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| Just my guess here, but I've seen a lot of farm dogs up my way that are on leashes out in mud yards, and the dogs are basically there as a security system. The owners figure they can put them out on a chain and feed them once a day and let them sleep in the cold all winter and the fact that they don't tolerate people after a while is all the better.
My relatives did that, and so did my wife's. It was common years ago, but I have to look back and think it's a miserable life for a dog.
They had a "house dog" and a "farm dog". The farm dog wasn't socialized and was as I mentioned above.
If they (at the shelters) think 1 in 100 dogs are going to end up like the ones above because people haven't caught up with the times, they'll not give them to any farms because it'll go over like a fart in church with their donors. That's my take on it, and I believe it's accurate here locally.
A lot of old empty dog houses around here that once had old nasty dogs in them, and my dad always relays stories about the dogs that weren't tied but weren't socialized, and how they'd attack kids going by on scooters or bikes - out on the road. His dog was part of that group - listened to one person in his whole house - his oldest brother. If he said "King, go get that kid", the dog would maul a little kid if his oldest brother wouldn't call it off. If nobody said anything and there were kids out of line yelling up at the house and being jack asses, King would take off on them himself.
The stories are endless, and these days, I don't know of too many dogs left out on farms like that - just a few - and it's probably for the better.
That's (the chaining above) a whole lot different than letting a dog outside in a heated space (Even if it's just a 60 watt lightbulb in a doghouse with a flap on the front to keep the heat in), and letting the dog run free during the day. Almost even too much liability these days to do that.
If "King" was still out running down kids and neighbors' dogs, I'll bet there'd have been a lawsuit by now. | |
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OT: Pics of your dogs?
