Leaving dog alone overnight

[fjalladis]

Hi I have a 10 month old lab and she is my world.
Unfortunately I am having to look at taking on a new job which will involve working 2-3 nights per week. I am now single so she is left alone in a crate & puppy pen complex (several puppy pens do a quite large space). With me popping home in my breaks to walk her and let her out for a wee. She has never been left for more than 4 hrs.

If I start nights I would be gone for about 12hrs but it would be time when she would normally be settled in her crate anyhow (as this is where she is overnight).
The other option would potentially be to take her with me and leave her in my car boot for couple of months if she doesn't settle (only when temps allow) I would be able to keep checking on her during the night and she would be in a locked secure car park so risk to her would be minimal.
What are people's thoughts?

go

I live in the arse end of nowhere far chance of any fireworks live 8 miles from nearest town!

So do I. I still wouldn't leave my dog on her own all night
Is there really no one you can ask
If nit. I'm nog sure why you started the thread either

OP, you clearly love your dog. But you can't leave her for so long. You need to think of another solution to make it work. Do you work in an office where she could have a bed under your desk, for example?

You CAN NOT leave a dog alone for 12 hours ffs.

Anything could happen.

Would you leave a baby for 12 hours alone? No? Why is it different? Both need care, food, attention and aren't capable of saving themselves in an emergency.

You know you can't do either of these things.
You have options:
Don't take job
negotiate flexibility in job
rehome dog
get dog sitter
take dog to friend or relative

We have a doggy daycare near us.Could you advertise for someone to have your dog on a sleepover and pay them?

Leaving a dog alone in a house is a million miles from leaving a child Ffs!!! How date you suggest that i am irresponsible!!!!
I have made my decision as to what I am going to do. So I am now going to leave this discussion. I won't be asking for suggestions on here again.

You asked for people's thoughts OP. If you didn't want them, you shouldn't have asked.

Please be considerate to your dog though.. She relies on you, she has no one else. She can't tell you what she wants or if she feels lonely when you aren't there. She can't turn on the TV or read a book of she's bored or scared or needs a distraction.

I hope you find a (good) solution.

Poor dog.

Thatbloodywoman you really are nasty arnt you.

And for what it's worth (not that I need to defend myself) I will be taking the shifts and have a very very good solution in place. That 'poor dog' probably now won't be left alone at all from now on as she is coming to work with me!

Glad there's been a good outcome, and your dog could be slotted into your plans.

So now you know never to ask MN an opinion again

For the record, I would definately keep a puppy in a cage at night or for any lengthy periods. This is when the pup can become destructive. Prevention is better than cure after all...

And I don't have any experience of dog sitters and certainly not any who sleep in your home?? Would anyone even want some random sleeping in their home overnight?? Weird!

OP I think of the 2 choices the first is best. Leaving your pup to sleep when she usually sleeps but without you there is the best option.

I would never consider putting a dog through the stress of rehoming purely as some nights you aren't at home to watch it sleep

Sounds like you actually care for your dog which a lot of posters here are getting confused about!

Glad you've found a solution. I live in USA and have been speaking to half a dozen dog sitters thanks to my dogs recent stressful stay in kennels. I am struggling to find a sitter who will stay overnight, most do 3 visits (and walks) a day. Normally early morning, lunchtime and evening is the norm. These are registered and bonded sitters who operate within association guidelines so it can't be that terrible to leave a dog overnight....

Gosh you really handled that well

Right so I know I'll be really unpopular. I leave my dogs alone for more than average long periods of time. I'm pretty sure neither Dogs Trust or RSPCA would rehome to me despite (oh the irony!) I've worked for both as a welfare consultant. The reasons why? I treat my dogs as individuals. Weirdly there are no hard and fast rules, only generalisations. Yes dogs are social animals but some dogs cope well with being alone. It's individual. My dogs (because of their background) are actually more stressed by coming to work, dog sitters etc. so are actually better off left home alone
Alternatively I have a good friend who can barely leave her dog alone for 20 minutes without him being distressed. I'd suggest that one size does not fit all. My current dogs would be much happier home alone than in a car. My previous dog would have preferred the car or a sitter. It depends on the dog. It's not black and white. Judging doesn't help.

I don't really think the belief that leaving a dog alone for long periods of time is unacceptable is one confined to MN tbh.

I don't know anyone who owns a dog and thinks thats ok.

But, it seems that sometimes that widely held belief becomes inconvenient.

I never said you were irresponsible but if you say you are going to leave an animal alone for hours be prepared for people not to like it. Dogs and babies a million miles away from each other? No, actually they aren't. I won't bother explaining the differences as clearly you know everything.

Wow - do you usually react so rudely when you don't get the answers you want to hear?

I do hope your dog is going to come to work with you and not be left in your car. If i worked with someone who did that i would report them in a heartbeat.

You could have considered doggy daycare. It isn't that expensive and would have been a good solution.

You asked, we told you. Enough said.

No, I'm sorry, this isn't acceptable.

I wouldn't regularly leave a dog alone for 12 hours, day or night. I home check for a rescue organisation and we wouldn't rehome to someone who worked out of the home on a regular basis for that length of time if the dog didn't have some other human companionship for at least part of the time. Add in the hours you need to sleep and the dog is being left alone without company, stimulation, exercise etc for far longer than is ideal. And being kept in the back of a car is completely unsuitable, especially for a big dog like a Lab. Far too physically restrictive, mentally stultifying and dangerous if temperatures fluctuate unexpectedly as they do in our climate.

Your pup will be entering the equivalent of her teenage years very shortly so needs even more mental stimulation and supervision to ensure she comes through it a well-balanced member of canine society. (I should add my speciality is retrievers - I've had two Labs, a Golden and a Lab X so I know what I'm talking about!)

I appreciate this is a difficult situation as your circumstances have changed since getting the dog, but you need to look at alternatives, ideally a pet sitter or dropping dog off with a friend or relative either while you're at work or while you're catching up on sleep (or both).

Sorry, iPad messed up paging and I missed your update. That's good news if your employers are being reasonable about your dog accompanying you to work - I wish more would see the benefits!