Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Flip

Original poster

Christmas help please!

11 replies

theresnoonequitelikegrandma · 22/12/2015 22:30

We've has our fabulous rescue dog - 6 year old border collie cross - for two weeks now and she is terrific. Totally house-trained (in fact, very rarely goes at all apart from on walks although she does sometimes 'ask' to go out when we're at home) and, apart from very submissive behaviour she is perfect and we can't imagine life without her.

Unfortunately, our eldest daughter is hosting Christmas this year and has flatly refused to allow us to take our dog with us, despite us suggesting leaving her in the car while we're eating or in her crate in the garden/summerhouse. We have now agreed to leaving the dog at home but DD does not seem to understand that we will not be able to stay all day as we will have to get back to feed the dog and take her out.

How long is reasonable to leave our lovely dog on her own for? She does spend a lot of her time sleeping/lying on her bed and we have left her for a couple of hours when we were out Christmas shopping without any trouble. We really want to stay as long as we can with the family but I don't want our lovely dog (or our house!) to suffer.

OP posts:

hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman · 22/12/2015 22:35

Has she been left at home alone at all while she's been with you? I wouldn't leave my collie any longer than 4 hours on her own but she is a typical collie who does not like her own company.

MyFriendsCallMeOh · 22/12/2015 22:40

However long you do leave her, make sure she has a stuffed kong or two and. / or other things to keep her busy. My dog has a ball with a hole in it, you put dry food in it and if she rolls it the right way, food falls out. Anything like this would help alleviate any boredom.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 22/12/2015 22:40

4 hours.

We have 2 labs, and very, very occasionally we've left them for 6, but she's very new to you and your house so I wouldnt leave her that long yet.

Costacoffeeplease · 22/12/2015 22:57

4 hours absolute max, so plan to be out for 3 and build in some extra time

Original poster

theresnoonequitelikegrandma · 23/12/2015 11:07

Thank you all! That's kind of the time I was thinking of (although needless to say, DD thinks 'it's hardly worth coming at all' if we can't stay longer!)

The dog spends most of her time in another room to us when we're at home, sleeping in her bed (her choice, the doors are always open) so we have left her for a couple of hours once or twice already without incident. I suppose I'm just a bit sad that we can't all spend the day together but that isn't going to happen.

OP posts:

ADishBestEatenCold · 23/12/2015 22:46

Would your daughter's Christmas plans be totally ruined if you didn't go?

If not, then I would cancel ... or, at the very most, go for a couple of hours either mid morning or mid afternoon, to join in with watching grandchildren open presents.

I think a dog that has only been in it's new home for a couple of weeks and who is thought to lack confidence ("very submissive behaviour") deserves to come first, for the time being at least,

orlakielyimnot · 23/12/2015 22:51

I agree with other posters about the 4 hours but i'd also feel sorry for the dog being left if it hasn't been yet. I take it your dd doesn't know about dogs or she'd understand. Is she very far? Could you take turns one of you staying at dd's while the other goes back to the dog for cuddles, toilet and a walk or whatnot?

orlakielyimnot · 23/12/2015 22:56

Also, re the submissive behaviour, we got ours as adults and were advised it could take up to a year for them to settle. They were on their best behaviour as they learned the rules of their new people and they relaxed by degrees over months and months. We'd get to a point where we hadn't seen any new behaviour for awhile and think that was it, these are our dogs' personalities, and then something new and lovely would appear in their character! At two weeks your pooch is still in the early days of working out how to be.

WeAllHaveWings · 24/12/2015 10:54

We are not going to a close family meal this year as our lab, for various reasons, cant go. Instead we are going to a small extended family meal where he is welcome, if they hadn't offered we'd stay at home.

Unfortunately sacrifices socialising/holidaying etc is part of the commitment of owning a dog. As you've only had the dog a couple of weeks and he still settling in I'd be tempted to not leave him at all, 3 hours, 4 would be the absolute max.

Original poster

theresnoonequitelikegrandma · 24/12/2015 20:11

Well, as we've cooked the turkey to take over tomorrow for Christmas lunch, not going really isn't an option!

However, it seems that Christmas miracles really can happen and my daughter has just decided that she'd rather have all of us for Christmas Day than restrict our time with the family!

A Merry Christmas for us all! x

OP posts:

mrslaughan · 24/12/2015 22:41

The caveat on this comment in I have had a couple of glasses of red wine(hic)..... Tell your daughter to pull her head out of her Arse......
She can't have it all ways, fine you can leave the dog at home, but that means an abbreviated visit...... She can turn off the emotional blackmail!
My goodness... Is she jealous of the dog?

Flip