Tie out suggestions?

[Renee Hacker]

Lily gets 1-2 walks every day, plus playtime with me in the yard, but she also loves to just hang out in our fenced in back yard.  Seriously, she likes being outside more than inside with us I think.  And she actually prefers to go to the bathroom in our yard vs. on her walks.  Problem is, our yard slopes to one end and whenever it rains or snow thaws there is a puddle down there that has become her favorite digging spot.  She has also decided to start digging in our garden.  I can fence off the garden (although I'm sure she could just jump it), but there's no way to fence off this other area.  So I'm thinking that instead of just letting her have free run of the whole backyard I need some sort of tie out to limit her radius.  :)  I've never had a dog of her size and I've never used a tie out.  So any recommendations?  Anything I should be aware of or look for in particular?  I'm planning to ask for advice at our local independent pet shop, but you guys are always the experts in all things doodle so I thought I'd start here.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Don't feel bad. Calla sometimes likes to go out to lie on the brick screen porch floor or the driveway. I have been saying no digging a lot myself lately because my yard is getting very muddy in spots. Lots of reseeding to do this spring. I let my dogs out by themselves often but I do keep track of them. I would find it very difficult if  had to go out with them each time, especially for Calla who "asks"  to go out much more often than Luca.

[Adina P]

As someone with one dog who LOVES being outside...I totally understand.  One dog loves being indoors the other LOVES playing outside.  Outside is fun...just like kids love to play outside more than I do. 

[Wendy and Myla]

Our Myla loves being outside also and we're in Canada - currently minus 10C.  Myla can come in or out as she pleases, she just goes to the door and barks and we'll let her in or out!  She also goes for long daily walks and three times a week for a 3-4 four snowshoe with DH so it's not that she needs exercise - she just loves the snow! and being outside!

She will stay outside for an hour at a time and just plays - we shovel a path for her (we have an acre of lawn) and she runs all over and flips her frozen rope toy in the snow and digs in the snow for it.  She loves chasing the quail away so that she can eat the seeds that the birds drop from the bird feeder and has a hanging rope from the swing set that she always plays on.  She loves lying outside on the patio (on her rug) and watching all that happens in her world outside (even in the cold)!

She has tried to dig in the garden a few times and as mentioned above, we just put her poop in it when we fill the hole and she hasn't dug there again.  It's hard to dig in the winter - LOL - so we will see what happens this spring. She does have boundaries - our whole lawn is bordered by a five foot wide garden with bark mulch and she is not allowed on that - we enforced this as soon as she came home as a puppy and it's not a problem (sometimes she goes on there in the winter as you can't see the mulch)  They are so smart, that it only takes a bit of training to let them know where their boundary is.  When we go camping we do the same thing - we watch her and as soon as she goes out of our campsite we say "No" and call her back and give her a treat for coming.

I think it's fine for her to be outside in a fenced yard.  I'm not sure I agree with tying her up - as discussed I think that can lead to aggressive issues - I think if you spend time outside telling her that that area is off limits, she can be trained.  Myla does sometimes try to go where she's not allowed to go - I have watched her go to her "out of bounds" area and look to the house to see if I'm watching - if she does go there and I call her she pretends that she doesn't hear me and then in her own time, turns around and makes her way back as if it's all her idea - as I said, they are very smart dogs!!!!

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Hi Renee, please don't take offense. This is the written word and it's hard to get used to understanding what people are saying not "hearing" conjecture.

Believe me no one thought you were a bad dog owner, they were making suggestions and suggestions usually don't come without questions. Once you are on here a long time you "get" fellow members better. It took me a while of watching and reading to realize everyone was just being helpful.

You clearly have enough suggestions here, enjoy your beautiful doodle we know you love him in and outside.

:0)