What do people do during the day with their dogs?

[Keepsmiling1]

Hi,

I have DDog who is almost 1. Up until now I have worked PT - 3 hours each morning- so DDog has never really been left longer than that. He always seemed quite happy and would mainly sleep.

There is a possibility I may have to go FT in a few months times and I was wondering what people did. Obviously I would arrange care for him but I don't know if daycare is better or having someone come in the middle of the day to walk him would be better?

If we get a dog walker he would be out for about an hour which means a large chunk of the day he is on his own. Daycare is tricky because I would have to take him there before work but it is manageable.

He will probably be about 1.5 before this starts. What do others do?

[WhySeaEmm]

We're going to be sending our new puppy to daycare. But mostly all of the ones I contacted during my research phase do pick ups and drops off from your home, so you wouldn't necessarily have to take him anywhere.

[maxelly]

Between DH and I working from home and different patterns/hours, we only have 2 full days a week (well, in normal times!) that both of us are out all day. One of those days MIL who lives locally pops in by lunchtime (sometimes earlier) and takes him for a walk then back to her house for the afternoon, one of us will then pick him up from there on our way back from work. The other day he goes to 'daycare' which is just our dog-walkers house/garden with her dogs and a few others. He doesn't cope well with being left more than 3-4 hours maximum and certainly wouldn't be OK with the dog walker coming in at lunchtime, taking him out for an hour then being alone again all afternoon, so although daycare is £££ and we would struggle to afford it for more than 1 day a week, it's worth it.

I do have friends though that leave dogs at home all day when working full time, with a walker at lunchtime, and they claim their dogs are fine and not distressed or destructive, so it seems to depend on the dog, I think maybe as a generalisation older dogs are better than younger dogs for being left. Others have neighbours or friends that take the dog for a few hours while they work, or they take the dog to work with them (I guess unlikely to be an option for you?).

Would you be able to arrange it so he has a dog flap out to the garden, as toileting could potentially be an issue if he has to hold it for 4 hours + and he isn't used to it? Perhaps also you can negotiate working from home a few days a week with your employer and if you have a DH or DP then maybe they could do the same but on different days, reducing your 'dogcare' requirements right down?

[maxelly]

Sorry meant to add the dog-walker/daycare has a key to the house and picks him up and drops him off as part of her 'rounds' so we don't have to go anywhere those days which is handy!

[nicky7654]

It can be difficult managing a dog when hours have changed. I had a dog flap put in on my back door so if I'm out my dogs can go into the garden. I also let them have the whole house and they like to sleep on the beds lol A dog walker is a good idea but not sure about doggy daycare so do some research first. Good luck x

[RandomMess]

DH WFH - DDog sleeps 8-4.30ish with a half hour break to check what DH is eating for lunch... she doesn't get up until 7am at the earliest and gets put to bed 10pm usually

I would arrange a dog walker in advance of increasing hours and get a time slot for a mid point of the day and get DDog used to going out for a walk etc.

Honesty DDOg should be fine once they've got used to the routine, they do like to sleep an awful lot.

[vanillandhoney]

I think as your dog is so young then daycare is probably the best option. Mine couldn't have been left all day at that age - and to be honest even now at two he would struggle massively being left four hours, let alone eight.

But there are many types of daycare - home boarding is one option, so he can go into someone's home with them and maybe one or two other dogs, go for walks etc, or there are bigger commercial daycares. Mine used to go to a home-based daycare which was perfect for him - he'd get too overwhelmed around more than two other dogs for long periods.

Some dog walkers will take them for extended periods of time too. I'm a dog walker and will happily take dogs for half a day - so they get driven somewhere, have a good two hours of walking, then get taken to a cafe or coffee shop and I drop them back home again, so they're out of the house about four hours or so.

[BiteyShark]

Mine goes to daycare (dog walker who also has a few dogs for daycare, rather than the big daycare centres).

[Keepsmiling1]

Thanks for all the replies.

I was thinking we would probably have a mixture of things. I hadn't thought about a daycare in someone's house - that sounds perfect. Anywhere I could find someone reputable who does this? I prefer this idea to a big commercial daycare with lots of dogs.

[WhySeaEmm]

I didn't know there was such a thing as big commercial daycares! So my first comment I meant in people's houses.

[WhySeaEmm]

Anyone else imagining a nursery, but for dogs?!

