Leaving a lurcher

[Doggymummy86]

I have recently rescued a 2year old lurcher and for the past few weeks we have been getting him into a routine around my work. We have managed to leave him for 3.5 hours after a good run on Friday and he never trashed the house and no accidents.
Tomorrow (Thursday) I need to leave him while I got to work, he will be left from 8:30 am till 12 noon and then 1pm till 5pm ... how can I keep him occupied for the time im away.
🐶

[Wolfiefan]

Seven and a half hours? Way too long. The maximum recommended is four hours total a day. If you leave him with toys etc he could eat them.

[Doggymummy86]

Even though I’m home in between time ??

[Wolfiefan]

It’s still most of the day alone. No company and no stimulation. Mine would eat the house then start eating her feet.

[weeblueberry]

It’s generally 4 hours in a 24 hour period I thought?

[HeadintheiClouds]

No, popping in for an hour in the middle between two four hour periods doesn’t work. I’m surprised the rescue didn’t advise you properly, tbh.
Ours suggested he wasn’t to be left at all for around 6 weeks. How recently did you get him?

[cowfacemonkey]

I have a lurcher and wouldn't leave him that long even with the hour in between. Anything over 4 hours and he goes to doggy daycare. Not sure he'd destroy anything if left all day (apart from his soul maybe ) but he would probably be depressed and lonely.

[Nowthereistwo]

I think it depends on the dog rather than a rule. Our greyhound is used to be left for longer than 4 hours and would be more than happy for what you're proposing.

[RedRec]

I have a lurcher and leave him for a similar length of time. He is fine.

[Doggymummy86]

How do you keep your baby occupied ?

[Wolfiefan]

I doubt it’s a young and recently rescued dog OP. There isn’t much you can safely do if you’re not there.

[Doggymummy86]

Aren’t all rescue lurchers different ? I managed to leave my old dog on his own while I was at work with exactly the same routine the new dogs getting ... tbh my original post wasn’t “is this okay to leave him” it was what can I do in the house to make him okay I.e kong, classical music, hide treats etc

[labazsisgoingmad]

a radio left on is always a good idea. leave some treats and toys

[WhoEatsPopTarts]

I used to do exactly that with mine with no problem at all, although I have two so they had each other for company. A Kong stuffed with treat, sealed with cream cheese and frozen was popular, but tbh a lot of the time I’d come racing home for lunch and they’d look at me like I was mad for asking them to go in the garden for a pee. Then I’d make a huge fuss of them and they’d wander off back to their beds.

[Gottobefree]

Lurcher should be fine if it isn't an anxious or overly dependant dog.

You really need to exercise it first, throw balls and really get it tired. My lurcher loves to sleep for a solid 5 hours sometimes. But it is concerning that you are getting a dog to be based around your work and until it's fully settled this might impact it's emotional connection and anxiety towards you. It's too long to leave a dog 'any breed' in isolation that long.

[Lau123lau]

My whippet is one and Ian happily left along for the day with someone popping back at dinner time to let him out. He gets a good walk/bike ride every evening and literally sleeps all day long. It really does depend on the dog. He doesn’t chew or destroy anything and never has. We don’t leave him every day as I work shifts and partner self employed so it is only every now and then when we’re both working but even when we are here, he just lies on the sofa sleeping all day anyway!

[Doggymummy86]

It’s not every day he would be left for this period of time, he was excited to see me when I got in and lunch and left him with a big bone. Sometimes these things happen it can’t be helped but he got another good run at lunch time so hopefully it should tire him out 🐶 he had a good run and walk this morning and at lunch time so he was quite settled ... neighbours might have thought something else lol

[LochJessMonster]

I would do a mixture of wet and dry dog food, stuff it in kongs, or anything similar and then freeze it.
Then give him one each time you leave him. Because its frozen, they have to really work on it.

I also use lickimats, put gravy/yoghurt etc on and freeze it.

These snakes are good as they have a slit down one side that you can stuff and freeze.

www.bmstores.co.uk/products/dog-treat-snake-322511

[Dayude]

It really depends on the individual dog. My lurcher has an hour walk before I go to work and he is then fine left for up to 8 hours. His biggest problem is deciding if he should sleep on the sofa or on my bed! The joy of sight hounds is that they like to sleep - a lot. As long as they get their morning and evening walk and a good run at the weekend they are easy, lovely dogs to have. I would recommend finding a good enclosed area so yours can have a really good run and stretch his legs. Take a look at dogwalkingfields.co.uk

[RevealTheHiddenBeach]

We do morning walk with some off lead bombing about then leave ours with breakfast in a kong wobbler or snuffle ball. She has up stairs and downstairs landings, 2 beds to choose from and we leave her with toys on rotation. At lunch DH does another walk, then leaves her with a stuffed and frozen kong to keep her busy. She gets an evening walk if she's still energetic when I get home, if not then just lots of evening indoor play. Longer and more varied excursions at the weekends of course.

[BarbarAnna]

How is your dog getting on @Doggymummy86?