How long do you leave your dog home alone?

[Liberal_in_LA]

dog owners have it rough! When I opened this article I thought it would be a discussion about the number of DAYS dogs can be left alone, not hours. I wouldn't think twice about leaving my cats for 10 hours. omg

How long do you leave your dog home alone?

My dog Alice is a lucky pup. Both of her two-legged parents are self-employed, so she gets lots of play time and belly rubs throughout the day and often gets taken along to job sites and meetings. When we can't take her with us, she spends a maximum of 4 hours in her crate.

But unfortunately, Alice is more the exception than the rule. In one of the largest-ever studies of pet well-being, animal welfare experts report that nearly a quarter of dogs are being left alone so long and so often, that they're not only lonely, but also at risk for developing depression and separation anxiety.

The U.K. report, issued by the PDSA and research firm YouGov, draws data from 11,261 pet owners and veterinary professionals. It found that 23% of canine owners in the United Kingdom leave their dog unattended for 5 hours or longer on a typical weekday, or don't keep track of the time at all. Fully one-third of owners between the ages of 18 to 24 do so, compared with just 10% of those 55 or older.

When asked the maximum time a dog should be left alone, 52% of canine owners said 5 hours, 17% considered 6 hours the ideal limit, while 15% said 8 hours. A frightening 4% believe a dog is fine on its own for upwards of 10 hours. (The remaining owners were unsure.)



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/pets/detail?entry_id=84820#ixzz1GKxzxuoH

[Blue_In_AK]

1. On rare occasions we'll leave the dog home alone

eight or 10 hours, but most of the time, we're here with her since we're retired. We don't crate her anymore, though. She's fine on her own. The cat, on the other hand, has been left home alone for a couple of weeks, with someone stopping by periodically to fill her food and water bowls and clean the cat box. She's a little pissed off at us when we first get home, but she gets over it.

[Autumn]

2. I might leave my papillon alone for an hour and a half

any longer than that, my baby goes with me. Cause I miss him.

[Libby2]

5. Me too! I can't stand leaving her.

[NotThisTime]

11. I hate leaving my dog more than 2 hours, if it's much more off to doggiecare

Cats are much different....

[Canuckistanian]

26. My sister has a Shih Tzu

If she's out of his sight for more than 15 minutes, he starts howling.

It really depends on the individual breed and dog. I heard once that "intelligent" dogs will go NUTS if you leave them alone for too long, while "less intelligent" dogs will do just fine for longer periods of time.

It all depends on the breed and individual characteristics of the dog.

[Kennah]

3. My cats think I spend entirely too much time in their house

[CoffeeCat]

8. hahaha!!

Love it! My three cats feel EXACTLY the same way!

[Kennah]

13. I'm thankful every day ...

... that our ancestors chose to domesticate 100 pound dogs rather than 100 pound cats.

It would be fucking cool, until they decided I tasted like chicken.

[CoffeeCat]

15. It would also be challenging during those nights...

...that they decide that they MUST sleep on your head, wrapped around your neck.

One of my cats now owns my pillow. She gets 3/4, I get 1/4. Period.

You know what I'm talking about...I'm sure. :)

[Turborama]

49. Thank you for the nuch needed laughs! n/t

[RKP5637]

16. I think my cat thinks I'm his child or something. He spends his day bossing

me around and nagging me. I love it.

[Liberal_in_LA]

32. yup. If I'm home during the day, eventually they go off to their mid day naps

[Kadie]

39. LOL!

[yawnmaster]

4. I think this is about recurring human absence. One time 10 hours or more perhaps...

but everyday, or near everyday? that is not good for as social an animal as a dog.

[Cleita]

6. One of the reasons I never had a dog in the past.

My husband and I were apartment dwellers who worked. We felt it would be cruel to keep a dog locked in an apartment all day alone. We did have cats who could spend the day outdoors amusing themselves and they kept themselves hidden in the bushes and didn't bother anyone. At the end of the day when they heard our cars, they met us in the parking area and came home for the night.

[Tx4obama]

7. In the past seven years the longest my dog has been left home alone was twice for 2 1/2 hours.

And 'one' time when the veterinarian kept him over night at the animal hospital after a surgery.

Other few other times he has been left alone for about an hour.

p.s. My dog is really spoiled.

Edited to add:
The last time we left him home alone we set up a video camera, and turned MSNBC on for him :)
He walked into the den, stood in the middle of the room for a minute looking around,
then went to the door and laid down on the mat - he stayed there in the same spot pouting until we returned.
Watching the video was heartbreaking!

