Doggy on it's own;Advice sought for potential new dog owner.

MatyMoo

There seems to be a feeling on here that you shouldn't have a dog and leave it home alone so at the risk of being flamed......

I got a pup last October, a miniature schnauzer. I stayed at home with him for 3 months before going back to work full time.

He has fitted very well in to our routine which goes something like this:

Mon: Short walk around the block with me before work. Out for 2 hours with the dog walker (30 mins in van, 1 hour walk with other dogs, 30 mins in van). Home for a quick fuss and play with me before I go back to work. 45-60 minutes in the park playing with his pals at 5pm. Supper, bit of play/training and then he sleeps until 6.30am.

Tues: 20-30 minute walk with me. Play in garden at lunchtime (he actually says hello and then goes out there and ignores me!). 45-60 minutes in the park playing with his pals at 5pm. Supper, bit of play/training and then he sleeps until 6.30am.

Wed: As tuesday but with an hours dog training class in the evening.

Thurs: As monday

Fri: As Tues and wed but I finish work an hour earlier.

Sat/Sun: He gets a couple of walks a day, up to an hour, and his play in the park with his pals if we are home at 5pm. He gets to go out to visit family or a group walk somewhere nice.

He also gets groomed every other day which is lovely sharing time.

Don't forget with little pups they can't go out for walks until a week after their 2nd jabs, nor can you start training school until then. You can take them out in your arms though and it is great socialisation for them, they get used to sounds of traffic, children, other dogs etc. If your vets do a puppy party please go to it, it is great socialisation.

Initially walks should be very short, 5 minutes per month of age, twice a day. And you have to build up slowly from there. Different sized dogs will have different needs though.

Everyone who meets my pup says how well adjusted he is so it can be done. Do your research on the right breed for you and your family and take advice from the breeder. Also google to see if there is a breed specific forum - the schnauzer forum has been invaluable to me.

ETA: My dog walker also does doggy day care and home from home boarding. When I knew I wouldn't be able to get home at lunchtime one day she picked him up at 9am and I collected him from her at 6pm. He had a really great time!

gizmo2_2

I have to agree with Matymoo- it can be done. Our now 10 month old pup gets a walk before we go to work, at least aan hour with his dog walker mid morning and then another walk after work. I was coming home at lunchtime, but it quickly became apparent that I was disturbing his sleep! He is a husky, so a high energy dog, but provided he gets his walks and his fusses he seems more than happy.

My advice would be to take your time choosing your dog and then find a really good dog walker who can help break up his day. Walking with other dogs also teaches them good doggy etiquette and I know that ours loves his walker because I've seen (and heard) the delight with which he greets her.

Giraffeseeker

Hi John :wave:

I was wondering how old your child is and whether they would commit to dog walking regularly?

I am a single parent and have recently added a dog to my family. I am a teacher so I am out of the house during school hours, but across the year this works out to 3 weeks out of 4, so around 15 days per month on average across the year.

I considered a dog for a couple of years and dog sat regularly for friends, but knew I couldn't take on a puppy unless I timed it to "adopt" the first day of the summer holiday and then didn't go away at all myself - which is unrealistic.

I therefore adopted an 11 month old in a private rehoming where the couple were pregnant and felt they could not cope with a young dog and a baby.

My boys are 13 and 11, so at the right age where they can walk the dog independently and will still be at home to do so for quite a few years, although they do spend half the week with their Dad.

When he first came home with me it was half term and so we had the week to settle him in. The plan was then that I would come home at lunchtime as I work locally and then my son, who is always home by 3.30, would walk him Mon-Wed, and I would do Thurs-Fri. Weekends are not an issue, of course.

He was, and still is, perfect. No behaviour issues, very loving, always happy, lots of bark (useful for me as a single female), absolutely no bite!

My first week back at work I gave him the run of the back of the house (dining room/kitchen/conservatory) and came home at lunchtimes, often just for 10 minutes. I quickly started noticing that his face was very, very wet and so was his bedding. I couldn't quite work out if it was urine or water.

When I took him to be neutered at the vets I had my answer. The receptionist told me that after me dropping him off but before his op, my dog was very, very distressed and was slobbering loads. When I collected him whole head was soaking wet. The receptionist owns a Shi-tzu, and my dog is half shi-tzu and so she explained they are a highly strung breed prone to seperation anxiety and gave me some pointers for leaving him during the day.

Firstly, she explained that the 10 minutes or so I was coming home were doing more harm than good. The anxiety was worse for the first 30-60 minutes after I left, and so by coming home for lunch I was putting him through that all over again later in the day. Solution? A dog door and no lunchtime visits.

Secondly, she explained that dogs feel more secure in a smaller, more confined space. I couldn't face one of those dog cages, but I have restrticted his daytime access to the conservatory only. He loves it. It is now "his" room and he goes in there alot when I am home.

