Puppy left at home all day :(

splatty1

As a regular poster on these forums I have decided to use an AE for this thread as I don't wish anyone looking back over any previous posts.

Around 20 years ago when I was a young (20 yr old) newly wed in our first home as a couple we heard of a neighbour of a friend who's dog had had pups. Neither of our families had ever had dogs before but we decided we would like a dog to go with the 2 cats we already had. We both worked full-time but this never crossed our minds as being a problem - I worked with a woman who had 2 afgans and both she and her husband worked full-time - and this was our only real experience with dog owners.
When we went to choose one of the pups my 15 yo sister begged my mum to let her have one too which my mum agreed to, we chose 2 one for her, one for us. We were told the date we could collect them at 8 weeks of age, I booked 2 weeks off work to settle our baby in. 2 weeks early we received a call saying they are ready to go please come and collect. They were 6 weeks old and I realise now the mums owner was obviously just fed-up and wanting to get rid asap.
We went and collected our 2, my sister had run away from home in the meantime after an argument with mum so long story short, although she came back after a couple of days, we ended up with both pups.
Me & other half worked similar hours leaving home at around 7am back around 4pm, we would get up before 6 to take the boys out for a good run before they were left - even when it was pitch dark and we couldn't see them in the park! They had another good run of an evening. Once past puppy-hood they never had accidents other than if they were unwell.
For the first year one of them was very destructive, we had to lock them in the (large) kitchen because he chewed up LP's (remember them?!) all the wooden handles on the kitchen cupboard doors and the seat cushions on the new sofa amongst other things.
Only once did one of our neighbours (terraced house) mention that when we went out in the morning the dogs would then howl for approx an hour. As we thought there was nothing we could do about it we just apologised and turned the dogs radio up louder and gave them a few more toys
When they were approx 2 I gave up full time work when I had our first child the dogs were then never left for such lengths of time, although the calmer brother used to take himself to sleep in the kitchen for hours at a time.
We currently have 2 dogs one is an older boy who has always been happy to be left and has on an odd occasion been left for up to 7 hours with no problems but since having our younger one I have not left them for longer than max 5 hours and that only rarely, normally no longer than 3 hours. They have been fine.
I suppose what I feel is that knowing what I know now it's not ideal to have a dog when out for such long hours but my dogs were very happy and contented and got all our attention when we weren't at work.
Saying that, I couldn't leave my current dogs for such a long time on that regular basis because it's not what they are used to.
So if it's what they are used to I do think they can adapt, I personally think OP could see how it goes and if pup seems very unhappy then think about rehoming.

~Chameleon~

splatty1 wrote: »

.....
For the first year one of them was very destructive, we had to lock them in the (large) kitchen because he chewed up LP's (remember them?!) all the wooden handles on the kitchen cupboard doors and the seat cushions on the new sofa amongst other things.
Only once did one of our neighbours (terraced house) mention that when we went out in the morning the dogs would then howl for approx an hour. As we thought there was nothing we could do about it we just apologised and turned the dogs radio up louder and gave them a few more toys
......
I suppose what I feel is that knowing what I know now it's not ideal to have a dog when out for such long hours but my dogs were very happy and contented and got all our attention when we weren't at work.

Really???...........

LouisMarmaduke

Everyone has now said there peice and made there points clear.

I think the subject has been discussed as much as possible, no stone has been left unturned.

I think now is the time to move on from this thread .

I have learned.

~Chameleon~

LouisMarmaduke wrote: »

....
I think now is the time to move on from this thread .

I have learned.

What exactly have you learned though? Are you going to re-home your puppy? I suspect not

LouisMarmaduke

I no longer wish to discuss the subject.

I have came to a personal arrangement outwith the forum.

After some of the posts I do not wish to comment any further as anything that I say is criticised .

Nobody is perfect )

beth.stephenson2009

I think its cruel, simple as.

If you wanted that puppy- you should of weighed up the costs before you got it.

Not to mention the problems you could face when it is older. Neglect can lead to aggressive dogs.