[Liberal_in_LA]

31. wow! Cats alone from (with each other) from 8am to 7pm weekdays

God bless the cat!!

[Scuba]

9. Dogs are very social animals. Leaving "the girls" alone...

.. for a few hours is OK - once in a while.

Leaving them home eight hours a day five days a week will destroy their psyche.

If you can't be with your dog, don't get one!!!!

[hobbit709]

10. I'm occasionally gone 6-10 hours.

Of course my boys have each other and a dog door to go out into the back yard whenever they want.
Half the time when I come back, they look up as if to say "Oh, it's you" and go back to snoozing or whatever.
Now if I come in with groceries in hand they get all excited.

[madinmaryland]

12. We've left the cats alone for over 48 hours.

They were fine.

Obviously, the same cannot be done with dogs, but the cat's have not problem with it. Imagine if the had opposable thumbs...

:scared:

[Obamanaut]

14. Our dogs (four under 10 lbs each, one about 40) have access to the front

fenced yard through the front door 24 hours/day. When we leave the house for more than an hour or two, we leave a music DVD on the teevee for them. But even with being able to get out during that time to bark at birds, they still seem excited when we come home.

[meow mix]

17. 4 dogs here, i never leave for more than a couple hours

and i hate going for that long.. just get scared there might be an accident or a fire or who knows what.

[Bettie]

18. I'm an at-home mom so my two dogs are usually with me

But, they do get left once in a while if we're going out and about.

If it will be a whole day, they go to spend the day with my mother's big bunch o dogs.

[givemebackmycountry]

19. I try to tell people this, especially my Mom-

I would LOVE to have a tail wagger and frankly would benefit from one since I live alone.
BUT, I work too many hours and I'm gone a fair number of weekends.
When a dog senses that you love them (and they know) they open their heart to you, and they love you back.
YOU are the most important thing to them, and they reward you with the kind of love that only a dog lover understands.
And when you are gone for hours and hours they miss you and they long for you.
The sound of your voice, and your interactions with them.

Having a dog and leaving them alone all day would hurt me deeply and I'm not doing that to any animal I love.

WOOF!




Emma Bear.
My sisters dog and my best friend.
She knew I was coming to visit days before I arrived, and when she would see me, she would run at me and jam her head between my legs and wag, wag, wag, her tail.

She's gone a few years now, and I miss her so.

[Dappleganger]

21. She is gorgeous! We also have an Emma...

our big yellow lab who we adopted a couple of years ago. She is an old soul. :)

[patrick t. cakes]

38. Thanks for sharing that

Dogs do miss and love their human friends. I've experienced this first hand with an old roommate's
dog, Suki. He had her for about six months before I moved out, and one day, after about a month or so, I had to go to the apt. to get something and Suki went bananas; jumping on me, licking me, hugging and kissing me basically. She was a sweet pup, I miss her a lot.

[Dappleganger]

20. Ours keep each other company.

We have 2 mini-dachshunds and a big yellow lab. When we go out they can handle 9 hours at a time just fine. They get walked in the morning as we well as being fed. The male doxie needs to stay in his crate because he will chase kittehs and have accidents at times. The other two do just fine. When we are home there is no crating. They also go on another long walk in the evening, plus play time outside if it's nice. I don't see why folks only have one dog as they really do better when they are in a pack, IME.

Edited to add: I'm here pretty all the time right now so they just hang out with me.

[elfin]

22. No more than 4-5 hours 1-2 times/week

If more than that, a neighbor checks in.

The rest of the time pretty much on my lap or in the car with me on errands.

When I got this pup, I looked him in the eye and pronounced that if he would make me laugh once a day, I would change my life for him.

So far, bargain kept. I refuse to leave him longer or more frequently for a long stretch and am thankful being retired that I can do that.

I this means refusing or canceling other activities -- so be it.

All dog lovers here MUST read "inside of a Dog" by Alexandra Horowitz.

A few reviews here.

http://tinyurl.com/4gf3pzr

[Codeine]

23. Don't people have jobs?

Seriously, your dog will be fine while you're at work. Food, water, a warm bed, and maybe another dog to hang with are sufficient.

[HuckleB]

25. +1

[Liberal_in_LA]

29. lol. Glad you said it and not me.

[Codeine]

33. Always willing to be "that guy".

:evilgrin:

[Carolina]

30. I am so glad you said what I was thinking

I have always had 2 dogs to keep each other company while I'm at work. Yes, I'm gone 8+ hours everyday and they're fine. They know the routine. Course we (canines and humans) love the weekends!

