Ok to stay outside during the day.

[Rosie's Family]

Rosie is created while the family is at work and school. We have a Dog walker stop in to take her for a walk every day.  We initially planned on keeping the dog walker until or 7-8 months when she would be old enough to hold it in all day (she has been able to hold it all night since 3 months). She is now 9 months old, but we still have the dog walker come by because the thought of her sitting in her crate from 8-3 just makes me sad. 

My wife is suggesting we let her hang out out side during the day (we have a large covered deck), but it gets pretty hot in Utah in the Summer and very cold in the winter. She wants to buy one of the dog igloos from the deck as well to give her more protection. But I am just not sure she should spend that much time outside. 

Any thoughts on a dog staying outside for 7-8 hours a day?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I would absolutely not leave any dog outdoors for 7-8 hours, or even for one hour, unsupervised. It just isn't safe, for many reasons.

At 9 months old, any dog should be reliably housebroken and able to stay in the house uncrated, IMO. Especially if she does have the dog walker coming to take her out once a day. If you want to keep her out of certain areas of the house, I'd close bedroom/bathroom doors and/or use baby gates. 

[Nancy]

I totally agree.  If you don't want her to have run of the house and she is housebroken (which she should be at that age), gate her in one room that would be safe for her to be in.

[Nicole and Teddy]

We too had thought about leaving Teddy outside during the day since we have a screened in porch. This was our thought before we actually got him. Having him now, I know he could get into too much trouble being outside unsupervised for longer than 10 minutes- ha! Namely, eating too much grass. He was housebroken pretty early so we started leaving him during longer stretches of time in the gated laundry area (tile floors). Eventually (pretty soon after, actually), he was fine having the run of the house. He's never gotten into trouble and mostly sleeps all day- except for my lunch time visit and a sometimes-sitter visit in the afternoon.

[Debbie and Toby]

I agree, never left out alone for any period of time. She could get hurt, become sick or stolen. If her water source was to spill or run out, and it was hot out, she would dehydrate.  I don't think it's a good idea for pets to be left out in the heat or the cold for extended periods of time.  Also, regarding the Igloo, we had the x-large one for Toby when he was quite young, thought he would like going in there when we would sit out in yard with him...didn't really care for it.  Good thing because we noticed the wasps were taking up residence deep inside of it, and a small snake crawled out of it one day...yes, that was the end of the igloo!

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Depending on where you live, you may also have predators in the area. Its not unusual for coyotes to climb a fence (even tall ons) or go under. They may not necessarily be after the dog but any food they think he has.  She could chew on a stick and choke on that or get stung by a bee and that may be dangerous. Its just not a good idea to leave her on her own outside. 

[Rosie's Family]

Thanks for the thoughts all!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I live in a milder climate but wouldn't leave my dog outside all day.  I do have a dog door so that my boys can go in and out as they please.  I also have an escape-proof yard with a locked gate and no predators around.  I would let her be inside and limit her access inside with ex-pens, baby gates etc.

[Nancy & Echo]

I also use a doggy door.  I know there are cons in this arrangement, but there are benefits too.

[Adina P]

Our are always either crated or gated into our mudroom.  Boca is crated because she will find a way to get over our relatively tall gate. 

[Rosie's Family]

thanks again for all the thoughts... We were considering replacing one of the sliding doors in the family room with one that has a doggie door. But I think Rosie would spend her time outside since she loves laying in the grass. I suspect most people would think it is a bad idea because it is about the same as having her outside since she isn't supervised?

We would like to stop having the dog walker come by, but I would hate for her to need to hold her bladder for that long, though I am sure she could.