How much time do ppl spend with their dog?

[lovenotwar149]

Hi all,
I am genuinely interested.....
So I am a trainer fosterer for a guide dog who has now been withdrawn due to health concerns.
I am now his respite fosterer until is placed in his forever home as a pet for someone.
This now means he doesn't attend the guide dog centre for training but is with me 24/7.
He is an 18 month old Labrador. I really want to know how much time/attention others give to their dog throughout the day in fact.
Please share if you are willing to.
Many thanks!

Oh thanks ppl for such informative replies, good to read them. Thanks for being so willing to share your routines etc with your furry friend, much appreciated :)

6am - toileting/breakfast/ cuddles & chat
8.30am - 35/40 min lead walk
10.00 - out in the garden with me , approx 30 mins
12.30pm - lunch & cuddles
2.15pm - afternoon walk off lead , 1 hr +
4pm - snack
5pm now - he's sleeping in his bed

Tbh I think that sounds like a good routine! Loving the cuddles part 😍

Mines basically the same just with a longer walk in the morning and another v. short one in the evening. I also do 10-15 minutes a day training with my dogs - but I do have four and if you slip on training with one, the whole group descends into chaos.

I have two rescue greyhounds. They follow me everywhere and I mostly work from home so I'm around a lot. They are happy enough to be left at home together for a few hours, though, but not on their own. So if one of them needs to go to the vet, I take them both, etc. I would only have rescue greyhounds in pairs - I had a single one first and she was so much happier and less anxious when I eventually realised she needed a partner and got another.

I work out of the house 4 days a week for approx 8 hours , he does have a dog walker come in and I will leave him ( occasionally ) for up to 4 hours , although try to avoid doing it days I've been to work . His walks are our time and I make a point of having a cuddle with him every day, he also sleeps on my bed , special privileges . We are extremely bonded .
He is absolutely fine , and has luckily never suffered separation anxiety , he's now 3 .
Tbh it's a difficult question as how long is a piece of string .
I have a friend whose dogs are left 7 hours a day 5 days a week and they're also fine because they're used to it .

Our year old puppy is not left alone very often. But we there are three adults in our household and one of them is always home and I can work from home most days.

Neediest whippet alive and I work at home. She can usually be found three centimetres from my face and is frequently seen on my Teams screen. Luckily she's not anxious though, just obsessed, so if I tell her to go away, she listens (briefly).

We have a rescue labrador who is now 4 and we have had for 2 years.

He gets 2 walks per day, off lead, for at least an hour. Sometimes he doesn't want to go, so it drops to 1 walk. I work with dogs, so the walks are active, and he can play with other dogs. Sometimes there is a 3rd walk which he can choose to join in with.

In the house, he is free to move about to most of the rooms. He will mostly lay in his bed, next to me / wife on the sofa, or at my feet if I am in the office. Occasionally, he craves attention, but mostly he is calm and self sufficient.

He can be left for periods of time, and is calm in the house on his own (I can see him via camera).

Now the sun has started to make an appearance, he spends a lot of time outside sleeping on the deck.

Almost 5 yr old rescue collie cross owner here. During his entire life with us I have either worked full time from home or part time and my husband has either worked part time or full time. One or both of us is usually about most of the day.
I am normally the one who walks him and takes him out to play and run mad with his vast collection of tennis balls in the garden.
I do the food and the vet and ‘no you can’t feed him THAT!’ stuff.
Husband does fun hide and seek games with his toy balls that are in the house which have DDog in paroxysms of delight.
The longest he has been left is four hours. He used to go to sleep in our old house (at least that is what his tracker said), now I suspect he sits on his box (ottoman stuck under the bay window in order to look at the sea view….intended for me…) and spies on the neighbours.
We have had an exciting morning so far, he has seen a cat and an oil delivery tanker.
When I’m cooking he follows me hoping I drop something tasty or give him something. If I go practice my clarinet or sax, he comes and sits with me. If he doesn’t, I know that piece needs work!
DH is doing morning walks to help problem knee just now. What DH doesn’t know is DDog thinks walk means he is loosing out on mad play in the garden. The soppy eyes will start, counting down 59 mins, 58, 57…😂
Most of the day though after he has had a walk or some sort of outdoor fun; Im currently trying to do scent work with him a lot more, he likes to chill on the box he has claimed.
He is a much calmer dog than when we adopted him two years ago.

I leave mine for an hour or two ( max 4) randomly when I go shopping/ visiting friends etc. But mostly one of us is at home. We built it up slowly when he was a pup. I set my iPad to record him to see if he was upset but he's not bothered just goes to sleep. When I'm here he's not always with me. Sometimes he wants cuddles sometimes he wants to chill on a sofa by himself. He's nearly 3 lab.

for me and my partner they are part of our life so 9 times out of 10 they go with us or in some circumstances one has to go out to something the other is home with them. we have just got used to them being in our van or home

In my experience, the best natured dogs are those that don’t get too much attention or fussing.

Our dog (16 months) gets an hour long off-lead walk at about 7am, then he spends much of the morning snoozing with mooches around the garden. He gets another off-lead walk in the afternoon followed by more snoozing. He’s quite playful in the evening and likes us to play tug etc.

He’s very rarely left alone, but that’s something we’re actively trying to do now and then - he’d started to howl if we went out. He’s stopped doing it now (I can check on the cameras).

He is downstairs overnight and chooses to sleep on the floor, rather than a sofa or his bed.

I work from home and dog goes most places with me ( I do a lot of walking, hiking, dog agility for hobbies in spare time) so unless I’m going to the pub or having dinner out, she’s with me pretty much 24/7. She is a terrier, though, she likes to do her own thing a lot - I don’t have to be constantly entertaining her.

I think your routine sounds good OP, I definitely wouldn't do any less - it will get easier as you get fitter! That's the best thing about dogs IMO, that they keep you fit! I would definitely get him used to you popping in and out though so that is normal for him.

We have a 2 year old Jack Russel Mix. She stays home alone 2h morning and 2h afternoon most days. Once a week its 4h in the morning. She can be alone longer if needed, i think the longest was 8h once, but i took her for a long walk beforehand and it was from 4pm til midnight, so she was sleeping most of it anyways.
It all depends if the dog is used to it. We trained her to be alone from the beginning in slow steps. The main key is to make them tired before you leave them, that way they are more relaxed. If they have bad separation anxiety already it obviously is harder to train.

Very interesting reading , thanks again!

I spend about the same amount of time ish doing stuff with my dog but different timings. We also tend to have playtime and some training and do more in the evening (as I work during the day). But equally my boy likes a nap after breakfast and is quite happy not having a walk before 10:30-12:00! I also vary by day, sometimes it's three walks, sometimes one longer one and one potter. Sometimes more training, sometimes more play. My dog also gets left around 5 times a week for around 3 hours at a time but we worked up to that and he gets a walk first and then is perfectly happy to have a nap on the sofa. If I want a sit down / cuppa and my dog is full of beans, I tend to put some stuff in his snufflemat or hide kibble / carrots around the house (or scatter it in the garden) and he sniffs it out.