Chaining: Cruel, Unnecessary, and Too Often Overlooked
by Jean V. Johnson
| Solitary
Confinement The Cycle of Suffering The "Dumb" Dog Health Hazard |
Imagine sitting in a yard, tethered in place, with nothing to do and no chance to go anywhere. Day after day. Alone. That's what chaining is like.
Chaining means confining a dog with a tether attached to a dog house or a stake in the ground. It is one of the commonest forms of animal cruelty; yet, it has received little attention from humane societies.
Chaining is a widespread practice and - as with many historical injustices - this may cause people to assume it is acceptable. In fact, it is an improper way to confine a dog, with negative effects on the dog's health, temperament, and training.
A chained dog's life is a lonely, frustrating, miserable existence, without opportunities for even the most basic dog behaviors of running and sniffing in their own fenced yard. Dogs chained for even a few weeks begin to show problems.
Virtually every dog that spends most of the day on the end of a chain will show temperament problems - no surprise to those who understand canine behavior. Chaining , by definition, keeps a dog in solitary confinement, continually thwarting its pack instinct to be with other animals ir with its human "pack."
The dog is usually chained away from the house and has human contact only at feeding time. Those dogs lucky enough to be brought inside at night are usually deposited in the basement or other area away from the family living quarters. These dogs are so desperate for human contact that when they are finally released from their chains, they behave in such an unruly manner that they are disciplined and quickly dispatched to another isolated area.
Some of the saddest situations are those where the family children run and play in the yard just outside the reach of a chained dog. The dog is desperate to play with the children, but their only exposure to the dog is to be jumped on, so they carefully stay just out of reach - only increasing the dog's frustration.
The most common problem resulting from chaining is hyperactivity, particularly in young dogs. The chained dog is continually frustrated by having its movements restricted. The dog runs to the end of the tether and soon learns that he will be jerked back to the perimeter allowed by the chain.
When the dog is finally released, he runs away, jumps on or over anything in his way, and is unresponsive to verbal commands. His behavior frustrates the owner, who puts the dog back on the chain because the dog doesn't know how to behave! The cycle of suffering continues with the dog becoming even more uncontrollable and the owner less willing to deal with the hyperactive behavior.
Fear biting and aggression are other common behaviors of chained dogs. The dog seems to know that he cannot escape danger, so he resorts to displaying aggressive behavior. And such dogs have good reason to be aggressive. Chained dogs in urban backyards often serve as targets for gun-toting, rock-throwing individuals who pass through the alleys. It is not surprising that chained dogs that are so quick to bite also often display timid, fearful behavior when handled.
A dog that has been chained all day or all week has little interest in learning to come when the owner calls. The dog is interested in running as fast as he can away from his owner and confinement. This hyperactive behavior causes the uneducated owner to believe he has a "dumb" dog. The owner then may give up on even limited interaction with the dog, and either leave the dog tied up in permanent misery or get rid of him.
People tend to train and care for dogs in the way they saw their parents perform this task. As a result, many people chain dogs because that's what they've been taught, passing on this cruel practice without any real understanding of canine behavior.
When WHS humane officers ask people why they chain dogs, common answers include, "I'm keeping him chained until he learns not to run away," or "I'm keeping him chained until he's housebroken," or "I'm keeping him chained until he calms down."
In fact, chaining is going to make all of these positive dog behaviors extremely difficult to obtain. Chaining a young dog, for example, forces him to become accustomed to urinating and defecating where he sleeps, conflicting with his natural instinct to eliminate away from his living area. This makes housebreaking very difficult.
When you see a dog house with a circle of dirt around it, you know you are looking at the "home" of a chained dog. The area where the dog can move about becomes hard-packed dirt that carries the stench of animal waste even if the owner picks up fecal matter.
The odor of waste draws flies, which bite the dog's ears, often causing serious bloody wounds. Dogs that have been chained for several years often lose portions of their ears, as more tissue is lost each summer from fly bites.
Control of internal
parasites is more difficult because the chained dog is always close to
his own fecal matter and can re-infest himself be stepping in or sniffing
his own waste. Also, the dog is forced to have almost continual contact
with the ground in the chaining area, which may have a high concentration
of parasite larvae.
Time for a Change of Attitude
The final word is that chaining doesn't work - except to serve as a form of confinement that is easy for the owner but cruel for the animal. Chained dogs are miserable, and their owners are often frustrated. At WHS, we believe it's time for a change of attitude: Chaining is not an acceptable practice. It's a long-overlooked form of cruelty that must be stopped.
