Oh, and as I have said before, Leo is in a large kennel and has plenty of room to move around. He also has plenty of room to pee IF he wanted to and still not have to lay in it. We even have a fan set up right outside so he can't get too hot in the house (he has a lot of fur). When he gets bigger I will get him an indoor exercise pen (looking into those right now). I have 3 cats that are not found of Leo as of yet and for his own safety he is kenneled when I can't supervise him. I am sorry, but again, my dog is not abused. When he is old enough, he will be left out on his own when we are gone. My vet is fine with the situation, breeders I know are fine with the situation and I am fine with it. No one is suffering here.
i dont get some of you ...
- Thread starter rocco&quiras mama
- Start date
kitcatak, you are totally overreacting.
nobody is telling you to take the dog to the pound or anything. just give the poor thing some more space to move around if you can't help keeping it confined for that long every day.
you might think nobody is suffering here, i see the situation a little different. but whatever.
nobody is telling you to take the dog to the pound or anything. just give the poor thing some more space to move around if you can't help keeping it confined for that long every day.
you might think nobody is suffering here, i see the situation a little different. but whatever.
Beautiful response.
I got a German shepherd when he was 6 weeks old.
And I had to go to school, my dad had to go to work. That's the way life is. I kept him in a large puppy-proofed area with lots of toys and shirts that had my scent on it. We were gone for maybe 7-8 hours total. My dad did come at lunch time for 30 minutes to an hour though and he fed and took Rocky out.
He was/is fine. By 5 months and 3 weeks old Rocky was completely house trained. And at 9 months, oh, no seperation issues.
He has some other issues but they have absolutely NO bearing on whether he was left alone for a long time while he was a puppy.
I think it's even sadder to see someone just... not work and then criticize people who do.
How exactly is the dog supposed to eat? Get toys? Treats? Vet visits? Any of those cannot happen if you don't get money. And guess what? Work=money.
That's my 2 cents.
I got a German shepherd when he was 6 weeks old.
And I had to go to school, my dad had to go to work. That's the way life is. I kept him in a large puppy-proofed area with lots of toys and shirts that had my scent on it. We were gone for maybe 7-8 hours total. My dad did come at lunch time for 30 minutes to an hour though and he fed and took Rocky out.
He was/is fine. By 5 months and 3 weeks old Rocky was completely house trained. And at 9 months, oh, no seperation issues.
He has some other issues but they have absolutely NO bearing on whether he was left alone for a long time while he was a puppy.
I think it's even sadder to see someone just... not work and then criticize people who do.
How exactly is the dog supposed to eat? Get toys? Treats? Vet visits? Any of those cannot happen if you don't get money. And guess what? Work=money.
That's my 2 cents.
Most pple have to work and that includes me, I am away from home 8-9 hrs a day so I can afford a walking service for 4 hrs day and good food (all that I can afford to make her a healthy puppy) for her. She is coming 5 mths old now and I bring her out for 15 mins in the morning for her to relieve herself and the walking service will come by later in the morn to bring her out. She will stay alone in the house wif her toys and she have full access to the bathroom where she is trained to wee if I don't get home in time to let her out. She is almost house broken by now and I have little problem with her having accidents.
Is that cruel to leave her for 4-5 hrs alone? I do not think so, I give her all the attention when I get home, she will be let out for a long walk with me along the canals and ball games. She sleeps with me in the bed during the night. Does that make me a bad owner when I need to work to provide her a good life?
Is that cruel to leave her for 4-5 hrs alone? I do not think so, I give her all the attention when I get home, she will be let out for a long walk with me along the canals and ball games. She sleeps with me in the bed during the night. Does that make me a bad owner when I need to work to provide her a good life?
Yes, IMO, 17 hours is too long for a puppy to be alone. I'm glad there are at least cats in the house to keep him company.
The lack of social contact can come out later, usually in the form of aggression and anti-social behavior.
If there is any way you can think of to break up his day with some social contact by someone you trust, or even some time in doggie-daycare, so he can socialise with other dogs and people, you will be helping him become more social and head off some problems in the future.
This is about his future well being, not just about him being alone too long right now.
