How Long is it Fair to Leave a Dog Alone?

[BaconAndAvocado]

Considering getting a dog but unsure of above question.

Does it depend on the breed/temperament?

Oh and we have two cats who are in and out the house all day who I like to think are company for her. Might be kidding myself but she does play with the cats.

Ours are left 3 hours maximum. With shift work and I'm part time plus older DC someone is always in or they are out with us. They even go to the pub with us more often than not

It depends on a lot of things, age temperament, what the dogs used to, frequency of being left, what you do at other times...

4 hours for us
Any longer and it's doggy daycare

I'm considering getting a dog and wondering about the practicalities. Back when I lived at home our dog was left every day from 9am-4pm and so were the dogs of a lot of my friends.
I work from home so no problem from that point of view but just wondering what people generally do when they go out for the evening maybe going out at 7pm and coming home at midnight, it never occurred to me that we would need to get a dog babysitter in the evening, is that a thing? Or would they be ok if they have had company and walks during the day? Don't some of you that work outside the home during the day also go out in the evenings?

We leave our dog alone for 3-5 hours most weekdays (shifts dependent). He is walked before we go out and has run of kitchen. On the days we happen to be at home during the morning (weekends, holidays) he sleeps anyway.

I think it does depend on the dog though, I've read lots of posters on here who cannot leave their dogs for more than 10 mins or so. We built up to leaving him when we first had as a puppy. We had him in summer hols and over 6 weeks built up from 2 weeks we were permanently around to 4 hours when we returned to school/ work in September.

One thing though is that he normally sleeps with DS so is not alone during day/ night and days we all go out in the evening are when we've been st home in the day.

This has been a huge eye opener!

Does this mean that people who work full-time shouldn't have a dog?

I work 2 full days a week.

You can't leave a dog alone and go to work full time.
Doggy daycare.
It also depends hugely on the breed, age, temperament and previous experience of the dog. My girl had separation anxiety and it was months before I could leave her. At all.

I have 3 dogs and tend to leave for a utter max of 6hrs on the odd (very incredibly odd) occasion. I like to leave them a max of 4 hrs, if it's 6hrs I have a dog walker come in for an hour or someone pops in to let out. But once or twice they have been left on their own for that time.

So would the question being if they each other's company would you tend to leave a little longer? (Asueming 4hrs Noramal and 6hrs okay if at a push)

Sorry joyful but unless you're watching them constantly through some kind of web cam you cannot possibly know how they are for the hours and hours that they are left at home. If they're happy the rest of the time it's probably because they're relieved you're home. I'm glad it works for you but you are most definitely in the minority and I wouldn't recommend it for anyone else.

Let's be realistic here. Just because a dog is left alone for some time in the week but is otherwise well cared for in every other respect does not mean they have an awful life. I am sure lots of dogs have homes where they aren't left alone at all but there is more to it than simply having someone in the house at all times. The guidance on 4 hours is a guidance which is why thousands of dogs aren't taken from their homes to be rehomed if you leave them longer. The guidance is there because you will always get someone who does the extreme when most of us are sensible.

In RL I am the only one to pay for daycare. He gets left for around 3-3.5 hours before daycare and 1-2 hours after. I could pay for him to never be left alone but I think that is just as unhealthy as leaving them 8-9 hours straight every day. Saying that the dogs I know that are left for various times in RL are all happy, healthy and have access to medical care at the drop of a hat so I think they have a good life and certainly do not view their life as cruel.

OP yes you can get a dog and work. Just be realistic on what breed and research options for dog walking or daycare (factor in cost as the latter can be expensive). My dog is still young and has been in daycare since 3 months old. I expect there will be a time when I drop down to just dog walkers coming in as he gets older and more lazy.

I'll be honest - this was the biggest shock to me when we got a puppy earlier in the year. It was definitely the biggest stressor for me - I felt completely housebound. I work from home, the dog is nearly 6 months. I ended up putting him in day care two days a week so that I could meet clients on those days.
It's taken us this length of time to feel comfortable leaving him alone for more than an hour or two.
As he's getting older he's maturing into quite a relaxed dog and I am (in the past 4 weeks or so) quite comfortable leaving him for a couple of hours as long as he's had a reasonable walk beforehand. He's almost always snoozing on the sofa when I get home which I reckon must mean he's comfortable.
I'm not sure that I could work full time and have a dog. They do need a lot more company than I had anticipated. Even now the first thing my dog does when he wakes up is come and find me, press his nose against me and then totter off to sleep again!

actually OP I do think that people who work FULLTIME - i.e. 5 days a week - should not have a dog if they will leave it on its own while they are at work.
There are far too many people who get a cute puppy without thinking through the next 12 to 15 years of having to make arrangements for the dog. This is not to say that leaving a dog for 8 hours a day is 'extreme' cruelty but it is very unkind to the dog.
I would not leave a dog for more than 4-5 hours at a time without making some arrangement for someone to take him out/give him company and break his day up.
Just IMO of course but I feel very strongly about people getting dogs for the wrong reasons and not treating them fairly.

I would assume that a large percentage of people who have dogs work full time, or nearly full time, otherwise there would be 'dog schools' being build to provide all the daycare needed and every other person you meet would work at a dog sitter/walker (where I work in London there seem to be more dogs/puppies than children!).

