What’s your dog routine if you work?

[Wupity]

would anyone mind sharing how they manage a working day out the house? I am currently a sahm but thinking about going back to work. Dog is quite energetic breed so need to consider her care

My partner takes him out first thing about 6am for 20 min. Then i take him out at 9am for 10/15 min, then same again at 2.30pm. Partner takes him out for 20/30 min about 7.30/8pm. Then hes out in the garden incase he needs to do anything about 10.30pm. Hes getting old now and even these walks are getting a bit much for him but when he was a pup each of these walks would be 40ish min.

Forgot to add partner works 7am-7pm and i work 10am-2pm

On my office days I take him out for walk at 6.30am, MIL comes in and sits with him for an hour / lets him out. DH walks him when he gets in at 5. He is old and doesn't need much in terms of exercise now.

The two days each week we both need to be in the office we use doggy day care.

Other days there is usually someone home most of the time. We walk for an hour 7-8am then she happily mooches around until second 30-40 minute walk around 6pm.

I work 20 hours & have a 3 year old springer. Different shifts though so he's not in a set routine.
6 am- 20/30 mins round the block
Then if I'm working in the morning he's fine 8-1 snoozing on the sofa. I get home & take him out for 1/2 hours off lead galloping round.
Then just mooch round the garden.
Working afternoons then it's big walk in the morning then leave him.
Once a week I do all day & have a lovely dog Walker that does at least an hour off lead & by the time she's picked them up/ showered after he's actually out the house 2/3 hours & will sleep the rest of the day.
Sometimes gets a later potter round the block but never asks for it so I don't make it a habit.
I've always worked though since he was tiny so he's used to it, & anytime I check on the camera he's upside down on the sofa, when I leave he gets a stuffed kong or a chew

Mine is v energetic. I put him in daycare on monday for 9 hours then tues he gets an hour walk before i go to work, i leave c830 then dog walker 1 hour at 1230 then i take him again when i get back at 4ish. Can push that 3rd walk later as it gets lighter.
I WFH wed, thur, fri

Oh my partners generally working 6-6 so doesn't help much 😂 my son comes back in at 3.15 though & will let him out for a wee & keep him company until I'm home

Out by 7am for a 50min walk with lots of ball chasing.
Second walk around 2pm, also about 50mins-1 hr. I take a late lunch for this (wfh).
Two days per week I have a dog walker, and I tend to go into the office on these days for a bit.

Ours comes to work with us. We are very lucky in that respect, my partner is the manager and the dog is the most popular ‘employee’ in the building. He has his own chair tucked behind mine and sleeps most of the day (when people aren’t sneaking him a share of their lunch!).

Me - Tues -Fri 7-9 in the work place closeby

DH - Mon-Fri 9- 5 from an outbuilding

I leave DH walks dogs, DH first break 11-11.30. my lunchbreak 12- 1. DH second break 3-3.30 then home at 5.

They are never alone for more than 2 hours. It works for us.

I'm lucky that I can take mine to work with me. So he gets a walk before work usually 30-60 mins. A walk at lunch 30ish mins (or more often than not he plays with the staff or other staff dogs) and then a 30-60 min walk at night. All walks are off lead too so he's running around. I still use parents and daycare on the odd days too though.

When I couldn't take him to work we used doggy daycare and retired parents helped out. Daycare we used a mix of full and part days. Worked really well for us and daycare days tired him out so no walks needed. We did look at dog walkers but felt it was unfair as he would be alone for 11 hours some days and a dog walker would only be for an hour.

He's a high energy terrier breed and his activity monitor shows he does 6+miles daily without it he's a terror.

Mine is a small sedentary type so different to yours in terms of needs.

She gets walked once a day. If I'm WFH I do it, if not a dog walker comes and takes her out with a gang of other dogs which she LOVES. She's not fussy about when she goes out, so sometimes I take her before work and sometimes at lunch time. She likes being out in the garden as we back on to fields so there's lots of rabbits that come in and foxes etc so she does a bit of a patrol sniffing out their tracks she gets let out multiple times a day. Other than that, she sleeps on the sofa dreaming of bunnies!!

We couldn't manage without my in laws. We go to work at 9, usually the dog is still in bed at that point (she lets us know if she needs to go out earlier) and they pick her up about 10 and hang on to her till usually 5. She goes out for 2 long walks with them and we get handed back an exhausted dog for the evening.

On days when they can't then her routine would be we'd get her out for a quick wee and poo before work. Come home at lunchtime and get a 20 minute walk in and then at 5 get home for a decent walk. This is very rare though.

She's 4 and fairly chilled.

When she was a puppy I was surprised by how long it was before we could leave her for any length of time. Probably not till she was 6 months.

I usually give mine a good walk / run at around 6am. I leave for work 7:30.
Dh working shifts so he either pops in at around 10pm and then home just after 2pm & quick walk.

Or he's home until 13:30 so a quick walk before he leaves. I am home around 4:30 and take them out again for a longer walk and 2x / week training class in the evening.

Disclaimer: dogs are mine so I am the main carer/ walker!
DH does a lot of the housework especially if he's on late shift.
DC are older teenagers so can be left if necessary - but have no interest in the dogs beyond a cuddle or showing off to their friends!

I think without DH support, I wouldn't have them. The early mornings/ late nights can be draining especially in the winter months - definitely something to consider!
So think carefully about your working hours aand overall workload at home.

