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?

Sky, you just have to try and plan ahead and make sure you have arrangements for the dog to be looked after.

If me and DH know we are going to be out for more than 3 or 4 hours we have a couple of friends and relatives that are happy to come and sit with our dog, play with him, let him in the garden, give him a walk. If no one is free to do that or we are going to be longer than say 6 hours he goes to someone who does doggy daycare during the day and dogsitting if he stays over night.

We usually have one weekend a month where we either go out for a full day or away with an overnight stay.

The only time he has been left for a longer time on his own is once when we went out and should have been about 3 hours but got delayed due to our car breaking down. Luckily one of our neighbours has a spare door key so we phoned her and she went in to check on our dog. We were gone something like 6 hours in total

My mum has 3 quite elderly dogs (aged 12 ish) and leaves them for about 5 hours sometimes, they are so old they mostly just sleep! She has a "dog flap" so they can get into the garden and leaves the radio on for them etc. When they were younger she wouldn't leave them more than 3 hours or would get a dog walker to go in. If she's going to be out for the whole day now I go and see them and give them a fuss. Although to be honest they hardly move off the sofa then (!) but I guess having a bit of action is interesting to them.

Ours is 'left' for at least 8 hours overnight as he sleeps downstairs.

My dog is 13 months old and when left it's mainly 1-2 hours, very occasionally 2.5 and maybe once every couple of months it is 3-3.5 but that is when I have to do stuff with the kids. We have a camera and I check in on her often. She's nearly always asleep. We've never seen her distressed, she's never ruined anything and has access to all downstairs and water.

This is where a rescue dog is often a better choice, ok you often miss the 'cute' puppy stage but they know the dogs and can help with personality. Ours is a mutt, but almost cat like in her independence! I explained that though there was usually someone at home we were a busy family and the rescue knew instantly the dog for us. And 18 months later, we know they made absolutely the right recommendation.
By choice she sleeps downstairs by herself on the sofa, occasionally comes up to the bedroom hallway at early morning. Most days she has someone, usually me around but she is fine to be left for about 3-4 hours. Only once was she left for 5 and that was an evening with a super long walk before hand. She'll happily hike for miles but is equally content on a mooching day with multiple short trips out or even rainy days (she hates the rain!) when she prefers to hardly walk and curl up at your feet or on the sofa.
Really recommend you think about rescues and talk through options with them specific to dog as opposed to breed.

We also have friends with dogs and we pet sit for each other if we are going to be away from home any longer than 4 hours or overnight .
Dog walkers / sitters are also worth researching

So, a genuine question...
What about bedtime? We just dog-sat for a friend for 3weeks whilst they were on hols. Doggy (2.5 yrs) never goes upstairs at his house & didn't even attempt it here. We went to bed between 9-10pm & were up anywhere between 5.30-7am.
Doggy slept downstairs by himself. Was good as gold, no accidents, no barking, no chewing or destruction. Perfectly happy doggy. But he was still by himself for a good 8 hrs during the night.
Was that ok? Is that normal? If not, what do others do at nighttime??

Bitey I will also look into a dog walker. Although I will admit the idea of giving a complete stranger access to my house doesn't fill me with confidence.

Night time I think is completely different. They are sleeping and they know you are near by.

SpiderCid yes that is the downside so vet them and go with your gut instinct. I trust my dog carer 100% but if you aren't happy then don't employ them and get them to show you their insurance and crb checks.

Night-time my dogs know I'm upstairs and if they need to go out they only have to let me know. I don't normally go to bed till 10.30-11pm and then I'm up early so they aren't really left that long either then. Our house is noisy and busy so the dogs get a lot of company and interaction which makes me feel not quite so guilty when I have to leave them.

Bitey I know theres a woman by me who fosters dogs. I bump into her now and then on walks. Next time I see her I will ask her if there's anyone she recommends.

Overnight is different as the dog is not actually alone in the house. Me and DH don't go to bed until 12pm at the earliest and are up by 6.30/7am.

Occasionally our dog needs the garden in the night so he will cry or tap at the back door. I am a light sleeper so will always hear him.

At night time our girl is never left alone in the house (if we are out she is with one of our friends or daughter) We got to bed about 11'ish and she comes up with us. She has a bed in our room which works well for us

Overnight is not the same. An adult dog should be sleeping at night and shouldn't need to go out to wee etc.
wolfie girl went to bed about 10:30 last night. I went in this morning to wake her (busy day yesterday) about 8!
During the day she will be more active and want company. I wouldn't leave her more than 4 ish hours. And I don't mean she would be ok with being left for 4 hours. Quick walk then leave another 4. I mean 4 in total.

I have recently been off work for six months with health problems and in that time have got 2 springer pups.

I am going back to work next week and and have been slowly building up their time alone.

