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Out the house for 8 and back at 4. Would certain breeds of dog be happy in a fully enclosed large garden with kennel facilities for this duration? Have an appointment at the local rehoming shelter to chat with someone about our suitability for ownership. Just looking for other input and experiences to learn from.
What are your reasons for wanting a dog?
Because this is what dogs all day.
You get a person like me a Dog walker comes to your house takes him out to play with other dogs puts him back afterwards and gives him/her a treat then they sleep till you come home
Get a cat? They are much less needy and if if you get the right one can love you back. On their terms of course.
Yep dog walker when either MrsG or I are not at home (about 2 days a week average). Dogs seem to love it!
When I used to have to commute, having a thoroughly sealed garden, dog flap and a pile of interesting toys helped. That and a strict routine of up>walk>work>walk really helped. Upset their routine and either dog became quite sad (not owned together).
if I needed to do that again I’d probably get a dog walker to take her out during the day as well.
I watch this thread with interest.
@ cinammon_girl. Partner and I grew up in families with dogs. Would like to give our children the same experience. We live rural so endless walks available. We are active at weekends with all activities dogs would love.
I've used webcams before to check on my dog, a hyper spaniel, when she's be left. She barely moves except to adjust her sleeping position.
A good dog walker can be ace, mine takes her out with a gang of other dogs for two hours, very happy dog.
Sometimes I pop back at lunch, most times she comes to work we me, sleeps in the car and gets a lunchtime walk.
You'll make it work. But a lot of rehoming places will discount you as working full time so I would be selective about what you tell them....
In a minute you'll get some nutter along to the thread to tell you that you shouldn't even consider it. Just ignore them even if they claim some expertise due to doing work experience at battersea....
As Lee says..
Our two sleep all day too.
i work from home, and all mine do is sleep on the duvet under one of the velux windows in my office all day, but I’d they do need to go out, I can let them out.
If I do have to gonintonmy Clients office, then they go out in the garden first thing, and a longish walk every night. So all’s good.
When I work from home the dogs seem to sleep for 90% of the day. The other 10% is playing a chase game which humans are not invited to play, moving to get to a better sleeping spot, eating and occasionally barking at the fridge or anything that dains to disturb their day (one full stop refuses to dog out mid day during the week).
when they were younger they needed much more attention. They are also a low exercise requirement type dog 🐕
also despite breed characteristics some dogs don't like being alone so get two shelter dogs 😀
Certainly an older dog that doesn't need as much exercise could cope with this kind of routine, but in fairness they are social animals and it would be better if you had a pair to keep each company. Also depends on the temperament of the dog - a hound could howl your house down, or some breeds can be pretty destructive if left to their own devices.
Another in the dog walker camp, when i have to travel for work and cant do his normal lunchtime walk they come in and take him out for me.
Our Lucher has been left with shelter water and an enclosed garden from about 1 year old. Not every day but most weekdays...she sleeps all day so the neighbours say. If someones home she sleeps all day too just on the sofa or a bed tbh. She's walked twice a day without fail. Seems happy enough. Maybe try a lurcher or greyhound, almost cat like in their laziness!!
I walk her for an hour before work. Dog walker does an hour before lunch. Wife does an hour when she gets home. The rest of her time is spent sleeping because she's so bloody knackered (but very happy).
+1 dog walker.
I walk our two labs every morning, dog walker comes in at lunchtime when we're at work. Sometimes they don't even bother to get up when I come in from work!! If I work from home, they barely move all day 🙂
Unlikely re-homing places will consider you if you tell them you work all day. Careful what you declare...
Unlikely re-homing places will consider you if you tell them you work all day.
Always strikes me as odd, they are happy to have the dog left in a kennel on its own all day and night?
You’ll make it work. But a lot of rehoming places will discount you as working full time so I would be selective about what you tell them….
In a minute you’ll get some nutter along to the thread to tell you that you shouldn’t even consider it.
