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The Priz, one of my
rescue dogs, living the way a pit bull should!
Obviously, the very best place for a pit bull to live is with you, in the house as your companion and friend. But these days most of us work during the day, and even a housedog will want to be comfortable while you are gone. Once your dog has matured, it may be possible to just leave the dog loose in the house with access to a dog door that opens out into a secure kennel area. Not everyone has that kind of set up though, and when pups are young, leaving them alone in the house can be risky. So what to do? Let's start with what not to do! DO NOT MAKE YOUR DOG LIVE IN A SHIPPING CRATE! A shipping crate is just that - a SHIPPING crate, not a living space. If you do not have the time, money or desire to fix a nice cable run or kennel for your dog, DON'T GET ONE! How would you like to be locked in a car trunk all day? Know how you feel after an eight hour air plane flight? Well, try sitting in a crate all day - there is no difference. Dogs do enjoy sleeping in crates, and an open crate is an ideal indoor dog bed. I'm talking about the selfish people who stick dogs in crates like pieces of equipment all day, every day. There is NO excuse for that. None. If this seems harsh, it is because I want you to think about what crating really is, not how it is presented by those who would stick their dogs in crates. Dogs are not "denning animals" that live in holes in the ground! That is prairie dogs! Canines only live in dens while whelping, a very short time. The rest of the time they are roaming, playing, running animals! They need mental stimulation, space to move and the ability to relieve themselves at will. Don't keep your best friend in a shipping crate for extended periods of time! Build a kennel or cable run! 
Bandog Dread, SchH III,
IPO III, U-CDX, CD, TD, STD-d, STD-s, WH, WDS. One helluva bulldog.
Diane and Pagan share a
joke
If your dog is going to live outdoors, here are some tips to keep your best friend comfortable and safe:
Dirk's mom, a bitch from
Bert Sorrell. A great weight pulling dog among other things.
Butch weighs 65 pounds.
That is top weight according to the standard for a purebred pit bull.
Chaining v. Kennels: Question and Answer Section: I am often asked really good questions about this issue. As an animal control officer, I deal with the problem of people containing (or more often failing to contain! their dogs every day). Below I will try and mention some of the more common questions. Q) Does chaining a dog make it mean? A) I hear this every day, and though to me the answer is obvious, I can see why people could come to this conclusion. No, confining a dog to an appropriate chain (one longer than 12 feet) DOES NOT make a dog mean. Actually, if anything in a dog's environment was going to "make it mean" (change its basic nature) it would be something like long-term crating, which cruelly confines the dog to a small, cramped space. Where the myth of a chain making a dog vicious came from is the simple fact that most if not all vicious dogs are chained! So, when people see vicious dog after vicious dog on a chain, they begin to think, 'hey, the chain must be what is making them mean.' As I have become rather tired of hearing this from people who either let their poor dogs run free (till they get killed by a car) or stick them in a small kennel, I ask these people, 'hey, if chaining a dog makes it mean, how do you explain the dozen friendly dogs in my yard? How do you explain the thousands of friendly dogs confined by cables or chains all over the state?' They can't explain that, of course.  Q) Is chaining better than a kennel? A) Not really. It depends on the kennel. My dogs personally prefer their chain runs to their kennels. The reason? Who wants to be confined to a smaller area, which has cement for a floor when you could be out rolling in the grass, digging in the dirt, and lying in the warm sun with a 30' diameter to play in? The average dog kennel is 6 x 12, not much space (mine are far larger) so who can blame the dogs? I know where I would rather be. On a chain, a dog gets much more room to move about. The only reason a kennel is better is for security reasons. You can lock a kennel (and should). My kennels are always locked when the dogs are in them. Because someone is always here, I am not as concerned about that. Q) Which is better, a cable or a chain? A) I like cables because they don't wreck the yard as much, and are lighter for the dog. If I had a well fenced yard and dogs that wouldn't get into a punch up if they got loose, I would go with cable. BUT, I have had way too many failures with cable (meaning they snapped) even when I used really heavy duty cable. I no longer trust it. 
