No concept of a dogs needs?

Froglet

krlyr wrote: »

Just to add, one of my biggest concerns with this kind of setup is if the dog were to get into trouble. Perhaps spill all its available water, choke on or suffer from an obstruction by swallowing a toy or something else (chew the sofa from stress and eat the stuffing), break a bone in a freak incident, get a gaping wound, a violent D&V bug, etc. - depending on when it happened, it could be up to 23.5 hours until the dog was seen by anyone and given medical attention. I had a pet chinchilla that trapped its foot and broke its leg overnight - it chewed through the skin and muscle to try to free itself. I found it first thing in the morning, in shock from the pain and bloodloss, and rushed it to the vet. I have no idea when during the night it happened, but much longer and it probably would not have survived.
OK, we have to leave dogs at times - I could get home tomorrow to find one of my dogs dead or seriously hurt but I would know it was not lying there all day dying. A few hours might not be a death sentence, but nearly a whole day could be a lot worse. And at least overnight, dogs generally snooze through it so are unlikely to come to too much harm - whereas a bored, understimulated dog with no one to entertain it will likely spend a fair bit of those 23.5 hours getting up to various things and possibly resorting to unusual behaviour because of the circumstances.
Also, what if the dog escaped? Fence blew down, someone left a gate open, dog managed to jump out from adrenalin/stress (my rather lazy, clumsy GSD flew over 6' fencing when panicking about where we'd gone the first time I took Kiki out without him after adopting him - fence had to be adapted ASAP to keep him contained! Fortunately I'd only popped into the field adjoining the garden, which is why I'd left him in there to play by himself) or even stolen. Again, up to 23.5 hours before his disappearance may even be noticed.

A similar thing happened years ago to my Mum's dog.He got out late one night(he was very clever at mimicking feeling sick and then running off when let out!) only this time he did not come back when we called so we left the back door open and went to bed(how often could you do that these days!!)

A couple of hours later i went down and saw him in his bed so went and locked the back door.Didn't put the light on but as i was in bare feet i felt a strange wet sensation .When i did put the light on i was horrified to find a trail of blood from the back door to his bed and he was lying in an even bigger pool and trying desperately to lick the wound clean.I shouted Mum and together we managed to put a bandage on it to stem the blood.He had a gash on the top part of his leg deep down to the bone.it was awful.We were in a fairly remote place so couldn't do anything till the vets opened,they didn't even have an emergency no,but thankfully the bleeding did stop.Once at the vets he did an emergency op to close the wound and was ok but if i hadn't found him when i did it does not bear thinking about.We would have found him dead in his bed.Never did know what happened to him.

So yes,if the dog got out the same sort of thing could happen.What a thoughtless uncaring individual.What the heck are kennels for,for heaven's sake?

But i honestly don't think the RSPCA would act,providing he had shelter and food.

quietheart

Person_one wrote: »

OT, but I would definitely recommend trying to build up your dog's tolerance to being alone.

Having recently had to leave mine on their own for longer than ever before in order to rush a seriously ill relative to hospital and deal with the ensuing chaos, you never know what the future might hold and it was such a relief to me that they are well used to time alone and don't get distressed by it.

thanks. i think she was stressed because she'd had to have a wee. i think she'd be ok otherwise. she's such a good dog. she's left every day for a few hours and is just fine.:)

flybynight

i used to work with someone whos dog came to work with him, if he had to go somewhere, the dog still came to work. however the dog wouldnt sleep anywhere else and used to get stressed ( this was not the youngest of dogs). so the scenario was. 0700 i would go and get the dog and walk him, then take him back to mine to be entertained by our dog while i showered, 0800, both off to work for the day ( dog fed at work as usual)1300 dog walked by whoever in the office fancied a walk. 1730 me and dog back to my house for the evening. 22.30 evening walk with both dogs and finish up at 23.15/30 at his house and settle dog in for bed and we'd leave. so the dog was only on his own for about 7 hrs (it was sometimes less) but it stressed him less to be on his own in his own house than it would to try and settle him somewhere strange ( we tried him sleeping at mine and also at one of the other guys we worked with and he was proper distressed by it). he also had one of those autorefilling bowls and a dog flap. but still not ideal

catkins

I think it is totally out of order to even think about leaving a dog for that amount of time.

My last dog was pretty laid back but in all the years I had him he was only a couple of times left for more than 4 or 5 hours and certainly never over night. If we were going to be out for over 5 hours we would arrange for someone to come round and walk him and sit with him for a while.

We have on an odd occasion left our cats overnight with plenty of food and water and they have been fine but I have felt really guilty and couldn't sleep properly.

meames_2

If the dog has shelter, food, water and is visited at least once a day the RSPCA will not step in. (at least that is what they told me when i rang about a neighbour leaving their dogs for that length of time )

hethmar

I couldnt do it because Id be worried sick about them. At least mine have each other for company if I go to the shops or out for dinner. Even then, you would have thought we had been away for months when we return home, they are so pleased to see us.

We have never put them in kennels either (except for a day creche for one day when we were on hols and went to the Eden Project where they werent allowed) - even then we couldnt enjoy ourselves wondering if they were stressed.

elsien

Well it appears to be not just a one off situation.
Just talking to my mother about one of her neighbours, who has also gone away leaving a dog and cat to keep each other company with a relative calling in once a day to check all is ok.
Remind me again the reason for having a pet? Cultural norms are clearly changing more than I realised.

Froglet

elsien wrote: »

Well it appears to be not just a one off situation.
Just talking to my mother about one of her neighbours, who has also gone away leaving a dog and cat to keep each other company with a relative calling in once a day to check all is ok.
Remind me again the reason for having a pet? Cultural norms are clearly changing more than I realised.

It certainly does make you wonder.Not something I and many people would do but compared to those who just chuck their pets out when they go away and not bother at all,it is the lesser of 2 evils i suppose.

If they can afford to go away they can afford boarding,or at least someone to check on them a bit more often.It is so sad.

Skintski

Oh my word. I couldn't do it to our dog and to me it would be like leaving a young kid on its own. Ours is used to us going out to work but she'd think we'd abandoned her if we left her overnight. We have a responsibility to our pets and your friend seems to be taking hers rather lightly. If she can't afford proper care she shouldn't be going away at all even if it is work related.

Sally_A

I would have thought that having such contingency measures in place was part and parcel of taking on a dog.

I'm currently dog less , but know if daughter was unavailable, next door would help out (I'd have to choose a dog that got on with hers - but her dog is a laid back friendly pooch), down the line - neighbours over the hedge (x 2), family 3 doors along, and last desperate, but I'm sure they would help would be neighbour 2 doors away, or the family over the road. Other than that, I could probably get immediate short term help from a colleague at work in an emergency.

Similarly, I have taken dogs in when a neighbour was unexpectedly hospitalised, kept a few wandering dogs until I could find the owner, or get a response from the number on the collar tag - last resort, take them to the dogs home for a chip check.

Yes, I'd happily take dog in short term for free (OK, a bottle of red at the end ).