I'll be that nutter. Be absolutely honest with the rescue centre, they ask these questions for good reasons. Separation anxiety is a real thing with some breeds and you may end up with an extremely stressed dog if left with for that length of time on an almost daily basis.
I work from home and my dogs sleep all day if I'm in the house. Webcam evidence suggests that if I go out one will not even notice while the other spends her time pacing and howling. How well do you get on with your neighbours?
Do some careful research and you may be lucky, retired greyhounds could be an option. And be absolutely honest with yourself, will you be getting up early to take the dog out before work, pay for the dog walker and a quick stroll after you get home even in the depths of February?
Good luck
Partner has just got a Maltese, which is about as small as my cats.
For 2 days a week he is in the house on his own, but he seems to cope OK with it. The desciptions of the breed is that they are slackers and he does sleep readily and not need a ton of exercise over and above the frantic running around the garden periods and the mass excitment and jumping up and down when you get home.
Lovely little dog and very smart. Wouldn't trade for my BSH cats though 🙂
Out the house for 8 and back at 4. Would certain breeds of dog be happy in a fully enclosed large garden with kennel facilities for this duration?
No neighbours ?
If so go for it.
Dog Walker in at lunchtime unless you are really happy to leave them in the garden throughout winter and high summer with enough food and water, shelter and warmth..
Don't get Springer Spaniels they’ll go nuts and rip everything to bits in 4 seconds.
Walk ours in the morning and then a quick one when I get home. We had a problem with them being unsettled during the day when they were only being walked in the evening, found that a long walk in the morning and short one in the evening means they tend to sleep all day. Have a webcam to keep an eye on them, also leaving the radio on for them has relaxed them, appear to be less "on duty" now.
Dog walker, as above. A friend found a dogwalker who has her own plot of land out of town; she comes and collects a few dogs, takes them out there and walks and generally entertains them for 3 hours before bringing them back. But even if you don't have that, a good dog walker that comes at the same time every day, and walks for an hour or more, is great. Tbh, the dog will sleep for a good 2-3 hours after that.
Beyond that, working from home one or two days a week helps, plus things like Kong toys that keep the dog working away for an hour trying to get treats, and have a very regular routine every day.
Edinburgh seems to consist of two types of people in the last few years, dog walkers and people who employ dog walkers. The anxious middle classes seem quite happy to pay a fortune for somebody to bundle their pooch into a van, it then gets driven for an hour to somewhere they can let it and the rest of the pack shit all over the place. Then after ten minutes of running around it's back in the van. It's been gone for over two hours so it must have had a good walk, right? Now I'm.sure there must be some good dog walkers....
fortune for somebody to bundle their pooch into a van, it then gets driven for an hour to somewhere they can let it and the rest of the pack shit all over the place.
Get a smart watch or GPS fitness band and an extra long strap and put it on the collar.
Then you'll know exactly how far it's been.
Dog STRAVA!!!!!!
DOM!!!!!
There are some dogs who could cope with this but not many IMO.
If you do go ahead, definitely think about getting two dogs so they have each other for company as well as a daily dog walker.
If I were you, I'd be looking at other ways to spend time with a dog. Something like DogBuddy. Remember, kids often get bored of dogs really quickly and easily and a few hours at the weekend with a borrowed dog might suit them better. Also, family life is busy and kids tend to get busier with age, I imagine that in reality the dog would often be left alone more than from 8 to 4.
Dogs are undoubtedly adaptable creatures and mine is used to spending all day with me. But perhaps worth noting that she was sat looking out of the window when I left to go to the supermarket earlier this evening and sat looking out of the window when I got back. I don't know what she did in the meantime but I'm pretty sure she didn't sleep contentedly.
Can only echo what stevenmenmuir said too. Dog walkers sound great in theory but anyone who has seen them (many of them at least) in practice may have a different view.
Can only echo what stevenmenmuir said too. Dog walkers sound great in theory but anyone who has seen them (many of them at least) in practice may have a different view.
