Your Pets Should Not Be Left Alone Outside
In case you missed it:
Cammy
Disclaimer: This article contains fairly graphic descriptions of animal death. Reader discretion is advised.
Why I Am Passionate
Every single day, I read a post on NextDoor or elsewhere online: "Lost dog; such and such got out at this time, and hasn't been seen since. Wearing a blue collar, goes by Buddy, let me know if you see him." I just sit there and read it, knowing in my heart that the chances of them being reunited peacefully are slim to none in this area. It's overrun with vehicles and construction, and hungry coyotes and bobcats lurking, waiting for anything they can sink their teeth into.
I live in the town my family founded a couple of hundred years ago, and it used to be a beautiful blackland prairie area, with incredible birds of prey, coyotes, bobcats, all kinds of animals you won't even find driving down to wilder lands anymore. There are houses after houses after houses after houses - and they are forever building more after a stupid deal with a prominent builder. So, now, the animals have nowhere to go. They have no space, no home, barely any trees around anymore, other than those that are in our yards.
So, now we get bunnies in our yard...constantly. If it isn't a rabbit, it's a gecko, and if it isn't a gecko, it's a fucking field mouse. I even have to take my girls out separately sometimes, so they don't get into a scuffle over an animal neither of them should be chasing in the first place. Just this afternoon, there was a small field mouse randomly chilling by the fence in the corner of the yard, and my GSP nabbed it before anyone else even saw it. If we hadn't been out there with them, it could have turned into a knock-down/drag-out fight.
Now add to that the risk of your dogs escaping from your yard by hopping the fence or digging underneath. A Great Pyrenees can often clear a 6ft fence - maybe even higher, depending on the individual dog. The same goes for several other breeds, including huskies, Belgian Malinois, and even pitties - if they are bound and determined, they can and they will escape. I always tell clients there is a very simple way to ensure your pets are safe and secure - stay outside with them the entire time they go out.
Is it monotonous, tedious, boring? I guess it can be, but what's it gonna hurt? I am a huge advocate for pets always being safe and secure when their humans cannot adequately watch them or choose to take them where they are not allowed. While I know that your backyard is very low on the flight risk factor, the risk is not 0%. I worked with a girl at a kennel a couple of years ago whose mother raised Boerboels on their family's land and sold them. I am a rescue kind of girl, & I hate saying 'buying' rather than adopting, regardless of how they came into the world, but I digress. Tangent aside, this tyke, somehow, was left to his own devices all day, and died while digging under the fence, as if he was trying to escape the area, and got overheated. Loss number 1.
