I use a tie out with my Golden but only because he has horrible recall when it comes to chasing birds, if he sees one he will take off following the bird till who knows when so for his safety he is on a lead when he is outside. Its 100ft long and looped around a tree towards the back of the yard so he can get around the whole yard plus into the fields, all the way to the front door, back door and to the garage when we are outside. But for his safety because we do get wild animals that come down to eat in the fields him and Frankln are never left outside unsupervised, someone must be standing out there watching them at all times, at night I have a flashlight I take out with me because he poops in the back of the yard so I shine the spotlight on him so I can see what he is doing and where he is.