Like all 'tradespeople', check them them out first and get some personal recommendations. Our village dog walker is amazing.
For years we had our two previous dogs (Springers) in the garden during the working day with no issues at all. Then we moved and for whatever reason one of them started barking while out in the garden. Got a dog behaviourist in. End result was he said that unstressed dogs pretty much sleep all day and if there was no danger of chewing then they'd be fine in the house. Gave them the run of downstairs and he was absolutely right...
Ours will look out of the window when departing or leaving and then just settle down looking at the Web cam. Hard to say whether sleeping or sulking.
Luckily the Mrs is a hair dresser and the girl she runs a salon with has a dog too so they go to work with them most days.
Like all ‘tradespeople’, check them them out first and get some personal recommendations. Our village dog walker is amazing.
Yes this, mine comes to the house and walks the dog from the door no van involved. Given that he is not a people dog he gets on with her (and her family who have also walked him) really well!
Depends on the dog.
Our mutt (a collie/springer cross) does not like being left alone - and is really unsettled when left for more than a few hours.
I now work from home most days so Muttley can sleep on the bed behind me. We go for a run at lunchtime and Thud takes her for a walk after school. She also has big walks before work and in the evening.
Dog walkers are expensive too. Our current one is £12/hr and the walk is exactly 1hr. The previous walker was awesome though - £8 for 2-3 hrs as she had to exercise her own dogs. She's retired to be a vet nurse now 🙁
Neighbours use doggy-day care - where the dog gets dropped off in a big industrial unit and plays with other dogs. Also not cheap.
A rescue greyhound make great pets. They are often left for hrs on end in cages waiting to race. They would jump at the chance to lounge all day on your bed ready to go bonkers when you come home. If you have a neighbour or local dog walker all the better. My opinion is some dogs especially rescues have had such a shit life that a few hours on their own in a comfy warm house looking forward to you coming home for walks and treats is a small price to pay.
had 3 black labbies over the last 30 years. still got one now.
30 minutes walk on a morning or 20 minutes chasing me round the fields on my bike
30 minute walk at lunch when the wife comes home for her lunch
30 minutes walk with a friend and dog after tea
all 3 dogs slept between. routine works with dogs
@ Inbred456: 8 till 4 is a bit more than 'a few hours'.
Also, I don't think it's helpful to talk about 'rescuing' dogs. There are loads of examples of people 'rescuing' dogs and in some ways the dogs arguably end up in a worse situation. Even if it's not truly worse, the 'rescuers' have robbed them of the chance of finding a better suited home.
It's easy to think you're doing a good thing rescuing a dog but it's not necessarily the case. You only have to read some posts on this forum to discover that.
Similar to others, our two get walked before work. I'm walking them at 6.45 for half an hour (in winter with a head torch) and then the kids walk them in the evening when they get in from school (4.30 ish). They are both young dogs (1 and 1 1/2 yo) and can be very active but seem fine. Grumpy neighbour is quite happy to complain if they are barking during the day and have had no trouble for the last 6-8 months. They have access to the yard during the day via a dog door and we luckily can walk them off lead along the river near us, where they swim no matter how cold it is.
25 years ago dog walkers didnt exist, were digs less happy, they certainly appear to be fatter now.
@the pilot - greyhounds are idle idle dogs. Laziest breed there is. So long as they have a comfy setttee they’ll happily sleep for hours. When we had ours there were days when we left them for a working day. Ok it was never 5 days a week but sometimes 2 or 3.
We now have a cockapoo who is similarly idle. When we’re home she’s running around barking at everything and loves to be curled up at our feet, having cuddles and otherwise being centre of attention . When we come home from a day out more often than not she doesn’t hear us come in because she’s passed out on the bed
It does depend on the dog though. Some suffer from terrible separation anxiety and if that’s the case then it’d be very difficult to make it work. This is where having a dog from a puppy can be useful as you can get it used to being left.
