What does everyone do with their dog while at work?

tigger01

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Just wondering. I have a 4 year old greyhound who at present has to go somewhere every day when I'm at work. I'd love to be able to leave her at home but as I work and have to do the horses before and after, she'd be in on her own for a good 11 hours and that's not fair. So there must be other people in this position, what do you do? Any suggestions gratefully received!
 

ralph and maverick

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My parents lives near where I keep the horses, so once I've finished them I pop in to drop nala off and grab a shower too!!
I call it the doggy day care centre!
If they ever go away I take her to work with me, I leave her in the car though with boot open, water, toys, and an occasional chew, none of which she is actually interested in!!
 

tamsinkb

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My Spangle comes with me to the yard in the morning then we go home, have breakfast and a shower ( well I have the shower - Bruce doesn't apporve of cleanliness!) He then stays at home whilst I am at work and is visited by his 'personal trainer' (dog walker) I then pick him up to go to horses in the evening. He is left for a total of 8 - 8.5 hours/day, but that is broken up by dog walker visit.
 

Kenzo

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What...you mean you have a dog and work all day :mad:


It's ok, I'm just pulling your leg, although I've had that said to me before :rolleyes:, funnily enough some of us do need to go to work which means leaving our poor neglected dogs at home :rolleyes: ok so it probably doesn't work very well with all dogs, suppose it depends on the individual dog, it's age and what they are used to or happy with...but that's a whole different subject.


Beck to your question, well hubby is home at 5:15 and I my dogs love nothing more than to sleep there way through the day, so much so that if I have a week off, it takes them a day or two to adjust, I'm interupting their snooze time :D they get walked in a morning, a nibble to eat before we leave for work and thankfully can cross there little legs till tea time, then they are walked, fed, pampered, played with till late and they are ready for bed time again.

Thankfully it works very well for us, even the new puggy has taken to it like duck to water.
 

leflynn

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I have a 6yo greyhound who I worried about leaving all day, seems there was no need as all he does is sleep... Saying that if I'm at work and my OH is home on a week off he tootles out and about with him in the back of the landrover.

On the opposite week he stays at home for a rest :p 3 or 4 days a week a dog walker comes in to walk him in the middle of the day and then one or 2 days a week he comes to work with me and sleeps in the car with regular comfort breaks and a nice walk at lunchtime. At the minute he seems more bothered about getting his morning snack of a pigs ear than he is about me leaving :rolleyes:

Our routine when he is left is get up at 6.30, out for a walk, doggie breakfast and me shower @ 7, I leave for the yard without dog @ 7.30. He gets walked around half 1, then I get home at 6 ish, feed him and then take him to the yard for evening stables :)
 

Hedwards

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My two get a good walk in the morning, and are then left at home while i'm at work. My little bro (well he's not that little at 23 and 6') pops into them for me between 11 and12 and stays with them a couple of hours, if he has the energy he'll take them for a quick walk.

I get back at about 5.45 if i'm not riding, or can be as late as 7pm (if i'm going to be that late, my mum pops in to let them out for a wee, although they never seem that bothered!) then i take them back out for another walk,

They're both happy, realtively well adjusted girls...
 

Suzie86

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Boyfriend walks our dog before work at 7, I take him out for a wee before I leave which is either 7.30 or 8.30 depending on whether horse is in or living out, I come back for my lunch hour give him some fuss and another quick walk. Boyfriend normally home by 5 so takes him out for a long walk or short training session while I'm at the yard.
 

thewonderhorse

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I work all day. I used to work in a pub and took him with me but got made redundant :( . Its by no means ideal but couldn't re home him. I get up about 7am and go down the yard with him. Then he has breakfast and I leave for work at 8.30am. Back at lunchtime to let him out for 10 mins and then left again til 5.20 and out for a good walk and back to the yard. On weekends I always make sure I'm about for the majority of the time and we go on extra walks and on the yard. I do feel guilty about leaving him during the week......:(
 

splashgirl45

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i am retired and look after some dogs for friends who work full time....i go to them lunchtime i make sure they both have plenty of time in the garden for the necessary wee/poo and if i dont shut the kitchen door they are back in their beds leaving me to walk in the garden(its about an acre) on my own!!!! i sometimes stay and read the paper so they have company for a bit longer but they are usually fast asleep...they seem very relaxed and happy with the routine so some dogs can be quite happy with owners at work....
 

kchappers

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Our routine with Spencer is up and walked by 7.30 then he is dropped off at my grandparents for his breakfast and spends the day with them till my OH is back at 4.30. however when we move house he will be staying at home and my granddad will be coming up between 11.30 and 12.30 to let him out for the toilet and if his knees feel up to a little a short stroll to the park.
Ive just been off for a week and seem to get looks to say what are you doing here during the day interrupting my sleep time :) xx
 

lottiepony

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Get up at 6.15 and do horsey chores while ruby goes back to sleep on a rug then walk her for 30-45mins then back inside for breakfast then leave her in her run with her frozen stuffed kong about 8. She gets let out at least twice sometimes more before I get home at 5. Then it's on the yard finishing off with the horse then take her for a late walk about 9 ending up on the yard to do late check :) all fits in perfectly.
 

Jingleballs

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I drop mine off at my parents on the way to the train station and them my dad meets me off the train with him after work.

My boy is almost 12 now and I still lived with my parents when I got him and since my mum never worked he's always been used to company so when I moved out we decided to keep things consistent for him so as not to upset him (he's quite a nervy dog).

In future, when he is no longer with us and I get another dog I'll get a dog walker as it does tie my parents down a bit looking after him every day.
 