Isn't she cute? You
better believe she knows it! Grip, SchH I, WDS x Sarona Special Forces
Q) Is a dog house enough protection from the sun? A) NO! A dog house, no matter how well "insulated" they are suppose to be, becomes very hot in direct sun light. A dog can even die in one, in some climates. Nothing is more pathetic than pictures of pit bulls suffering in "dog men's" yards, sitting out on a chain with a metal barrel or crummy wooden dog house as the only protection from the sun. Think about a metal barrel sitting in the sun. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize how hot that would be. Images of dogs kept by unthinking owners like that are what make chaining seem so pathetic to the public. One nice thing about a kennel, at least with a kennel you can put a roof and sides on it, giving the dog an extra layer of shade. On a chain, a little thought must be put into it, for if a tree is used for shade, it is important to make sure the dog doesn't get tangled around it. A VERY common call that animal control officers respond to are people who have chained a dog, for instance, under a carport, and the dog gets tangled around the pillars. Or dogs which get tangled around the TV dish, garbage cans, bikes, and other yard stuff. LOOK at the area where the dog will be, remove anything that the dog could get around.  Q) Do chains need to be as large as some huge ones I have seen in dog books? The dogs look so uncomfortable. A) Many times dogs are put on huge chains because the owner thinks it looks cool. Some think it builds the dog's neck muscles when in fact the dog tends to move less, so it gets even less conditioning than if it had a more appropriate sized chain. Some dogs "run" the chain, meaning they are very busy and hyper, running all day long. (These dogs just go crazy when stuck in a crate). "Runners" are hard on chains, and may need slightly heavier chains and hardware than a more sedate dog. The chain itself is hardly ever the thing that breaks - it is usually the snap or swivel. I will be posting a picture of appropriate chain size soon. 
Here is Fletcher in the
dog yard. I love my garden!
Q) If my dog is chained in my yard, and a child comes in and gets bit, am I at fault. A) Yes. If you have a dog which will bite, you are irresponsible to have it chained where children can have access to it. Kids will be kids. I went up to ever dog I saw when I was a kid. (I was never bitten). I used to go around and let strange dogs off their chains so they could play with me. NEVER chain a pit bull out where there is not another barrier between it and the "world". This is for YOUR DOG'S protection. Chains break. Also, stray dogs can come in and get in a fight with your dog. He can be easily stolen. Even if you just put up an inexpensive "field fence" that is better than leaving your dog at the mercy of any and things which pass by. How To Hotwire A Yard: Dogs can jump! While pit bulls are not the worse escape artists in the dog world, (my vote would go to huskies!) most can clear a 6' board fence easily. The best way to secure your yard is with the use of a 'hot wire". These are electric fence chargers used traditionally by farmers to keep stock in pastures. They come in many sizes and strengths. The best ones to use just plug into the wall, though they must be protected from weather. I plug mine in under an overhang or porch. After you have hung the charger where it will be dry, pound an 8' metal stake into the ground nearby. This is the "ground". One wire goes from the charger to the ground. Without a ground, the charger will not work. Next take 6" plastic insulators and attach them to the fence. They can either be stuck on the fence or metal posts or nailed to the wooden posts. Position them 6" from the ground, sticking straight out. This will keep the dog from digging out. THE GROUND UNDER THE WIRE MUST BE KEPT BARE. Gras growing up and touching the wire will short it out. I use RoundUp or similar long term vegetation killer for this purpose. Now place the 6" insulators along the top of the fence, angled in. This will keep the dog from jumping. If your fence is short, say, 4 or 5 feet, remember a dog can touch the wire as it jumps over, and not be shocked. The same reason a bird can sit on a hot wire and not feel a thing. The animal must be touching something grounded and the wire, to feel a shock. Electric shock is VERY frightening to your dog. The first time they try and escape and hit the fence they will think their world has ended. Some dogs are tougher than others. A few will shrug it off, but if it is strong enough, they won't be back. Some dogs will scream and scream, running in a panic. (Now you see why I am not keen on electric shock collars as a learning tool - at least here the dog has the ultimate say about whether or not he gets shocked. Not some bozo with his finger on the button.) No matter how frightened your dog gets, he will live! Most dogs will only hit the fence once or twice and then will never go near the fence again - which is the point. This thing saves dog's lives. I don't even turn my fence on anymore, they remember. If all the thousands of people who dump dogs at the shelter because they can't figure out how to keep the dog home would do this, their dogs would be saved. This is simple and inexpensive. The whole set up, charger, wire and insulator should not cost you more than $70. Please monitor your dog until the first time he has hit the fence. This is important in case he panics. 
