I have taken EVERYTHING into consideration. You have to know your area and what is in it and what is not.

People tend to only know there area yet they want to blast other people when they don't know the other people area!

Taylor ... You are defending your position .. That is your right. I would like you to think how there are no abosolutes. How you feel now is how I feel sometimes when you ( and others ) make statement that are very "black or white" "right(my way) or wrong (not my way).

I know for a fact you would never put Calle in harms way.. Knowingly
I just hope you keep your eyes open, I know you are doing your best

Just understand others see this differently ... Just as you see other parts if caring for our babies differently

There was a broadcast on our local news the other night. A wildlife expert was responding to reports of coyote in the city of Knoxville and Maryville. He installed a web cam. A mother coyote was under a lady's house with her pups she had given birth under there. The coyote had snatched this ladies cat off her front porch. I wouldn't trust where you live to be safe from wildlife. They are everywhere now.

Lynzy I am heartbroken for they little dog and for you having to be witness to such a senseless tragedy.

Omgosh! Im so sorry that you had to deal with all of this. Some people are just idiots!

To each their own. I don't think anybody is calling anybody else a bad owner. It is simply a judgment call about safety.

I see NO point in leaving a small dog out alone. Go for it if you truly believe it is safe. Watching most of the time is not the same as watching all of the time. And watching behind closed doors may not give enough time to intervene. Like I said in a previous thread, if I don't want to go out, then I hold the other end of the leash from an unlocked door. No mosquitoes this way...

There are thieves everywhere, wildlife everywhere, rabid animal everywhere, etc. Yorkies have been stolen in MI from fences when owners were just not paying attention for five minutes. Heck, it can happen in five seconds. Phones are stolen out of cars in less than a minute. Surely they can find a way to take a yorkie quickly. They can and do lure them out of yards. Large birds aren't limited by fences. Any large predator can jump a fence.

I really don't understand why people feel immune to these dangers. They are everywhere.

Sense people want to judge maybe the whole story of Callie's life should be shared! She is the only reason I get up most mornings. I hand feed her twice a day as well as leave food out for her all the time. I wipe her butt, privates, paws and face EVERY night. She has had LP and ACL surgery on one back leg and it is known she will need it on the other. She has NEVER been left home alone ever. I will not put her in a bording kennel if she can not go on a trip I do not go. She goes to the vet every time it is nessisarily. Instead of having her tooth just pulled she had a root canal so she could still have the tooth. She has many toys, clothes, bones, and treats. She is talked to and loved by everyone in my house. She has a car seat for the car two clean water dishes in the house. Millions of beds in every room. She is on a kinda expensive joint supplement. She also takes a supplement to keep her from braking out with her summer allergies. She has a face wash for baths as well as a regular shampoo. I make sure her collar is thin so as not to bother her. She has a stroller for pet expos so she is not stepped on and to keep her back leg from getting sore. Even though no one opens the garage door until the main door is closed we still have a gate that goes up. My dad changed out the deck to have a ramp instead of stairs for Callie before we moved in and even put no slip stuff on it. He also put wood latace up around the whole bottom of the deck so she can not get under there. We take a lot of precautions in everything we do and the things we have in the house. At night Callie has access to my hallway where there is water and my bathroom because my door Has doggy door and there is a baby gate at the end of the hallway. There is nothing I would not do for Callie. I would sell every last thing I have if I needed to for her. She is my baby but I still allow her time to be a dog. I spend all my money pretty much on her because that's what makes me happy. I research things to death that includes anything in our area that could be dangerous. No one knows the area I live in and how's our land is set up I will be glad to take pictures and pm them to anyone interested.

Oh my this poor doggie.

I am one that believes that a dog of ANY SIZE should never be left outside alone. I don't believe in doggie doors.

ETA:
A Google search does show that at least one coyote has been spotted in your area. Nowhere is safe.

The deck prohibits me from just holding a leash out there. Callie is to big for birds of pray and I am in a much different area then you.

Even inside the a house is not safe.

As I said, to each their own. There are things that I do with my dogs that people on YT would not agree with. It is my judgment call. It is your right to make these calls for your pup.

It is JMO that it is not safe.

Also, I am not sure how anybody knows exactly where I live because I don't post that info, but even if was in the country on my dad's land or w.e. with a perfect setup, I personally would still not allow it. Again, JMO.

Taylor, no one is judging and saying you don't take exceptional care of Callie.

This is just a difference of opinion on what is safe and what is not.

My neighbor's Yorkie proved that birds of prey will go after larger dogs that can't be carried away. He had his sides shredded by the hawk's talons. :(

First, I'm really sorry you had to witness that, I cannot imagine. How devastating. :(

Judge me now, I let Jackson out in the backyard at my dads house. He's not 100% supervised at ALL times but with that said, he's never out more than 3 minutes anyway and then he's back at the door waiting to come in. At night, I stand on the deck and watch him go potty and he comes right back in. We're secluded though, very country. All farmland behind us.

If we were in a neighborhood that my aunt lives in, for example, I probably wouldn't. Every house's fenced yards are somehow connected (like each house has their own fence, but they're right up against each other) -- busy roads close-by, dogs on each side, lots of traffic, lots of people walking around. Typical suburban neighborhood.

It's hard to explain my dads house, but it's very rural, very safe. My dad is very anal about the fence and keeping the yard up. He only got a fence specifically for the dogs. We also have a camera (he owns an alarm company) out back and can see it on a little TV screen up in our kitchen in the corner (we have a pool, so always want to be able to see).

I will say though, I saw a coyote walking through a upper class nice neighborhood (not by my dads house, different area). I thought I was seeing things but then saw reports of one being there! I had Jackson so I was spooked and immediately turned back around. Don't know if it even saw us, it went into the woods. But they're definitely around, even if not common. And this was a super nice expensive neighborhood, not 'country' at all.

But *shrugs* I know I'm not a bad dog owner, in fact I'm pretty much a great one if I may be so modest, and I'm not going to hover over top of my dog every minute he wants to be outside and ... be a dog. To each their own. But I don't think it's fair to criticize and think one is being irresponsible simply because they let their dog out in a fenced in yard.

Obviously, leaving ANY dog outside in a yard ALL day long with hardly any interaction is extremely sad. I'm not advocating that. I also saw a story the other day on the local news about a missing Yorkie they believe was stolen. Owner was crying and saying how the dog would go outside every day, and cross the street to the local kids park and say hello, and always come home, etc. Ummm, duh! The fact that a dog that was left loose, not in a fence, every day and you expected nothing bad to ever happen is just ignorant. That's a different story IMO. Most people that have fenced in yards and dogs are going to utilize them. I know many people that get fences specifically because they have dogs. To me, that's being a good dog owner and being responsible.