Is this okay? Worried dog mum!

[BeTrue]

Just a note beforehand, the following is a completely one off situation and is not and never will be a regular occurance.

My partner, his children and I made plans for tomorrow, which I completely forgot about so hadn't sorted any prior care for the dog (usually a member of my family would have him but this isn't an option tomorrow) and it means he would be left for approx 2 hours tomorrow evening, he will also be left from 9am-12pm, with a walk first thing in the morning and again at lunch, then left from 1pm-5pm with another walk when I'm back from work. Our plans are made so we will need to leave the house at 7pm and be back just after 9pm. My partner usually works from home so he is very rarely left but it's happened that everything has fallen on this one day!

Is this okay for a one off or should I let him and the kids go and me stay home?

TIA

Posted too soon!

More than 'I wouldn't do it he's alone for 9 hours' when all of the other posters have a different opinion.

You may have been able to offer some guidance on what you would do to see if I could compromise with work and finish early or you could have advised how long you would leave your dog for? But I see I'm not going to get any of this from you, so once again I thank you for your opinion.

I was told to try not to leave ddog on her own for more than 4 hours. Yours will be fine. Don't worry.

I'm home with my dog, all day, everyday.
She sleeps, all day, everyday.
I coaxed her up to the top of the garden today whilst I picked some apples and she just leaned sitting on one bum cheek against the shed, blinked in the sunshine, yawned a couple of times, then sloped off back to the house.

He'll be fine, it's a one off.

Well you didn’t ask, just said it wasn’t 9 solid hours

Anyway, you’ve had lots of empathy so yeah it’ll be fine

I know I would fret about it more than my dogs would! I know this because ever since they were tiny (they are now 5 years old) they have slept for England.
They sleep on my bed, and despite me being in the house all day they quite regularly don't even come downstairs until lunch-time.
The record is 4.30pm.......
I have a webcam when I am out and it shows them doing what they do when I am in the house; sleeping. They are very active when they ARE awake (terriers!) but they love their sleep.
I wish I had their bladder capacity.
OP you sound like a very caring owner and as a one off I don't think your dog will even notice.
My dogs prefer Classic FM.

He's a cocker spaniel so quite an active breed. But as I said before he is exercised regularly and is a very relaxed lad I'm asking because it has really never happened before and I feel awful about it, he's as much a part of the family as all of us!

If you want advice on how long to leave a dog alone, the recommendation is not more than 4 hours per day in total, not per session, per day

Just another question for all of you lovely lovely people!

I've often thought about getting a webcam for him, could you let me know where you got yours from?

As I said my partner works from home regularly and tells me he just sleeps next to him while he's working but the times he is on his own I am so curious as to what he gets up to

Thank you, @Costacoffeeplease

I do value every opinion on here.

If he is ok being left normally then I think that would be fine. I could do that with my dog without any problems at all. As long as he had a chance to go into the garden for the toilet every 3/4 hours there would be no worries.

My husband however has a husky and we are careful never to leave him twice in the day unless we are home for a long spell in between. i.e. we could go out in the morning, be at home/take him out for the afternoon and then go out for a couple of hours in the evening.

But if we were to go out for half an hour, come home for an hour and then go out again, even for 10 minutes all hell would break loose!

Your dog will be fine. I never like leaving mine without a loo break every few hours, but it sounds as though you've got that covered ( ie you're in and out) . Mine tends to sleep when we're not around. And I always think that they don't really have much concept of time, mine is as excited to see me after two minutes as she is after two hours! Go and enjoy yourself and don't worry :)

Nobody can tell you it would be ok as nobody on here knows your dog. Mine would freak. Like eat her own feet off (literally) freak.
If your dog is regularly left for quite long periods and doesn’t mind people coming and going then it could well be ok.
Mine would start on her feet and then eat the house.

It longer than I’d leave my dog for, but ours is very rarely left alone due to work schedules and a very busy household. You know your dog so you’ll know better than anyone how they’d cope?
I think if it were me I’d make sure really long walks and a good run around to tire them out before you go and a big fuss when you get back each times plus kong treats radio etc. It sounds like you’ve got a good handle on things so if it’s a one off I wouldn’t get too worried.

I wouldn't worry about it. I rehired a dog from a couple who left it alone for 12 hours at a time, then wondered why she was ripping up carpets etc. The poor thing now suffers from separation anxiety.
As yours is a one off it should be fine.

I mean rehomed of course!

If you make sure that the walks are decent walks and he's tired it will make him calmer and happier to be left. I'm sure he will be fine, although he

(I think it's easier to leave a group of dogs as they interact together and play, so some people's experiences of leaving multiple dogs won't always apply. My dad lives next door to us and sometimes hears my dogs playing through the wall).

Regularly that would be pretty shit for him, but as a one off... assuming he’s fine being left and none of those timings will mean he’s bursting for the toilet, he’ll be fine. Worst case he’ll be a bit bored, but it’s only for one day, so...

Wow, I wouldn’t even think twice about doing this!

What the hell do people who work full time do? Never go out in the evenings? Spend a fortune on dog walkers?

We live in Korea and people think I’m crazy for going home for my dog every five hours. People leave their dog for 12 hours or more here. Not saying the latter is good obviously but unless it is a puppy or has separation anxiety, of course it will be fine being alone for nine hours for one day, especially since it’s broken up.

I know they prefer not to be alone, but my dog spends most of the time I’m home sleeping anyway!

Costa where is the recommendation not to leave a dog for more than four hours a day? I’ve never seen that, and been told by various trainers and vets that as long as the dog is happy, then coming back every five to six hours is enough.

Considering most people work full time, I don’t even see how that’s possible.

“where is the recommendation not to leave a dog for more than four hours a day?”

Every welfare organisation recommends no longer than 4 hours for an adult dog, the BVA, RSPCA, kennel club...

I’ve seen 4 hours at a stretch, not 4 hours a day quoted often. Do you have a link?

Is this based on actual research? Or is it based on them thinking that if they say 8 hours, then people will push that to 9 or 10? Whereas if they say 4, people will think, well 5 or 6 is ok too?

PDSA website says four hours (doesn’t specify a day or at a time), BVA says ‘long enough that the dog becomes distressed’, which is pretty ambiguous since dogs show distress in different ways.

I leave my dog for five hours a day and often go out again in the evening. It seems fine to me, he’s never upset or anxious, doesn’t destroy stuff but willing to change if it seems it’s bad for him.

“It seems fine to me, he’s never upset or anxious, doesn’t destroy stuff but willing to change if it seems it’s bad for him.”

IMO for what it’s worth - 5 hours isn’t awful, but it’s not ideal and tbh yes if mine is being left through the day (he often isn’t) then I do take that into consideration when I’m making evening plans.

As for most people working full time, well, I’ve had periods of a couple of years with no dog because my situation wasn’t right to take on a dog at that point.

But what is this based on tabula? The BVA says ‘as long as the dog isn’t distressed’.

I agree totally that longer than five or so hours at a time isn’t great because of bathroom breaks, but if I was never going to leave him more than five hours total, it would mean never ever doing anything in the evenings including shopping, exercising etc.

I waited 15+ years to get a dog, but I have him now so should I bring him back to the shelter if I can’t be there 20 hours a day?

“so should I bring him back to the shelter if I can’t be there 20 hours a day?”

Pretty sure I didn’t say anything that extreme...