Which do you do?

[Violetandpurple]

We have a 16 month old cockapoo
when children are at school and partner at work he gets walked, fed, garden time but not a huge amount of attention as I’m always doing house work etc (he is not ignored far from it)
partner works away - when he’s home dog is spoilt!
I say he needs more boundaries e.g. should be locked out if we’re eating,
should spend more time on his own in the kitchen even if we’re just sat watching tv
if he barks my partner goes straight to him and gives him what he wants..
a vet once told us that he should be fed, walked, loved but can be locked away for hours if the above has been done and he needs to be treated as a dog not a child

so I’m curious how many of you have your dog constantly with you, on the sofa of an evening, upstairs if you’re upstairs etc
& how many give them their basic needs then lock them away whilst you get stuff done etc

im unsure which is correct but feel he’s a little too spoilt and with a baby due next month I want to get him used to any changes etc now ..

he is a lovely boy, in general very well behaved & we all adore him just curious how everyone else ‘treats’ their dogs ..

Unless my dog is dirty, or we have to be out of the house, he is pretty much with me all the time -- except when he chooses to slip off to his bed. When he was younger (he is one year old now) I did make a point of getting to spend some time alone, just to be sure he could feel safe and settled when we had to go out, but now I'm more relaxed.

I think it is fair enough to want to shut your dog away from you in some circumstances -- eg when eating (if he is a bit too foody) or when you are doing something that he might significantly disrupt. But the the suggestion in the OP of this thread seems to be thatthe dog sould be shut away just because he isn't really welcome in the bosom of the family. That seems a bit sad and strange.

The only time our dog is alone is the odd occasion we are all out at the same time or if he gets up and comes downstairs on his own in the morning . I can’t see the point of putting the dog in another room for no good reason .

We have neighbours like this (not close as we’re both rural) They tie the dog outside in their garden on its own for hours, then grumble that it barks at, and chases, passing cars. I always have to bite my tongue from saying- well it’s got nothing else to do..

Dogs are sociable, pack creatures that ought to have company. What kind of weird vet would tell you to lock it in a room alone?? Yes a dog could survive with a bed, food and a walk, shoved away on its own, but it would be a pretty crap life for it. Why do people like this even get a dog?? I bet you won’t be shutting your baby in a room on its own for hours, will you!

Train your dog to go in it’s basket while you eat. Have a basket for it in the living room if it’s not allowed on the settee. Teach it to sleep in a basket wherever you want it to. But remember you chose to make yourselves it’s pack, so treat it well and give it company/a decent life. There’s a happy balance between shutting it away and having it under your feet and totally ruling the roost.

My dog has the run of the house during the day. He has two beds one in our bedroom and one in lounge. When we have our dinner he goes in his bed. At night he sleeps either in his bed in our bedroom or on our bed.

My dog is part of the family. They're almost always with us.

My dog doesn't leave my side it's what they do. He sits in his bed when we eat but if he mithered I would shut him out to be fair.
I've foubd having him with us but being incredibly strict (such as no one is allowed to feed him from the table etc) is more effective that shutting him out Anyway.

Your vet is batshit.

To be fair the vet may well have not said or meant that.
I always advise new puppy owners to make sure that the puppy can settle alone and is used to being left alone, for short periods to avoid separation anxiety. I qualify this by saying, for example shut him the other side of the door while you boil the kettle to make a cup of tea ( ie a finite short time )
The wrong end of the stick may have been grasped here.

As long as you teach good manners then this all sounds a little unkind and not necessary. My dogs know not to beg, so will just lie on the floor at mealtimes. I’m not sure why you would need to lock them in another room?
the vet sounds like a complete tit.
all I can wonder is is this thread a reverse?

Absolutely this.

Ours can't come upstairs but only because he's a large breed and our stairs are very steep. He only goes out of the room for 5 mins or so if he misbehaves but I can't imagine just locking him out of the family room for the sake of it.

We don't lock the dog away at mealtimes but she's trained to go into her basket when we sit down to eat. No need for locking away.

Mine is wherever I am!
When I'm at work she's with my ds2 (who works late shifts so home most of the day) or with my walker. In the evenings she's usually a few feet away..or on the sofa next to me. Bed time she usually mooches up to sleep on our floor or on the spare room bed.
I'd never ever shut her away from us... why would you? Dogs are social and bonded to us.
I haven't had a bath without her nose poking over to check I haven't gone down the plug hole since we got her nearly 3 years ago

Mine is never locked away! She’s with us 24/7.

She eats with us, sleeps with us, nights out with us (dog friendly places) and holidays with us! She’s walked 2-3 times a day and when we’re not out she’s either in the garden, snoozing wherever I am or following my husband & I around. I haven’t bathed, showered or peed alone for years 🤩

she’s an important member of our family so I’d never dream of leaving alone her unless it’s an emergency or an appointment and even then she goes to family members who spoil her and let her roam wherever

Locking a dog away for no particular reason is just weird.

DDog has the run of the house BUT not the room I work in. This is for legal reasons - a dog can't be in there due to the nature of the work. He can usually be found napping on my bed or sofa when I'm working though.