Bandog Irish Maulie. I
switched from chain to cable as it is far easier on the dogs and on the
lawn.
Underground "Fencing": Oh, if I had a dollar for every "invisible type fence" collar that came in on dogs at the dog pound! I could retire! PLEASE do not invest in this rather poor idea. These barrier "fences" don't work for the following reasons: 1) They WILL NOT contain high drive dogs 2) They do not keep kids, the UPS man, other dogs, etc., out of your yard 3) They fail with alarming regularity 4) Dogs can chase something over the fence then they can't get home I have been involved in court cases where people were getting sued over the actions of their dogs when these "fences" failed to keep the dogs confined. Some jurisdictions do not legally consider them confinement, and I don't know of one jurisdiction that considers them proper containment once a dog has been declared dangerous. Nutritional Q & A: Q) What do I feed my dogs? A) I feed Eukanuba Performance dry mixed with either milk, raw egg or raw hamburger (for taste more than anything) to all dogs of all ages. I have found that sedate house dogs may have trouble with that much protein in their diet, and may lick or chew their feet if fed too "hot" a food. However, nothing on this property qualifies as a sedate house dog! You need to realistically evaluate your dog's activity level. If they sit around most of the day, they do not need, nor will they benefit from, a high protein diet. If you stick them in a shipping crate all day, and then feed a "hot" diet on top of it, you will really have problems. Fat is what fuels a dog anyway. If you are feeding a diet with a very low fat percent (like less than 12%) you should supplement with veggie oil. Fat is actually more important to the canine athlete than protein. Euk Performance is 30% protein, 20% fat, which is really high. To be honest, dogs do well on just about any decent food that has at least a 20/15 protein/fat percent going. I like the Euk Performance because the dogs like it, it only takes 2 cups a day to feed an average (50 pound) pit bull, and they have far less stool than with cheaper dog foods. Note: I have recently switched to Costco "Kirkland" brand dog food with the same results. 
Doc, a cane corso mix.
Q) Do you feed table scraps?A) Absolutely! Around her it is share and share alike. Pizza, Mystic Mints, chocolate milk, you name it. Do they get diarrhea? No. Does the chocolate hurt them? No. Has any dog I have ever owned ever been to the vet for something I gave it to eat? No. Life's too short not to share with your best buddy! Q) Do you feed bones? A) Yes! I feed out about $50 worth the knuckle bones each month. I feed them raw, and generally frozen. I have NEVER had a problem with a dog eating a bone, however, I have had all kinds of problems and dangers with raw hides and chew toys. I have had to have dogs opened up to remove chew toys, ect, that get stuck in the intestines. Cooked bones are dangerous, as they splinter. Bones are a great source of fat, and sure keep them happy for hours! 
Bandog Pride, now owned
by Heather Ringwood, running her treadmill. She loves it!
Q) How often do you feed? A) I feed twice a day in this manner: In the morning I throw handfuls of dry food in a scatter pattern where the dogs are tied. As they have gravel pads that the dog houses sit on, and also grass areas, there is lots of opportunity for the food to get hidden. The dogs love to sniff around and look for it, and it sure gives them something to do. In the evening when everyone comes in, they get a nice warm meal.
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