How long do you leave your dog for regularly?

[abearcalledpaddington]

I have posted before about my puppy, she is 9 months and a black lab.

I am home full time with the kids and i take her for two 30-45 mins walks a day.She runs about with the kids a lot (they are home schooled so here a lot) and i do a bit of training here and there and play fetch etc a couple of times a day.

We go out 3 or 4 times a week to home ed social groups or just to parks/nature reserves for around 3 hours.She always seems pleased to see us and i assumed everything was ok, but my neighbors told me yesterday that every time i go out she barks non stop and then howls like she is distressed. They said they didn't really mind (their dogs are constantly yapping!) so that isn't the issue, but i feel so sorry for her, i had no idea!

Have i been leaving her too much?I thought the amount of time i had been leaving her was a reasonable amount, i can spend more time at home or find places where she can come with us if this is the case.

I always leave the radio on and toys about, food and water, and we have a sort of cat flap that she easily fits through so she goes into the garden.

I needed to go shopping yesterday and i was too scared to leave her in case she got upset so i left her with my friend who she knows really well, and my friend said she seemed scared and wouldn't let her stroke her or anything.She is fine with her at my house and when i am there. Could it be an age thing? or am i leaving her too much?

I don't think you are leaving her too much at all. where does she sleep at night? it would be separation anxiety.

meant to say *could be separation anxiety

At about that age we could leave our dog for about 2-3 hours but I left him regularly for short periods from when we got him and built this up; I settled him in his crate with a small treat and he would just go to sleep, now he is 3 and left for 5 hours regularly because I work; he just sleeps.
Can you try building up leaving her 10 mins at a time?

Well 3 hours is not too long to leave a dog as long as it's happy to be left

It sounds like your dog has classic separation anxiety so you will need to work up to leaving her gradually

Look up kikopup "happy alone" and see if that helps

She is happy to sleep downstairs on her own at night. I havnt used a crate, although i have stairgates so she only has access to the living room during the night. During the day when i leave her she can access the hall, kitchen and living room,plus the garden through the doggie door.

Yes maybe try building it up again, although i sort of did that when she was smaller. I dont know if she has only just started doing it recently or if shes always done it, i would have thought they would have said something sooner if she had been doing it for 7 months though!

Mine gets left for 5 hours a day 4 days a week. (Awaits the flaming) he sleeps all day long as far as I am aware. He has access to the kitchen hallway and stairs has bones water food and toys.

I filmed my pup when I left him in the kitchen for fifteen minutes for the school run. I left my phone propped in a mug and set it to record. I left him with a kong which kept him busy for a few minutes. Once he finished that he yapped, barked, howled, cried, jumped repeatedly at the gate, pulled all my tea towels and cushions down and generally behaved awfully.

Next morning I shut him in his crate. Again, left the phone filming. He finished his kong, curled up and went to sleep. I put it down to him associating being shut in with bedtime and being settled. I thought it would be nicer for him to have the run of the kitchen but he seemed to prefer the crate. Now I leave him for a couple of hours. I haven't filmed him for that long, but he's not destroyed his bedding yet so hopefully he's ok.

I'm at home with Eric so he's mostly not left because he tends to come with me wherever I go but probably a couple of times a week he's left for up to three hours. He has the run of the downstairs and technically the upstairs because he jumps the gate when he wants but we've never found any evidence he's gone upstairs whilst alone. I always walk him well before I leave him and leave him water and a biscuit and he sleeps most of the time in fact quite often I wake him when I come back. I have on occasion left him for four hours and he was fine then too but that would be the limit as to what I would feel happy leaving him tbh.