She also reminded me that they are "pack" animals and while the rest of us are out he is guarding the "pack" home. So he should be empowered to do so. Sounds silly, but I moved his bed off the floor onto a shoe-chest thing I have in the conservatory so he can survey the garden from his bed (the conservatory has brick at the bottom and then windows). He loves this (he never used his bed before and now he does).

I also gave him a "signal" that I was leaving but was coming back. For us this is his filled Kong. The only time he gets this filled is when I am going to work (or out for a similar length of time).

Once the dog door went in, as my driveway is at the rear of my house we had difficulty leaving as he would follow us out. So to begin with I would leave the TV on so he could hear it and leave by the front, walking all the way around to my car. I also started to "ignore" his ridiculously exhuberant "welcome home"s, and would wait until he was a little calmer before I greeted him after work as he was a little hysterical.

Pretty quickly the slobbering and nervousness disappeared. We first removed the TV noise (after about a week), then after a couple of weeks started using the back gate again. Initially he followed to the gate but would stop when told. Now, when his Kong is given he takes it to his bed and doesn't notice me/us leaving. If I don't give him his Kong then he follows me out and comes with me. Which is fine, I am happy for him to follow me on every car journey, I am happy he has stopped following me so closely around the house, although for some reason he has a sixth sense for the toilet and I am still not allowed to go there on my own....?

He is now a happy, content, chilled out little man. We are lucky to be about a minute's walk from a nature walk/lake (former mine or suchlike) which takes a hour to go around at a brisk pace, so both my sons can walk him safely. We are deep in the beautiful Midlands and so are spolit for walking opportunities.

Our week pans out like this:
Monday: 1 hour walk with DS1 @ 3.30
Tuesday: 1-2 hours walk with me and DS2 @ 3.30
Wednesday: 1 hour walk with DS1 @ 3.30
Thursday & Friday: 1-2 hour walk with me @ 3.30
Weekends: Lots of walks and attention

I/We leave the house at 8.15 after a 30 minute walk (target! reality? about 15 minutes....:rotfl:)

I read alot about seperation anxiety online after speaking to the vets and told myself I would rehome if neccessary. But once I had a strategy for making him feel safe it was a very short space of time before he seemed happy and settled during the day. I do think the dog door helped but this can only be done if you are confident with the security of your garden.

What I would say is that on reading about seperation anxiety, for my dog it was almost certainly his rehoming which had brought it on (he was previously homed with his Mum so had never gone anywhere and the vet said this could occur even if I was not leaving him in the day) but often it is due to being left too long at too young an age. So I would definately think about an older dog. My boy was only 11 months, so still a puppy, but those few extra months make a difference.

Shi-tzu's are apparently a highly strung breed. Luckily my boy is mixed with Cocker Spaniel which is a bit more chilled out! His seperation anxiety did come back a little last weekend when I was away for two nights visiting my sister and he stayed with my boyfriend for the weekend. He was with people he knows very well (my bf and his children), in a house he stays at regularly (at least once a week with me) and was cared for, fussed over, walked, played with and never left alone. My bf even put his bed on the kitchen table to emulate home. But the slobbering returned and he had a wet face all weekend, despite the fact he was happy and his tail constantly wagged. He was pleased when we came home.

I know dog walkers are an excellent solution but if your son is school hours only and willing/trusted to give a good walk on his return home then that may not be neccesary depending on the breed, temperment and background of whatever dog you get. I have always thought of dogs as pack animals and that although they need walking for excercise, alot of the benefit of their walks is more psychological, in that they need to go on a "hunt" with their "pack leader" - or someone more senior than them in the "pack" (like your son/daughter) to give them that sense of belonging. A dog walker, with another 5 dogs on leashes, might be less productive than another hour and your child/wife taking him/her out.

If your child is heading towards secondary school age, or already there, then a dog is a wonderful shared interest that will get your relationship through those difficult teenage years (and keep them off the xbox for a short while). Don't delegate it all to a dog walker!

If I felt I needed to be coming home at lunch, or if I needed a dog walker, then I would do that. And I did go through some anxious times in the early weeks. But I would never, ever go back to not having a canine friend in my family and it can easily work around a busy family.

Sorry if that was all a bit rambling, hope it helps you or someone!

Tintin

Darren_G

I generally don't leave my dog alone for more than four hours at a time, even though he has never displayed any symptoms of separation anxiety or destructive behaviour.

My wife and I both work full time and the kids are all at high school. I try and manage it by calling home at lunch time or a flexible start time so that by the time the kids arrive home he has not been left that long. I always make sure he has had a good walk first thing too - the mental stimulation of being out and exploring is as important as the physical exercise and helps to calm them down.

