Is this allowed?

[diabolo]

Some people in my village have a Spaniel very similar to mine, I see the owner walking it most mornings.

This week, another dog-walker I know has been walking this Spaniel, so during one of our brief chats, I asked him how come he was walking it.

He told me the owners have gone on holiday for 2 weeks, that they didn't want to put the dog in kennels, so have left it in their house, alone, for 2 weeks and asked him if he would go around to walk it each morning and evening.

I was . Poor thing. Locked in a house, alone for 23 hours a day. I feel guilty even leaving mine for the 4 or 5 hours I work each day.

I have never come across people doing this before. Even if it is legal it is totally wrong, wrong wrong!

Of course it's allowed. Whether it's kind or not is a different matter.
Where I live lots of people travel for work and pay for someone to visit their home and take the dog out a couple of times a day.

Also, some people think it's kinder to leave them in a place that they know. Dogs can settle and sleep for long times.
I don't do this. I leave mine with a family that spoils him rotten. They give him his own sofa and feed him all kinds of crap. He waddles out to see me when I get back.

No, I don't do it either, our village has a kennel business with 25+ year experience and a great reputation which my dog loves going to and throws himself into the owners arms when he sees her, so I don't understand why these people have chosen to leave their dog alone for so long instead.

We don't have family who can help, so if the kennels were fully booked, I simply wouldn't go on holiday at that particular time.

Clearly other people think differently to me. Thanks for your thoughts Look.

I would hate to do that to my dog personally. :(

My dog would be a crying wreck if I did that to him :(

Well, I think it depends on the dog. I wouldn't want to leave one dog on their own for all that time, but depending on the dog it might be the best thing for them.

My main worries would be what might happen in the even of a fire I suppose and also the dog getting enough stimulation/company.

I think leaving the dog in the home is probably a better solution for a lot of dogs than kennels, providing they get plenty of walks (more than an hour a day) and human contact/ball throwing/playing/training for part of the day too.

Personally, I wouldn't be able to stop worrying, but there are pet sitters for this kind of thing.

Just to add, I think sometimes people underestimate what a stressfull environment kennels can be for a dog.

There are dogs that only need to do their business twice a day?

Wow.

[Maybe it is a small dog with a dog flap living in a crime free area...]

I agree with what midori said about what a stressful environment kennels can be for a dog.

My brother does this, leaves his dog at home and has a woman come and walk him. He is a rescue and frightened of other dogs, was a wreck when they tried putting him in kennels before.

OK it's not ideal, but for this dog it's a better option than kennels. My brother normally works from home, so dog has lots of company most of the time.

That is a good point.

I appreciate that kennels don't suit all dogs.

I have no reason to believe this particular dog is nervous of other dogs, it certainly doesn't act scared of other dogs during walks and is just as silly and madly sociable with people as my own spaniel. Even more so perhaps as it is still a very young dog that the owners got as a pup, so it's not a rescue dog either.

I still firmly believe it is very wrong to leave a dog alone in a house for 2 weeks, for 23 hours out of every 24, through choice.