Before I respond to the title answer, please grant me to ask another question. Should your kids be indoor or outdoor kids? The only logical answer when referring to dogs and children is that they should be both. In very rare occasions, of course, when the dog is a toy variety and the owners live in a massive city high-rise apartment, circumstances require that their pet be 90 percent indoor. But even thatTiny critter deservesto care aboutseveral daily walks out in the world of fresh air, grass, to exchange sniffs with other dogs and make occasional visits to fire plugs.

There was a recent documentary on TV about the worst cases of puppy mills, where dogs are raised for the retail pet store market. The hidden camera showed caged dogs tightly crowded together day and night like chickens on the way to market. Many of the breeding Motherdogs spend their entire lives in filthy cages, bearing litter after litter of puppies, until worn out at about age eight, they’re put to death. Disease, vermin and filth run rampant through the worst of the breeding farms, and as with other viewers, I was saddened and offended that man’s ideal friend can be so cruelly abused.

Why do humansThink about the lives of one class of domestic animas, dogs, much more meaningful than those of chickens? There are strong emotional and co-dependent bonds between the two animal species. It probably started when wild dogs and wolf hybrids first dared to venture close to the cooking fires of prehistoric man a million years ago. Gradually, the four-footed friends became willing to share their lives and give their loyalty to the upright, naked creatures who agreed to share their food and shelter with them.

Today, dogs are integral parts of families and society as a whole, from the working sheep herder to the police dog to the handi-dog to the apartment toy poodle. We feel more empathy for them than we do for any other creature, including many fellow humans. Even pet cats, who live with mankind only for their own convenience, are a bit too aloof and independent to show loving emotions the way dogs do. Humans enjoy the close companionship and the natural canine eagerness to please.

I feel I must vote on the outdoor side, because in virtually every dog-human living situation, most people wouldThink about keeping dogs full-time indoors to be as cruel as keeping their kids locked in the house. Just observing the joy and enthusiasm of dogs and kids as they burst out of a house into the world beyond proves they are primarily outdoor creatures. But, have no fear of losing them. If they know there is a lot of love, a hot meal and a warm bed in the house, they will always come home again.