Tell the truth.. do you leave your dog home alone?

[Be1atrix]

Just that really. As a family we're all desperate for a dog but work full time. We would pay for a dog walker to come in at lunchtime.

In The Doghouse section people who leave their dogs at home get shot down. But surely there's people who work full time who have them? How do they manage?

Very rarely we have to leave our dog for a few hours (usually not more than 4), but that is the exception as I don’t work so we’re together all the rest of the time.

As others have said, it’s the working full time and leaving dog 8 to 6 scenario that most would regard as unacceptable. Dogs need company, exercise, stimulation... if you can’t provide these don’t get a dog.

missyB1 similar here which worries me when that kind of increase is not affordable when you work FT because there are no other options if the dog cannot cope apart from rehome or leave them stressed.

I work pt and ddog is at home, sometimes for an extended time if I have extra meetings but he's not a puppy and he's a breed who like their own company (collie - on farms when not working they tend to be on their own in the barn). He gets walked before and after work. Perhaps we got lucky, but if I work from home he just ignores me anyway until 3.30/4pm sleeping in a different room even if clients pop in!

We didn't get a dog until we had jobs that where someone could WFH 3 days a week and salaries that could pay for daycare on 2 days.

Turns out he hated daycare so we have a walker TWICE a day, once seemed so cruel. They leave him with frozen kongs etc to offer some enrichment and I still feel a bit guilty tbh.

I have a camera to watch him and he snoozes, but he's a lazy breed and middle aged. A young bouncy dog could be a nightmare. A puppy would have been a none starter.

If he's been at home without us we cannot do anything after work, even if we go home first to feed/walk him as its just not fair leaving him again. Same with weekends , sometimes it'd be nice to nip into the city together to a museum and for lunch but we won't. Please think about the full picture making sure you think about the dogs needs first and your wants second.

My dog is at home maybe 4 hours maximum at a time, any longer and he goes to my MILs house. Most days he's alone for an hour or two at most.

But I think up to six hours is fine depending on the dog.

My dog would hate to go to day care, that would stress him out more than staying home alone would. It's not always as cut and dried as people make out. I'm not sure where the four hours thing came from, because each breed and each dog is different.

My dog is fine being alone in our house but he hates being alone in anyone else's, even if it's only a few minutes.

If we go out, we usually leave nosework and stuff so that keeps him occupied for a while.

Ps I've rigged a camera, he sleeps, he does this even when I'm home and the back door is open!

We have a few dogs the ones that live outside in huge kennels & run live with another dog so they have plenty of freedom and company
The girl dog is a complete bitch and fights so she lives inside she sleeps most of the day
She gets a walk in the morning around 8am and she can then go in and out of the front garden to go to the toilet till around 10 am before DH goes to work he returns between 3-4pm most days
Even when I’m at home she literally sleeps all day long

@Be1atrix labs and golden retrievers are dogs that like the company of people most definitely and are in the puppy stage for quite a long time ( think 4 years!). So that length of time may not be great. You may find that training takes longer if they are left for long periods of time. My sister breeds golden retrievers and she would never allow a puppy to go to someone who leaves dog longer than 3-4 hours at a time and a dog walk middle of the day wouldn't be enough for her ( I have no idea how she polices this btw). She once said that she wouldn't allow me to have a puppy because we leave our dogs too long ( when I worked part time and left a dog maybe 6 hours max and had dog walker lunchtime)! Labs and retrievers need a lot of exercise and stimulation in my experience. We have labradoodles which is a whole MN no no but they also need so much stimulation and exercise because they are clever ( naughty). My advice would be to volunteer at a rescue offering to walk dogs and see how you get on with different types. Don't stick at one breed at the moment. Also, staffies are wonderful dogs and many of them in rescues.

I leave the dog alone for just over 4 hours about 6 times a year - he is not distressed when I return - couldn't care less. He will get pissed off when I leave him for 10mins on a very odd occasion to drop a forgotten lunch off to school and he thinks I've forgotten his walk - the tissue box will be emptied or if we as a family have gone out together without him - this is such a rare occurrence (we take him everywhere usually) but it's clear when we return that he is so beside himself with relief that we have come back. It very much seems to depend on routine and expectations, he's a whippet so generally likes to bugger off to a quiet space, away from disruptive humans, for a very long kip.

The problem is it doesn't really matter how many people say their dog is fine left all day because it depends on the dog and you only know that when you have the dog and they are settled into the home.

The OP says the dog will be left 9 hours a day. We'd be out 730-430

Break that up even with an hours walk that's still a long time 5 days a week.

And let's not forget we do a lot of running about before and after work as all the chores still need to be done on top of caring for the dog. In our house we act as a tag team so DH will attend to the dog whilst I do a chore and then we swop. It's tiring but I imagine more tiring if he didn't go to daycare as he would need far more attention if he had been stuck at home for most of the day. My plan if daycare wasn't possible would be two dog walkers a day.