It can be breed dependent also - Weineramers are inherently ‘clingy’ for example.
Our local rescue place wouldn't let you rehome a dog if you work fulltime .
Owner of 2 dogs here, Springer x lab and Pomeranian.
The SxL has always been quite lazy, as long as he gets a good hour in the morning & half hour in the pm he’s fine.
The Pom needs far more interaction.
I work 30% of the time from home & wife only does 30hrs a week so ours only end up on their own a couple of times a week, for up to 6 hours. On those days we have a dog walker who gives them 90 minutes.
They seem perfectly happy with that.
The one thing I’d be thinking about is that you are already out of the house for 8 hours at a time. Have you got the time to add at least an hour at either end of that for walking etc? What was 8 hours is now 10-11 hours. Does that leave you enough time for the rest of your life? Are there other things you do when you get home from work that will now have to wait? Are you happy to be up a couple of hours earlier? Will you resent doing that even in the depths of winter?
Some owners think they know their dogs are happy when they leave, but from experience with a number of neighbours over years, the instant they've gone and the dog is whining or barking, endlessly. The second the dog hears their owner approaching, which can be way off as they can have good hearing, they stop. Owner hasn't heard anything and is just greeted by an excitable dog. Of course when at home and even in a different room and you're out of sight the dog may be content and sleeping, so you may think they'll be the same when you go out the door. Not always the case.
Though also got neighbours some streets away who either are out 24/7 or their dogs just bark, all the time. It reminds me of the Spanish mountains at times where the wild dogs are barking all night. At least it's in the distance. I'd be going insane if I lived next door.
If you do go ahead, definitely think about getting two dogs so they have each other for company
Yep. 3 days a week ours are left alone from around 8 - 12 and the 1 -5 as I go home for lunch on those 3 days. Started with one dog and he was fine for the first year (it was all he knew) but you could just tell he was looking less happy when getting home for lunch so we got another dog (his 1 year younger sister) and they are both very happy with being on their own.
The problem is, all dogs are different and you may get one that is not happy on their own so what do you do then?
I have this with family at moment - they are busy family of 5, both parents out house 7am-6pm most days, one set of grandparents look after kids at their house 2 days a week, other grandparents at kids house 3 morning a week plus after school club.
Currently they are getting a dog (apparently it is a done deal and the kids have been told), but they are trying to farm out dog to grandparents, neighbours, anyone who is passing. The mother and kids are all on record saying they won't pick up sh*t. They live in an immaculate house, like out of an Instagram lifestyle post. They don't do physical activity really (certainly not the walking types) and currently all five squeeze in 3-series or c-class as bigger estates/people carriers are not cool looking enough....
I have said my piece about them not really being a dog friendly or dog committed household...
Owner hasn’t heard anything and is just greeted by an excitable dog.
If you're greeted by an excitable dog, that's a sign that it's wound up. i.e.not happy. A 'happy' dog will be pleased to see you (tail wagging), but not excitable (jumping/barking/spinning round).
Another thing to remember is things may change as the dog ages. Ours was happy on his own from 8-4 with a walk in the morning and evening; he had the radio on, a choice of comfy beds and a dog flap out to the large-ish garden. However, as he got older and his hearing and sight started to deteriorate (hearing totally went, sight went a bit), his anxiety levels started to rise so he'd get more wound up when on his own (we were tipped off by a neighbour about whining in the garden) so we had to re-jig things so one of us came home at lunch to give him a walk.
That again was fine for over a year, but by that stage he was very old, and had dementia, so his anxiety levels were pretty sky-high, so we started using Adaptil plug-ins. They, again, worked well for about a year, but his dementia got progressively worse so we did some googling and found hemp oil. He got this in the morning before we left and at lunchtime, and, again, it helped for about six months.
By this stage though he was ancient (17), and basically knackered, so we took the decision to put him to sleep. That was two weeks ago, RIP Nelson :'-(
@IHN - Sorry to hear that, though as you say ancient at 17. Dementia though! How does that get diagnosed in a dog and what are the symptoms?
