To shut my dog in the garden for the day?

[Dogingarden]

Please read the full thing before you call me cruel.

I will be gone from about 8am until late on the night because I'm travelling for a medical procedure that I can't put off any longer. There is no way to make the time shorter due to where I live in relation to the hospital and I need the treatment asap.

I had a dog sitter booked but she had an accident and is currently on crutches and unable to drive. The others in my area are booked or just far too expensive. I have family but only my brother is able to drive and works 12hr shifts so he's only able to visit after 8pm. The house is rural detached with no close neighbours.

He can't go to kennels because I accidentally missed his vaccine boosters during the move and the local ones won't take him without them being up to date.

Dog is a large terrier. I have a large, safe garden with plenty of shady spots regardless of the time of day. I would leave multiple beds for him, including a dog house that was already in the garden when I moved in. There is also an automatic water bucket fitted to the house (previous owner) which he uses happily when we're in the garden. I will leave dry food out.

He absolutely will not toilet in the house, even with puppy pads, so he'd potentially be going 12+ hours without a wee which makes me very uncomfortable because he's had kidney issues in the past.

Please don't be awful - I'm terrified of what the biopsy will show and I'm doing my best.

Whilst I'd say mine wouldn't care, and he wouldn't, there's no way I'd do this. But if you must stick a tracker on him just in case and in a rural area not an airtag.

It'll be absolutely fine then wont it.

Where in the country are you?

If you're in the NE, I have young adult daughters who might help. They cannot stay overnight as we're going away on Friday, but they will almost definitely pop in for an hour or so midday. They've been around terriers all their lives.

I think it’s fine OP. He’s a dog!

Unfortunately the kennels won't take him because their policy is vacs have to be done at least 30 days before the dog stays.

Ah ok phew! Apologies for all my frantic posts about the heat then!

I hope your biopsy goes well.

This is totally unacceptable and no way would I consider it. I'm guessing the people saying 'it's a dog!' don't actually have a dog.

You can't put him in kennels due to your own mistakes, so time to stump up and pay the dog sitter. I hope you already have him booked in for his jags too.

Could he stay at your brother's with him popping home at lunch? DH is a nurse and can manage this for our dog as we live near the hospital.

Sounds fine to me but you seem nervous about it.Have you tried reaching out to your community , maybe offer a small payment for 2 pop ins and short walks that day, a local teen looking for pocket money before and after school. Facebook might be a good place to ask on local pages.

I think this is fine - you wouldn't be posting here if you weren't concerned for his welfare/thought it was fine to do this regularly - it's one day, he'll cope. Get him something to chew/play with maybe that's new and interesting. Best of luck with your appointment.

Is the dog an Airedale? You could ask in the Scottish page for your dog breed if anyone is willing to help out for the day, I’ve seen posts before of others who have helped out

Why is it totally unacceptable?

OP was let down by her scheduled dog sitter. I have a dog and I would do this in these circumstances - it's an emergency not a long term care plan.

Risk of theft, risk of harm coming to the dog in some way (heat, choking, harming himself of of boredom or upset), risk of the dog becoming distressed. The list goes on tbh. I'd actually be more comfortable leaving my dog in the house than out in a garden all day, especially if that's what they're used to and where they sleep.

I would do everything I could to avoid it. If the dog sitter is expensive then I would just go with it. It’s not worth the risk imo.

Sounds ok outside of heatwave temperatures. He has water, food, shelter and space to run around. I'd be worried if it was a very hot day though. Have you looked at Borrow my Doggy or can you ask around vets for availability to do his booster so he can go to the kennel.

I don’t think it’s cruel in principle- plenty of dogs in rural areas like where I live are left outdoors all day with a dog shelter and food and water and just kept in the house overnight (or sometimes in big heated kennels). But most are in pairs or groups - dogs being pack animals shouldn’t really be left alone too often/long imo.

Plus those dogs are used to it - presumably it has either been the case since they were pups or their owners have gradually increased the time they were left alone till they were used to it as adults (from a few hours, to half the day, and then so on).

My concern is that if your dog isn’t used to being left alone in the garden for a significant amount of time then doing a full day suddenly may mean he will get himself wound up and distressed. Or even possibly try to escape? Some can be like Houdini when desperate/bored, even if you think the garden seems secure. You don’t want to be dealing with a distressed dog or even worse a missing dog when you’ve just got back from hospital - but I guess it sounds like you don’t have a choice in this situation 🤷‍♀️ Hope everything goes well for both your biopsy and for doggo.

He'll be fine, look after yourself and best of luck with your appointment

Any mumsnetters that can help? I'm guessing you are a long way from me (south coast). But I would volunteer if nearby.

I would book a dog walker to pop in! A single dog walk is £20 for 30 minutes, you could ask them to visit halfway through the day and let him out/play with him for the 30 minutes instead of the walk.

It's absolutely fine.

My dogs were regularly out from early to late, they were used to it, they had a kennel outside and a kind of dog door back into the back storeroom of the house where they had dog beds. They slept outside or had access to outside all their lives from bedtime to breakfast and then again through my working day. They were spaniels and they never knew any different and had a bloody good long life.

They had a long walk in the evening and were with the family til bed time. Where I live (not uk) it's quite common for dogs to have never been in a house, so these things are relative.

So what would you do in that case then?

Pointless asking on here, plenty of dog haters that couldn’t care less what you do with your dog. No, you can’t leave your dog out all day. You pay the expensive sitter or look on Rover, someone should be able to come over to walk him and let him out for the toilet.

It really does depend on your dog. I've had dogs that could be left out for a day without issue, but I would worry about leaving out my current dogs, because they aren't used to it.

If you don't think he'll try to escape, it should be fine. If you have time, I'd have him spend more time out in the garden alone to accustom him to it, though of course it won't be the same if he knows you're home. He may be less likely to settle than he will be if he realises you're not inside.

There's a lot of mature trees in one area that provide shade all day.

OP, I say this kindly realising the situation you are in, shade doesn’t matter when it’s 30 degrees out, even with mature trees and water. The air temperature will be too hot. I have seen this first hand with a dog in a park, he was hyperventilating.Luckily there were people around.

I can't believe a sitter would even be that expensive the op said hundreds which would seem extraordinary.

Anyway op hope your hospital appointment goes ok and you manage to get someone to let your dog a couple of times. Leaving it unattended in the garden for hours shouldn't be an option.