Outdoor Dogs

My partner and I spend a fair bit of time at his parent's house, and I'm absolutely saddened by only one little fact: That they have outdoor dogs. This is not their fault, the dogs are not housetrained and there's not really a way to train them as their only remaining outdoor dog is around ten years old. She's the sweetest girl, never pulls on her leash or jumps. My heart just bleeds for her. They love her, they make sure she has her food, water and shelter, and we walk her. But still, it doesn't make me feel any better. Day after day after day she's stuck out there, alone and sad. We actually recently saved her life.. A chance walking of their trained dog led us to discover that weeds had tangled around Roxy (She gets herself stuck on many things, the weeds are now cut down) into her collar and were asphyxiating her. My partner managed to hack through the collar and free her, but the sight of her collapsed on the ground losing air will never fully leave me. She doesn't deserve this..I just feel so horrible for her, it's unreal. At night you can hear her cry when it's time for her dinner.. But is she really crying just for that?


There really isn't another option. There are no farms around that would take her, and even if they did, they'd have to keep her outside. A pound would euthanize her before she'd become adopted.

So it falls to us (mainly my partner and I, as his parents can't really take over all the walking, etc.) to walk her, cuddle her, and tell her we love her. She's so happy when we take her for walks.. I took her off her chain this afternoon and she BOLTED for the fence, sticking her nose through and waiting to be allowed to roam. I love her, I wish there was a way we could train her; but this is not our house and there's no way we'd be allowed to try and train her here without serious property damage.



Anyone who thinks about getting a dog and keeping it outdoors: Please don't. If there is any other option besides the pound, please don't.