Realistically I would say that most owners leave their dogs for over 4 hours a day. I guess that's why a.ot of people prefer to buy a puppy from a breeder than adopt from say the RSPCA who are very strict on this (that's fine, it's their prerogative). My husband and I did just that, I wanted a rescue, but didn't fulfil the criterior, we just bought a puppy instead .... to be fair my husband always wanted a puppy, but I feel it makes no sense when you can offer a home to a rescue.
Our dog is left during the day, during the week, not everyday, but very often and he seems absolutely fine. When I work from home (about 50% of the time) he just sleeps all day.
We did look at local dog sitter, who ran a thriving business picking up dogs in their van and going for a long walk, then dropping them off. We worked out that our dog would be in the back of a windowless van for up to 2 hours as part of the service. No thanks! The dog sitter turned us down anyway because our dog personality wasn't suitable and we could find anyone locally we could rely on trust so we just left it.

I think it's fantastic all the people on this thread don't leave their dogs for very long, but I would say it's not representative of all dog owners.

I must admit I do sometimes wonder how people who can't leave their dogs for more than an hour or two manage. Mine are fine for 4 hours, very occasionally more. It's so routine to them they don't bat an eyelid.

I don't think I could have a dog who couldn't be left, from tiny puppies they are taught that sometimes we leave them and it becomes so normal they don't care. I often think lots of the separation issues stem from the fact some dogs are never taught this life skill.

My family used to leave dogs all day, I wouldnt ever do it now of course but lots of people still do on a regular basis.

I leave my 6yo rescue dog for 8 hours per day while I work. I work 4 days per week.
I was going to use doggy daycare but he's scared of other dogs so he would not be happy.
I then thought of a dog walker but he's not the easiest dog to work and will often flop down and require lifting which dog walkers won't do.
I have a pet cam with 2 way audio and can check in on him remotely. He is always fine and is always asleep on the sofa or stairs.
He only goes to the toilet once per day and this has never changed. He is walked before I go out and when I get home.
If he ever became distressed or his toileting needs changed then I would get a pet sitter to check in on him. I sometimes go home at dinnertime to check on him but I can't do that everyday.
3 of my colleagues leave their dogs home alone for up to 10 hours 5 days per week.

Another dog walker/day care provider here.

It really does depend on the dog. We keep some of the walking clients with us all day as otherwise they would cry. Others just pass out with exhaustion after their walk and seem perfectly happy.

Using a webcam to see what happens when dogs are home alone is a very good idea. Sometimes dogs turn out to be silently distressed - pacing about, gazing longingly at the front door, that sort of thing.

Our dogs are left for 8 hours a day 5X a week during term time. We have two and they love each other so they keep each other company and a dog walker walks them each day. They seem perfectly happy. They have been left since being small and it is just their routine now, they don't get anxious when we leave and never cause any damage.

On our 'worst days' it's 3 hours, I'm home for an hour at lunch, then another 3 hours. I have two dogs. This is prob around twice a week.

The other 2 days they are left about 4 hours in one block

The other 3 days they have someone full time.

The rest of the time are filled with dog days out, dog activities like full training days, days doing scent work, agility, long walks.

They are left in a comfortable, warm room, with background noise and some form of enrichment activity like a kong or nylabone. They are walked before and after being left.

I'm sorry, but these dogs have a great life. Thousands of dogs spend their lives in kennels, locked in the kitchen, get a walk round the block once a day. My dogs sleep all day as they've had walks filled with training, enrichment games and swimming.

I think you have to think carefully about what breed etc will suit your environment but both me and my partner work full time and make it work through working different hours and me going home at lunch time.

All of that said, leaving a dog 8 hours a day every day is cruelty, if for no other reason than that they will need to go to the toilet.

Dogs love company - i under estimated this. My dog would hate to be left for 4 hours every day, he loves people. Yes, I didn't know before I had my first one but dogs love company, don't get one if you work full time.

2 full time days may be manageable for an older dog with a dog walker at lunchtime but you can't leave a puppy that long without them making various messes.

Glad to see other people think that if one has to leave one's dog to do a day's work, it is (obviously depending on dog's age and temperament) not unkind or cruel. I do think the dogwalker halfway through the day is essential though - I wouldn't leave mine otherwise. Answer to previous query - if I go out in the evening (and I am a home-lover and older and it is only a few times a year), I arrange for someone to come in and walk the dog in the evening (relative/neighbour). My dogwalker is great - walks the dog alone or with one other dog that she knows will get on with her - sometimes takes dog to pub for lunch with her aged mum (dog LOVES this) - always gives the dog a full hour - usually an hour's walk but on pub lunch day, a slightly shorter one the company is the thing, really. My old girl got too old to want to walk far, so dogwalker would use up the rest of the hour grooming her, talking to her, sunbathing with her, etc.

Very interesting.....

A few of you have mentioned "considering the right breed" regarding time left at home alone.

What are the best breeds for this?

I think the key is to make sure you match the dog to your lifestyle. For example if you get a dog that needs lots of exercise and you struggle to fit in the physical and mental stimulation AND leave it alone for several hours then the chances are it will be vocal/destructive.

Breed is no guarantee. Our hound likes to be with us. Others are different.

5 year old lab. During the day no longer than 4 hours. In the evening she sleeps anyway so if we go out at 7pm and don't come back in until 1am she really wouldn't notice or be bothered. Only done that about twice though.