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Leaving a dog alone

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  • catkins
    catkins Posts: 5,703 Forumite
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    Well in an ideal world everyone that has a dog would be at home most of the day but we don't live in an ideal world. I think it's better for a dog to be left while it's owners are at work than to be stuck in a kennel or put to sleep.

    Having said that, I don't think a puppy is a good idea at all. Puppies need company, they need training, they need to be walked to learn how to walk nicely on a lead, they need to be socialised, they need to be let into the garden to toilet etc.

    Even if you used a dog walker I personally still think it would be too long for a puppy to be left. I know people that had had family puppy sit and that has worked but others that only had someone pop in for a short while ended up getting rid of their dogs.

    You could think about doggy day care. Where I am the average cost is £20 a day and a dog walker is at least £12 an hour so pretty good value. The pup would be socialising with other dogs and humans, playing etc.

    An older rescue dog would be a better idea but, of course, you need one that you know is going to be ok alone. Quite a few of my friends have rescue greyhounds and most of them are quite happy being left - one or two though are not. One friend even has to get someone to dog sit when she goes food shopping as her dog suffers terrible separation anxiety.

    You have to think about things like the fact the dog will need a walk in the morning before you go to work. It might be pouring and you will need to dry yourself and your dog before you can even think of getting ready for work so think how much time you would need. Would you be ok with having to get up x amount of time earlier even on a cold dark winter morning? Think about how much exercise different breeds need. Again, greyhounds often only need two 20 minute walks a dog, some breeds need more like two one hour walks minimum a day.

    A dog will also not only need an evening walk but also time spent playing with them plus, depending on the breed, brushing.

    You need to think about your social life too. You can't leave a dog all day then come home, give the dog a quick walk and something to eat and then go out again for several hours. Also if a dog is being left most of the day all week I don't think they should be left too much at a weekend. Of course you may need to go shopping but going out for most of the day is not really on.

    I don't work now but when I did work it was only part time - 3 days a week for 5 hours a day but I had a dog walker and a neighbour also used to pop in to let my dog out in the garden and check he was ok.

    I try not to leave my dog more than 3 to 4 hours. If me and OH are going out for the day one of our friends will come and spend time with the dog or he goes to doggy daycare.

    One last thing, don't forget to think about things like days out and holidays. Unless you take your dog with you they will have to have someone look after them and, again, that can work out expensive. Me and OH are going away next month for 3 weeks and our dog is going to a dog sitter - it's costing us over £500 for him!
    The world is over 4 billion years old and yet you somehow managed to exist at the same time as David Bowie
  • missbiggles1
    missbiggles1 Posts: 17,481 Forumite
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    GwylimT wrote: »
    However they aren't making ADH during the day, personally I wouldn't be comfortable leaving a dog to hold its urine for such a long time, I wouldn't expect to hold mine for eight hours, so I can't expect an animal to do that either.

    You have to look at what the alternative would be for a dog and most dogs would (I think ) prefer to be alive and in a loving home even if a bit of leg crossing were involved. Better that than to be stuck in rescue kennels for months /years or to be pts. (Apologies for repeating myself.)


    I don't think people should be put off adopting dogs (or cats for that matter) just because they can't offer them an absolutely perfect life.
  • teddysmum
    teddysmum Posts: 9,500 Forumite
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    Few could offer a perfect life but being left alone in a cell (a house being a luxury cell) is not the solution for the majority of dogs; being left with a companion is another matter, provided they aren't punished for soiling when it's not their fault.


    An alternative for someone working long hours but wanting the pleasure of walking or playing with a dog, could volunteer at a rescue, many of which greet helpers with open arms.


    This way, the ideal lazy dog who sleeps all day, may just turn up.
  • missbiggles1
    missbiggles1 Posts: 17,481 Forumite
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    teddysmum wrote: »
    Few could offer a perfect life but being left alone in a cell (a house being a luxury cell) is not the solution for the majority of dogs; being left with a companion is another matter, provided they aren't punished for soiling when it's not their fault.


    An alternative for someone working long hours but wanting the pleasure of walking or playing with a dog, could volunteer at a rescue, many of which greet helpers with open arms.


    This way, the ideal lazy dog who sleeps all day, may just turn up.

    But where do you think these dogs are living at the moment? They're not in a comfortable home with room to get up and wander about, they're quite literally in a cell with no loving owners to take them out and spend the majority of the time with them - just in the cell for months or even years, sometimes for 24 hours a day.
  • Person_one
    Person_one Posts: 28,884 Forumite
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    But where do you think these dogs are living at the moment? They're not in a comfortable home with room to get up and wander about, they're quite literally in a cell with no loving owners to take them out and spend the majority of the time with them - just in the cell for months or even years, sometimes for 24 hours a day.

