Am I mistreating my dog

[Pennies]

I have a labrador bitch who is 7 months old.

I work 3 days a week from 12 - 4.30pm during which time she is generally crated, with a supply of chewy toys / a bone + water. She has a 30min walk every morning, as well as lots of time to run around in our garden and when I come home at 4pm she is let out into the garden and sometimes has another walk. We have quite a big garden so she can race around a bit if she wants to.

On Wednesdays I work from 8pm - 4pm. She is let out for a run in the garden from 6am - 8am, a dog walker then turns up at about noon and takes her for about an hour's walk. My cleaner also turns up in the afternoon and lets her out. She is allowed to run around the garden / house when I get back from home.

On Thursdays I work from 8am - 4.30pm. The dog is out from 6-8am, then crated from 8 am until about noon at which point the dog walker takes her out for an hour again. My cleaner then comes again in the afternoon and lets her out for a couple of hours. She's allowed free reign of house and garden for the rest of the day.

The cleaner thinks that the dog is locked up for too long and I am therefore mistreating her. This is my first dog. Is she correct?

Hmm, well I think the dog needs more walks for sure. Running around the garden won't help socialise or train her. I don't think the crating is ideal and I presume it's just the days you work but it's not abuse, not by a long shot.
I work in a vets and half the staff, including the surgeons, crate their dogs all day bar a lunchtime walk. However, they are older dogs. I really think it sounds like your dog needs more stimulation or she will continue to be destructive.

I wouldn't crate/cage a dog. But I know people do.

But please don't leave the radio on, she doesn't care one way or the other and it's a fire risk!

Op, if you can filter out the shock/surprise on here there's actually some helpful stuff.

Dog share
Extended baby gates
Extra walks - eg morning
Better toys
Playtime
Daycare for dogs
Outside shelter

Some or more of these might help.

One of my colleagues has a lab puppy, about 6 months old and he is crated for about the same amount of time as yours. I have a 10 month old puppy and she is only crated while we are in bed. I think my colleagues puppy spends too long in his crate, and like yours it's a big one, but he seems a happy dog. She is an experienced dog owner, her last lab died aged 13 just a couple of weeks ago.
Another colleague has a 2 yr old lab and she goes to doggy day care from 8-6 on the days that my colleague works. It costs a few more pounds than a dog walker. I think the dog walker was £12.00 for an hours walk the day care is £17.00 for the day, which the dog loves.

This crating is a new practice that we never had in the UK before and is yet another mad import from the US. No dog would be more happy stuck in a cage than having the run of the house when its owners are out. It's all about convenience for the owner (and clever insidious marketing) and not about the well being of the dog. Our dog views his bed in a quiet corner as his safe haven..

This crating has been around for years, I've had dogs all my life and we've always crate trained them, emphasis on trained.

The new thing is places like PAH and all the other one stop nothing fits pet supermarkets sell them like they do their animals, with zero information, support or explanation. Then they can be abused.

I don't think you are mistreating your dog. It sounds as though she is never in the crate for more than around 4 hours. At the age she is, I wouldn't be leaving her free reign of the house and certainly not leaving outside, for her own safety. If she just sleeps in the crate and it doesn't stress her out, then she probably sees that time as a time to sleep. If she doesn't seem happy in the crate then I would look into that.

Being realistic, you can't quit your job to spend all day at home with the dog. For the people ridiculing you, I wouldn't worry about them, they have a screen to hide behind that makes it okay to look down on other people and say horrible things to make you feel bad, I suppose that must make them feel better.

If the only reason you are crating is for convenience, not for the dog's safety, I would look into that too. There must be a way to figure out the cat litter etc, putting it out of reach or something. At the age she is, she's still a puppy and will chew things, she will grow out of it as long as she is watched and offered alternatives if she tries to chew something she shouldn't be.

Seems like far too long. Doggy day care sounds like a good option to me.

My dog has the run of the house during the day, but tends to spend the day sprawled across my bed