Pros and Cons of Having a Fenced-In Yard for Our Dog

Last spring we moved into a house with a secure opaque fence. I love the opportunity to let Scout lounge outside!

At the same time, I’m actually thankful we didn’t have private property for so long — and it’s important to me that I don’t let our yard negatively impact our relationship.

Here are some of the pros and cons of having a fully-fenced yard after living the apartment dog life for more than two years.

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The best things about having a fenced yard

Let me be clear that our yard is one of my favorite things. This is why we love it!

Our dog gets even more biological fulfillment

The fact that Scout can sunbathe or chase geckos while I work means she ultimately gets more opportunities to satisfy her instincts than when we lived in an apartment (but only because that yard time isn’t a substitute for engaged play or outings, it’s in addition to them).

We’ve all gotten used to other dogs barking

Scout has gotten so much more comfortable with other dogs barking because she’s able to safely listen behind the fence. The sound of our neighbor dogs scared her in the beginning, but we’ve reached a point where she completely dismisses it — and that’s helped while hearing dogs out and about in public, too.

There are more opportunities to give raw bones or “gross” things

In our apartment, we always gave Scout raw bones or other chews on a towel to make cleanup easy. Now that we have a lawn, she can lounge in the sun and chew to her heart’s content without getting our floors messy!

We can play without worrying about leashes

We’ve worked hard to build Scout’s play drive in as many environments and while wearing as many tools as possible — but there’s no denying that letting her jump for a frisbee or weave through our legs while naked (as opposed to dragging a leash) is just plain safer and more enjoyable for everyone.

Three cheers for private bathroom breaks

I don’t have to wear pants to take her to pee! 😂 This is especially wonderful on days with subpar weather or late evenings where the last thing I want to do is walk all the way outside.

It’s easier to have more play sessions

Because we can just open the back door and run out into the yard (as opposed to having to leash up, walk through the apartment common areas, and then get out onto the grounds at our old building) we generally end up having more play sessions on an average day living in our house.

We’ve always played indoors as well (and we still do often, especially tug!) but fech is undeniably better when there’s room to run.

Great side effects of starting our life together in an apartment

While our yard has many pros, building our foundation in an apartment setting was pretty great, too.

(You can read more about how we navigated apartment life with our cattle dog in this article.)

We had built-in opportunities to work on leash manners

Since all of Scout’s bathroom breaks had to be on leash, we automatically practiced her leash manners multiple times a day.

Our dog developed neutrality to long lines

Scout learned to drag a leash or long line during play without getting distracted by it. While we all prefer to play when she’s naked, I’m incredibly happy that she can have fun in any of her gear.

The presence or absence of a specific tool doesn’t cause any major changes in her behavior!

We were always outside together

I was with Scout every time she was outside. Without fail, I could:

• Gauge how she responded to various stimuli
• Give feedback on her behavior
• Help her through challenging moments

I think this was a huge part of working through her fear-based dog reactivity. We couldn’t easily avoid other dogs — but I was always with her when we saw them.

We had to be intentional about our outings

Since I couldn’t just open a door and let my dog outside, apartment life pushed me to be more intentional about the places we went. I’d often try to create outings with a balance of opportunities for fun + fulfillment alongside impulse control.

I could easily keep tabs on her health

Every time Scout peed or pooped, I was with her. This made it simple to keep tabs on her bowel movements and any changes to her drinking or urination.

And because I walked our apartment hallway with her several times a day, I was able to notice any muscle soreness or lethargic behavior immediately.

Potential drawbacks of relying on a fenced yard

Having a yard has made our lives better, full stop — but I think it comes down to how we use it. Here are some of the cons I want to make sure we avoid.

A yard can become an excuse to not work with our dogs

Letting our dogs outside can create the illusion of fulfilling them… even if we really aren’t. While I love that yard time supplements our other activities, I want to make sure that the majority of Scout’s exercise and enjoyment comes from other sources!

We prioritize getting out in public, playing in new environments, and being fully engaged with each other.

We can miss the development of problem behaviors

Scout has proven to me that she can be trusted in our yard alone, but I still want to keep tabs on her typical behaviors out there. If she starts to bark back at the neighbor dogs or have trouble settling down, we’ll revisit how often she’s outside without supervision.

There are pros and cons to everything

At the end of the day, a yard can be great… or it can a problem if it encourages us to be lazy about engaging with our dogs. Apartment life can be great… or it can be a problem if we struggle to meet our pets’ needs.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I think it’s not so much about where we live with our companions but about what we’re willing to do with them.