From: ce293@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Gail E. Brookhart)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: Re: Opinions on breed.
Date: 18 Dec 1992 13:05:41 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: ce293@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Gail E. Brookhart)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, dag@bellman.control.lth.se (Dag Bruck) says:

>In <rec.pets.dogs> CBARNES@tamvm1.tamu.edu (Chris Barnes) writes:
>>.... I would consider it cruel to keep a
>>large dog in an apartment all day (actually, I wouldn't sell ANY breed
>>of dog to someone that lived in an apartment).
>
>Chris has been pretty badly beaten for this, so I thought I would take
>a new angle.
>
>Even a large yard does not provide the necessary stimulation for a
>dog, although it may get some physical excercise by running round 'n
>round.  After two days it will know every straw of grass by name.
>
>I have seen as many under-stimulated dogs in the country as in the
>city.
>
>			-- Dag
>
The point that I think a lot of people wanted to make here is that "a
country home does not stimulation make."  <grin>

You can sit a dog in the middle of a national park and he may not get the
exercise and stimulation that he needs unless the human partner in this
relationship takes it upon themselves to be the leader and guarantee
activities to provide exercise and stimulation.

Here's my example, my male Airedale, Toby, has only been off-leash outdoors
4 times in the 4 years that I have had him.  We live in the city and it
simply is not safe for him to be off leash as he has absolutely no car
sense.  He thinks all cars are for rides and simply is not afraid of
traffic and will run out.  So it is to save his life that he stays on
leash.
But is he bored and neglected?  Not by a long shot.  We go for long walks
together and he gets plenty of miles put on him so his exercise needs are
met.  On our walks he gets to sniff at the doors of all the shops so he
gets to play great Airedale Hunter!  He gets to charge the pigeons in the 
park and bark like a maniac at them.  He gets to meet the nice kids in the
neighborhood who alwyas have a kind word and a pat on the head.  We play
obedience games at home and he is always learning a new behavior.  He loves
to do tricks -- you should see him get all pumped up when he can do his 
bang, bang, play dead game.  he is having the time of his life and dances
to do our games.

He lives a pretty nice life in the city and those of us with city dogs just
felt really bad when it was implied (I am positive that Chris had
absolutely nothing but the best interest of dogs in his heart) that dogs
would not be happy in a home with limited space.

By the way, I am in limited space.  I have a house but it is being rehabbed
and my 58-ish pound Airedale and 75-ish pound Bouvier and I all live in
three nice size rooms without a fenced yard.  I don't hear or see my dogs
complaining.

In conclusion, I think that the comments that Chris made are the way that a
person should view owning a dog because too many people do not pay as much
attention to our great canine buddies as the folks on this newsgroup.  But
that opinion is not an absolute.  If you are devoted to your dog, as most
of the people I have met in this group are, you can have a dog anywhere.

Gail Brookhart