My partner works nights and gets home at 6.30 and will take them for a walk, he goes to bed just after 9pm. He is normally awake for an hour or so early afternoon and I will be home at 3. They will then have another walk.

I'm home all evening, Mondays are cubs so I take dogs with me and walk them while DD is there for an hour. Friday is gymnastics for an hour and I walk them beforehand.

They are left for a max of 4 hrs. That is enough and I wouldn't leave them any longer. Fortunately they are such an active breed that they are shattered after their walks!

9am not pm!!

Our 8yo German Shepherd can't stand being left alone, we know, and as soon as he hears the clink of keys he's running to the door to make sure he isn't left behind. DH and I both work from home, and DCs are getting old enough to be left home for short periods, so there really is just about every minute of the day SOMEONE around to keep him company. I can't say we've NEVER left him for more than 4 hours, but (a) it's pretty rare; (b) it's never been much longer than that; and (c) it's only happened when completely unavoidable. We always make sure he has a long walk before we go out.

We try to take him with us in the car whenever we go out, and the only reasons we would leave him behind are: the outing being completely unsuitable for any dog; the close proximity of other dogs (like going to DH's sister's, where she has two - pubs are not the same); or the outside temperature making it unsafe for him to be left in the car. If at all possible he would far prefer to be left in the car for a little while than by himself in the house - I think he feels more confident we will return to the car than to the house, for some reason.

Getting a dogsitter/dogwalker wouldn't really work for us, because he isn't great with strangers entering the property and he isn't great with other dogs. Once we did go away to the US for Christmas, and we got a house sitter who looked after him, which worked out fine, but he had gotten to know her before we left and was used to her. He had had a bad experience in a kennel, which my DH had to put him in at the last minute when his mother became ill and couldn't look after him when we had to go away, and DH vowed he would never again go into a kennel.

A dog really is a tie - it really isn't something that can be undertaken without very careful consideration being given to how he/she is going to be looked after when you aren't there.

One thing I have experienced is this...

I kept 2 dogs together. Fine to be left. 1 dog was pts (old) and other dog ok but we felt guilty. Got a dog walker for him. It wasn't good.

He is reactive and basically it didn't really work. He was unhappy and stressed. We tried another walker which was ok, but ultimately we rescued a 2nd dog and I cut my hours back.

Now both are left 3 x 5 hrs max per week.

They are both reactive towards other dogs so we are very careful about walking them - time, location etc.

We have done training, canicrossing etc and they're really relaxed home alone.

I just want to put this out there that for our dogs external help didn't and wouldn't work.

The hours being reduced was kind of due to dogs and I'm lucky I could do that though. They have kongs/chews but basically do not show signs of separation anxiety. We monitor it closely!

Should probably add all dogs are/we're adults. Not puppies.

I always find these threads quite baffling as most people responding never seem to leave their dogs for any more than 3-4 hours at a time. Yet, most people I know who have dogs work full-time. So either, only people who don't work, or work part-time, respond to these types of threads or a lot of people aren't entirely honest about how long their dogs are left alone for.

Jenny I only know 2 people who work full time and have dogs. One has a retired mother who spends most of the day with the dogs. The other works shifts, as does her partner, and between them the dogs don't get left much, there is the odd occasion that their shifts mean they will both be out of the house for 5-6hrs - on those occasions their (adult) daughter pops in to spend an hour or two in the house with them and/or walk them. But then I don't tend to associate with people who don't bother meeting their animals basic welfare needs.

There have been quite a few people on this thread who work full time but have various arrangements to ensure that their dog's basic welfare needs are met. So it seems rather ridiculous to come on here saying that people are either dishonest or only those who don't work comment. The simple fact is most people meet their animal's basic welfare needs and wouldn't be able to live with failing to meet those very basic welfare needs. That is why dog ownership is decreasing, whilst cat ownership is increasing.

i work full time from home so i'm there all the time, i meet lots of people with dogs in the park, can't think of anybody i know that has a dog and works ft out the house. I know plenty of families with small kids who've said no to dog ownership on the basis that they both work FT out the house though, and that's sensible.

When people say that they leave their dog for 8 hours per day the reality is the dogs have no stimulation or company for 16 hours per day assuming the owner then comes home and sleeps for around 8 hours each night. The poor dog has been left 8 hours all day where "they are fine as they just sleep" and then the dog is expected to sleep again when the owner sleeps. That's just 8 hours out of each day, every day, when the poor dog has company/stimulation.

I leave my 2 at half five in the morning and get back t half 12 mid day 4 days a week....my hubby is home till 8 in the morning ....so they are left fir about 4 and half hours. I then take them over to local Resevoir for 2 hours where they swim and run around I think that's okay. When I wasn't working they slept upstiairs on the bed fir the first few hours of the day unless I was hoovering or doing housework they are both 4 years old.