    It would definitely be better if there were fewer dogs altogether, considering the thousands we kill every year as well as the ones spending months or years in rescue kennels.

    I don't think working needs to be a barrier to owning dogs, but I do think its important that full time workers take steps to ensure their animals have a good quality of life and 'better than being in a rescue kennel' isn't really a high enough standard to aim for. At least in a rescue kennel the dogs normally get a decent walk each day, and plenty of dogs in suburban homes with busy owners sadly don't get even that.
  • missbiggles1
    missbiggles1 Posts: 17,481 Forumite
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    Person_one wrote: »
    It would definitely be better if there were fewer dogs altogether, considering the thousands we kill every year as well as the ones spending months or years in rescue kennels.

    I don't think working needs to be a barrier to owning dogs, but I do think its important that full time workers take steps to ensure their animals have a good quality of life and 'better than being in a rescue kennel' isn't really a high enough standard to aim for. At least in a rescue kennel the dogs normally get a decent walk each day, and plenty of dogs in suburban homes with busy owners sadly don't get even that.

    Obviously in an ideal world, dogs get walked at least once each day but I think you're being a bit optimistic saying that this is the case in all rescue kennels - it isn't even the case in all boarding kennels! In a domestic situation, older dogs manage pretty well with regular access to a garden to play and run about in for a few days at a time.

    My main priority is getting dogs out of refuges, both for their own sakes and for the sake of others who'll die if space isn't found for them.
  • tooldle
    tooldle Posts: 1,587 Forumite
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    edited 23 August 2016 pm31 3:33PM
    I think there is a danger here of painting workers, as incapable dog owners.
    I own a dog and work. I have two near neighbours, who have dogs. Both are stay at home parents. None of these dogs are ever walked. They have access to the garden, but that is all.
    I see nothing wrong with a worker having a dog, as long as the dog is cared for and exercised accordingly. It is the suitabikity if the potential owner that is important, and not what they do for a living; in my opinion.
    Edited to add, my dog is house trained. Since 21 weeks, he has never soiled in the house.
  • Top_Girl
    Top_Girl Posts: 1,211 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    We have a dog that has a maximum of eight hours alone on any given day - I work part time, Top Boy is at school, Top Bloke has a job that means he often works weekend shifts but has days off in the week. I don't work weekends or school holidays.

    He's 9 months old and we've had him since he was 3 months old. He learned to use puppy mats early on (adult dogs could probably use these if needed) and daytime accidents are a great rarity now - he is walked before school and after school/work depending on all of our schedules and always goes first thing. He's happy, healthy and loved. When we are at work, he sleeps all day in the kitchen.
  • Person_one
    Person_one Posts: 28,884 Forumite
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    Obviously in an ideal world, dogs get walked at least once each day but I think you're being a bit optimistic saying that this is the case in all rescue kennels - it isn't even the case in all boarding kennels! In a domestic situation, older dogs manage pretty well with regular access to a garden to play and run about in for a few days at a time.

    I don't for a minute think its the case in all kennels, but I do think/hope/believe they get at least short walk in most. I would never leave my dog in a boarding kennel that didn't take them for a walk, how would they even stay in business?

    I don't believe that regular access to a garden is an adequate replacement for a walk, unless you're talking about a dog so elderly that it struggles to walk far or one that is injured/unwell. If its capable of running around and playing in the garden, it should be walked.
  • catkins
    catkins Posts: 5,703 Forumite
    I've been Money Tipped!
    edited 24 August 2016 am31 11:47AM
    Person_one wrote: »
    I don't for a minute think its the case in all kennels, but I do think/hope/believe they get at least short walk in most. I would never leave my dog in a boarding kennel that didn't take them for a walk, how would they even stay in business?

    I don't believe that regular access to a garden is an adequate replacement for a walk, unless you're talking about a dog so elderly that it struggles to walk far or one that is injured/unwell. If its capable of running around and playing in the garden, it should be walked.

    The problem is how does anyone know what goes on in a boarding kennel unless they work there?

    There is one fairly close to me and someone I know worked there for a while and said the dogs never got walked. She then worked at another kennel and said the dogs did get walked, although not for long, but not if it was raining as they did not have time to dry them
    The world is over 4 billion years old and yet you somehow managed to exist at the same time as David Bowie
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