House or Kennel?

House or Kennel

where should my dog live?

Many gundog owners have their dog living in the house with them, probably the majority. If you talk to UK dog owners who train their dog’s to very high standards for field work and especially if they compete in trials, you will find that many of them restrict their dogs to life in a kennel. In America however many serious and successful retriever trainers keep their own dogs in the family home, with equally good results

There is no ‘right way’ or ‘wrong way’ here. Each way has it’s advantages and disadvantages. Probably the greatest disadvantage to kennel life is that 'socialising' the young dog requires a little more thought. Another disadvantage may be in the lack of opportunity for house training - this could be a problem if you want to stay with friend or relatives at some time, and your dog will have to remain indoors with you on someone else's carpets.

In actual fact, many dogs which have been brought up in kennels are naturally quite clean when brought indoors, especially if they have been allowed periods of time indoors on a regular basis

The main advantage to kennelling a dog is that you can control exactly what the dog is learning. Dogs learn all the time, and in ways we often don’t appreciate. This learning within the family situation, especially in a big family, can be counter productive. For example - the dog may be given an instruction - ’get in your basket’ then in the hustle and bustle of family life the dog is forgotten. In the fullness of time the dog comes out of the basket. No one notices - he isn’t being naughty after all - and the dog has learnt a very good lesson in disobedience. In short he has learnt ‘I do not need to stay’. Perhaps the dog picks up someone’s new shoes, or glasses. If they are snatched away or he is told off for having them, he has learnt another lesson - ‘do not retrieve’. The dog in the home may be subjected to a wide variety of experiences such as these - not all of them valuable by any means.

The dog who is kennelled will be especially pleased to see his handler, used to coping with periods of boredom and his training sessions will be the highlight of his life. If he is an only dog, he may also be rather lonely.

Of course it is entirely possible to train a reliable efficient gundog and have him living in your home with you, it takes some thought and a fairly co-operative family. It really is a matter of personal preference, but if you intend to raise your puppy in your home you will find a crate to be an excellent investment for those times when you are not able to supervise your pup.