People leaving dogs at home while they are at work

[Sparkles57]

AIBU to find it appalling when people go to work all day and leave their dogs home alone?

I have two and work full time and I spend a small fortune on daycare for them through the week. If I’m out at the weekend I’ll leave them for 5 hours max, any longer and I’ll pay someone to drop in and let them out etc.

I’ve noticed lately from people talking at work it seems to be the norm for people to just leave their dogs in the house when they’re at work! 10 hours alone seems really cruel to me, so I’m really surprised by the blasé attitude a lot of people seem to have to it.

On the other hand, mine are kept downstairs at night so they are on their own for a good 9 hours whilst I’m in bed, so maybe I’m just being a judgey bastard?

I see your "Family that leaves dog home alone for 8+ hours" and will trump it with "Student who lives in a 25 sqm studio apartment stuffed to the brim with furniture who will leave two greyhounds in there for 8+ hours a day" and then lecture those of us who don't want pets about how we were bad people because we didn't luuuuuuuve dogs.

Oh, and OP didn't criticize people who leave the dog home alone for 4 hours. She wrote "all day", so 8+ hours. Please don't pretend people are unreasonable by claiming they said something they didn't it is manipulative and rude to do so.

LucieLucie has got it spot on ! Dogs are now seen as the “must have” accessories.

I completely agree. I think the sale of dogs should be tightly controlled and owners should be checked on regularly. Dogs are sensitive, intelligent, potentially dangerous animals, not lifestyle accessories.

We have a very docile, lovely King Chales Cavalier. He is a lap dog so whilst he gets exercise, it's not the same as having a Springer or Dalmatian, for instance.
He has a dog flap into out largish garden.
He is 13 now, has never shown signs of distress or loneliness.
I work long days now, but used not to work as long when DCs were younger.
He appears so happy, relaxed and content.
So, it really is a balance of one's own work/life committments and the nature of you dog.
If I had ever felt, over the last 13 years, that he was exhibiting signs of strsss/ loneliness, things would have changed.
He is a very much loved dog, affectionate, but also gets huge affection and love from us.
I think he is happy

@Grammar agree, same for my parents dogs. they are happy, get loads of long walks and attention. and they are low energy dogs (they still get at least 2 hours walk every day!). they sleep all day when being left alone, don’t bark and have never destroyed anything (there’s always at least 2, so never really alone). it depends on the dog and the complete setup.

I am lucky. I work part time and DP has slightly different hours so I leave in the afternoon most days and he is back before 5pm.

Having said that, I still think that surely a dog in a loving home is happier being left 8am-4pm than in a kennel or shelter?

But the dog wouldn't exist to BE IN A KENNEL OR SHELTER, unless someone had thought they wanted the dog in the first place. It is not either or, the dog was bred because there is a market place full of potential owners who think dog ownership is compatible with full time working hours (even 8-4 is a long time let alone 8-6) Okay, yes, once the dog is there, it is better to keep it on those terms than commit to a shelter, but why get the dog in the FIRST PLACE??? Because the myth is perpetuated that it is FINE by other dog owners. Why don't people come and say, this isn't ideal, it is all I can do in my circs rather than push it as a perfectly normal solution to a problem that didn't even need to exist (purchasing a puppy in the expectation of leaving them at home without company long term)

Nettles wins, you are assuming all dogs are bred...

They are not

Dogs need company. I wouldn’t leave mine for more than an few hours and 4 max. You can argue ‘he doesn’t look lonely, he’s sleeping’ as much as you like but it’s just cruel. Just because they are not showing outward signs of distress doesn’t mean the dog is happy.

For the poster who said ‘just leave some treats, water and toys out’ ‘what are you supposed to do?’ Not get a dog in the first place. That’s what you’re supposed to do.

Otherwise pay for daycare or for a dog walker.

How would a dog show signs of loneliness? They can’t talk. Maybe sleeping all day is because they are bored and lonely? My dog naps but definitely doesn’t sleep all day...

I think it's very dependent on the dog. I do see an awful lot of dog ownership superiority on MN though. We both work and the dogs are left alone for a few hours either side of lunch some days - one of us will always come home to let them out for a wee and a run at lunch time. We also both have the option to work from home so we try to work around that.

As long as you make fair arrangements to meet their needs I really don't think it matters if they are occasionally alone. We take ours out every morning and evening for a long walk which tires them out for the day ahead. I use cameras and know for a fact that they both sleep for most of the day. I think it's dangerous to put all of these unrealistic expectations on people who might be considering adopting a rescue dog or something like that but are made to feel inadequate because their dog might be home alone for a few hours here and there.

Surely being in a comfortable, warm, loving home where they are looked after and valued beats being stuck in a shelter which is by its nature a stressful environment? Stop treating dogs like kids, they are capable of being alone for a while.

Of course the exception is all day everyday with no visits or provisions in place.

