Dogs - Home Alone

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nijinsky

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How long do you think it's acceptable for a dog to be left at home alone? This is more a question for those who have to work but still want to own animals.

Myself included - both hubby & I work full time so are not at home during the day but I still think my animals have a fantastic life - my neighbour lets dog out at lunch time and we are home at 5. Husband tries to work from home at least twice & week & we are both there weekends

1/4 of me feels terribly guilty that my dog is on his own for probably 3 days a week but then 3/4 of me thinks he has a really good life in every other respect. My dad used to dog/horse/cat sit for us but he died last year so this is the first year they've really been on their own.

Just wondered how others cope or your opinions on this.
 
I would love to have a dog - but work all day, so I don't. I just don't think it's fair on them.

Others, I know will disagree, and its one of those things that people will never agree on.......
 
In an ideal world no dog would ever be left on it's own but that just isn't practical. On occassions I have had to leave my 3 year old dalmatian on his own for 8 hours but to compensate I ensure that he gets 2 hours of walking and several hours 'puppy time' in the evenings although generally my retired parents will puppy sit for me. Your dog is lucky that you have a neighbour who can pop in at lunchtime so he does get to see someone and isn't abandoned on his own ALL day.

by the way, my dalmatian is a rehome that got kicked out by his previous owners for eating their kitchen - well they would leave him on his own for up to 18 hours at a time!!! Needless to say, Muppet thinks he has a fantastic life now
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I worried about this when getting my puppy...

But I think he does ok - and I know that if we are in - he sleeps during the times we are usually out, because it is his routine.

Basically I get up at 6 to feed him - then he gets a walk at around 7am and I leave for work at 8.30am. Dog walker/sitter comes at 11am for an hour, then again at 2.30pm for an hour. I get home around 5.30pm and he gets another walk then.

That is a constant... but my OH does a job that can be unpredictable - so he sometimes works long hours and sometimes is at home. He was at home for 3 months which finished in Sept preparing a case - so then loki gets someone around all or most of the day
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and this week he has had him home two days...

I think he does ok
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What about those with more than one dog? As then they are keeping each other company. When I move in with my OH I plan to get two dogs and cut down my work hours.
 
Yes, there are gonna be opposite views on this. I remember speaking to a rehoming centre once & mentioned this and they said to a certain degree the animal has to fit into your lifestyle, not you into his. Animals get used to routine. I'm sure if I was coming home from work everyday & something was chewed/destroyed/etc I would have to take the view my dog is unhappy but I don't think he is. What he's missing is human companionship throughout the day only. He has the run of the house, his own comfy bed, all his toys, 3 cats to terrorize & up until March this year we had another dog.

I really believe he could have gone to a much worse home, I just have these little pangs of guilt about him being alone at home but it's not every day.

Any how, if I didn't work I probably wouldn't be able to afford half the animals I have, ie, insurance/feed/etc.
 
Stella is at home alone for six hours, three days a week. The other two days she is at "doggie daycare". She has free roam of our apartment, which is 1500 sq. feet, and I always leave a beef bone out, as well as her toys.

Before leaving her for six hours, I take her for an hour's walk or run. Truthfully, she sleeps during the time I leave her. Nothing is ever chewed or disturbed, nothing peed on, no barking complaints. On occasions when I have worked at home, she still sleeps. In fact, I tried getting a walker in to break up the time but she only wanted to sunbathe or sit down outside and not walk. Once I get home from work, we go out for a couple of hours, so I do feel as though she gets plenty of exercise and attention.

Next year we're moving to a house, with a garden, but I'm still not sure about leaving her out there during the day. I'm terrified about her getting stolen
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Our three come to work with us each day (we own a feed merchants) and sleep under the office desk, just getting up to greet particularly nice customers and dogs!

Occasionally they are home alone, they live in the utility room, and have a dog flap to the garden. They're a very relaxed bunch of dogs, most customers don't even notice that they're there, even though they are plainly on view.
 
I had thought of that, having kennels outside for him while we're not there but I would be devasted if he was stolen.

I think my issue is the "human company" he's missing, he has 3 cats for companionship, I leave the tv or radio on so there's human voices (not great for global warming I'm sure) but it's something I've always done.
 
I have two dogs and they are left while I am at work at the office, then when i am at the yard they are there with me. I also work some evenings, and then they come with me, some nights they are left in the car and some they are allowed in.

They seem happy and well adjusted.
 
I think if you are working full time its better to have two dogs - if you can - they can then keep each other company then, thats what used to happen with our old dogs - they played together all day and didn't miss us one bit!
 
My dogs get left home alone all day 1 to 3 days a week. My mum normally comes and takes them for a walk at lunch time but if she’s unavailable one of us tries to be home as early as possible. It’s not ideal, but they have lots of fun time so I figure they will just have to put up with not being centre of attention 100% of the time. They stay in their crates too when we are out, which makes me fell more guilty, but they don’t seem to mind at all!! They know the routine now and if they get an early morning walk then that means were going out for the day and so they run upstairs and get in ready.
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It's not a perfect situation but My dogs cope fine with it.
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The longest my two get left is 5-6 hrs but thats only twice a week. I have definately felt better leaving them now there's two of them, at least they have each other
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I tried loads of different things with my dog. firstly i would work at home as much as poss and never leave him for more than four hours however he would tear the house to bits and I think that the unpredictableness of that seemed to upset him. so then i tried having him outside (secure garden) but when I would come home he would be in a complete state and took hours to calm down, he would also get into a state if I left him at my parents. I now seem to have conquered it. I get up at half six, walk him for about an hour go to work at 8 and leave him in his crate, come home at 12 for 1/2 an hour, then go back to work, leaving him in his crate until 4.30 when he would get another long walk and spend the evening with me up the yard. He is much, much happier in this routine and has really settled down in the last few weeks (he is only 1yr old). I am on my own so it is harder but definately worth it.
 
I work full time and have managed to set things up really well for my dog, Megan. She has the utility room and hall wall with the outside door left open and the run of a large garden. Both my neighbours are at home all day and have dogs so they give her treats, loads of fuss and she can talk to their dogs. Now the days are colder I am able to take her out with me in the car (I'm a rep) and she loves doing that a couple of times a week. Also I am at home 3 days out of 7.

If it were not for setting up my house and garden + having brill neighbours I would have had to rehome her. I recently split with my hubby and so these changes have been in the last couple of months. Its working really well and she goes down to the horses x 2 a day.

Depending on the layout of your house and garden you may be able to do a similar set up.
 
OH and I work full time.

We've got two dogs, so they are company for each other and a dog door so they can have the run of the kitchen, hall and large garden as much as they like. OH tries to get home at lunchtime to see them if he can and they both get walked after work.
 
I work full time and have 2 dogs, but they go round to my friend's in the day when I'm at work so it is very rare that they are left all day. But they also get quality time with me when I am home, they are walked 2 times a day, come down to the field, go to classes and other activities.

I know quite a few people who should be ideal as they don't work, but they spend no quality time with their dogs and the dogs put in other rooms, do no trainng with them, don't walk them, so these dogs end up with less attention than dogs from working homes. Most have no been rehomed!!
 
OH and I both work full time too, we try to arrange our shifts so our two dogs are home alone for the minimum amount of time. They also have the run of our garden and house.

They get a long walk in the morning and evening and sleep all day. Even when we are at home during the day they just sleep anyway. They are very chilled dogs and don't get stressed at all.

I do like to have two together as they are company for each other and I personally would not have a puppy in this situation. I got both mine as adult dogs and they seem very happy with their routine.

They actually get a lot more attention and exercise than a lot of dogs I know who have people at home with them all the time.
 
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