Dogs Trust have a series of fact sheets regarding potential owners and also for children on how to behave around dogs. This one might be the most useful for you - I couldn't link direct to the pdf, but it is the link titled "Do you have time for a dog if you have a full-time job?" on the page I have linked to.

Pthree

I would say its too long to be alone for a pup but like other have said an older rescue dog may be perfect!

Please dont think all dogs in rescue have problems if you have an idea of what breed you would like try a specalist breed rescue, a lot of dogs are handed in because of owners illness or allergies or just a change in circumstances, also I seem to find that breed rescues really do "assess" the dogs a bit more than standard ones, but this isnt the case for all rescues before I get jumped on!!

Also there is no point in getting for example .........a collie or dalmation (both bred to run for miles and miles) if you only want to spend and hour or so a day walking as they need a lot more plus the mental stimulation but another breed may suit your needs and be happy with an hour or two a day. BUT I think a lot of people forget that if you have an area for off lead excersice then changes are if you walk two miles your dog will be running / chasing balls will do double that (back to you away again repeat as necessary!)

Good luck and if you do get one post some pics!

P3

doglover123_2

What age would you consider leaving a puppy on it's own from?

Crate training from a puppy would be a brilliant idea for when you leave the dog as you know he/she will be safe and not destroying the house!!

If you do get a dog from a puppy though remember to leave him for small time intervals during your time at home as spending all day with him for months and then suddenly leaving could cause massive problems.
When leaving your dog make sure you leave something like a stuffed Kong so he doesnt get bored.

Is it possible for one of you to take an early luch break and one take a later lunch break to come and let the dog out so that he's not on his own as long (not always possible I know!)
If not then a dog walker is definately a good idea.

Not all rescue dogs have problems. I have three dogs altogether (two rescue) and none of my rescues came with problems. Most shelters will be good at matching you with a suitable dog which will help to minimise problems as well.

Just remember whatever age dog you decide to get to research the breed well to make sure your both suitable for eachother!!

johnfarquhar74

Again, thanks for all the replies so far.
I certainly think with a little bit of tweaking, the dog need never be on its own for more than 3 hours, but only once it had an established routine.
If we were to go for a younger dog/puppy, we fully intend to take a couple of months off work, preferably over the summer holidays as tintingirl suggested.
Crate training is something that has only recently came up on our radar, is it a relatively new technique? I have spoken to people I know that have used it with great success, but only in the last couple of years.
As for walking, my daughter is only 8 just now though will be older by the time we get a dog and establish a routine. There's no way I will be letting her out on her own but she will be fully involved in the evening and weekend walks.

As I say, thanks for all the informative replies so far, I have read a lot on dog ownership but prefer to get advice based on rality, not fiction:D

Wellyboots6

One more thing...

You MUST show us pictures of your new pooch!!

Caroline_a

My GSD was crate trained as a pup - it became necessary as unfortunately my father became suddenly much more infirm, needing care whilst I was out at work, and the carers wouldn't come unless the dog was crated. He actually loved it, would trot happily in (although it was HUGE, almost a room in itself ) and when after my dad died I put it in the garage, he seemed almost as if he didn't know what to do with himself!

Then when I got Dog #2 and resurrected the crate while they got to know one another it was sometimes a race to see who would go in it first! Now I have no crate in the house, but I would definitely use one again. Dogs seem to regard it as a sort of 'dog cave', where they can feel safe and have their own quiet time.

Primmer

I have a cocker spaniel and both me and dh work full time but we have put measures in place so he is generally not left for more than 3 hours. I took a couple of months off work to settle him in and get him in a routine and luckily he was basically fully toilet trained during this period.

We were then lucky enough to have family to call in a couple of times a day to play with him and let him out in the garden and then when he was old enough we hired a dog walker.

His routine in the week is now a 1 hour walk before work, then lunch time he is picked up by the dog walker and he is normally out about 2 hrs sometimes more and is guaranteed a 1 hr off the lead walk. We come home and it is either an half hour walk or at leats half hour ball game in the garden and then some training exercises in the evening. At weekends we try to ensure that we are around most of the time or doing activities that he can be with us.

He was crate trained from day 1 of bringing him home and he loves his crate. We bought him a crate for a much bigger dog so that he has lots of rooms, he has his bed, then a blanket area with toys, kongs and then his water and food bowl area. He goes in the crate of his own accord if he is tired or wants some peace and he happily goes in there overnight when we go to bed and whenever we are out. If we go away over night with him then we have to take his crate (or a smaller version) as that is his safe place and he won't sleep elsewhere.

It sounds like you are putting plenty of thought and research into it - good luck and enjoy your dog. I can't imagine my life without my dog now, he really is part of the family.