[blondeatlast]

35. +1. My darlin' got lonely so she was gifted a kitten. There's a lot of guilt inducement

on this thread.

[riderinthestorm]

45. There always are on these kinds of threads. Don't get me started on threads about pet food!

Seems as though there's a contingent of people at DU who want to shame anyone who may feed commercial pet food (gasp!!1111), or lets their cat outside (shock!!!), or works 8 hours/day leaving their dog at home (oh noes!!11), or tries a home remedy for their pet first before rushing them off to the expensive ER, or....

I hate threads like that (this?)!

Sigh.

[Bonhomme Richard]

24. Mine goes to work with me. n/t

[Earth_First]

27. Our Golden is home alone for about 6 hours during the work week...

She gets her walk in the a.m. and our daughter lets her out at 3 p.m. when she gets home from school and I take her for her walk after work.

As stated above, a good bed; in her case the couches, adequate food, water and her toys, she's happy...

I'd love to be our Golden!

[Brickbat]

28. I've left them for 12 hours in their kennels.

[lonestarnot]

41. Why?

That sounds terrible to you have an outside dogrun kennel? or are you talking about a box/crate kennel?

[Brickbat]

43. I'm talking about crates.

It is not a routine thing. They were fine, if happy to run out to pee.

[lonestarnot]

46. Bad for their urogenital system.

Among many other things.

[Brickbat]

47. Which is why it's not a routine thing.

Shit happens, we can't get back to the house.

[TBF]

34. Our new lab pup (nearly a year old) is still doing a lot of chewing so he sleeps in his crate -

other than that I am a stay at home mom so he gets long walks (at least an hour of walking a day - usually more), playtimes with my 7 yr old, and is only crated when I have errands. The previous two older labs we had slept on their own bed in our room, so he will graduate to that as well when we can trust him not to chew up all the wires in the house!

[northernlights]

36. I always felt bad leaving my boy alone while I was at work

and I suspected he was depressed. After a couple years in school/unemployed, I got a 2nd dog when I knew I'd be in for even longer hours after I got a job.

The difference in doggie #1 is dramatic enough that I *know* he was depressed home alone. Even though they mostly sleep while I'm away, now I'm greeted with 2 bouncing, happy, tail-waggin' pups when I get home, instead of one dog rolled up under the blankets barely wagging the tip of his tail

Now on rare occasion (say, vet trip for one) I'll leave one alone for a short time. But never again for long times. Ever.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

37. However long the work day is.

But they're not alone. They have each other. I don't leave them in a crate, and they have puppy pads where they go potty. They miss with their poo a lot, but it's my fault not theirs, and more than half my house is tiled, with two more rooms getting tile in the near future. They are used to it. We lock them out of the living room during the day, but they have the kitchen, hallway, and bedroom free range. They see the bed as their cave, so it's kept clean.
Are they happy to see us? Yes. But when I'm home sick with my IBS, they barely move all day from the bed. They sleep all day. They are far too riled up when we're home and playing with them. They get to rest without distraction. I think we all need time away from each other so we can appreciate our time we have together.
Duckie

[adigal]

40. I will adopt dogs to working families

As long as they know that dogs need to be with them when they are home. If the dog is crated during the day,and they say that they will crate him at night, also, they get a reeducation from me. If they don't understand, they don't adopt one of my rescue dogs.

Now, dogs do bond with their owners all night long. While we sleep, they are up and down, sleeping much more lightly than we do, and they hear us and smell us all night, and are part of the pack. I learned that from the Monks on New Skete, which is why even their pups are in their rooms.

[SammyWinstonJack]

42. Leaving Sammy Winston and Jack alone is NOT an option.

5 minutes alone is too long for them.

[femmocrat]

44. We have three dogs, so they have each other for company.

They are never left without humans for more than a couple of hours though.

[phylny]

48. My husband works at home, so he's here with Abby and Jack

most of the time. When he's away on business, I take them to my Early Intervention visits, and then to the office and they hang out in a crate in an empty room, where the kids who come to the clinic can go in and visit them.

On days when he's away and I have to travel, we pay a petsitter to come in. I leave between 7:30 and 8:00, and she comes in at noon and again at four, then I'm home by six.

The only time it becomes tricky is when I have EI visits and it's hot out. Then, I adjust my schedule as I'm able so that they are safe and cared for.