I find the idea of daycare for dogs totally batshit tbh . The country is apparently in dire straits and people are paying someone to look after and walk their dog . Batshit !

why get a dog if it's going to be in someone else's care 5 days a week every week?

There’s a difference between being alone for a few hours and leaving the dog alone for 8 hours every day which some people are suggesting is ok.

Wow. What a crazy thread. God forbid you leave your dog on its own for longer than 4 hours in the torture chamber you call home.

We had our dog from a pup and have always worked full time. Throughout our family life he's gone from having me and DH popping in for half hour during puppyhood to me being home FT when I had kids to now where he is walked in the morning and left from 8;30am-6pm.

He lives a life of luxury. Always fresh water down and food toys etc. Full roam of the house. Happy as anything and never had any problems.

It is very dog dependant but everyone clutching pearls over dogs being left at home for longer than 4 hours really don't understand the meaning of cruelty.

Dogs being pack animals, I think they need company. We’re extremely fortunate that my lovely neighbour adores ours but feels she can’t have her own as she can’t walk far anymore. She takes them into her house on the 2 days a month we work the same hours. I’m dreading her dying, she’s like a second mum and has been a huge support over the years with two sets of dogs. However, this won’t stop us having more dogs, we’ll just have to find a decent dog walker.

I would be very wary of some doggy daycare, tho. I know someone who just leaves the dogs in cages all day, but another who treats them like her own and takes incredibly good care of them. A mate’s dog walker pretended to have been unable to find the dog who notoriously hid on the windowsill behind the curtain. My mate was unaware for ages that the dog hadn’t been walked.

I just don’t get why people seem to think that it’s ok to get a dog and then leave it.
Some folk are saying their dogs are ok for five hours... did they actually leave a new puppy for five hours too?
As to people who claim their dogs just sleep all day well I’d like to assure them that I can hear loads of dogs barking and howling all day.
Why get a dog if you’re at work all day? Palming off to dog walkers and doggy day care is preposterous. Clearly some folk only want weekend dogs.
As to dog behaviour... if a puppy is left for long hours with a token visit from a stranger then it’s behaviour is going to be tricky, hence why I meet appallingly bad behaviour from so many dogs every single day. I have a young dog, got it when we retired. Huge amount of dog training done yet snarly, aggressive , poorly behaved dogs who’ve clearly never been properly socialised or trained , undermine his training.

I don’t see it as an issue, as long has you have taken your dogs for at least an hours walk before work and same again on return to burn energy .. they have access to the garden aka a kennel ( my dads dogs had a brick roofed attachment to house with bunk beds ( lower bed had raised bottom to prevent wind chill) and a radiator installed access to toys and water and nice big garden and have other dogs for company In Working hours ...maybe if you have just the one ... or don’t plan on adequately exercising your pet before leaving for the day it’s un fair ....but otherwise no.

P.s I have cats ... because I know I would struggle with the early morning walks ... and a dog needs really a good hours run about to get some of their lent up energy off their chest

@1Morewineplease so by your logic only the retired or the unemployed should own dogs?

I WFH, and my dogs ignore me all day until it's time for their evening walk, at which point they start pestering me to stop working and pay attention to them. They sleep/potter around all day doing their own thing (mostly having got me up early to eat, after which they go straight back to bed even at weekends when I'm up for taking them out/paying attention to them during the day).

Both mine are rescues, one a stray and one a breeding bitch from a puppy farm, which might make a difference - no expectation of human company. On the rare occasions when I'd be out all day, I'd get a neighbour to look in on them/let them out, but neither ever got out of their beds - just looked up, and went back to sleep. I don't bother now - and it's so rare anyway (I like to take the dogs with us if we go anywhere, so it's really just if we go shopping/to the cinema/out for a meal) that it doesn't make a difference.

Would I get a dog if I didn't WFH? No, and certainly not a puppy. But there are definitely dogs for whom it wouldn't make a difference (I think ex-racing greyhounds, or rescue dogs who have been kennelled all their lives are unlikely to be upset about being left).

Toughtips Popping in time see a puppy for half an hour a day is not enough. When did you train him? How did he have toilet breaks? Puppies need to go every 20 mins. Very cruel to leave a puppy at home for most of the day while you work full time all week. Poor thing seems ok as it’s got used to that being its life.

@titsmcghee27 sounds good to me. Alternatively you could do what my neighbours do, go off to work and leave it barking all day. Is that a happy unstressed dog?

It’s not a God given right for humans to own dogs. You need the right set up at home. If you work full time then you need to arrange care or don’t get the dog!

I can't speak for your neighbours dog but I know mine don't bark when I'm out because I have a pet cam. They sleep. You can use your in depth dog psychotherapy to tell me that they are sleeping because they are bored, distressed and lonely if you want but I think it's more likely because they get a long walk every morning and evening and are probably worn out. When I'm working from home or at the weekends it's generally the same pattern.

Suggesting that only people who don't work should have dogs is ridiculous. How many dogs would be in shelters then?

Rescue centres don’t give dogs to people who work full time. For a reason....