How long is too long to leave a dog alone?

FabSascha

I have a gorgeous and very happy pug girl. She's developed into a fantastically confident and boisterous little lady and I couldn't be happier. A couple of times a week she's on her own for 5-6 hours. She doesn't seem remotely concerned about this and doesn't go to the toilet during this time (she's not fully trained yet so still uses puppy pads) and when I get home there's nothing there which leads me to believe that she sleeps the whole way through. However, the guilt still bothers me and I'm just looking for opinions as to whether this is too long for her to be alone? She's left with quite a few toys and a stuffed kong, plus food and water. If the general census is that this is too long then I'll arrange for someone to come in during these times; just want thoughts please

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Depends on how old she is. But if she doesn't appear to be anxious, then I would think that it is around the maximum time acceptable.

Why not set up a camera so you can see whether she appears distressed before you make a final decision?

elsien

If you can arrange for family/friend to come in then I would do so.
Mutt is regularly left for that long or longer and copes fine with it, but when's all said and done she's a lot happier when my mum pops in for 10 minutes for a bit of company and to let her out. (When she was younger and going through her chewing stage, I couldn't have left her for that long without the house being demolished.)

FabSascha

Thanks for your reply. I did consider that (although my boyfriend thinks that whenever we go out without her I'll spend the whole time watching her through the camera, which is not unlikely) but I can't find any cost effective ways of doing it...unless you have any suggestions? She's definitely not anxious when we get home, it seems more often than not literally hears the door shut and goes to bed as sometimes the food won't even be touched. She's just over 6 months. Do you think that's too long for such a young pup?

gettingready

Zara is home alone 5 days per week from 1pm to 6pm.

She gets picked up by dogwalker at 7.30 am and stays with her and her 2 dogs (including 2 walks) till she is dropped off home around 1pm - I get home few min after 6.....

Zara is almost 5 years old though..

FabSascha

elsien wrote: »

If you can arrange for family/friend to come in then I would do so.
Mutt is regularly left for that long or longer and copes fine with it, but when's all said and done she's a lot happier when my mum pops in for 10 minutes for a bit of company and to let her out. (When she was younger and going through her chewing stage, I couldn't have left her for that long without the house being demolished.)

I know exactly what you mean! When she was going through her mouthing stage she got carried away with my ear and took a chunk out of it! Weirdly, from that day onwards it all completely stopped, now she just likes a nibble here and there and to suck on my thumb

Thanks for your reply. I get worried that I'm being too over cautious sometimes as apparently that can result in overly attached pups but so far I think all is well. She strikes the balance between being very loving yet happy to do her own thing. Really I don't want anyone's advice and I just started this thread so I could bang on about how brilliant she is...;)

FabSascha

gettingready wrote: »

Zara is home alone 5 days per week from 1pm to 6pm.

She gets picked up by dogwalker at 7.30 am and stays with her and her 2 dogs (including 2 walks) till she is dropped off home around 1pm - I get home few min after 6.....

Zara is almost 5 years old though..

Thanks for your comment. Any chance I could cheekily request a rough idea of how much that costs on a daily basis please? As I really like the idea of taking her to a dog carer; especially one who has other dogs at the same time as she would absolutely love that.

Shepherd1

I work two days for 4 hours and one full day, on my four hour days she is alone I take her for a good walk before I go and as soon as I come home. On my full day she goes to doggy day care.

On the days she is alone I really do think she sleeps the whole time when we come back from our walk she heads straight to bed and when I come home she is still in it. I have also asked my neighbours if they have heard her barking or crying and they said no not a peep even when the window cleaner comes!

She is also just a pup now 8 months.

littlesnuggy

My 11 month pug doesn't like being left alone. On days he can't come to work with me, he goes to a dogsitter's house all day which costs us £12.

I set up my laptop with webcam to record him when I nipped out to the shops for 30 mins once (this was fairly soon after getting him at 9 months old though) - he howled at the door the entire time - it was so horrible to watch back.

That said, I'm leaving him for about 2.5 hours tomorrow afternoon, and last Friday night he was left alone for about 4 hours - had eaten his Kong and was stretched out on the sofa when we got back, so hopefully he slept for most of the time.

FabSascha

Awww that must've been horrible to watch Excellent choice in dog

Thanks for your thoughts; was worried the lynch-mob would be along to berate me for leaving the pup at all...although I suppose there's still time!

rising_from_the_ashes

Personally, I wouldn't get a young dog to leave it alone for long periods - especially one a pup but ....

If you are going to need to do it, make the decision (eg she'll be left or they'll be a walker coming in etc) and stick to it - once they get their routine it's very hard to change.

I rehomed a (then) 4 ish Lab - he'd always been left all day (8am - 6pm) which is why I said I would take him.

I did try coming home at lunchtimes (this is feasible for me) but found that in the afternoon he got really distressed and wreaked the house so I had to stop - it's as though his brain functions a bit like ... "you can go out and stay out as long as you like but when you come home YOU STAY"!

Even now (about 6 years later) this still applies - if I need to go out after coming in, he has to come with me!