We just have small dogs, and my Chipper is about eleven years old now; so he barely waddles out the door and around the yard anymore. He has been a house dog all of his life,although he does like to go outside whenever I am out working in the yard or the garden.
When the weather is chilly, or even when it is too hot, both of the dogs spend most of the time inside, and they just go outside when they need to do their chores.
Tootsie is a Blue Heeler cross; but even so, she is pretty laid back and does not need to play or exercise a lot either. I have taken her for walks on a leash sometimes, but we live in a very busy neighborhood, and I worry about her somehow getting off of the leash and getting run over by a car.
Since we have a large fenced-in back yard, we just let the dogs out there to play and exercise on their own when the weather is nice and they can enjoy being outside.
