How long do you leave your dog alone?

[opalescent]

I understand there will be a range of opinions on this, but am curious to understand - how long will you happily leave your dog alone to go out to non-dog friendly events?
I have an 18 month old cocker, who is actually really good at being left for short periods- she just settles and snoozes. I always make sure she's had a good walk, and leave her with a frozen kong. I work from home, so she is rarely alone, but the maximum I tend to leave her is 4 hours. This can be quite limiting though, on the odd occasion that we are invited out for longer social events.
I have experimented with popping home to walk her and then going back out (if it's a longer social thing), but it feels a bit unfair.

My husband thinks I'm being over sensitive and that she would be fine left for 6 hours plus, as long as she's walked halfway through.

Thoughts?

I've left my dog for 6 hours occasionally, generally if I'm going to leave him for that long I'd arrange for the dog walker to pop in.

This is more to abate my guilt tbh as he's always been completely fine being left, he goes up to my dds room and sleeps.

I'm like you, around 4 hours. However, I do have friends who leave their dogs alone for longer and they're absolutely fine. They leave pads on the floor in case they need to do their business. My friends who do this also have a cam and can monitor their dogs from their phone. They say that most of the time they just sleep!

Possibly up to 6-7 hours at a push. They do have each other for company and have a doggy door so they can get out into the (6ft fenced) garden.

Ours is usually about 3-4 hours any longer and someone will come and rage her for a walk . Even though she is 2 and a high energy breed she is not destructive being left she just takes herself to bed . We are very lucky as there is a doggy day care place 2 minutes away and it's £12 for 12 hours so when we have a full day out she goes there .

There is no hard and fast rule for how long you can leave a dog alone as it can vary depending on the individual dog's temperament, age, and overall health, as well as their previous experiences with being left alone.
However, as a general guideline, experts recommend that dogs should not be left alone for more than 4-6 hours at a time, and ideally, no more than 2-4 hours. Longer than this can cause anxiety and stress for the dog, as well as physical discomfort if they need to eliminate or eat.
While some dogs may be able to tolerate longer periods of alone time, it's important to consider the potential risks and take steps to minimize them. This can include ensuring the dog has access to food, water, and a comfortable resting place, as well as providing mental stimulation and opportunities for exercise and interaction with humans and other dogs.
If you do need to leave your dog for longer periods of time, consider hiring a pet sitter or dog walker to provide some extra care and attention while you're away. You can also gradually increase the amount of time your dog is left alone, starting with shorter periods and gradually building up to longer ones. It's important to monitor your dog's behavior and well-being during this process to ensure they are comfortable and not experiencing any negative effects from the increased alone time.

This thread is making me glad I don’t have a dog! At least with kids you can take them most places and the toddler stage doesn’t last too long.

Mine have constant access to a safe and fenced in outdoor area and are both very chill so could probably be left all day and be fine. The greyhound I could probably leave even longer, if he had food he wouldn't notice. As a rule though I don't leave them for more than 4 hours if I can help it.

This isn’t how it works , it’s supposed to be 4 hrs in the entire day not just separated by walks / visits and then another 4 hours . Many dogs would likely be better left for longer than having a short intermission as it would possibly then be upsetting to be left again .

The amount of time a dog can be left alone varies depending on the dog's age, temperament, health, and previous experiences. In general, it is recommended that adult dogs should not be left alone for more than 8-10 hours per day. However, this can vary depending on the individual dog's needs.

Leaving a dog alone for extended periods of time can cause anxiety, boredom, and other behavioral issues. It is important to provide dogs with plenty of exercise, mental stimulation, and socialization to prevent these issues.

If you need to leave your dog alone for longer than usual, you could consider hiring a pet sitter or dog walker to come and check on your dog, or look into doggy daycare options. It's always best to err on the side of caution and prioritize your dog's well-being.

@opalescent I’ll be real life honest - we leave ours twice a week for a total day of 9 hours as we are both in work. On those days he gets 45 mins walk in the morning, an hour to 1.5 hour walk at lunch with my dad and then in summer we would take him back out in the evening for a stroll. At the moment we just play with him in the evening. He’s always been fine. 4 hours / 5 at the complete max is my limit with no one going in to see him.

