Leaving a dog at home during the day

[quidamaz]

Hi MNers.

Do any of you leave your dog at home during the day while you're at work? How do you make it work? Does your pup cope ok?

We've just got a new puppy (much loved, much wanted, but bad timing) but from September when I'm back at work he'll be alone from 730-430 every day with a dog walker at lunchtimes.

(PLEASE don't jump on me and tell me a hundred times why I shouldn't do this. I KNOW people do this! There's no way people don't leave their dogs surely? We had originally budgeted for doggy daycare but at £25 a day we can no longer afford it now DH has lost the business thanks to Corona. It's going to take us at least 18 months to get back on our feet financially at the very least.)

Thanks for any advice.

justmemyselfandi999 makes. Good point. At six months my dog had a knee injury and was not allowed walks. Young dogs are prone to injury and sickness, with all my dogs the first year, and the last, have been the ones with most insurance claims .
Seven months is much too young to be left all day, with one walk in the middle. At seven months they need several short walks. This is bred dependent.
OP virtually everyone is telling you that this is cruel, yet you don’t want to hear it. Why on earth get a puppy you are going to leave all day ? This is about you, not the dog. It isn’t kind or fair to leave a dog alone all the time, it is a sentient and social being, not a toy to be played with when you all get home.

*breed dependent, not bred.

I can see you are not going to change your mind so you definitely need a plan b. We got a breed similar to what we have had before and assumed a daily dog walker would work (much shorter hours alone than what you are planning). It became evident that it wouldn’t. Many dog walkers want dogs that can go off lead these days. Ours can’t. Many also bundle loads into a van. Ours gets car sick. Many won’t take a dog who shows any aggression. Ours can sometimes be reactive on lead. Our new dog was higher energy than previous and clearly needed a run in a field each day. Without this he needed walking every couple of hours. We had to quickly find a solution which cost more than we expected. We were able to do this as we had some contingency in the budget. You need to think about what your options might be.

The longest we have ever left him is 3 hours but generally he is left for 2 hours max. With us all at home, he is currently in paradise.

Depending on the dogs personality it should be fine. Its a long day but with an hour walk in the middle should be okay. It isn't ideal but circumstances change and that can't be helped. I would say make sure the dog doesn't get too used to you being at home all day or it could make the transition tricky.

it really depends on both the breed and the personality of the dog. We have 2 frenchies who just sleep after their walk, being home during lockdown has made me realise how lazy they are.

dp works from home so they get let out often!

What breed is your dog? What jobs do you do? Is there a way your work would adapt to allow you to have a dog with you?
I think if I was out of the house at 7:30am each day I would try to instil a routine where I was up at 6am to spend a decent amount of time with the puppy - breakfast, walk, training, socialising - before leaving the house.

It depends on the dog. Terriers we've had were fine (when I was a child). As an adult I've had a Weimaraner and a Havanese, both of these types imprint heavily on the owner and so get up to mischief if left alone more than 2 hours. My Havanese even gets upset if I'm gone and there are others in the house. She doesn't bark, but she soils and chews things. The Weimy was generally better but then there was one memorable occasion I left her for 5 hours and she chewed the end of her tail and bloodied the entire house.

I can't say all dogs of these breeds act this way, but I've heard a lot of fellow owners say the same. One Havanese of an acquaintance dug out a large house plant in a pot and poisoned himself chewing and destroying it. He's okay now but it was touch and go at the vets.

I'm sure less emotional dogs can be at home for a day with a midday dogwalker. Don't let your dog sleep in your bed, make them sleep downstairs in their own bed. I think that's my big mistake why my dogs are so clingy. I train my dogs but I'm too soft with human/dog boundaries.

Selfish, unkind and asking for trouble - but sounds like you’re going to crack on 🙄

OP, I may have missed it, but did you tell us the breed or size of your dog? It may be you could take them to work with you? I have 2 pharmaceutical clients that are no animals on site but my HE client encourages it. I've also had legal/ marketing office type clients that encouraged bringing pets.

My dog isn't fussy so she'll sleep on my lap or next to my chair. I dont make a habit of it, but it's an option.

Sorry but in your position I would not be getting a dog

Of course it's not fair on the dog and you know that. It would be bad enough for an older dog but a puppy! No way should a puppy be left all those hours.

What about training the puppy? You need to train to walk on lead, heel, not chew things etc. Also a puppy needs feeding about 5 times a day so how on earth can you manage that?

I really don't think you should have got the puppy but unless you are going to return it to the breeder you have to try and work things out for the health and wellbeing of your pup.

Can you afford doggy day care at least 1 or 2 days a week? Do you have local friends, relatives, neighbours who would come in and play with pup, take it out or at least into the garden to toilet etc.

What about "borrowmydoggy.com". My neice looks after dogs through that site.

I know some people always say "oh my dog is left 8/9/10 hours a day 5 days a week and is so happy" but that is rarely true and, if it is, they have a very unusual dog.

Also a pup left all those hours is going to probably cry, howl and chew with unhappiness and boredom. How are you going to deal with that? I hope you are not going to crate it for all those hours to stop it chewing

No of course you are keeping the dog because you are selfish and it's all what you want not what is best for the dog.

A 7 month old pup CANNOT be left for that length of time. It also CANNOT be walked for one and a half hours. That is far too long.