Vizslak

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walked before work, I leave at about ten to nine. Home about five past one they go out in garden (or play fetch with me in the house sat by fire of late) I'm home for about 45 mins before going back to work. Then I'm home again twenty five to six ish and walk again then. Considering they were used to having me home a lot I can honestly say its not made a blind bit of difference to them. The biggest objection I had from any of them during switch over from stay at home to full time work was the fact they had to get out of bed several hours earlier which they didnt think was on at all!
 

Twizzel

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OH is a farmer so she bumbles around the farm which is home, or if he is working off farm andshe can't go with him and I am working too at a show, OH's mum will have her or sister in law who lives next door, or my parents. She's rarely on her own whilst we are working.
 

Echo24

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Mine comes to work with me :) but in my last job I paid for doggy day care. To be honest he's quite lazy that I've left him for 6 hours and came home finding him asleep in the same spot I left him in!

Kenzo do you have a pug? I have one too! :)
 

Jools1234

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Jools why is that the worst thing to do? Much fairer to have two dogs on their own than one!!

an adult dog will cope much better with being left for long periods than a puppy, my dogs will stay alone or together for as long or as short a time as needed, but getting a puppy knowing you will not be at home for 11hrs at a time on a regular basis is not fair on the puppy, most cannot be clean that long and you cannot take them for really long walks to tire them out as their bodies cannot cope with it. also a dog walker will charge more for two than one and a retired person may be more likely to look after an older dog than an unruley puppy?
 

Supertrooper

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I have no issue at all with leaving adult dogs alone for long periods but I do think it's unfair with young puppies. It may work ok with some but for the majority they need company xx
 

echodomino

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Hubby and I work about 12hrs on a bad day lol, depending how early and what the weather's doing, they go out in their kennel and run or if they stay in the house my mum comes over two or three times to let them out.

I had a puppy last year, worked out ok for us, she's a very happy little soul so don't think it's done her any harm. I wouldn't have had her if I didn't have the two adults as I don't think it fair to leave a puppy on it's own.

I only work four days a week now too instead of five and six so I make sure that I spend most of the time at home on the 3 days I have off.
 

blackcob

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I deliberately chose not to work 9-5 so the dogs are never left for long, though it means I earn less and almost never see my OH (probably why we've lasted so long :p).

He works 8am - 6pm Monday to Thursday and a half day on Fridays.

I work various afternoon and evening shifts like 3pm - 10pm, 5pm - 1am or the zombie 1am - 8am during the week in job #1 - anything between three and five shifts a week.

Then I do 11am - 4pm and 6pm - 1am in job #2 on Saturdays and Sundays. Loathe and detest working weekends and the bloody split shifts but I have massive vet bills (equine) to pay. :(

Anyway, it means the dogs are left for a maximum of three hours and more usually only 1-2 hours a day between me leaving and him coming back. Once we've moved and have somewhere to build a proper kennel and run they will spend this time outside.
 

Suzie86

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Can't quote as on phone but jools my response is to you :D a - current dog only 10 months old and we've had him from 8 weeks on this routine and he's fine. B - I did not say he is left for 11 hours - he is left for 2 blocks of 3 or 4 hours either side of my lunch break in which I take him out for a walk.

The only reason stopping me getting a second dog at the moment is that it would be a working springer. My boyfriend takes our cocker to gundog graded training and he will work when he is older (and better ;) ) and I don't think he will have the time to take them both out for training sessions separately every day. I certainly don't think having 2 dogs would be the worst thing I could do, nor do I think I need a dog walker - that's me! I do it on my lunches ;) :)
 

Happy Horse

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I am so lucky I work from home so he has his breakfast about 7am then goes back to bed. We walk for half an hour then he sleeps on the spare room bed while I work in there. At lunchtime we go for another walk or do some training and then we sit and watch junk TV for an hour! We work again in the afternoon and then before it gets dark we go for a longer walk or go to the beach. He is fine on his own for up to 4 hours but if we are going to be away for any longer in a day he goes to his dog sitter for daycare or overnight depending on how long we are away.
 

Jools1234

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Can't quote as on phone but jools my response is to you :D a - current dog only 10 months old and we've had him from 8 weeks on this routine and he's fine. B - I did not say he is left for 11 hours - he is left for 2 blocks of 3 or 4 hours either side of my lunch break in which I take him out for a walk.

The only reason stopping me getting a second dog at the moment is that it would be a working springer. My boyfriend takes our cocker to gundog graded training and he will work when he is older (and better ;) ) and I don't think he will have the time to take them both out for training sessions separately every day. I certainly don't think having 2 dogs would be the worst thing I could do, nor do I think I need a dog walker - that's me! I do it on my lunches ;) :)

sorry i was meaning it may be the worst thing the op could do in their situation-should have been clearer on reading back:)
 

stencilface

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Gets walked at 6.30, I leave for work at about 7.30 (depending on how long he's deliberated over where to poo :rolleyes: ). I have a dog walker on a monday, which is reassuring as I know he's covered, then my neighbour lets him out/walks him on a tuesday and wednesday - somedays if she's gardening he's out all day with her, although doubt that will happen in the winter somehow! Thursday I either make sure I'm back for 2pm as I figure he can be left for 6 hours, or I get my parents to walk him, and Friday I either work from home or do a half day. The time he's left doesn't seem to have much impact on whether he leaves me a present or not, some days left for ages and nothing, some days an hour and a total mess! :(
 

Copperpot

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My OH and I work shifts. Sometimes we leave home at 2am and we are back by 10am, so they don't really notice we are gone. Same when we are on nights.

If we have to work all day my Dad who is retired comes over and dog sits. He walks them and just hangs about with them all day. They love their "Granddad" as he is way too generous with the treats !!
 
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