My 2 dogs are not allowed upstairs but have run of downstairs and large garden. They always go toy DH when he sits in his chair in the evening or up on sofa with DS stroking them. They have their baskets and often curl up and nap in those during the day. The only time I shut them in kitchen is if DGS's come as you can never be too careful with toddlers and dogs, and my dogs get a bit jealous when DGS's come. They go on holiday in with u as and never get excluded in evenings.

Intrigued at dog not allowed in same room as where you are working, @NotMyCircusNotMyCircus . Is he particularly intelligent and can read legal documents over your shoulder ?

We have a 13 month old lab who's been home with us since she was 12 weeks. Both DH and I WFH (only reason we decided we could have a dog, to be honest, though I appreciate everyone's situation is different).

In the early and so so long house training weeks, we would split the day, so she would either be in mine or DH's office, shut in with us (very lucky to have nice big rooms). We could then supervise properly, nip any chewing in the bud (forgive the pun), and quickly react to her needing to go out. Also some fuss and play, but she slept a lot.

She's now a very confident and independent brat pup and has had the run of the house for a while. However, we were always in agreement that she would be allowed on sofas and beds. During a normal working day, she will snooze and potter about, occasionally visit us for a fuss/play/treat. We no longer feel the need to shut her in anywhere, but she's not a chewer and is generally very chilled - not entirely our training, I think we've been v lucky with her temperament, to be fair.

If I pop into the garden to hang washing out, I will usually build in 5 minutes play time, tugging her rope toy or throwing a ball and DH does the same, so she is naturally getting a bit of attention as we go about our day. It's hard to explain, but we all just kind of putter along in between her 2 walks / park visits. She lies near us while we eat after being told 'no' to begging and will either lie near us or on her bed during the evening. At bedtime she sometimes stays downstairs but will often come and jump onto the bed.

Intrigued at dog not allowed in same room as where you are working,NotMyCircusNotMyCircus . Is he particularly intelligent and can read legal documents over your shoulder ?

Perhaps he works for a rival firm and can't be trusted with client details?

My dog is 14months old. Definitely a big part of our family.

Our lifestyle is a bit different in that my dh works away and we travels between three properties. It was important for me that he could adapt to change of surroundings without a problem and travel in a car. For such a young dog he's coped incredibly well, we've been doing this since he was a small puppy to get him used to it.

We spend a lot of time together and he is currently snoozing under my chair on our balcony. He likes being with us while we are home but I can leave him for a while now, I've slowly built it up so he knows we always come back.

I don't lock him away from us, he's allowed on the furniture and sleeps on my bed although he has his own bed upstairs and downstairs and I take one when we travel so he always has a spot of his own wherever he is.

When he was a very young puppy he was in a crate by my bed at night and during the day if he needed a timeout to calm down or his choice to sleep or if I went out and nobody else was here. It was a bigger crate in the daytime for him. Not used a crate since he was 6/7 months old.

I got my dog for company, to enjoy walks with, to spend time with even if that's just chilling out in front of the tv. I'd be lost without him and love finding new walks/parks/areas that we can explore together.

There are legal rules and regulations around my line of work but I'm not in the legal profession, and nor for that matter do I spend much time sat at a computer.

It's hygiene related.

My dog has the run of the house and (when weather permits, the garden) when we are home. The only times she is shut within a space is if we have the front door open (busy road out front) or overnight, when she is shut in the living room with dog bed, a crate (unlocked) and a water bowl.

She gets 2 walks a day and then periodic cuddles and fusses during the day. But we are mostly working Mon-Fri 9-5, so she snoozes, plays with her chew toys or sits in the window guarding us against the tyranny of the neighbourhood cats

It's not ideal from a stimulation POV but we try to give her long, stimulating walks (local woods etc with lots of smells.) So she's ready for a good sleep when she gets home.

Just reading the replies and I must admit I often have to put my dog in tbe kitchen when I do housework or watch tv in the evenings. It’s the only room she’ll settle in. If I sit in the living room with her in the evenings she’ll either bark, scratch my sofas or mouth me. Put her in the kitchen… she sleeps.

I still have to have eyes on her all the time so if I’m doing housework I need her in a room where she doesn’t destroy things (kitchen) so unfortunately I do have to ‘lock her away’. I’d much rather I didn’t.

i think with mine it’s mostly attention seeking behaviour.

My dog follows me everywhere and comes everywhere that I am allowed to take him, he sleeps in my bed, to me if he can't be treated like another member of the family, I shouldn't have him. Everyone needs to be told that they can and can't do things and what is except able behaviour, kids and dogs ect. But you wouldn't lock your kids up, you just teach them how to behave, 16months is very young like children they have to be taught how to behave. Locking away is no answer, saying no sit, stay ect when you are eating is teaching them, avoiding situations does not help. X

But she won't learn to settle in the living room if she's constantly being put elsewhere.

You can use a lead or training line on her in the living room so she can't get up, wander and mess about - it worked miracles on our beagle!