Tethering- Are you pro or con?

It seems like more and more cities/states are trying to enact more and more tethering 'laws' today, whereby, the amount of time a dog can/is allowed to spend time on a chain may soon be reduced to a certain amount of hours per day. This concerns me, as, if enacted/enforced, it may lead to owners, who use a chain as their primary means to contain their dog(s), having to relinquish/give up their dogs, due to the failure to be able to follow, what I deem, are unnecessary rules.
I have read many reports regarding tethering, both pro and con, as well as comparisons regarding kenneling and chaining. In fact, on the BSL board today, almost 1/2 of a page discusses this subject. Which, got me wondering, as to the feelings of the members here, regarding how you guys feel concerning this issue. What are your feelings regarding "dogs on a chain"? Do you guys feel chaining a dog causes any kind of detriment to the dog(s)? Does chaining a dog impair them in any way? Does it cause "behavior issues"? Do you view chaining as "cruel" or "inhumane"? And, if a "tethering" law was instituted in your city, would you be able to abide by it, if it had your dogs limited to a specific time frame on which to be on a chain?
Are you for or against it, and why?
j/c, ...
tx for any replies

 

I dont see any problem with "tethering" a dog, just as long as it is given proper care, i.e. food, water, health care(shots, antibiotic when needed, etc) attention, exercise. I see nothing wrong with it. I think its the best way to contain certain breeds of dogs. I personally use a chain set-up for my dogs(although they are not out all the time) I feel more secure with them there than running loose in the yard. The only time they are allowed to run free in the yard is if I am there. Even when they are on the chain, I'm up checking on them every 10-15 min or so.

 

i am 200% for having a a bulldog on a chain axel set up.and this reason for this is very simple.it is the only safe,humane and responsable way to contain your bulldog.when they are on a chain/axel set up they have 100% more room to run and jump and such that if they were in a kennel all day.to me that would be like living in a hotel when you could live in a nice big house with room to roam.i would go crazy and i know my dogs would go crazy being cooped up in a little kennel.it is also very cost effective because not everyone makes the salary the the thives i mean ''law makers'' make to afford to have a dozen or so kennels put up.

 

I am all for it if it's done right. Right being the dog has access to plenty of water, shelter, and that it is set up in such a way as to prevent the chain/cable/shoestring from becoming tangled. I do feel it changes the dogs temperment somewhat.. at least in my case it has. I've got Boomer on a chain set up and Cheyenne and Folsom in pens. Boomer being chained is alot more aggressive and louder toward people when he's chained up than when he's off chain. For example. My friend can come up and Boomer is off chain out playing ball with me and he runs up to my friend wanting to play. But if I am outside and Boomer is on chain and the same friend drives up Boomer is growling and barking like he's a stranger. Now all 3 dogs bark and growl when they are inside the house and someone pulls up. But as for long term or serious damage no I don't feel it does anything to the dog. So put me on the Pro tether list.

 

Well, The way I see it is unless you are a breeder with multiple dogs or have too many period then I'm not for it. Your pits are FAMILY and should be treated so, not yard ordiments...JMO

 

Whether you chain a dog or kennel it, you are going to cause loads of behavioural problems if the dog never gets off the chain/out of the pen. I really don't think it has anything to do with how they are confined; be it kennel, laundry room, garage, pen or chain. But if you confine a dog 24/7 with no training, no socialization etc etc... that dog is going to have issues.
As for why I think chaining bulldogs is best, it has already been said so I won't resay anything.
Put me on the pro tethering list

 

I personaly like the chain...(funny, I used to hate it), as stated before they have more room to run and move about about and are not looking behind chain all day.
We have a had a few of ours in a kennels for a little bit of time (3 weeks) and they like it at first (a couple of days) then hated it....they were more than ready to get back on their chain!
I even go as far as recommending a "PROPER chain set-up, to those who are not quite sure and tell them the reasons.

As far as behavior problem......I DO NOT AGREE....ANY dog on ANY set-up can have bad behaviors if mis-treated or not properly taken care of, could be a kennel, could be a fence, could be a chain, could be inside a house...I dont really think it matters "WHERE or HOW" your dog is contained, if you take care of and treat properly, good behavior is a given.

And yes we have means to properly take care of all of our dogs, we would not have them otherwise, but this went into effect.....
with 13 dogs and 13 20x20 kennels...HELL NO we could not afford that right off...would take a little time, because I would not allow them to only have 10x10, coming from 10'+chain circles now, they have 20x20.

 

As I have said before, a chain is merely a tool and cannot be held accountable for a dogs poor behavior. Saying that chaining made a dog aggressive is like saying that your dogs empy water bowl is responsible for it's dehydration. No, it's up to the owner to care for their dog. A dog can be just as abused in the house as it can on the end of a chain.

Every form of confinement has it's pro's and con's. I feel that chaining is a safe and effective manner of contain a dog, be it longterm or short term. But it must be done right, as should anything else. A lot of the problem stems from sites such as www.unchainyourdog.com which spew false propaganda and pull on one's heartstrings.

 

Your dogs may be family, but my dogs are dogs. I love them all, and some I even like better then some family members, but they are still dogs.
Some woman ask me one time how I would like to be on a chain all day every day, and I ask her what she fed her dog, and she said "ole' roy". I then ask her how she would like to eat "ole' roy" every meal, everyday. Get my point.
These dogs have been on chains for 100's of years, and they have adjusted fine.

 

that is one excellent post! rep points to you!

 

LOL, Good point....

 

LOL...I know what you mean about loving.....
Hell, I love all of our dogs, more than I even like most people!
Great post!

 

100% in favor of allowing people to contain their dogs, the best way they can.

I see less behavioral problems in "gamedogs" on chains and in kennels, then with pets who don't get off the couch but to go outside to piss and shit.

