How long do you leave your dog alone?

[Issueatwork]

DP and I thinking of getting a puppy. Both experienced dog owners and have owned some difficult breeds such as shar peis and German shepherds etc. No children and no plans to have any, and live on the edge of a nature reserve and enjoy spending weekends hiking in the Peak District, so would be ideal really.
The main negative point is that we both work full time. When we first get the dog DP is happy to make a week AL and I’ll be able to speak to work and arrange home working for about 2 weeks after. Usually though, I wfh 2 days a week but Mon, Tues, and Thurs we would both be out of the house from around 7am to 5:30pm latest. DP has said that’s fine as we will take the dog for a small walk in the morning, hire a dog walker for lunch time and take it out again once home.
Would you think this is reasonable? In real life I know countless people who work 9-5 and have dogs and also don’t even have a dog walker, but online it looks like it’s a huge Nono.

You can’t leave a puppy along that long I would say. Fine once it’s toilet trained, though not ideal. But I think you need to be there more in the first 2 or so months….

ours wasn’t reliably house trained till 6 months.

@BarrelOfOtters Wow 6 months!! I’ve been really lucky in the past it’s only ever taken a week or so! My poor laminate.
I could potentially wrangle some more wfh home time in the early days maybe half days in the office and come home at lunch for a couple of months etc, but I’m just thinking long term.

Crazy to leave a puppy for 10+ hours. you would need to at least get some kind of pet person in to do puppy checks, spend some time with it etc.

No. Absolutely not. If you're experienced owners you must know that. Why ask?

@Babyroobs do you mean on top of the dog walker?

Other people I'm sure will have many things to say , but my dog has been left alone for that amount of times and he's always been fine , to be honest I think he's glad of the peace and quiet away from 2 loud children 🤣

I' usually leave for work about 7.30/8 bit my husband is usually back my 2pm but there has been occasions when this hasn't happened

If I know it's going to be a bit of a while, I leave plenty of water and a toy that he can get snacks out of, but I'm pretty sure he spends 90% of his time snoozing

No, really sorry but anything over even a few hours isn’t ok, even with all the dog toys, food etc etc they will be bored or just sleep, miserable existence (and it is a real pity, you both sound so suited, can he change to wfh for some of other days then you get someone to knock in the other day?

@newnamethanks honestly previous dogs didn’t give a shit and slept all day, it’s only in the past ten years I’ve really known people to have dog walkers and doggy daycare etc. Not saying that’s right of course, happy to be educated :)

Max we leave our little dog is 5 hours although she has a huge bladder and willlslerp from around 9pm to 7am without needed toilet breaks

But I do agree, a puppy probably shouldn't be left this amount of time
When I first got him when we had to work my mum or another family member would check in on him

@stayathomer he said recently his dream is to work from home as he envied my lie ins, but as an electrician would be unlikely 😂

2 hours... 3 max. But... I'm always home so it's not often they are left. I suppose it would be different if they were used to being on their own. I have two dogs. If we are out longer than a couple of hours we arrange for someone to come and sit with them or pop in and out

potter198912
a lot here have probably left our dogs that amount of time the odd odd time but as a regular thing it’s pretty terrible

No good for any dog especially not a puppy they would be bored and lonely.
I have 3 adult dogs that get on well and keep each other company and I still only leave them 4.5 hours absolute maximum.

ETA when they were puppies my mam sat with them all day 😅, in fact my youngest spaniel needed someone until they were 20 months as they couldn’t be trusted alone!

Sorry but this must be a joke, no way. You’re asking for trouble. I’d recommend at least 4-5 weeks off or at home fully and then they need visits every 2 hours at least

I think this would be fine for an adult dog but yes tricky for a puppy. Do you have any neighbours who would pop in and let them out for a wee? Can the dog go to work with you initially? A dog flap ? Although may be tricky if the dog was large due to decreased security for home. Do dogs flaps have magnets?

Issueatwork
no chance he’s self employed and can pick his hours?

We can leave ours for 5 hours (6 at a push) but we only got to that when he was about 18 months old. As a puppy it would have been more like 20 minutes!

Too long to leave a grown dog let alone a pup.

I work full time and would love a dog but a don’t think it’s fair on the dog.
It would be such a lonely existence.
I know many do this but it doesn’t make it right.

I got cats instead. They keep each other company. I’ll get a dog when I can seriously reduce my hours or retire.

Ours are home from about 8.45am until 5.15-5.30pm some days. Dog walker for about an hour.
Other days It's about 8.45 until 2.15pm, No dog walker those days.

Is there a reason you want a puppy rather than a rescue dog? No hate just asking as our family have always had rescues which kind of does cut out that puppy stage/toilet training. Depending on how quick they settle into routine and attachment, and just their individual temperament what you are proposing isnt completely undoable (based on the dogs we have had!). Im just not sure a puppy would manage with only a few weeks of you at home before the long stretches... my 7yr old german shepherd however would be thrilled with a good day of snoozing and has a suspiciously strong bladder 😅

Every dog welfare organisation agrees that dogs shouldn’t be left for longer than 4 hours total a day, that’s not 4 hours then a walk, then more time alone.

I wouldn’t get dogs and plan to leave them all day, I’d get cats and leave dogs till I actually had the lifestyle for them.

That's a really good idea.

@Ellie525 definitely a good point, we were intitially considering a retired greyhound but were put off after finding out they tend to be really lazy and hate being walked! We would like an active dog.
I once visited a rescue and was turned away from all the dogs as there were children in the home! It was years ago but I think has put me off looking any further at it. I’m sure there are lots of lovely adult dogs wanting to be rescued though. Something to consider.

@Issueatwork aye try looking at breed rescues as well as the usual rescue centres?