Dog in House with no Fenced Garden

IBrows89

Hi All,

Looking for a few recommendations. My wife and I currently moved into our first house and we both love animals.

We have a small enough semi detached house with no fenced garden. The kitchen/sitting room and conservatory are fairly spacious though. We do have a big park and forest outside our back garden (literally the other side of our back fence)

We prefer bigger dogs (a saluki would be our dream dog) so do you think a mid size or larger dog would be comfy with being inside the house but let out for long walks in the morning and evening?

Also we would love to get a cat as well, is there any recommendations on if to get a cat first, then a dog or get them both at the same time?

Thanks for your help!!

cocker5

IBrows89 wrote: »

Hi All,

Looking for a few recommendations. My wife and I currently moved into our first house and we both love animals.

We have a small enough semi detached house with no fenced garden. The kitchen/sitting room and conservatory are fairly spacious though. We do have a big park and forest outside our back garden (literally the other side of our back fence)

We prefer bigger dogs (a saluki would be our dream dog) so do you think a mid size or larger dog would be comfy with being inside the house but let out for long walks in the morning and evening?

Also we would love to get a cat as well, is there any recommendations on if to get a cat first, then a dog or get them both at the same time?

Thanks for your help!!

Do you actually have a garden that's not fenced... or no garden?

Knine

IBrows89 wrote: »

Hi All,

Looking for a few recommendations. My wife and I currently moved into our first house and we both love animals.

We have a small enough semi detached house with no fenced garden. The kitchen/sitting room and conservatory are fairly spacious though. We do have a big park and forest outside our back garden (literally the other side of our back fence)

We prefer bigger dogs (a saluki would be our dream dog) so do you think a mid size or larger dog would be comfy with being inside the house but let out for long walks in the morning and evening?

Also we would love to get a cat as well, is there any recommendations on if to get a cat first, then a dog or get them both at the same time?

Thanks for your help!!

You could always get a dog run to let the dog out into. I presume you mean long walks supervised? Lots of people keep dogs in apartments & manage well. Is someone there during the day with the dog?

When you say the Saluki is your dream dog, how much do you know about them? They are a very prey driven sight hound & quite aloof & sensitive. I must admit I would be very fond of them myself. Dogs & cats are best introduced when very young especially where sighthounds are concerned.

IBrows89

cocker5 wrote: »

Do you actually have a garden that's not fenced... or no garden?

We live in a housing estate that has shared garden, so the property management looks after them but there is not fences or hedges in between anyone's garden. There is a small garden (~4m x 6m) out the back of our conservatory but as mentioned this runs into both neighbors gardens.

IBrows89

Knine wrote: »

You could always get a dog run to let the dog out into. I presume you mean long walks supervised? Lots of people keep dogs in apartments & manage well. Is someone there during the day with the dog?

When you say the Saluki is your dream dog, how much do you know about them? They are a very prey driven sight hound & quite aloof & sensitive. I must admit I would be very fond of them myself. Dogs & cats are best introduced when very young especially where sighthounds are concerned.

We both work 8-5 Monday to Thursday but she has some Fridays off and I work a half day all Fridays. We would have no problem with exercising the dog in the morning or evening as there is loads of room in the park behind us.

I have read that about Saluki's and their instinct with cats so that's one thing that has me a bit worried. I have read a bit about them, but have heard that they and lurchers are pretty relaxed once they have been let out running around a couple of times a day.

denismc

I do think it is cruel to leave a dog alone in a house for a large part of the day.
Dogs are intelligent, social animals and deserve a bit more than a bowl of food and a pat on the head once a day.
I used to live in a housing estate where many people just let their dogs out once in the morning and once in the evening, these dogs would bark and snap at my dog when we went by, I can never understand why people get dogs if they are not prepared to look after them.
If you have someone who will walk your dog during the day while you are out then maybe you will be ok.

Knine

IBrows89 wrote: »

We both work 8-5 Monday to Thursday but she has some Fridays off and I work a half day all Fridays. We would have no problem with exercising the dog in the morning or evening as there is loads of room in the park behind us.

I have read that about Saluki's and their instinct with cats so that's one thing that has me a bit worried. I have read a bit about them, but have heard that they and lurchers are pretty relaxed once they have been let out running around a couple of times a day.

The problem with a Saluki though is you cannot just let it off the lead to run around unless you have a secure area well away from roads, areas where pet cats etc might be. They will take off at high speeds after small furry creatures. They might well get along with your cat but other cats will be seen as prey.

cocker5

IBrows89 wrote: »

We both work 8-5 Monday to Thursday but she has some Fridays off and I work a half day all Fridays. We would have no problem with exercising the dog in the morning or evening as there is loads of room in the park behind us.

I have read that about Saluki's and their instinct with cats so that's one thing that has me a bit worried. I have read a bit about them, but have heard that they and lurchers are pretty relaxed once they have been let out running around a couple of times a day.

is there doggie day care in your area? are you intending on hiring a dog walker?

Leaving a dog for up to 10 hours per day with no access to a garden IMO wouldnt really be fair on the dog.

