if you work full time what do u do with your dog?

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Vicki1986

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Just something i was pondering. If you work full time, do you have dogs do they stay at home all day by themselves? do you have more than one so they keep each other company?
Im thinking of getting a dog next year... but from 8-lunchtime (i go home in my lunch hour) then 2-6 i work...should i get two so they have company? or should i not get one at all as its not fair on them? i'm thinking of a small- fairly indoorsy breed like a chi not a huge great dane or anything big
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I have 2 st bernards and they are in my garden from 8am to 5.15pm Mon to Fri
They love it out there - got them a big cosy kennel and run but leave the door to the run open so they have the garden as well
 
I'm really luck I worl shifts so its only 3 / 4 days per week that I don'y have my dog. When I am at work on a 12 hour shift he goes to work with my OH or stays at home when i'm on a 8 hour shift. He doesn't mind at all about staying at home althought this is only about once a month anyway.
 
I work at home now but when I got my first dog I did work full time. My advice would be to get two and get a dog flap fitted. Despite working at home my two dogs still appreciate having a dog flap so they can go outside whenever they feel like it.
 
My lab pup comes everyday to office with me has since she was 9weeks & is 6 1/2 mnth now. Luckily boss has fallen in love with her as has all the staff & she sleeps under my desk all day out in morning & afternoon for a wee & half hour lunch break where I go up to my Dads as he is only a mile away & let her play with my old dog that he now has. Old dog is happy to stay at home all day alone if she has too, just sleeps & barks at passing people (though she can here our cars just under a mile away & gets excited so Dad know if my brother or I are calling in. He is at home all day now as doesnt work any more-retired. Or if at home & away all day they go in their own kennels with runs.
 
I am very lucky, mine goes down to the yard where I keep my horse. I have a cage kept there permenantly, I take him down in the morning when I go to muck out, and the yard owner drops him home and puts him in his cage in my lounge in the evening - she lives opposite me! They let him out to play with the other dogs throughout the day.
 
The only thing I will say is that chis, more than most breeds, become extremely bonded to their owners (to the point of intense jealousy sometimes) and can be prone to separation anxiety. I would actually suggest gating the dog in an area of your home while you're out -- at least at first -- not just for housetraining purposes, but because dogs like these like to feel secure.
 
Up until very recently we worked from home, but now we have moved into units. Therefore two of our dogs have a heated kennel, covered run and large grass run during the day and the other one comes to work.

I dont think its a problem if they have company and plenty of exercise morning and night. However for training a puppy and bonding, leaving it straight off may prove a little more difficult to train etc. Having two puppies together, they would most probably bond with each other and that in itself causes more problems.

It may be an idea to look for a slightly older dog that has had its basic training and then you could introduce a pup for company a little more quickly.
 
I got a dog as a teenager, been out of the house most of the day and she was fine with this. We bought her (a small black fury cross breed - something like a spaniel cross sousage dog) in summer so she had lots of attention straight after coming to the new house and when really young. When she was about 8 I found a boxer-cross puppy on the street, no owner was found so he stayed. He grew b***y massive (more like a boxer cross great dane
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. At first she played a little princess and really trained him lol When he was about 2 they created a lovely relationship of respect and companionship and I would defintely advocate having two dogs when away a lot. I guess it also depends on an individual temperament of a dog - my lady was a real sofa dog- she didn't like being out for long. My boy has been outdoorsy since forever, I used to take him with me when hacking but he started killing chickens
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farmers weren't impressed so he has had long walks instead. At home they were almost like forever sleeping dogs;) The boy even more so - you could barely say we had two dogs and we only lived in a fairly small flat.
 
My big dogs have a dog flap and have 24 hour access to outside. I live and work on my farm so the dogs are with me all day long.

Little dogs do tend to be less of a problem to leave for periods of time. I personally wouldn't want to only keep one dog especially if it had to be alone for long periods.
 
I work from home so my dog is rarely on her own but if I ever have to leave her she is quite happy curled up in her basket. She is a whippet and they are more like cats in some ways and will just sleep all day given half a chance.
 
I would love a dog - but don't have one because I work full time. Personally I just don't think it's fair - so have settled for a bundle of cats instead.
 
My 3 dogs are at home on their own from 8 til 3.30 in the week (black lab, yorkie and 1yr old bouncy foxhound). We have a hole in the kitchen wall so they can go outside - it used to be a dog flap but the lab went through it when it was closed in the winter. The lab sleeps out in the garden all day and the other two sleep in the house. My mum goes home at lunchtime and they get a chew each but to be honest they are perfectly happy just sleeping and then they spend all evening at the yard.

The yorkie is a cat in disguise anyway, sometimes he refuses to go out of the house and just sleeps under my bed.
 
I have a Jack Russell cross Patterdale.. a small black scruffy dog
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He used to be shut in the kitchen with food, water, bed, heating if needed etc from 9-4 when my mum works, but recently she's been letting him have the run of the house so he spends his days sleeping on my bed. He gets let out as soon as we come in and comes up the yard when we go up etc. He happily stays on my bed from when 7-7 when he gets fed!
 
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