Question for dog owners who work full time

[Pennies]

What do you do with your dog whilst you're at work?

i have a labrador who is now 6 months old. She is still in her cage but getting too big for it. Once she grows out of it she will be in the utility room but she's still chewing like mad and I am worried she'll trash the room which is quite a new room.

Anyhoo. I will be chaining my hours soon to full time, 2 x days per week, part time on the other three. I am wondering how to manage doggy daycare.

My garden is enclosed but she because we have loads of deliveries etc I'm not confident about people closing the gate so i'm not sure how secure she will be if I got a kennel and left her in the garden.

I don't have room for a large dog run.

We paid for a dog sitter when we both worked full time. Its not fair on dogs to leave them alone all day as they are sociable pets and crave human company.

Doggy daycare here costs £23 and includes pick up and drop off. I think that's expensive, we are only in Lancashire, but he has a great time and she looks after him brilliantly so it's worth it. (He doesn't go often)

I think those prices seem reasonable, I am sure our local dog creche is more

Here it's £22 to take/collect yourself. Alternatively I know a local lady who does dog sitting at her home and it's £20.

I think for a 6mo old I'd look into daycare as realistically she can only be walked for 30mins (5mins per month of age) and that is not much to break up a 9-10hr day. Even if you work 8hrs you've still got to add on travelling there and back. Plus it means her toilet training/socialisation will be improved and her chewing/stimulation needs will be met and you are less likely to come home to chewed skirting boards etc.

Just out of interest, I looked up the price of our local one and its £18 pd or £10 for half with long walks £5 on top
Which the, I think is reasonable

Ours is £15 for 5 hours or £20 for the whole day. It's on a farm and they do long farm walks, agility, grooming, treasure hunts, all sorts, it's fab.

Thankyou to those who answered my question (and sorry for hijacking the thread - I am researching before we get a dog)

We work full time.
Dogs go for a walk about 7am and are then left about 8.45
Dog walker comes in at half 10 and takes them for an hours walk (1 hour walking, so usually out for at least an hour and a half).
We take it in turns to go home for lunch, and we would be at home for about 40 mins between 1 and 2.
DH is then home about 4.30
Dogs go for another, longer walk.

ShadowDog is 14 months old. She only stopped chewing things at about 11 months, despite our best attempts. We kept her in a (massive) cage pen thing until recently while we were out until she became trustworthy.

Our dog walker is £11 per day, but that is for both dogs. We don't have a doggy daycare local to us.

Another plus to doggie daycare is that you don't have to walk them the day they go there. It's another hour or two in the day that you don't have to find.....