Twice in my life I've shared a dog with someone else because I was gone 14 hours a day. But, I couldn't be without a dog completely! My GSD stayed with my retired neighbors during the day, and with me at night and on the weekends. When my neighbors moved to Arizona, Annie went with them. Why did I let her go? I was still gone 14 hours a day, and it was in her best interest to go with them. Was this hard for me to do? Yes, very hard!
The lack of social contact can come out later, usually in the form of aggression and anti-social behavior.
If there is any way you can think of to break up his day with some social contact by someone you trust, or even some time in doggie-daycare, so he can socialise with other dogs and people, you will be helping him become more social and head off some problems in the future.
This is about his future well being, not just about him being alone too long right now.
Twice in my life I've shared a dog with someone else because I was gone 14 hours a day. But, I couldn't be without a dog completely! My GSD stayed with my retired neighbors during the day, and with me at night and on the weekends. When my neighbors moved to Arizona, Annie went with them. Why did I let her go? I was still gone 14 hours a day, and it was in her best interest to go with them. Was this hard for me to do? Yes, very hard!
I am not over-reacting to people implying I am a bad pet owner.
Also, LEO is only ALONE for 8.5 hours. That is it. He is kenneled at night while we all sleep, but we are HOME and if he were to whine he would be let out. He is also in a LARGE kennel. I have room for a whole other dog in there if I had one. When he gets bigger, I will get him something bigger IF NECESSARY. I expect he will be able to have free roam of the house by then.
If I worked 14+ hours a day I wouldn't have time for my children, much less a dog and would never have got one. I guess we can agree to disagree, but Leo is NOT going to have socialization problems as an adult. We start puppy class next week and I bring him everywhere I can. Enough said.
Also, LEO is only ALONE for 8.5 hours. That is it. He is kenneled at night while we all sleep, but we are HOME and if he were to whine he would be let out. He is also in a LARGE kennel. I have room for a whole other dog in there if I had one. When he gets bigger, I will get him something bigger IF NECESSARY. I expect he will be able to have free roam of the house by then.
If I worked 14+ hours a day I wouldn't have time for my children, much less a dog and would never have got one. I guess we can agree to disagree, but Leo is NOT going to have socialization problems as an adult. We start puppy class next week and I bring him everywhere I can. Enough said.
i think your getting life isn't fair mixed up with...why cant i have everything i want. It is unfair for ppl who live alone, and want a dog...and there has to be a way around it going to work earning a living but still having a job...but then again u just cant leave a dog for 8 hours no matter how much you want a dog....some people i know have cats because of their schedule they just cant have a dog.
kitkat(sp) i think your right but then what do we do witht the dog while we're gone?
Yes some people do work 8 hours but alot of have a family or still live with their family or have a husband, and some people who live alone at the time have a pet sitter......the quesstion really is, is a dog fine by himself for 8 hours, and if not what can we d o while working to help them?
kitkat(sp) i think your right but then what do we do witht the dog while we're gone?
Angelique said:
8.5 hours alone is pretty much the norm for a lot of working folks. You sound like you love your dog and are doing the best for him.
Have fun at the puppy classes!
Have fun at the puppy classes!
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thank you LEA for being one of very few ppl here who seems to get it.
also dogs are very social animals and are at their happiest when around the ppl they love ( hopfully their owners ) ..
if you are away from your house working for x hours a day, then come home let the dog out and then need to make dinner, clean the house , help the kids with homework ..
chances are you´ll be pretty tired and need to get some sleep.. there you have x more hours where the dog has to sleep like it prob. has been doing all day.
my dogs would either be apathic or stressed as hell from living like that, but hey i guess they arent the norm.
ít´s like all these chihuahua owners who walk around with their dogs in a bag or under their arm all day long.. dont ppl know small dogs have legs ? ( not that that has anything to do with what we are talking about. )
also dogs are very social animals and are at their happiest when around the ppl they love ( hopfully their owners ) ..
if you are away from your house working for x hours a day, then come home let the dog out and then need to make dinner, clean the house , help the kids with homework ..
chances are you´ll be pretty tired and need to get some sleep.. there you have x more hours where the dog has to sleep like it prob. has been doing all day.
my dogs would either be apathic or stressed as hell from living like that, but hey i guess they arent the norm.
ít´s like all these chihuahua owners who walk around with their dogs in a bag or under their arm all day long.. dont ppl know small dogs have legs ? ( not that that has anything to do with what we are talking about. )