They live in an immaculate house, like out of an Instagram lifestyle post.
Family of 5 and immaculate house does not compute... family of 5 plus dog will not be immaculate house. No reason it won’t be clean and tidy but the extra hours looking after dog will mean something will give...
A ‘happy’ dog will be pleased to see you (tail wagging), but not excitable (jumping/barking/spinning round).
Dog 2 with the best will in the world is mentally deficient . She gets chased by leaves and barks at the floor and at any opportunity will spin round. Before, during and after playing, before eating, meeting anyone (not fussy at all) even if she has been with someone all day. Mind you her legs keep moving even when she is asleep.
@IHN – Sorry to hear that, though as you say ancient at 17. Dementia though! How does that get diagnosed in a dog and what are the symptoms?
Thanks chap. It's similar to humans really; increased anxiety brought on by anything out of the normal, clingyness, staring into space/zoning out (he'd stand at the edge of the room with his head drooped and just stare at the skirting board for minutes on end), reduction in cognitive function (you'd open a door for him and he'd try to get out the 'hinge' side, rather than the open side), bumping into things, not recognising people he knew, that kind of thing.
I have two dogs(Chinese crested) only committed as between me/wife/one daughter at home the dogs generally have company most of the time. Only ever left couple of hours tops. Walked 3-4 times daily and routine is important.
Walking my boys in morning hearing various dogs barking/howling in houses breaks my heart 🙁
We have a dog and she gets left 8.30 - 3.30 three times a week. I work from home one day, my wife works part time so is home one day then we are usually around and about all weekend. We feel it works. I don't think I would be comfortable with leaving her alone much more though (although as others have said, she would be fine as she does just sleep when we aren't around and she gets the full run of the utility room and kitchen/diner).
Dogs need things, food, water, exercise, trips out round their regular (and irregular) walks, a happy pack to be part of, a safe and comfy place to sleep.
You don't necessarily have to be there all hours of the day for those things to be true. They will get used to any reasonable routine. Routine works really well for dogs, IME.
FWIW:
Our pair, during the day, will sleep all day. Regardless, if we're in, or out (yes, we've filmed them).
But, we also walk them hell or high water every day, give them lots of attention and the odd game, etc - they're not missing out on any of their needs.
What mrmonkfinger says, but with the caveat that having a pair makes it easier, as they're never on their own. Next time round, we may well get a pair.
We have a 16 month old Sprocker and since she's been with us her routine has basically been 30 minute walk in the woods first thing, then a wee walk just before I leave at 815. Dog walker picks her up at lunch time for an hour off lead with other dogs (out in total for about 2 hours due to pick up / drop offs with other dogs. We get home about 6 and she goes out for another 30 minute walk. We have a large garden that is useful but would be no substitute for the lunch time walk. She has the dining kitchen to herself during the day where her bed overlooks the garden / patio, along with a bowl of water and a box of toys - the Antler is indispensible, its her favourite chew thing.
She comes running with us and weekends she does pretty much whatever we're doing, if not we can leave her at home alone for up to 5 hours.
If we didn't have a porch or utility room we'd struggle in the winter though, its handy having somewhere you can clean a wet, dirty dog before letting her in to the house.
Another vote for dog walker - ours absolutely loves her walker. We still use her even if we are home, cause the dog loves charging about in a little pack. And it's great when we bump into another dog and they go crazy playing with each other, then we find out they are dog walking buddies!
As Mr Monkeyfinger says.
I'm out for work 9-6, 4 days a week. Home Fri .
Somedays GF is home a bit earlier than me and Weds she works from home.
Tsuki spends most of the day asleep whether we are home or not, some times she'll need a fair bit of convincing to actually go for a walk but needs must as she absolutely refuses to have a slash and certainly not a dump anywhere near the house! Well at least we can be confident there's no nasty surprises in the garden.
