I rescued Max, a senior Beagle 2 weeks ago. He spent his entire life of 9 years outdoors on a tether because he was a "hunting dog". Today, after almost a decade of existing as an "outside dog", Max is urinating blood and I have learned he has been overdosed on drugs for years to keep him from howling. Want to know more? Read on....

IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW STILL THINKS IT IS OK TO KEEP DOGS OUTSIDE 24/7 BECAUSE THEY ARE ANIMALS, LET'S CONSIDER YET ANOTHER SERIOUS PROBLEM WITH THE "OUTSIDE" DOG, SHALL WE?

Today, Max was diagnosed with an enlarged prostate after we noticed he was bleeding from his penis. What does that have to do with living outside? Maybe not much, but it is a DIRECT RESULT OF NOT BEING NEUTERED, AS HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN. AS MALE DOGS AGE, THEIR PROSTATES CAN BECOME ENLARGED AND THEY ARE PRONE TO INFECTIONS AND OTHER ISSUES, INCLUDING CANCER, WHEN THEY ARE KEPT INTACT.

Dogs don't have sexual hang-ups and issues with their masculinity: people do, typically men. Not to bash, but Max wasn't neutered because his owner felt it would impair his ability to hunt and would affect his own image of having a less-than masculine, "gay" hunting dog. There is no proof to suggest that a pair of testicles affects hunting or prey drive or has any serious emotional value to a dog. Therefore, by choosing to not spay or neuter your dog, you are only securing painful and costly health problems for them in the long run and quite possibly, contributing to the grim reality of pet overpopulation and euthanasia. So, $300 later and a lot of physical and emotional pain for us and his former "best friend", Max will be neutered after he recovers. He is on antibiotics and resting indoors, where he always should have lived.

Max is an old man. He has endured extreme Michigan weather (heavy snow, ice, sleet, hail, wind, rain, humidity, heat and tornadoes). He had a pen and a doghouse, two in fact, but all he ever wanted was one house: the one his family lived in. However, rather than bring Max into the home and into the family, at risk of "ruining a hunting dog", his family went to great lengths to keep him as an outside dog. They even had a Vet who was willing to prescribe DIAZEPAM, a drug commonly used for seizure disorders, and pain killers to keep Max sedated throughout the winter months. Like clockwork, he got doses of Diazepam at the onset of the winter season and this was to curb his howling and crying and to "keep him comfortable" in the cold weather, rather than bringing him indoors. He was not happy living a life of solitude and discomfort outdoors, hence the howling and crying and amazingly, his testosterone didn't protect him from lonliness, arthritis or other infections he got as a result of living outdoors. He had no mate, no family and no reason to be languishing in a yard, working on an enlarged prostate because he wasn't neutered because of his owner's unjustified belief that that would harm or ruin him.

So, he is a good poster child for all that is wrong with the "outside" dog, aside from the obvious, of course. To spend that kind of money on medicine and pens and doghouses, etc. when it is FREE and one of life's most simple rewards to share your HOME with a dog is asinine, in my opinion.

And today's issue could have been avoided altogether had he been NEUTERED.

I get plenty of arguments from people who opt to keep "outside dogs". My stance is that there is really no such thing. Especially those dogs that are chained or tethered, alone 24/7, 365. Sure, animals can and do survive outside; most are not domesticated and have the ability to adapt and take what they need from nature to survive. Dogs on the other hand, have been domesticated, by US, and we are forever responsible, so although a dog may be able to survive outdoors, he is still reliant on his guardian and still suffering a lonely and painful existence in many ways.

Max will be fine, now that he is in proper hands and living indoors, but not spaying and neutering and keeping dogs outside 24/7, 365 is NOT in the best interest of the dog. The Vet said that Max has had this problem for quite some time, but you can't notice bloody urine in the grass, or in the dirt, etc. This medical issue should have been treated and prevented by a simple, painless procedure, when he was young. Keeping a dog sedated and intact based on your unfounded belief that dogs belong outside and will develop sexual identity or behavioral issues if altered is selfish, cruel and has no basis in modern society.

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