I had read about tie-downs on a Humane Society website. Apparently it’s like the indoor version of a tie-out. Since I’ve stopped crating in the last 3-4 months, I decided to try this method of containment after Helo’s surgery. He’s supposed to have limited activity for up to fourteen days. So for two weeks I’m supposed to keep him from jumping, running, and playing. I was initially going to bring in one of the crates to use during Helo’s healing process, but since I’m home all of the time to monitor him, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to put him on “tie-down” just until he has healed from surgery.
So for the last week he has either been tethered to me, or tethered in the dining room (particularly at night, as I have been crashing on the living room sofa for the last week and a half due to my cold). Helo started off with flying colors. At night, when he would be confined to the dining room, he would lay down and sleep through the night. But you try keeping a six month old puppy from his normal activity, and he’s going to build up a lot of energy and become restless. Going on the second week, Helo has started misbehaving at night. Normally I’m a heavy sleeper, but I seem to have an ear open at night and have been waking up to his antics in time to rush over and correct the behavior.
First off, he has started jumping up on the dining room table. He has pulled down and shredded countless envelops (thankfully I managed to save the bills). I’m not even sure how he managed to reach them, as I had pushed everything to the opposite side of the table specifically to discourage table surfing. It’s less interesting when there’s nothing to get into, right?
So then he decides to pick a fight with the Swiffer wet jet. He tears the wrapper off of the bottle that holds the cleaning solution (fortunately he didn’t puncture the bottle), and he also pulled off of the pad from the bottom of the Swiffer. He has done this not once, but twice so far! What did that Swiffer ever do to him!?
I think a tie-down indoors is good for some circumstances. For example, when you get a new puppy, many books suggest keeping the puppy on a leash and often tying it to yourself so you can monitor his behavior inside the house (this is supposed to help prevent accidents and bad behavior). Although I’m against tie-outs (namely because people often tie their dogs outside and leave them there, unsupervised and isolated from the family), I decided to give this “tie-down” idea a try. I’m always open to trying new methods, as long as they are humane.
Many people would say tying your dog up is inhumane, but I think in this circumstance, it’s acceptable. In no way does it harm the dog, and he is under supervision the entire time (although night time is questionable when I put him in the dining room, since that’s when I’m trying to sleep). However, it’s not like I’ve tied him outside and abandoned him. That, in my opinion, is not appropriate and should never be allowed. Dogs don’t want to be left in the backyard on a chain or tie-out.
And yeah, I’m sure Helo doesn’t want to be tied up inside the house either, but it’s only until he recovers from surgery and can go back to normal behavior. If I don’t confine him somehow, he would be running around and playing with Sam and Motley (which they have done a few times since his surgery when he was having time off of the leash like during bathroom breaks and feeding time).
The problem is, he’s as six month old puppy who is used to regular activity - constant running, playing, rough housing, and going out frequently (in the yard, to the beach, and to the dog park). When you take that away for two weeks straight, of course he’s going to become restless! That’s usually the number one reason why puppies become destructive in the first place. They aren’t getting enough stimulation and exercise.
This experience has really shown me why crates are so important. I stopped using crates about 3-4 months ago since I’m always home to watch the dogs now. However, I would rather crate a dog than tie him up indoors. I think a tie-down could be used in good ways (such as teaching a dog to lay calmly inside the house, an example listed by the humane society), but ultimately I’ve decided crating is a lot more effective. Not to mention safer, if you get some idiot who doesn’t watch their dog. I’ve seen a lot of footage of dogs being chained inside houses, and just left there. Sometimes for days with little or no interaction with people.
Despite my recent practice with the tie-down method, I do not support that kind of bad ownership. Never leave your dogs tied up and unsupervised, indoors or out! Dogs are pack animals and want to be with the family. At least Helo has been able to interact with his human and canine family members during this new experience, and I’ve tried to make it as pleasant as possible by providing toys to play with and bones to chew on since he hasn’t been allowed to play with his canine sisters.
I think from now on, however, I will just go back to crating whenever I need to confine or limit their activity for medical reasons. Overall, I think it’s just a lot safer and doesn’t require constant attention like tie-downs.
