CONCERNING THE OUTDOOR CHAINING/TETHERING OF DOGS

By Dr. Michael W. Fox

The common practice in many communities, where it is not yet forbidden under local ordinance, or is accepted with strictly specified time-restrictions and effective inspections and enforcement by animal control authorities, of keeping one or more dogs restrained on a chain or other material such as a wire cable or rope, is unacceptable for several reasons. Regardless of whether the dog has adequate shade and shelter and is provided water and sufficient freedom of movement so as not to become tangled or hung, being kept out on a chain/tether affects the flight and critical distance reactions of dogs.

The longer and more frequently a dog is kept outdoors under such restraint, the more the dog’s behavior will change. Normal flight and critical (attack) distances are disrupted by such restraint, making friendly dogs more likely to become aggressive when approached by a stranger; turning timid dogs into so-called fear-biters; and aggressive dogs into dangerous animals.

The longer and more frequently a dog is so restrained, the more behavioral abnormalities or pathologies are likely to develop from a combination of being physically, behaviorally and psychologically confined to a life-space dictated by the length of the constraining tether. Signs of behavioral pathology, that are indicative of stress and emotional distress, include stereotypic ( repetitive, obsessive-compulsive) pacing, spinning, running to and fro, frenzied chewing to get free; and displacement behaviors such as digging, and excessive self-licking, even to the point of self-mutilation. Many such dogs bark and whine incessantly, resulting in cruel retribution when neighbors complain, or no less cruel surgical de-vocalization.

The suffering of dogs chained outdoors, extremes of weather not withstanding, is compounded by the fact that the dog is a pack animal and wants to be with his or her family and ‘master’ in the house. Such emotional/social deprivation is in many instances intensified by the outdoor dog seeing one or more pet dogs in the house who are never chained outside.

Nobel prize laureate the late Dr. Konrad Lorenz, and author of the best selling book "Man Meets Dog", would insist that these tethered outside dogs, who should be inside with their human pack, manifest a pathological disruption of their ethos or behavior, meaning a total distortion of their conceptual, emotional and social space as a result of being confined to a universe defined by the length of their chains..

I would concur with Dr. Lorenz, and as author of a best selling book myself, "Understanding Your Dog", add that if dogs are to be outdoors they should be free to run and play, ideally with members of their own kind rather than being alone, in a safe, confined area, for short periods of time during the day.

In conclusion, from the perspectives not of tradition, custom, or cultural values, but of veterinary bioethics and animal behavior science, the prolonged tethering of dogs outdoors is inhumane, and unethical. The practice, therefore, of people tying their dogs up outside for hour upon hour should be prohibited by law in the name of compassion, and in the spirit of a civil society that equates social progress with the humane treatment of all animals within the community.

Michael W. Fox B.Vet. Med., Ph.D., D.Sc. M.R.C.V.S.