 

Add me to the pro tethering list like others have said the dog has more space and is safer on a proper chain setup.

 

i think its okay as long as the dog isnt left alone all day and ignored which happens with dogs in yards and kennels also so the whole anti-tethering law is pretty pointless,a bad owner is a bad owner regardless of how the dog is contained.The only reason i dont like it is because if the dog is only tethered with no fence around it other animals and people can still get to the dog.

 

I think "Tethering" is fine as long as it's with in a secure and safe location where nothing too dangerous can get at your animals. The only result from chaining is you remove the flight option (from flight or fight) thus if something they fear is approaching they have too fight. Also dogs need to be stimulated and leaving a dog on a chain/kennel is not providing it, too much time in either isn't a good thing.

The only dogs I've ever seen go a little nutty on a chain are in high traffic areas where they are scared out of their mind 90% of the time. Imagine being forced into fight drive that much, it would be enough to drive anything crazy.

 

I don't believe dogs should be chained up in high-traffic areas, not only because they can't rest, and have to worry about cars zipping by, but its too many unwanted eyes, and an easy target for a thief.

 

I am 100% for you having 100% say so over your property. Maybe I dont agree with how some folks maintain their animals, maybe I do agree. Thing is, the more we decide that this is not okay, and make that illegal, and that is not okay, and make that illegal, the more we are destroying our freedoms. I do not like the idea of someone not taking care of their animal. Do I believe it is okay to impose my belief and will upon that person? That's a tough one. On the one hand if someone is starving the dog yes, on the other hand, what door did I just open? Because we can go from a starving dog, then to a person feeding "ole roy", to a person not socializing the dog, to not tethering the dog, to not kenneling the dog to no leashes, to no ownership. Crazy, but if you would have told the American public in the year 1900 that billions of tax payers dollars would be used on the 'war on drugs', they would have revolted. In the early 1900's people could mail order haroein and a glass syringe from the Sears and Robuck catologue! The gov. tried prohibition, and saw that it was a waste of money and that it actually caused crime to increase, so they repented!

On a side note, if you will look at how Americans stood up and would fight tyranny at the cost of life, and see how Americans are today, and how the youth of America is, you should see very well that what has happened to the people will happen to the dogs. We have a system that caters to the lazy, and they are breeding machines. We have bulldogs that are lazy, not hitting a lick, and they are breeding machines. So I can see that the same thing that is happening with the game bulldogs, is the same thing that is happening to game Americans! You fight the system long enough these days, and the system will break you, dont think it wont. I know from experience, and I am hard headed. Oh, I'm sorry, I went off again huh?

I chain my bulldogs, they have more room, better exercise, are happier and safer. I have a show dog here that I doubt will ever be game, but she is an escape artist! She is the one I use to try out all my contraptions, and a chain/axle is the only thing that will hold her. Heck, my 9 week old pups chewed through the fence in the back yard, and were out in the dog yard playing with a couple of the big dogs!! Just think of what a grown dog will do.

The whole tethering law is the AR folks trying to make a stupid law that will get our dogs into trouble, so that the statistics can go up to say what they are wanting them to say in the first place. I wish I could stumble upon one of them demonstrations where the AR folks are being chain for a day!lOL now that would be fun. While they are chained there, dump a bag of dog poop on them so that they can get the real effect, they believe in their cause so much!!

 

I personally prefer if a person looks at other ways to keep their dogs -- especially if they've only got one or two. But I understand the necessity of chaining (or tethering) if you've got numerous bulldogs, or ones that bust out of kennels and the like. If someone has a good setup that doesn't tangle, has access to shade, water, shelter, etc., I have no problem with it.

 

After I had nine dogs stolen off the chain one night, I switched entirely to kennels. I hate kennels. It's more difficult to interact with the dogs, the spaces are more of a pain-in-the-ass to clean, and then there is the constant worry of a sneaky one getting by you as you're entering or exiting its kennel, which can result in all kinds of problems.
I have NEVER seen any indication that a dog is happier caged inside a hundred-square-foot kennel than on a 250-300 -square-foot chain spot. Oh, the AR freaks will ask, "Then how about a 250-square-foot kennel?" I could deal with that, except that even a 150-square-footer costs around 500 bucks. If you own twenty dogs, you're looking at 10,000 dollars for 10x15's for all of them, and still they have much less space than they would on an average chain spot!

Excuse my language, but this issue just really pisses me the fuck right off! I'm sick of all these whiny-assed prissy little head-cases who cry like a bitch every time they see a dog on the end of a chain. "Oh poor sad little baby doggie. How cruel. How inhumane." FUCK YOU!!! You don't have the slightest damned clue about cruelty and inhumanity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where do you get your ideas??? Where do you get your information??? What, do you hear doggie voices in your fucked up brainless head whispering "helllllp meeeee, saaaaave meeeee?" Of course you do, ya fuckin' whackjob!!! The ONLY known scientific study done in regards to chains vs kennels reached a solid conclusion that there IS NO BEHAVIORAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHAINED DOGS AND KENNELED DOGS!!! Read it ya fuckin' moron! http://pitarchive.org/?q=node/109 Quit listening to your armchair asshole self-proclaimed "behaviorists" who are getting rich off your stupidity and ignorance! Some of these people would let your screaming baby burn to death in favor of the mangey stray that wandered into the burning building!

The only thing anti-tethering laws do is create more law-breakers, and prevent honest law-abiding folks from owning more than just a few dogs.
As was previously mentioned, dogs have been tethered for centuries and they've done just fine.



My maniacal rantings certainly aren't directed toward any member of game-dog.com, unless you happen to be one of those bent on making outlaws out of honest dog owners by way of anti-tethering laws, in which case I say...

...fuck you too!