What About Outside Doghouses?Are They Necessary for an Indoor Dog?
I have learned over the years, that having doghouses can be a blessing, especially if an emergency arises. Though Golden Retrievers should be inside dogs, there are good reasons for building a dog house for them.
If you are at work all day, your Retriever may be miserable being cooped up in the house, and would be ecstatic to play outdoors, while you are gone. 
Or, if an emergency, such as an unexpected surgery should arise, you may not be able to have your dog in the house, during the recuperation phase. This happened to us a few years ago. My daughter had a major knee surgery and could not risk the possibility of getting her knee bumped into, while she was healing. With Retrievers being such big dogs, and owning several of them, our only choice was to put them outside for a couple of weeks, due to the lay-out of our home. This worked out well for the whole family, and the dogs were not, and did not, feel neglected. The biggest problem with doghouses, is that some families put their Golden Retriever outside, as a permanent dwelling place. 
In many cases, the dog is ignored, and not able to fully socialize with his family. If for any reason, your Golden Retriever needs to live outside, whether it is a permanent situation, or a temporary one, you will want the proper doghouse for him. You also will want to make sure ahead of time, that he will go inside of it, as sometimes they will not set foot in it, until they are shown that it is safe to do so. If for some reason, he does live outside all of the time, make sure that he is played with every day, not just fed, watered, and ignored, for the most part. In the heat of the summer, you will need to make sure he is given plenty of fresh water, as well as plenty of shade. Extra special care needs to be given during the winter months, in order to keep him safe and healthy.
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