Last dog was left 8-12 then 2-3 ish every day with a walk before work and us staggering our times. I came home at lunch every day. We did heaps with her outside work so that was her down time. She seemed very happy with that and we had no behavioural problems.

Current dog DH WFH as much or as little as he wants so when I’m working he WFH and goes in when I’m off. Our dog is very young but long term he’s going to be going in when I’m at work one day a week and we’ll try the above pattern and adjust if necessary. We both work very close to home.

Neither of us could do it alone. We both have equal share in care. DH had a planned but major op last year which put him out of action for nearly 3 months. Even though he was home I did all the care walks etc on top of full time work. It was exhausting.

On days we both work (3x a week) one of us walks him for 30/40 mins at 7:30, then dog walker walks him at 11 AM for an hour. Teens come home at 3:15 and 1 of them walks him briefly (not sure how long). Often another walk in the evening, depends on the weather/day light how long that will be.

When both me and ex-DH worked out of the home, the dog would get a 45 minute walk about 7am, I’d then let him out in the garden before leaving for work at 9. We both staggered our lunch breaks so someone was home between 12.15 and 1.45 so he could have a quick walk, then DS got home from school at 3pm and would let the dog out again. I’d then do an hour walk when I got home at 5pm.

We were very lucky though as we lived very close to our places of work and DS was old enough to be on his own at home. From what I could tell, DDog slept when we were all out.

Large breed moderately energetic dog who won't go to the toilet unless he's on a walk(!!): If he's being left (2 days a week max) I walk him for 45 minutes over the fields at about 6-7am depending on schedule. He's then fed and left with free run of the ground floor until either I or the dog walker walks him for another 45 minutes at lunch. If its boiling in the summer we don't walk him at lunch, he goes in the garden/in his pool etc.

Somebody is then home by 4pm and he mooches about until his pre-dinner walk at about 6.30 which is another 45 minutes.

He goes to day-care 3 days a week on a farm so only walked in the evenings on these days.

2 hour morning walk and shorter evening walk at the weekends.

It's quite a lot to juggle with work and traffic and appointments and general life but he's a creature of habit and we chose to have him so we do our best. Working full time with dogs isn't easy!

Our dog comes to work with me or goes and stays with my in-laws while we work.

He gets an hours' walk in the morning and some days he'll get a second walk at lunchtime depending on my schedule (I'm a dog walker).

7am for one hour, home at lunchtime for an hour but no walks just in garden if dry, home at 5pm and hour walk after 9pm. Collies. However they can cope the odd day with a walk round the block but once a week max for that.

On days when I wfh, my dog usually doesn't emerge from under the covers until lunchtime (except to have breakfast at about 9am, and she might pop out into the garden for a toilet, but this is 50/50). In fact, she's still under there now, grunting away. I then take her out for a 1-1.5 hour walk at about 3.30pm. Then she'll just use the garden a couple of times before bed.

On the two days when I have to go to the office, I get up and take her out for an hour walk at 7am. I then leave the house at about 8.30am and she entertains herself/sleeps until I get home at about 6.15pm. I then take her out for another hour walk, and then she'll just use the garden a couple of times before bed.

She's an older pug x beagle though who spends a lot of time snoozing or pottering, so she can't do really big walks and doesn't mind being left to her own devices.

Thanks I really appreciate these. I would be looking at being out the house 8.30 til 3pm at the very most. But obviously that’s pretty long time for a dog so would need a dog Walker to help. I am always amazed people manage to work while owning a dog but so many people do I think I need to try and just establish a routine

On the days I go into the office (usually once a week);

4:30 AM: Wake Up/Feed Dogs (I give them an hour before walking)
5:30 AM: Dog walk. Once light (about 6am ATM) move from roads into woods and let them run.
6:30 AM: Shower/Get ready.
7:00 AM: Walk to station, with dogs. Parents pick my dogs up (they're lovely like that!)
7:30 AM: Train.
18:30: Pick dogs up from parents on way back from station and walk home (parents feed them at 17:00, so they're ready for evening poos!)
19:00 PM: Get home.
20:00 PM: Once I'm fed, games in the garden (usually fetch) for 20/30 minutes just to bond. Walking only gets you so far and I like to give them fusses when I'm back from work (rightly or wrongly!)

Parents walk my dogs for 60 minutes at lunch.

I have high energy dogs (Golden Retriever, Dalmatian and a Cocker). So they need a good 2+hrs of exercise a day.

Admittedly, I spend a lot of time on my dogs. Way more than most people, I imagine. My life reflects that my dogs are my priority tbh. And I fully appreciate not everyone is lucky enough to have the setup I do!

In your case, I would ease yourself in - maybe a few days here or there. If your dog is used to you being there and is older, it can be quite an adjustment. My cocker cried herself sick the first time I went into the office post-COVID. And I had gone into the office twice a week before COVID so it wasn't new.

Ours could be left from 8 to 3.30 at a push as a one off if they'd have a really long walk before. But as a general rule I think that's too long. I think you'll have to get a dog walker. Check them out that they don't take too many out at once, ours would have hated that, and I wonder about controlling them all.

I would get your dog used to going out with a dog walker before you go back to work so that it's part of his normal routine - even if you just do once/twice a week for now :)

If they associate the dog walker with good things before their routine changes, it won't be so much of a shock when the walker comes in and you're out.