How long to leave dog home alone?

[Onlywayisupmaybe]

What is the maximum length of time that you would leave your dog alone at home for?

I would happily leave my dog for 4 hours. I would do 6 if I was desperate but only as a one off.

Depends entirely on the dog.

My Labrador boy, laid back and easy going could be left for 4-6 hours no problem (not me working ooth btw, just a day out)
My Greyhound girl, twenty minutes max or else she would have screamed the house down.
(and I do mean scream, not bark, for all those who say - oooh get a Greyhound)

4/5 hours once a week (I could leave him much longer but wouldn’t). Lab 13.5 yrs so just sleeps mostly.

4hours for me

4 hours

Four hours

Only a few hours if I really have to. I’m the one that gets separation anxiety! 😂

4 hours. Most of the time it isn't more than 2-3 though.

Thanks everyone. Sounds like 5 hours max would be a good guideline.

4-6 hours depending, but I do have 2 to keep each other company.

My dog (5) is okay with 5-6 hours 1-3 times a week, and is also okay with the occasional 7-9 hours (by this I mean a max of 1-2 times a year if at all). He’s a really laid back dog though and will just sleep. There is usually someone about in the week so usually more like 2-4 hours up to 3 times a week. And he also has a dog walker that comes in mid-late morning. Obviously not ideal but if it needs to happen it is okay. We have a cat he is good buddies with too.

As my two get older, I would say the time shortens. Not because they need out, but because the older ( male) has generally been the calmer, but he is now quite clingy, which unsettles my female . Very driven by routine.
I find leaving them during the day easier than in the evening, I guess because routine suggests we are home in the evening.

When my dog was a pup we were told no more than 4 hours, now that she’s a bit older we can go for up to 7 in cage (this is once in a few months though)

7 hours in a cage? That sounds cruel

We very rarely leave our dog, but have left him for up to 6 hours if we’ve had to go out for the day.
I get up early and give him a long walk first and he just sleeps all day. This is maybe twice per year max! He forgives us.

Leave mine for 8 hours 3 days a week.

We can leave ours for 5 hours, but usually she's left no more than 3 - we have a dog Walker and older children so nearly always someone around

7 hours in a cage?? Really? That's terrible no matter how rare.

I've left mine 4 occasionally I don't work so I'm home most days.

I used to live next door to some people who went out all day, leaving their dog howling for hours at a time. It became very stressful to listen to and I felt sorry for the dog.

Up to 8 hours if I’m stuck at work. All he does is sleep! It very much depends on the dog.

That sounds like I never leave him I do but never more than 4 hours.

4 hours tops and thats very occasionally.

If he knows we are in the house with him overnight (and he’s very occasionally not with us in bed) he doesn’t even set off the Ring stick-up cam in his room from 9pm to 6am. So that’s 9 hours when he’s crashed out in his bed. Last weekend I was particularly tired and slept 12 hours, he didn’t move (or the cam didn’t pick it up. But no accidents or signs of distress).

Daylight hours - we are up at 6am when he has his breakfast and goes to the garden loo, we leave for work around 7am, dog walker in at 9am who takes him out for an hour, again at 3pm for half an hour, then we are home by the latest of 7.30pm.

So 5 hours on his own during during daylight but as he gets older and sleeps more we could probably go longer. When he was younger he did protest poos and wees galore if left longer than 2 hours on his lonesome.

4 hours.