IBrows89

denismc wrote: »

I do think it is cruel to leave a dog alone in a house for a large part of the day.
Dogs are intelligent, social animals and deserve a bit more than a bowl of food and a pat on the head once a day.
I used to live in a housing estate where many people just let their dogs out once in the morning and once in the evening, these dogs would bark and snap at my dog when we went by, I can never understand why people get dogs if they are not prepared to look after them.
If you have someone who will walk your dog during the day while you are out then maybe you will be ok.

As mentioned this is why I asked for advice, we don't want to get a dog for the sake of it. Any pet we do get will be part of the family and get far more than a "pat on the head" once a day.

I'm just asking for advice on what the best thing to do would be as not to be in your word's cruel. I wouldn't have bothered to ask for advice or anyone's previous experience if was wasn't prepared to look after them, whether it's seeing if there is a dog walking service during the day or a doggy day care a couple of days a week.

IBrows89

Knine wrote: »

The problem with a Saluki though is you cannot just let it off the lead to run around unless you have a secure area well away from roads, areas where pet cats etc might be. They will take off at high speeds after small furry creatures. They might well get along with your cat but other cats will be seen as prey.

There is loads of room away from roads in the park but I would be fairly nervous letting any dog off the lead around it as there is a lot of other dogs and children around at times. Unless it was very early in the morning or late in the evening. This could be as I don't have said dog as yet and thinking about the worst possible scenarios.

Vel

I think is a slightly different situation to an apartment as a dog in an apartment can't get out accidentally and has to be brought out to the toilet, whereas in a situation where you have an unfenced garden I think there is a greater risk of the dog accidentally getting out.

I presume you have a door opening into the shared garden. So what happens in the summer when you want to leave the door open, or what happens if you have visitors who accidentally leave the door open? All just questions to consider. You may have the best of intentions but one slip up with that door and your dog will be gone, and if its a saluki then they will be gone very quickly indeed.

I have experience with the sighthound breed and have a saluki x and in the main they have terrible recall. Its not that they don't know that you want them to come back, its just, well, they would prefer to decide when to come back themselves!! There will be the odd exception but generally they should not be let off lead unless the area is fully secure.

Maybe consider a saluki x lurcher from a rescue who has lived with cats, if you think you might not be able for the full on saluki experience. There are tonnes of them in rescue.

I lived in an apartment with my saluki lurcher for about 3 years and it was fine. It was a bit of a pain having to take them out to the toilet on the lead, especially in the morning but you get used to it and do what you have to do. My lurcher was perfectly happy being left in our apartment as he was exercised before we went to work and after, but granted he wasn't left alone for the length of time you propose.

I certainly wouldn't be leaving any dog with unsupervised access to my garden when I am at work, due to risk of theft, escape etc. (and saluki types are at great risk of theft) so once a dog is well exercised and isn't left for too long, the arguments about it being cruel to have a dog in an apartment or without access to outside space when you aren't home are moot

Ms Doubtfire1

Knine wrote: »

The problem with a Saluki though is you cannot just let it off the lead to run around unless you have a secure area well away from roads, areas where pet cats etc might be. They will take off at high speeds after small furry creatures. They might well get along with your cat but other cats will be seen as prey.

I would agree with this.My lurcher gets along well with my cats, but other peoples cats (and don't ask me how he knows it) are fair game to him. Thankfully he has a decent recall and I have a big voice when it's needed. But sighthound and recall is more often a failure than not.I guess I just got lucky.

ShaShaBear

Would you consider rescuing an adult Saluki or Saluki cross?
We fostered a BEAUTIFUL one named Lindy about 2.5 years ago. She was such a dream. Only about 2 years old, so past most of the puppy boldness, but still playful and with plenty of life in her. She was toilet trained, polite on the lead, good with other dogs (although we didn't know with cats) and exceptionally gentle and well-behaved around my daughter. She had absolutely no head on her for tricks in any capacity though :P
They're not all over the place, but do crop up every now and again, and might be a good option for someone who is going to be out for a long time. I would definitely not let them off-lead unless in a fully enclosed area away from children and cats/wildlife. We never had any issue with Lindy and kids, but they do like to give very abrupt chase to anything running in another direction

shel64

Beautiful dog but maybe you should read this? http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/reviews/salukis.html
I think maybe not for your circumstances

IBrows89

shel64 wrote: »

Beautiful dog but maybe you should read this? http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/reviews/salukis.html
I think maybe not for your circumstances

Any recommendations which medium to large breed would be suitable, as mentioned I would definitely be seeking alternatives to leaving at home but a dog that wouldn't get too lonely and would be grand pottering around the house after a couple of long walks.

andreac

IBrows89 wrote: »

Any recommendations which medium to large breed would be suitable, as mentioned I would definitely be seeking alternatives to leaving at home but a dog that wouldn't get too lonely and would be grand pottering around the house after a couple of long walks.

Greyhound

boomerang

andreac wrote: »

Greyhound

Totally agree. Except for the long walks. Most greyhounds would happily skip those.