Kennel Versus Chain

There are two dogs: for the sake of this article we’ll say these dogs are one to two years old, healthy, energetic and nonagressive.  Each dog is owned by a middle-aged single man who has a reasonably good job, and comfortable lifestyle.  One man ties his dog up on a 25 foot chain while he is away from home.  The dog has food, water, and a well-insulated, well-built doghouse, and there is nothing within the radius of the chain that he can get tangled up with or around. The man keeps the dog’s “yard” picked up and free of waste and the doghouse is always full of clean, warm bedding.  The other man houses his dog in a well-built commercial kennel, just like the kind used by professionals.  There is shadecloth over part of the top to provide shade, and like the other dog this one has food and water, and a well-built doghouse with bedding.  This man cleans his dog’s kennel whenever he thinks about it. 

Both men come home from work.  It is winter time, and the sun has already gone down.  It has been a long and exhausting day, and both men just want to have a quiet evening of rest.  The first man gets out of his truck and walks over to where his dog is jumping around at the end of the chain, whining and barking excitedly.  The man greets the dog and unclips the chain from his collar.  The dog is free! He races around the yard as fast as he can, nearly hitting the man before veering away.  When the dog calms down  the man gives him a pat  and the two of them go into the house.   The man changes clothes, and buddles up for the cold then he and the dog go out into the yard, where they play tug of war and lure chase until the dog is tired and ready to quit for the night.  The two of them go back into the house where they have dinner and relax in front of the TV until bedtime, when the man takes the dog out to potty, then it’s inside for the night.  The next morning the man feeds the dog and gets ready for work.  He puts out fresh water for the dog and ties the dog up for the day.  He gives the dog one of the beef knuckles he keeps in the freezer and goes off to work.  He cleans the dogs yard every day. 

The second man hears his dog barking from the kennel at the back of the house when he drives up.  The dog is always barking it seems.  He yells at the dog to “Shut Up” then goes in the house.  He fixes some dinner and eats in front of the TV and reads the paper.  Eventually he goes out to feed the dog.  He gets a pan and pours dogfood into it, then takes it out to the kennel.  It’s dark out and the man has to use a flashlight to see where he is going.  As soon as the dog hears the master coming, he starts leaping up on the kennel door, all excited to see his human.  The man scolds the dog and hits the wire on the door to make him get back.  Then the man slides the bowl of food under the kennel door and straightens up.  In his excitement the dog steps on the edge of his dish and sends food flying all over the kennel floor.  The man shakes his head in disgust and shines the light into the water bucket that is tied in the corner of the kennel.  What water is left is frozen solid.  “Oh well, no point in putting water out now…” The man goes back into the house. The dog, who is always hopeful, but more or less accustomed to being ignored begins to pick his food up off the ground; out from among piles of manure and frozen puddles of urine.  The next morning the man is running late.   He Throws a bowl of food under the kennel gate and dumps some water into the water bucket, but most of  it slashes out and onto the ground around the bucket, as well as on the dog.  The man goes off to work.

It’s the weekend!  The dog who is chained up gets to be free the whole time!  His master plays with him, and walks with him, and they have a great time together.  At the second dog’s house there is a football game on TV so the  man hurriedly feeds the dog, then goes in and spends most of the rest of the weekend sitting in front of the TV.  He only sees the dog when he feeds him.

The point of this rather long and obvious story is that it isn’t the chain or kennel that determines whether or not a dog is well loved and well cared for.  It’s the caretaker of the dog that makes the difference.  A good, responsible dog owner will take good care of his dog regardless of everything else.  We should never assume that just because a dog is chained up it is being neglected and abused, nor should we assume that just because a dog is in a kennel that it is living in the lap of luxury.