Selfish. If your neighbours had any common sense, they would be on the phone to the RSPCA to report you.

purple.sarah

CFC wrote: »

I think there's a lot of 'harsh self righteousness' displayed on this thread. What perfect saints you people are, you never put a foot wrong in your life, have never ever had a selfish thought, and the only people you are nasty to are people you don't know, I am left to presume.

Some responses on here remind me of exactly why I prefer animals to people, in the main.

OP -keeping a young puppy alone while you go to work is certainly not ideal, on the other hand thousands and thousands of dogs have been brought up this way due to owners working.

It might not be ideal, and it's not what I would do, but pups in the main can and do adjust to it. It will take a long time to housetrain the pup and you may never be successful because of the initial circumstances, but with a small dog you can litter train it the same as a cat. I think it's very important that you don't leave the pup/dog alone at all when you're not working - so no evenings or weekends out without him/her. Plus dedicate time each day to training time to increase your bond.

Yes, do leave the tv or a radio on - it's company noise in the background. And leave a stuffed Kong and SAFE toys to stave off boredom. Ensure that the room or area is puppy safe - some pups will chew electric cables.

I would worry about leaving the pup alone with a cat - cats will generally be the boss with small dogs and till the dog is big enough to defend himself there is a risk. I'd keep them separated till then unless you are supervising. You might want to consider whether you should have another dog as well - two dogs are company for each other, although be mindful they may well bond more closely to each other than they will to you.

Are you a selfish, evil, irresponsible person? No, you're just a person who's in a difficult situation, but you are not the only person in the world who has made the decisions that you have made and you're not a bad person for making them. It's not ideal, but it's not cruel. Going out and entertaining yourself and leaving him home on top of it would be cruel in my book, torturing animals is cruel, never taking a dog out or socialising it by giving it new experiences, not giving it its jabs or medical attention is cruel, going out to work to earn a living and having to leave it while you work is just 'difficult'.

I don't pretend to be perfect but I learn from my mistakes. The OP made a mistake thinking a puppy could be left alone for this length of time. They need to learn and adapt for the puppy's sake.

As for your advice to consider getting another dog, the OP is struggling to look after one dog! I have a bonded pair of dogs and they do play together and keep each other company while we are out but I would never suggest someone get another dog because they can't spend enough time with the dog they have or afford a dog sitter/walker. How will they afford twice the food and vet bills? How will they find time to train the second dog? What if the dogs don't get along, should they throw a third dog into the mix?!

I do agree it's risky to leave the puppy alone with the cat though.

Froglet

LouisMarmaduke wrote: »

I no longer wish to discuss the subject.

I have came to a personal arrangement outwith the forum.

After some of the posts I do not wish to comment any further as anything that I say is criticised .

Nobody is perfect )

So.You ask for advice but don't want to hear it or take it.Then you say you no longer wish to comment but you have made a 'personal arrangement'. You leave everyone who cares about animals and in particular this lonely puppy,worrying about what the future holds for it.

Please let us know what you have decided.Everyone has had their say and won't want to keep on about it but it would be nice to hear the outcome.

I just hope for that pup's sake it is a good one.

mrcow

So what is an acceptable length of time to leave a puppy or dog? Lots of people who work have dogs and they have to be left.

For example, I leave my house at about 9am and am back at around 2.30. Would that be too long?

Fosterdog

I know most rescues work to the four hour rule, if a dog is going to be left for four or more hours they should have a break half way through, the length of the break depending on how long they are left altogether, say for four hours just a quick garden loo break should be fine but seven plus hours then several short breaks or one/two decent walks.

Mine are rarely left for more than four hours, as they are adults and fine being left if I do have to leave them longer I will make sure they have an extra good walk first and will leave them up to five and half hours without a break as long as they have company for the rest of the day after that. If they are left any longer I will have family to call in and check on them and stay with them for a while and take them for a game of ball in the garden.

My dogs could easily cope with being left for longer without a break or company but I wouldn't do that to them, I'd hate to be cooped up in the house all day so I don't see that it should be any different for them.