Can you leave your Sheltie unattended outside?

Thats Crazy!!!

Izziesbud said:
Izzie is never outside unless she is on a leash. She climbed over a chain link fence in February when she was at the trainers house. She was missing for 11 days in brutal winter weather conditions.

We finally got her back after we set a humane trap in a location that she had been spotted in. We are getting a 6 foot privacy fence in a few weeks so she will then have the whole yard. Even with the fence I will not let her out unless I am out with her.
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Wow! We almost had chain link gates put in to keep Sadie in our yard. It never occured to me that she was capable of climbing out! Thats a talented little girl you have! I'm really happy to hear that you got her back!
 
I live out in the country on a wooded lot. I'm surrounded by mostly trees and farmland. We always let the dogs go out unattended. They don't stay out long, mostly just to do their business and if they are taking more than 5-10 mins, I'll check up on them. Buttons was 6 & Bows was 5 years old when we moved here. I trained them to treat the woodline as their boundary. They rarely decide to wander across the street to the neighbors yard, but I'll be there soon after giving them a firm talking to. We adopted Beamer last year. He's a senior so he doesn't wander much either. It didn't take long before we trusted him to stay in the yard. I think you'd have to drive a couple miles from me to find someone with a fenced yard. Here are some pictures that will show what the yard looks like. Our lack of a fenced yard means Sheltie rescue will only consider us for senior dogs for adoption and fostering. So we may have to go to a breeder for our next Sheltie.

The rear yard
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w206/tim15856/5-4-07075.jpg

One side. The driveway goes toward the neighbors house across the street in this picture. That is the only area where we might have problems. We rarely have anyone walk down our road and if someone does the dogs start barking which causes us to immediately run outside to make sure they don't run out into the road.
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w206/tim15856/5-4-07074.jpg

Other side of the house.
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w206/tim15856/5-4-07072.jpg
 
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Callie has a fenced back yard- she's allowed out there whenever she wants to go out. :smile2: I would very likely never let her out the front unattended. There have been many dogs through the years on my street. A large black mix dog attacked my cocker/basset in my driveway when I walked out with him to the mailbox. The owner was washing his car and was completely unconcerned that his dog was going after my dog- in my yard. That dog doesn't live here anymore but I live in an area where people let their pets roam freely and who knows who could come down the street. Too many people here just treat their pets as objects - let it run loose, if it gets run over or doesn't come back- just get another one :dead: Anyway, I'd rather be safe than sorry.
 
Hugo said:
I was checking out a website with people posting about their lost Shelties, often dogs aged 5 or 6 who should logically NOT want to leave their humans.

I was wondering if you guys can let your Sheltie outside alone, unattended (implying a non-fenced yard).

If I'm outside, the dog is out there, always without a leash. If I don't see him, I call him, and he appears from out of nowhere within 5 seconds. He never ran away, ever.

Best of all, I can actually let him go outside alone, he will go potty or whatever, and if he wants to come back in, he will wait at the door, if not, he generally sits at the limits of my driveway or on the sidewalk and watches over the neighbourhood :lol: .

That is, until someone comes along. He runs to them and greets them. :wink2:

He also sits on my front lawn for hours on end with a bone and one of my cats (who loves Whisky), and the car purrs and cuddles him. They sure put on a great show for my neighbours! :biggrin2:
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That's my shelties!
 
Maybe its because he grew up in an apartment and never went anywhere outside off leash, but Smoke does not like to be outside without me. Our back yard is fenced, and Apollo loves to go out there and play, but if I don't go out too Smoke won't go further than a few feet away from the door.
 
tehluhlah said:
Maybe its because he grew up in an apartment and never went anywhere outside off leash, but Smoke does not like to be outside without me. Our back yard is fenced, and Apollo loves to go out there and play, but if I don't go out too Smoke won't go further than a few feet away from the door.
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Sadie likes to play outside in our fenced yard for short amounts of time but also doesn't really like to be away from us. After 10 minutes tops she wants back in if we're not outside with her. She follows my husband and I around everywhere :smile2:
 
We're in a fairly rural area in Connecticut with 43 acres of woods behind us but on a busy country road. Even though we have a driveway gate, I no longer let the dogs out if we aren't there or watching them through the window. We have also had dog-nappings in our area. Just last week, a Maltese was stolen right from the owner of one of our holistic pet food stores on our Main Street! :eek2: We've also got coyotes, bobcats and mountain lions so with all of that, I don't let the dogs out of my sight.

My solution for training puppies or when I want to contain them is a few 30-inch high exercise pens that I clip together to make a little yard. Cheap, and works great.
 
I'm in a very rural area. The White Mountains of New Hampshire. The house I'm renting is on approx 1 acre with maybe 10 surrounding. :uhoh: But I don't let them outside without me for the same basic reason as all. There are natural dangers up here. We have Bears, Coyotes, Bobcats, Fishercats which are extremely mean animals. :eek2: We don't have a problem with dognapping yet, thank God for that! :sadsmile: But My older dog Tasha I can have accompany me off lead and she is trust worthy. She knows if she wonders even a little off and not return upon call she then is not allowed outside off lead for a dat or so to remind her of boundries. :lol: But they are never out of sight. Kia is just to little yet to even try it.
 
Chase is never outside by himself, let alone in an unfenced area. Sometimes I let him out in the backyard alone for a few minutes to go potty, but I don't like to do it and I always check if the gates are closed beforehand.

He might now run away, but he just as well might. Or he might be hit by a car, be attacked but an aggressive dog, or be stolen. And those are all risks I don't wanna take..
 
leaving a sheltie unattended

I live in a neighborhood with an unfenced in yard. I never have my little princess outside with out me unless I have to go potty. She is tied on a 50 ft rope but she won't stay out by herself. She must have someone out there with her or she will bark and carry on until someone comes out with her or lets her in. I will let her out to go potty & say i'll be right out and she will not leave the door until I come out with her.
 
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