Inside or Outside

If we are home, Odie is inside.  When we leave, we usually leave him outside, in his kennel.  He has a nice doghouse that he sleeps in during the day.  If he is awake, he stands on top of his doghouse, even if it is raining.  He doesn't have sense enough to come in out of the rain.
 
If it is brutally cold outside, we will leave the Ode in the house, with free run.  He usually doesn't cause any problems but he really prefers to be outside.  That way, he can keep his dog eye on his vast domain.  []

Chop will be kept inside for several reasons:

1) our yard has no fence, I hate seeing unsupervised dogs on tie-outs, and I'd be worried about animals or people coming in
2) she's already house trained and crate trained
3) she's a purebred German Shepherd in an area with some not-so-good houses and people (like drugs and gangs) and I'd be terrified someone might steal her and keep her as some kind of fighting or protection dog
4) we're renting so I can't risk her ruining the lawn or biting someone even if they were trespassing

If I had a fenced, private yard with a lockable gate and a nice dog house, I don't think it would be a big deal if I had a dog like a husky or something that is more independent and likes being outdoors.

My dogs have access to their fenced yard through a dog door when I am not home.  I moved out to the boonies specifically to give them a chance to be outside more. I got stuck on the idea from the barn where I used to ride. All her horses are field 'boards'. They only get stalled if they're sick and require restriction.  I used to feel sorry for field boards but I'm convinced now that's the way to go. Her dogs had a dog door to the house, but they were usually out rain or shine. They seemed so vigorous so I was inspired to do the same thing.

Sorry; I meant to add, that if I had a big pen with a sturdy house with a porch and climate control I'd leave them outside too when I was gone for the day.

Paula

Just my cup of tea.
Paula

Inside, always.  We have trouble around here with people stealing Labs and other hunting breeds, and the other three are too much of a temptation for small children.  I'd rather not be getting any calls that someone's brat got bit because they came into my yard to play with the "fluffy white dog." 

Mine are crated when I am not home, unless it's just a quick trip to the store for milk or the like, and then only Tyler stays loose.  He's the one I can most trust to NOT go flying through the big living room window if the postman happens to have a package to drop off and lays on her horn.  They have enormous crates that take up an entire room in my finished, climate controlled lower level, I have a dedicated smoke/fire alarm that goes directly to the fire station AND they have a map of the house that shows them where they dogs are.

Ace usually stays outside in the secure fenced yard.  He is fine inside too but he really seems to like it better out there if I'll be gone for more than a short while.  Unlike most single dogs, he plays like crazy all by himself.  (I hide and watch him sometimes.  He spends a lot of time zooming around at full speed with a toy in his mouth.)  Of course he has shelter, shade, and fresh water if he is outside. 
 
He is a mutt and barks at strangers on the property, so he's not monetarily valuable (obviously he is valuable to me, but not to where anybody could sell him for money) and I doubt anybody could get close enough to steal him anyway.  Also I live in the kind of neighborhood where people keep an eye on each other.  He is a husky mix that is impervious to weather, which makes a difference too. 
 
He stays inside if the weather is bad or if the lawn guys are coming or if there's another reason I think he'd be happier indoors. And at night too, if I am going somewhere after dark of course I don't leave him outside then.

When I lived at the farm, Skye and the foster collies who were not livestock chasers were allowed to stay outside in the fenced yard if they chose (and they usually did- outside under the porch fan in the shade with a breeze and a pond to swim in and bugs to catch or inside the stuffy old house with barely-functional A/C? No contest there. I didn't, however, trust the 5' fence to contain the really determined dogs in the face of goats directly on the other side of the fence, so they had to be indoors or in the dogrun we had for quarantining newbies.) BUT- we were 1/2 a mile down a very little-trafficked dirt road and 6 miles from town, the gate was padlocked, and we had good neighbors who could be trusted to notice if one of my dogs left with someone else. 

Our old dog had free reign of her own room in the old house, with a couch, climate controlled and a dog door.  She spent most of the time on the couch.  We moved her to teh basement in the new house, still spent most of her time on the couch. 
 
New dog, we keep her crated when I leave, which isnt often, since I stay home with the kids.  I have left her on the deck for a quickie store trip, but she mostly hangs out in the corner between the house and the grill.  Her little nook.  But now that she is more comfortable with us, she is barking at the neighbors more often.  So she goes in the crate.

Mine are also inside while we are gone, and no, we don't crate except at night.  No problems, that is just the way it is.

Pofi and Mia are inside uncrated.  Pofi was crate trained as a puppy and Mia was crated when we first got her till we were sure they were ok together.  Cats have many dog-free areas (rooms with cat doors, etc.), but the dogs are quite reliable and the worst thing that has ever happened is a few slippers have been torn up. Mia just can't distinguish a slipper from a stuffy, it seems.  Pofi likes to move my shoes around, but he just likes to have them for company - no harm done to them!

I leave mine inside because of the barking. Tookey is a yappy terrier, and Gracie is okay unless she sees one of the neighborhood cats, then she has this huge, booming  bark that literally reverberates off all the houses. If it's nice out, and I'm only going to be gone a short while, like 15-30 minutes, sometimes I'll leave the door to the screen porch open, and then they can get down the dog door, but that's not very often.