You are going to have one unhappy bored dog. It's cruel to crate him for all those hours but if you don't he will likely destroy so much.

A dog is a huge responsibility or it should be if you care about the dog.

Me and DH can't just go away for a night or decide to take a trip out to a theatre without arranging for either a dog sitter to come to us or our dogs to go to them. Our two are never ever left for more than 4 hours and that is extremely rarely.

I can also assure you that dogs do not sleep for 16 hours a day unless they are very bored

Just because lots leave their dogs for long periods does not mean the dogs are happy, healthy and well adjusted.

Op is determined to justify her decision, not to look for solutions.

@ReginaPhallange47 but you have more than one dog, so your dogs are not alone are they? Crucial difference!

I am not sure some people are really reading the OP. The puppy is already here and was going to go to daycare but Covid-19 has effectively trashed the household income. This isn't someone who planned to get a dog and leave it. It's someone trying to come to trms with a new reality and make it work.

None of that means the dog will be fine when left or that the OP doesn't need to try and think of other solutions. But accusing them of getting a puppy with the intention of leaving it, isn't fair.

No, I wouldn’t. Not what you want to hear, but it’s just not fair. Cats cope fine, with a flap, lots of dogs don’t. Pups can take a long time to be reliably clean too, takes consistent training.

Before you do this, spend five hours, that's the amount of time before the dog walker comes, on your own in a room. No phones, no toilet. You are allowed food and water.
See how you find it.

Since you have it already (still try what I said to get some empathy) but what about elderly or retired relatives or neighbours (obviously you're talking post lockdown) who might like a companion while you're at work. The trouble with dog walkers is the trust issue. Some have been seen just sitting with them in a car while they play on their phone, some walk multiple ones on leads for a short boring distance.

Before you do this, spend five hours, that's the amount of time before the dog walker comes, on your own in a room. No phones, no toilet. You are allowed food and water.

They did this on an episode of Victoria Stilwell once and it was a really good way of getting the message across.

I think the husband was locked in a room for four hours - no food, no water, no TV, no books - he just had to sit there. He was obviously bored stiff and fell asleep simply because there was nothing else to do.

If you can't look after a dog properly - be that staying home with it or paying out for daycare, then don't get a dog.

I agree with Carouselfish
This puppy must be what, twelve weeks now ? Easy to rehome at this stage. Unbelievably selfish to keep that pup because you all “love” it.
Love is putting the dog first, not treating it like a toy.
Try what Carousel suggested, or better still try it with a child, and see what happens, as a seven month old puppy is not an adult dog.

I feel like some people didn't read the ops post. They got a puppy. Her husband lost a business due to corona virus which naturally wasn't something they could have seen coming.

They were going to get doggy day care but due to circumstance changes now can't.

*They had planned for doggy day care and now can't do this due to unforeseen circumstance
*
Sure some people are not listening. She was only asking for some advice for a situation she's already in. Doesn't sound like the husband lost the business and THEN they got a puppy. Jesus.

🙄🙄

I also didn't spot that initially - but nonetheless if they now cannot afford the care needed from September the dog must go.

except it won't. Hope the neighbours really are out of earshot...

I feel like some people didn't read the ops post. They got a puppy. Her husband lost a business due to corona virus which naturally wasn't something they could have seen coming.

But that still doesn't mean you can plan to leave a 7mo puppy on it's own for seven hours a day, five days a week. Even with a dog walker, that's far, far too long to leave such a young dog on it's own.

Lots of people have a change in circumstances - they adapt. You pay for daycare or a sitter, you approach family or neighbours and ask for their help, and if you can't meet your dogs' needs, then sadly rehoming is often the last option.

As much as other people might want a dog, it's not fair to keep one if you can't fulfil its needs. Dog ownership is not a right. If you can't provide your dog with the care and attention it requires then don't get a dog.

Dogs are not people. They can't read or operate phones. They find their fun in other things. And they sleep much more than humans do.

I have two dogs and currently everyone is at home. The dogs could be doing all sorts of things, but they're doing precisely what they'd be doing if we were all out. They're fast asleep.

In normal times, they're often left for six and a half or seven hours, three days a week. They're fine with that. We built up to it slowly and sometimes I've had to nip back home and they're never pacing or whining. I know they're dead quiet, in fact, because my neighbour told me so. They get a longish walk off-lead before I go to work and another one as soon as I get home.

So I am not anti dogs being left, provided they can get outside - and they do have each other.

All that said, nine hours, even with a walker coming in, is way too long to leave a puppy or young dog. I'd be like OP, I'd be desperate to keep the puppy, especially with other parts of life going to hell in a handcart (the business...). I was lucky when mine was a puppy, there were family members around most of the time until she was seven months old. Then I was able to come home at lunchtime for an hour and take her out - but even then, we had a neighbour who loved her and almost always took her for a run mid-morning until she was about a year. I carried on with the lunchtime run home for another year. So she was two before she was left, with canine company and outdoor access, for seven hours.

OP, you really need to ask around locally and see if there's someone who'd like to have your dog part-time (my SIL did this at one stage, elderly dog-loving neighbours who didn't want a dog were thrilled to have hers a few mornings a week). The odds are good that you'll find someone.

But if you can't... Leaving a young dog as you suggest isn't fair. You might have to find him another home.