ConPollos
Chirping
- Mar 21, 2015
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Huskies do very well being brought in the house at night, even with the fireplace in use on winter nights, or hanging out inside the house during the day. So do Norwegian Elkhounds, who have very thick coats. I've had them, and there's a Husky now living on my grandparents farm since 2006, who comes in at night, and also comes inside under the air conditioner on hot days. Dogs with thick winter coats are very comfortable in the house.
I'm not talking about whining, clingy, pet lap dogs. All independent working dogs are also family members, who should be brought inside the house.
I have family living in Alaska. Alaskan mushers can't bring their many sled dogs inside the house, it's impractical because they have so many, but any sled dog that is not part of a big dog team does very well in the house as part of their human pack. All working dogs do.
A few months ago I saw a documentary about the Iditarod sled dogs and they really craved their owners affection and attention every time they got a few minutes of human interaction during care and feeding. It was sad to see them all living chained to their doghouses, but at least they get to run a lot and spend time with their pack.
My seven dogs had the run of my house. I had a friend who's nine dogs came in and out of the house through their doggy door. A collie rescuer I knew had 20 to 30 collie dogs going in and out through a doggy door. She used them for coursing and regularly took them to another town for training to herd livestock. I couldn't handle that many dogs, but she was a professional trainer and they were very well behaved.
I can't think of any breed of working dog, or sport dog, that wouldn't do well in the house, unless it's a brittle aggressive fighting breed that's considered dangerous, or something.
My sister had a houseful of Dobermans going in and out when she was breeding them. My uncle had working GSDs in and out of the house. I have Catahoulas in and out of the house. I had a huge Collie/Golden Retriever mix with a very thick long coat who was a house dog until she died at age 16. She had the most independent attitude of all my dogs, and loved being outside, but her relationship with me and being part of my home inside the house was very important to her too.
At my family farm I talked to all the neighbors who lived within a one mile radius and 18 of all their dogs had disappeared within a year and a half because they lived outside 24/7. They didn't bother to search for them because they assumed they were killed by predators, or by hunters that will shoot your dog on your own property so it won't scare the game.
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