Dog at home - I feel so guilty

Bebs

I am 37 years old, my oldest DD has just started university and we have a 16 year old DD at home and we now have a gorgeous 10 month old yorkie cross Chihuahua and she is our baby .When my hubby begged me 10 months ago to get a puppy I was totally against it as we both work and I said it was not fair on the dog. To cut a long story short I finally gave in as DH said he would pop home at lunch time etc etc
All is fine and we love our dog to bits but I cannot stop feeling guilty when I leave her in the mornings, I think about it all day and I feel so guilty, I cant help thinking it I love her that much how can I leave her all day!
We take her for a walk in the monring and at night and hubby pops home lunch time to check on her and play with her. Is this enough? Am I being cruel leaving her locked up all day? She is very good, does not bite furniture etc and only pays with her toys (she has a toy box and chooses her toys lol).
I really love my dog and she is so much part of the family, weekends and evenings she goes everywhere with me – Do I just need to get a grip or is this cruel?

EmptyPockets

For what it's worth hun... I don't think you're being cruel. You sound like a very loving owner, as does your hubby, and there are dogs out there FAR worse off, with MUCH bigger problems than being left home alone during the day.

You give her love and affection, she gets two walks a day, it's obvious from your post how much she means to you, and as long as she knows this, I'm sure she's quite happy

There may be others who disagree, of course... leaving a dog home alone while the owners work is not ideal, no, but if you cater to the dogs needs, feed it, keep it safe and give it loving attention when you ARE home from work... then to me that is enough and you shouldn't beat yourself up.

tizerbelle

In your own words "get a grip"

My two are at home alone during the day (apparently the company of a cat doesn't count!). I also come back at lunchtime and go for a short walk with them. They are perfectly happy (granted they are older so will sleep a lot of the time).

If she is not displaying any destructive behaviour / seperation anxiety, then she is fine and is happy/coping with her lifestyle.

It is a recent construct of rescue centres (in the main) that you must never leave your dog for more than 3 hours or possibly 4 at the most, but 4 hours and 1 minute and you are not worthy to be a dog owner.

If little dog is happy, stop worrying and enjoy the time you do have with her.

DogsBody

Mine tend to sleep most of the day whether I am here or not! If you are really worried that your pup might be bored or lonely while she's on her own, perhaps you could think about a dog walker or similar? People can come up with all sorts of arrangements to give their 'home alone' dog a bit of extra company - for eg, if we are both going to be out all day, my neighbour will come round for an hour or so (she's retired), or my other neighbours 15 year old will come round after school. As Empty Pockets said, there are a lot of dogs who are not so well cared for, and lots more who live quite happily with the same arrangement (mid day visit etc). If she seems happy with the arrangements, try not to worry!

LibbyR26

we'd all love to work less and spend more time with our pets but unfortunately unless we win the lottery it ain't possible. You are doing the best you can and, by dog standards, she has a good life. Stop beating yourself up.

Bebs

Thank you for all the lovely, kind replies, I feel a lot better now . I am lucky as some days I can work from home, and to be honest, when I do she does tend to sleep most of the time - right next to me though , I guess I just need to stop worrying about her, I remeber feeling this way when my daughters were small and I had to go to work:o

CFC

It's just guilt. You can see, she sleeps when you're home, so she sleeps when you are out. I do agree with the poster who said that the construct of 4 hours is based on recent rescue policies. There really isn't any scientific work behind it that I am aware of.
Blimey I am getting old, I recall the times when people used to let their dogs wander outside a lot of the day or if they were out - I guess there wasn't so much traffic in the suburbs in the sixties

deedardingle

Stop worrying, you sound like a lovely, caring owner and I'm sure your little one thinks so too. Think of how lucky she is compared some poor dogs who are dumped at shelters or mistreated. They would all happily swap places with her.

Bebs

Thanks again for all your lovely posts, we are going for a walk, then I have got a new toy for her - that should make her day! Also, I leave the radio on all day, is this good or pointless?

EmptyPockets

We leave the radio on for our dogs when we go out. They are crated when we leave the house, but I like to think I'm leaving some 'company' for them... don't know if they care or not but it makes me feel better

At this time of year I'm now also leaving the radio on for them through the night so that they can't hear so many of the fireworks going off. We'll be getting fireworks right through to New Year now so I leave the light on and radio turned up. They aren't scared or bothered by the fireworks but if they go off in the night Bruce will occasionally bark and wake me up, so it's for my own sanity!

DogsBody

Hehehe, our dogs like to listen to 'the Hobbit' on CD when we go out I think they like the sound of Martin Shaw's voice! At work (kennels) we also have 'talky' radio on all day so it always sounds like there is someone about, somewhere.