Can I take a puppy into a shop?

[manzolini]

A non-food shop so like matalan, new look, next etc as long as she is in a sling and doesn't touch the floor?

Just why is it a shame that nobody wants to encounter your dog whilst clothes shopping??

😂They do! Their dog/s have rarely barked even when they've been away for the day/overnight. Come to think of it, I don't even remember any of the other full time workers in the neighbourhood who are away from say 8 to 5:30pm/6pm or longer, barking.

Sorry, but most of us are normal human beings who are able to train our dogs properly. 😂😂

Australia. Never in my entire life have I heard such rubbish as not being able to leave you dog at home for a work day. The UK sounds very messed up and many things, but this is batshit bonkers!

Btw Australia is a MASSIVE dog owner nation, we own more dogs than the UK and the US. Far more dog owners than cat owners. Basically almost every family/single person owns a dog.

If none of us could leave our dog to go to work, the entire country and economy would come to a standstill and go broke. I have no idea wtf is wrong with the UK that they are unable to have a dog like normal people and go to work. Something is quite wrong there. Weird.

We also leave our cats at home to when we go to work.

Even Americans go to work full time and own dogs.

Canadians as well.

And NZers.

Why is the UK so utterly dysfunctional in this area?

There's a middle ground between leaving a dog alone for >12 hours a day and hoofing it with you everywhere you go!
Nobody needs to spend an entire day at the shops.

We have an adult dog and no, I don't leave him home all day when I go to work. I take him to a dog sitter. Only idiots leave their dogs alone all day.

I honestly do not know anyone who leaves their dog all day to go to work. I wouldn't leave my dog unsupervised in the garden for a period of time, it's definitely not something any of the people I know would do. If they do then usually a dog walker would go round in the middle of the day to take them out for a long walk.

My family are in Australia and own dogs - none of them leave their dogs all day while they work. Maybe for 3-4 hours, but certainly not for 8-10 hours in the way you describe!

The maximum recommended time to leave your adult dog alone is four hours in a 24 hour period.

Then your family clearly doesn't work full time.

There is no maximum recommended time here. Probably because most of us work full time for a living and don't have the luxury of leaving work every 4 hours. Dogs are able to be left overnight even as long as they have kibble and water left out.

Oh, and re. America doing the same - there's a reason dog walkers and doggy daycares are such big business there (and increasingly in the UK too).

I don't know a single dog owner who just goes out and leaves their dog alone all day. People do a combination of:

• daycare


• dog walker


• family popping in to help out


• dog goes to a family member while they're at work (this is what we do)


• owners working shifts to minimise the amount of time the dog is left


• owners WFH


• owners coming home at lunch


• owners working part-time

I'm a dog walker myself and am fully booked, as are all the others I know. It's a booming industry for good reason.

Dog sitters are if you go on holidays. No one has a dog sitter just because you're at work.

It's a DOG. Not a child. Only idiots need a dog sitter for a dog!

We both work full time, actually.

My FIL (who is retired) looks after our dog while we work, or I bring him along to work with me. DH can also do this at weekends if necessary.

If a dog was left alone overnight in this country, the owner would be reported for neglect and would probably have their dog taken off them permanently.

Then the people you know must not go to work full time.

There is really no such thing as a dog walker here, it's not a thing. Maybe for the upper class extremely rich 1%ers. But 99% of us leave our dogs AND CATS at home all day with no problems.

It's all indulgent nonsense and a waste of money and time. The whole thing is utterly bizarre and absurd. Just another 'industry' popup to take advantage of fools and their money.

Oh, and my family in Australia work full-time too. They still don't leave their dogs unattended for 10 hours a day because they're not stupid and understand dogs need a lot more company and socialisation than that.

If you want a pet you can leave all day, get a goldfish. Or a cat.

The whole thing is utterly fucking batshit bizarre. I am so glad I am not in the UK. So messed up.

If Australian dog walkers don't exist, why I am a member of numerous international dog walking groups with members from all over the globe, including New Zealand and Australia? 🙄

It seems they are stupid. If cats can be left alone all day, why not dogs? What's the difference? Dogs get socialisation in the morning and night. They can survive 10 hours without a human being. It's only the humans that make out like dogs need the attention. Dogs don't 'need' company every 4 hours. Humans ascribe attributes and traits to dogs that aren't there, then coddle them on the basis of that. It's a dog. No more, no less.

It's a niche 'industry' that's only popped up recently to take advantage of those with too much money and little sense. It is not mainstream in Australia, thank goodness with haven't regressed as much as the UK.

There are ways to train your dog so it's ok at home while you are at work. In fact, some of our tv vets have done episodes on how to make your dog adjust to you being out all day. It's a very simple concept.

www.rspca.org.au/sites/default/files/website/Adopt-a-pet/Your-new-dog/Information_Sheet-The_First_Few_Days-Dogs.pdf

That was the wrong link. This is the one: www.rspcaqld.org.au/~/media/rspca/animal%20fact%20sheets%202019/0fshome%20alone.ashx?la=en

Wow Talkingcat, you do know your experiences and opinions are purely that and not factual!

Yes the people I know do work full time actually but they either send their dog to daycare or get a walker/friend to take the dog out after about 4 hrs. Anyone I know who works full time and couldn't afford this or are out of the hours around 10 hrs and cant afford daycare just don't get dogs. We didnt get dogs till we had jobs that allowed us to be here more as we felt it was selfish to do so beforehand.

We do leave our cats all day, it's not even remotely the same.

If there's no such thing as a dog walker in Australia then why do Google searches for "dog walkers in Sydney / Melbourne / Perth" bring up hundreds of results for just that?

Of course training dogs to be on their own is important but that is for around 4 hrs, not for 10!

That's all very sad.

And NO, there is absolutely NO DIFFERENCE between a dog and a cat. The only difference is the attributes people ascribe to dogs, infantilising them and babying them.