I've been around dogs all my life, both farm and suburban. My wife and I volunteer at a dog shelter on a weekly basis, working with a variety of breeds. Over the decades I've concluded that most dogs need a job. It would be hard to convince me that a suburban Australian Shepherd (popular these days) that's lucky to get a walk once a day is any more happy than one that is generally ignored by humans but gets to herd sheep all day. I'd go so far as to even say that sticking a herding breed in a house for the majority of the day is more cruel than ignoring a farm dog that gets to do what she was bred for.
I've been around dogs all my life, both farm and suburban. My wife and I volunteer at a dog shelter on a weekly basis, working with a variety of breeds. Over the decades I've concluded that most dogs need a job. It would be hard to convince me that a suburban Australian Shepherd (popular these days) that's lucky to get a walk once a day is any more happy than one that is generally ignored by humans but gets to herd sheep all day. I'd go so far as to even say that sticking a herding breed in a house for the majority of the day is more cruel than ignoring a farm dog that gets to do what she was bred for.