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">Take her a decent walk however and she'll walk and run all day too, I guess this is why they sleep so much, conserving their energy for "hunting" </span>
Neighbours say they wouldn't even know we had a dog if not for seeing her, being a Shiba Inu they are known for being unusually quiet dogs though, no chance of her barking or whining .
It's Friday my day off and here she is.
We took a rescue dog on at the beginning of summer, he'd been abandoned/stray and had been in the kennels for just over 3 months but was struggling there.
Thought to be 4 year old, Malamute/Collie cross.
He has an hour's brisk walk in the morning and between 1 - 2 hours in the evening. I was coming home at lunch but he had clearly been asleep till the moment I came in. Web cam showed the same. Walking and running with the dog meant I knocked cycle commuting on the head as I was getting fatigued and wanted to spend the time with the dog instead.
Is okay to be left all day, just sleeps, he's asleep beside me now legs twitching.
We have a large open plan ex-commercial building house with large workspace that he has full access to.
IMO give them love, food, comfy bed and LOTS of excercise and they are fine left alone.
Our pair, during the day, will sleep all day. Regardless, if we’re in, or out (yes, we’ve filmed them).
But, we also walk them hell or high water every day, give them lots of attention and the odd game, etc – they’re not missing out on any of their needs.
I also agree with this and reflects my experience exactly. We have a pair of middle aged Collies and have recently started leaving them two full work days a week. With a Furbo we've been really surprised how they just sleep. It can work. Don't just listen to the scaremongers but do get the balance right and it's fine.
We had our two border terriers when our children were young. So there was always someone in the house with them; someone to play with them or take them for a walk.
As they got older - and my children left home and my wife worked full time too, they were at the age where they slept about 22 hours of the day - if it was wet, cold, or if they didn`t particularly feel like going out they would just shut their eyes tighter when you tried to get them up for a little walk. I guess we were lucky with timing etc.
Our neighbours however bought a Labrador a couple years ago. They both work full time and their children are in university .. so the dog is left alone from around 8am till 5pm. The dog is either barking, or howling, throughout the day constantly. I personally think its cruel on the dog to be left alone for that length of time because as others have said, dogs are sociable animals and enjoy interaction with others.
My sister get's a dog walker in during the day. Neighbours over the road have their mum come and walk theirs.
Us, we have cats (ended up with 4 - no harder than 1 - 3 of them entertain themselves, a 1 year old and two kittens, but the 11 year old just sleeps and eats)
We both work full time, but condensed or flexible hours/place of work. Without fail 2x 20 min walks min for our 9 y/o springer cross at 0630 or 0830 and 1830 plus irregular extras c3-4 times a week (half hour’s run, days out with family, or up to 6 or 7 miles on the bike). That’s a lot less than a lot here, she’s fit as a fiddle, but also self regulates with food which I’ve found odd. She’s also in a busy house with lots of interaction. Left 9-5, 2 or 3 days/wk. Mental stimulation like hide and seek needs to be in the mix too. They adapt well just so long as there is routine and hierarchy. I’d say 5 days a week left for 8+ hours is a tall order. Everything I’ve read here about lazy greyhounds is true. But don’t let them near deer/rabbits and barbed wire, that was some bill from the vet for my folks... though for balance there was the time the deer chased the dog...
Our cleaner decided that our pair of intermittently destructive hairy idiots needed to listen to dog meditation music. I don't know what sort of thing they're into really.
Main problem is it makes your Youtube feed pretty weird....
Next door neighbour comes and plays with Digby for 2 sessions during the day on 2 of the days a week I commute by bike. She also brings her girls around after school as he's a dog-share on those days. (They would like a dog but the house is too small with 5 of them in place). Mrs Sandwich works from home at least one day a week and he comes to the office on the other days where he sleeps all day!! (Dalmatians can be a separation anxiety disaster, but so far no noise during the day reported from the neighbours).