I WFH 2 days a week, the 3 days I am out dh doesn't leave for work until 9:30 at earliest, walkers are there and take ddog out from 10:30 until 12:30. Then ds gets back from school at 4pm/or 3pm on a Thursday.

Dogs are pack animals, they need to be around others.

Yes people do leave dogs while at work, ideally it's not best for them.

Some dogs really struggle with being left alone, others do get used to it, but I'm not sure getting used to it is fair either.

I'm more of a cat person but I have lived with dogs as well. I find dogs are like toddlers they need more attention and don't really like being left alone. Cats are more like teen-agers, they love the company but also like a little independence so being left for a few hours while at work doesn't stress them.

My ex took his dog to work with him.
When my sister first got her dog, he used to do so much damage in the house when left alone (holes in wall, carpet torn up etc) they had to get him a cage, he's old now and no longer needs the cage.
My neighbors dog howls when she's left on her own.

Don't know if this helps or not x

I did when I had a dog. We had a dog flap on the kitchen door which led out to the back garden which was all enclosed. I went to see her at lunchtime and gave her walks morning and evening. She was perfectly happy.

I have 2 and work nights. They 'go to bed' and get up at roughly the same time every day regardless of me working or not. I have to wake the elderly one most mornings and the other is awake but usually takes her time getting from under the blankets she's burrowed into.
Walked morning and evening and fed evening. When I'm in bed from nights I move their beds to my room, which they ignore in favour of the sofa anyway.
I don't think I will leave the younger one alone though when the older one goes, I'll probably take her to my mum's so she's not on her own as she's used to having company.
They get left for about 90 minutes, twice a day on normal days and are ok with that. I don't think I'd leave them through the day for extended periods though if I could help it, it's not what they're used to. I have had to at some points because I've had hospital appointment or similar and they've been ok when I've got back.

Could you get a cat instead :-D

Yeps, dog is left for 4/5 hours 3 x a week. Any longer than that and I get someone in to come let her out for a wee etc, not a walk. Dh works shifts and I’m in charge of my own diary so I can manage it that the dog is never left alone for long.

On days I can’t get someone in - the dog (if I’m not mega busy at work and it’s not too hot) comes with me.

We set up a camera to see what the dog does while we are out - basically grazes on food and sleeps...

No never leave her for more than four hours alone if I plan to be out longer she goes to a family member for the day. Likewise I have their dog when they are going to be out all day.

We've always had rescues and have been honest with our working patterns. Dog 1 we rescued at 13 years old. Left 9-5, with a dog flap and either me or dogwalker at lunchtime for a walk. Dogs 2&3. Rescued as a pair at 9 years old. Same pattern as above (no dog flap). Current dog (rescued as pup) never routinely left for more than a couple of hours as I now WFH.

So it is possible if you have old dogs/they have company. But you need to chose the dog to suit your circumstances, and IMO with your schedule, you'd be limited to an old rescue, ideally a pair, rather than a puppy.

Is doggy day care an option for you?

We have two dogs and the dog minder costs me an absolute fortune but if I am working outside of the home they go to her. Never left them for longer than 4 hours and that about 3 times in their lives.

Dog was left once all day but that was a mistake as dog walkers forgot to pick him up- he seemed a bit keener for attention than normal but no other ill effects.

Certainly wouldn't take on a dog with a day one plan to leave it alone all day - that's just cruel. Ours is left occasionally like once a fortnight for about 5 hours as has morning walk than DS gets back from school at 4. Other than that he's alone for 3 hours max when we need to go out.

Have you looked at Borrowmydoggy? Sounds like you'd be better suited to be an occasional dog lover and could really bond and help out with someone else's doggie.

My family is part French and, there (at least in the rural area we are from) it is totally normal to leave your dog in the garden all day. I'm talking pets, not farm/guard dogs, so dogs that are used to being around humans most of the time. It's the norm, but that doesn't make it right. Those dogs are stressed as hell, running up and down the garden, over-reacting to any sounds of humans passing. It's cruel IME and sad to see - most gardens have a single, distressed dog in them . I'm sure the same is true of dogs left alone in the UK, you just don't see them because they are inside.

Leaving an adult dog all day once in a blue moon because of a family emergency or because the dog walker has let you down is one thing. Planning to do it regularly is another. If you can't provide a dog with companionship, look into walking someone else's dog via the Cinnamon Trust or offering short-term fostering during holidays etc.

I think it depends on your hours.. the longest our dog is left at home is 8-3 on a Thursday, other than that we are in everyday

The dog probably wouldn't mind if I went into the office more days as she just sleeps when I am at home but the mum dog guilt would be too much for me to leave her anymore than that

These mythical dog walkers make me smile too. Nobody ever says "we have a dog walker at 3pm as that's all they had available", they all have them "at lunchtime".
Quite what these hordes of dog walkers do for the rest of the day is a mystery

We might get a dog next Summer, mainly because DD1 is taking a year off after A levels before going to Uni and I'm reducing my hours to 5 hours max a day at work (domestic cleaning).
So there will be someone at home all day as DD will do evening work.
Been waiting for years!