Yesterday we left him for 7 hours for a day out (first time we’ve done that for over a year so this isn’t regular) again with walks before and half way through that time and frozen Kong. We very rarely leave him at weekends because we have to leave him in the week so would rather plan things he can do with us at weekends but sometimes family life means that’s not possible.

OK so if someone is coming into see the dog, walk it etc... during the time you are out, is it really leaving it on its own for any longer than 4 hours anyway? I would class that as being absolutely fine. Dogs don't need company all of the time (in fact some dogs can find it quite stressful).

I have 2 very active labs that need a lot of walking. But between those they basically sleep like the living dead and are quite happy not being interrupted (although equally happy having a cuddle). They are never left more than 4 hours without access to outside and/or a walk. But it isn't necessarily us that gives them that if we are at work all day. And even if we are wfh they also don't have us around all the time during the week as they take themselves off to sleep downstairs.

I'm intrigued to know what all these people who don't leave their dogs longer than 4 hours do at night? Do you go down every 4 hours like with a newborn?
We sometimes go to bed at 10pm, and don't get up until 7am.....

Probably up to about 6 hours but it’s a very rare occurrence and there’s usually someone home. All he does is sleep.

That's different though. The dog knows it's night time and just sleeps. Of course people don't get up in the middle of the night to see their dogs 🙄

Mine has separation anxiety so very short times alone at the moment.

My old lab used to sleep when he wasn't walking and he spent 7-8 hours a day alone while I worked. I gave up on lunch time visits and dog walkers as he wouldn't get out of his bed at lunchtime for anything or anybody

4 hours max. If we are out for longer we get a sitter to arrive just before we leave and stay until we get back.

At night, the dog is sleeping Inbetween my DH and I. We flap trained all ours over the past 25 years. Cats also use it. I have a friend who's dog was never left.... now it cannot be left at all,it's so neurotic.

4 hours but it has gone to 6 on the odd occasion (one of us held up sort of thing).

We genuinely never leave ours. She's a small breed and much loved by our friends who we socialise with most weekends, mostly in each others houses where she's always welcome!
She's also very at home in our local pub, so comes there too 😬

Dh is wfh and if he goes into the office my mum has the dog (which she loves!) She also has her if we go away, although generally holidays are dog friendly but if not she is always welcome at my parents.

I honestly can't imagine leaving her, we did try when she was younger but used to be so distressed when we got home. We've just got used to taking her everywhere we go and as she's so small it's easy really.

I really don't judge others who do leave their dogs, my friends dog is happy to be left and just sleeps when they're out!!

Ours are rarely left at home alone as there is usually one of us home and we do try to fit plans around leaving the dogs. For example, DD wants to go to London shopping/visit some galleries and museums, it's just over an hour on the train so that's roughly 2.5 hours (factoring in travelling to/from the station). DH and I both quite fancy going so the plan is we all go together but either I or DH will come back early so the dogs won't be alone for too long. Or if DD's bf has the day off work(he sometimes works Saturdays) they will travel ahead of us and we'll meet them later in the day. We don't like to leave them for more than 6/6.5 hours (and that would be rare day trips like the London one).

On a more regular basis we leave them for about 2 hours once a week / every other week to go shopping (I tend to get everything delivered but do venture into the town centre now and again). They have the run of the house but as I walk them just before leaving them alone they tend to just snooze until we get home.

I think in an emergency/travel delay they would be okay for up to 7/8 hours but I wouldn't plan to leave them that long. So when we go to London the plan is 6 hours but if there was a stream of cancelled trains or something and it was closer to 7/8 hours by the time we actually got home I wouldn't be panicking.

For my dogs as adults, it would be 4-6 hours usually for three days of the week. Probably 2-3 times a year it would be a longer day, maybe 8-10 hours, due to my work commitments. I didn’t like leaving him for so long, but sometimes we all have days that suck, dogs too.

Often leave mine for 6 hours but he's happy sleeping and chewing his treats and toys (we can see him on our camera).
He barely even bothers to greet us when we get home as he's happily playing.

@Floofydawg yeah, I know that really. It was in response to the 'it's cruel to leave your dog for longer without going to the toilet' brigade.
Ours sometimes has no inclination to get out of bed even after 12 hours slumber....