outside dogs

The blankets/towels were just a temp. fix till I was able to get some straw hauled home for me. Even then, Lucky would kick it all outside, arrange it to her liking, then plop down in a ball like the typical huskies do. Only time she ever went into her doghouse was when it was raining. That's why I had it facing east, so it would never rain in on her. Wind issues were never a problem with Lucky long as she could get in out of the rain. Still shake my head in wonderment over her insisting to sleep outside no matter the temp. or snow/ice.

Sorry to hear bout your Husky running away but I have a feeling he didn't actually run away. Huskies are built-in sled dogs that love to run and will run for hours when allowed loose. Some will actually get lost and are unable to find their way home. Could be that's what happened to your husky, someone found him thinking he was a stray and took him home. Just hope he wasn't picked up with the intention of bait for dog-fighting. Lucky was a Husky/Shepherd cross. Had the Husky body but Shepherd coloring. She was a real lover to those she knew but would tell others to stay back or else. She was also hard-headed in that whenever she managed to get loose, would be gone for hours and come back with a coat full of cockleburs and mud. She was very obedient long as she wasn't loose. She turned 'deaf' soon as she realized she was free. lol I miss her alot but she's up there in heaven with Shady, Lightning, and all the other animals just waiting for me.

His house faces east and is brick. Very secure and doesn't leak. The wind was blowing rain in the other night. we put a tarp/tent over the house to give him added protection from the wind and rain. Today Mike went out and he's chewing on the metal tent stakes...one was over half out of the ground. The dog is half goat.

I guess it just hit me the wrong way, because my parents were pressuring me to just get rid of him. I told them no way would I do that. My step-dad was furious because he had gotten into their yard (they left the gate open so I didn't feel TOO sorry for them) and dug up all mom's flowers and ate three plastic flower pots.

Sounds to me like an understimulated underexercised dog that took his excessive energy out on your house and you happened to take him to bad trainers (did they use positive training? Or was it old school training with choke collars, or even worse shock collars?). I still stand by my opinion that a GSD/boxer cross is not made to be an outside dog and I don't personally think there is any dog that cannot be trained to live inside, but at least it seems as though you've tried to make the best for him outside.

Oh, my dad also ran the dryer vent into his doghouse in the winter but no matter how many dryer sheets you used the wet dog smell still came through.

We have more than 2 acres and it's all fenced in. He can run as much as he wants, and can get under the porch or in his 4X4X4 foot Brick doghouse. We put a large tarp over it for extra insulation and warmth this winter, and he has proceeded to start chewing the stakes out of the ground.

He has a Brick dog house that is 3 feet by 4 feet by 4 feet. Over the top of that is a tent, such as those they use for weddings...It does help keep the rain out and the wind at a minimum. He can also get under the porch. He chooses not to most of the time. We tried housetraining him, even paying for obedience lessons. We tried chew toys, treats, everything the vet and the trainers told us to do...and he still ate shoes, peed on the walls and then chewed the legs of my great grandmothers piano.

No, we live in a double wide mobile home. He can get under the porch. We have tried to make him as comfortable as possible, but he is a chewer even as old as he is. This dog ate his house! Read the other posts and you can see about his antics. Bringing him inside simply isn't an option.

We have a chihuahua/yorkie mix (sorry no pure breeds for me. Selling a dog to me is almost as bad as selling a child) that stays inside all the time. She doesn't chew, is fully housebroken etc...The vet tells me that some dogs just don't have what it takes to be housebroken. I don't know about that, but we tried for over a year to crate train Romeo.

he can get under the porch, and his house is brick! We don't have a laundry room, my washer and dryer are in the kitchen. Also don't have a garage. We tried to leave him inside when we first got him, but it just never worked out. My kids couldn't bear to get rid of him, so he now has free reign over our 2.4 acres.

well unfortunately it simply isn't deposits, it's his eating habits. Chairs, piano legs, carpet, lauren's comforter from her bed (when she tried to get him to sleep with her thinking it would help...she woke to a pile of down feathers)

I hear ya bout the difference between dog and cat messes, Bird. Lord have mercy I need to rip out the bathroom carpet from Lighting peeing on it whenever we weren't home to let him out to go potty. I cleaned it over and over again but can STILL smell his urine whenever it gets damp from taking a shower/bath. Dog urine comes up rather easy including the smell when it's done properly.

IF it were just pee I could handle him in the house. I don't want to keep repeating the same story, of if you would read my other posts... He isn't chained up, I would NEVER do that to an animal. He has several options. Eating more of my furniture and flooring are not one of them.

no, the dog is not changed. He has a very large yard that is about 70 feet long and 25 feet wide in which to run and play. He has a brick house, and lots of toys. He chooses instead to chew on metal poles to the chain link fence and howl at the moon. When he's inside, he eats furniture, piano legs and carpet.

I'm not worried about shampooing the carpet. I'm worried about my furniture. because when we kept him in the house, the first 16 months of his life, he ate my couch cushions, chewed the piano legs, dug a hole in the linoleum in the bathroom corner and flunked out of obedience school.