gardens - there is more than one dog from those houses that I have never seen outside the garden - I know which are the happier dogs.
 
Kitchenwindowview.jpg


This is the image of a garden that I had for two years with my Collie. She is sitting on the coal bunker at the back door and the end of the garden is the hedge. There was about 6ft square of actual garden. It was only ever used for a late night pee (and sitting on coal bunker to inspect the world). All other exercise was done off site. You will be fine!
 
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