What is the ruling on keeping dogs in homes for purposes other than guarding, and what is its effect on the validity of prayer?

It is not permissible to keep dogs except for hunting or guarding, and the reward of the keeper's deeds decreases by one qirat each day. As for prayer in a house where a dog is kept, it is, God Almighty willing, valid, as long as nothing from the dog's impurities touches the worshiper's body, clothes, or place of prayer. However, if it touches him and he prays while remembering this, then the prayer must be repeated.