[Keepsmiling1]

@WhySeaEmm that's exactly like one near my house. You can do a full day 8-6 or half days and there are lots of dogs there. They have big fields and things but it's basically a nursery for dogs!

[vanillandhoney]

@Keepsmiling1 have a google for home boarding in your area - however make sure they're licensed, which is a requirement for having dogs in your home.

Or you can pay someone to sit with the dog in your house, in which case they don't require a license :)

[JayAlfredPrufrock]

I’m sorry but anyone thinks a dog is happy being left all day with a walk at lunchtime has no idea about dogs.

[RandomMess]

@JayAlfredPrufrock depends on the dog...

My dog won't consider doing anything but sleeping before 1pm!!! Refuses to go out for a walk...

[WhoWouldHaveThoughtThat]

Round here they make them bark

[BiteyShark]

I phoned around dogs walkers who advertised daycare to find mine. In fact they were recommended by someone who was full themselves.

Mine has been going to the same person since he was a very young puppy and he sees it as his second home

[vanillandhoney]

If you want help finding someone OP I can ask around on some of my dog walking groups 😊

[JayAlfredPrufrock]

@RandomMess I presume you are there to see your dog exhibiting this behaviour?

[RandomMess]

Yes my husband has been there all day everyday... and now I am home all day it's the same. She sleeps all day until I finish work for the day 4-5pm... half the time she is back asleep before I've even started work!!!

We get more interaction form the cats during daytime...

[WeAllHaveWings]

Ours has a walker, they pick him up around 9am and return him at 11:30 absolutely knackered and he goes to bed and sleeps the rest of the day (even when I am at WFH) until we are home from school/work around 3-4pm.

But he is 7 now and we know is happy with that routine, he wouldn't have been as a young dog and would have chewed the house to bits instead. Back then we were around more for school times and self employed dh worked hours (I worked early so I was back early and dh worked later and some weekends) to make sure ddog wasnt left too long.

[Keepsmiling1]

@vanillandhoney that would be great thank you.

Before lockdown he was fine with being left from about 8.30-12.30pm. We have a camera and he would pretty much sleep the entire time. We are all off work now and he is still the same. Wakes up about 8am for a wee then goes back to sleep until lunch time when he has a walk (he is asleep next to me as I type this!) But I think I would feel bad with him just having an hour walk at lunch and then back on his own again. Which is why if he could go to someone's house or even be out for a few hours with a dog walker I would feel happier.

When we got him I was planning on being part time for a while longer but with the situation as it is I may need to go back FT sooner. I hadn't realised how expensive it would all be but obviously needs must.

[RandomMess]

I have to say I would implement the new routine whilst you still work part time. Basically apart from walk/activity time when they would get it with a dog walker you be boring and don't entertain when you would be put at work in the future. Then lots of play and interaction when you would come in the evenings etc.

It's something to work towards, certainly after a 2 hour walk when DDog has done loads of sniffing, chased squirrels, told lots of bouncy dogs off 🙄 she comatose for hours afterwards.

She loves walks with my 17 year old DD but refuses them before noon/1pm because well that is clearly her sleep time and preferably whilst sunbathing! DD keeps trying but she's not having it, gets to the end of the street and refuses to move 😂 after "lunch" quite happy to go out all afternoon or for half an hour whichever DD decides 🤷🏽‍♀️

[SirSamuelVimesBlackboardMonito]

What's the breed? What's the current activity level & behaviour like?

I have a sleepy dog, like the pp. She's lazy and happy. It's a common trait in the breed. I'm a SAHM at the moment but used to work full time, as does DH. She is no different now than she was then. Morning walk, breakfast, sleep, early evening walk, dinner, sleep, late walk, sleep. Occasionally she will tolerate being played with for all of four minutes before she takes her toys off for a nice quiet sit down somewhere.

[Keepsmiling1]

He's a Cavapoo. As I said before, he tends to sleep all morning. At lunch we take him for a walk and then have a play with him or do some training. Then he tends to have an afternoon nap for a few hours. Then it's tea time and we have another walk around 6.30. He wakes up a bit then and generally follows us around, plays with DDs. The past week or so he has wanted to play fetch with his toys in the evening. He finally settles around 9pm and we tend to go up to bed about 10pm. So he does tend to be most active late afternoon/evening when we would be home anyway. I still don't want him on his own all day though.

[vanillandhoney]

@Keepsmiling1 whereabouts are you roughly? Just let me know and I'll put some posts out and see if anyone could possibly help you :)