Is it wrong to leave a dog alone?

[Gempress]

I saw this being brought up in another thread with a lot of differing opinions, so I thought I would bring it up here.

Is it wrong to regularly leave a dog home alone for an extended period of time?

I personally don't think so...as long as the owners make the most of the time they have. My husband and I work full-time. Zeus and Voodoo are alone from 7:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m. on the weekdays. They are also left alone for the occassional short stint on the weekend (1-2 hours).

I've seen some opinions on the forum that say this is wrong. But, both my dogs are happy and well-adjusted. No behavioral issues (boredom barking, destruction, seperation anxiety, etc.). They don't even exhibit any signs of stress when we leave. When Zeus and Voodoo see us getting ready to head out the door, Zeus will curl up on his favorite napping spot and go to sleep, or settle down with a chew toy. Voodoo does the same.

We come home for lunch every workday. I have training sessions in the mornings and evenings, and take my dogs for long walks daily. They sleep in our bedroom with us every night. We rarely go out on weekday evenings...we take the time to be home with our dogs.

Now this is NOT something I would do with a young puppy. But I don't have a problem with an adult dog being alone. But as with so many other things, I think it depends on the owner.

Anybody have any thoughts?

 

[rij73]

Sounds like what you do is perfectly fine! If no one with a fulltime job could have a dog, then there would be a lot more homeless animals in the world. I think it all just depends on the dog's temperament and training, and what is done during the time the owner IS home!

 

[Lizmo]

Our dog are left home when ever we go some where whether it be 1 hour or up to 8 hours

Our dog have no issuies with being home alone... no boredom barking, destruction, seperation anxiety...most of the time they sleep or chew on a bone

I really see no problem with leaving a dog that has no problems with it...NOT a puppy....home alone for a few hours

But that is JMO!

 

[casablanca1]

Until we figure out a way to make money without working, I think our dogs are facing some alone time Seriously, I never understand that debate.
If you're independently wealthy, work as a teacher, are a stay-at-home mom, a freelance writer, etc., well, that's great. But most people have to go out to work in order to make money to care for their dog. I have heard that debate online a lot, and I think it often gets fueled by teens and college kids who because of their circumstances are very passionate about things and have limited experience in working for a living.

I do hate to hear someone blithely mention they crate 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.

 

[dogsarebetter]

i think it depends of the dog. i would hate to think of a dog being crated more than 8 hours at a time, and more than 16 hours a day, but thats just me.
Ruckus has a total crated time of 11 hours including sleeping time. he loves his crate and does well. he just sleeps or chews a bone. if i am home for some reason i will leave the crate open and he will still lay in there doing his own thing until i was suposed to be home.

 

[~Tucker&Me~]

Don't mean to hijack, but how long do you think it's okay to leave a puppy?

~Tucker

 

[dogsarebetter]

i personally dont like the idea of a crate 8 hours while working, and 8 hours while sleeping but i think thats the life most dogs live. we cant help that we work. doesnt mean we shouldnt own dogs

 

[Lizmo]

Don't mean to hijack, but how long do you think it's okay to leave a puppy?

~Tucker

Well depend? Is he/she housetraining?

Really depends on that^^^

But I would not leave him more than a 20 mins to start...them work up from there!

 

[sparks19]

I see nothing wrong with it. If you are house training a puppy and must work full time (it happens people, otherwise no one would have puppies) then set up the kitchen with pee pads or news paper. People always say this confuses the dog but when I was a little girl we got all our dogs as puppies AND my mother worked full time. We used newpaper and not ONE dog had trouble figuring out that they either had to go on the paper or outside, when the paper was gone that meant they had to go outside. dogs are smarter than some give them credit for.

people gotta work. People always say if you don't have enough money for vets, food, etc then you shouldn't have a dog. How else can you afford one if you can't work while having a dog. HMMMM kinda contradicts itself LOL

 

[Purdue#1]

my friend's dog( says it's her sister's and not her's) tried to chew her way outside when they were gone one day. She was still a puppy. so they got a crate to put her in for most of the day. Well, they are gone for longer than you are gempress. and they don't take her out to just play to run off energy. this is an aussie. i feel sorry for her.i think we might actually be getting her though.

 

[Fran27]

Tucker, I'm not sure. The thing is, as long as the puppy isn't housetrained, whether you leave it one hour or five, it's likely there will be an accident anyway. The main reason why I personally don't like the idea that a puppy is alone more than 5ish hours a day is that it's less time for training and bonding.

 

[Purdue#1]

my friend's dog( says it's her sister's and not her's) tried to chew her way outside when they were gone one day. She was still a puppy. so they got a crate to put her in for most of the day. Well, they are gone for longer than you are gempress. and they don't take her out to just play to run off energy. this is an aussie. i feel sorry for her.i think we might actually be getting her though.

My dog is left alone about the same hours as you, but i think we might be building a kennel for him that has a room where he can stay out of the weather and a fenced in area so he can run and play durning the day while we are gone.

 

[Dizzy]

I worked full time and have a dog. So I think that cannot be avoided.

I think 10 hours is pushing the limits..... Personally.. But as long as the dog is HAPPY, walked regularly, and sleeps with the family, then it's ok.

I think people forget that they might work 8 hours, but they also SLEEP 8 hours... I have Bo in with me, so she has the contact, which she loves.

My opinion in the other thread was on CRATING for that long... I think that it wrong. People crate for work, crate for sleep - thats at least 16 hours in a cage every day

 

[Purdue#1]

sorry for the re-typing. This computer messed me up.

 

[dogsarebetter]

Ruckus is in the crate volentarly at least that long.
so again i think it depends on the dog.

 

[tessa_s212]

But what do you do if you have a dog that you can't trust to not chew things? You obviously aren't going to endanger the dog's life just so that they can be "free".

I'm all for crate training. I don't believe it is cruel to leave a dog in one at all. Think about it. What do dogs do most of the day anyway? SLEEP

 

[krisykris]

Personally, I've been staying home almost all day lately because I've been deciding what my next work or school move will be. So, I'm always available to my pups at the moment.

What works for me, is leaving both of my pups in an exercise pen together with a bed, toys, food, and water. It makes me feel better because they have more room to move around and play, so I don't feel like they just have to sleep in their crate.

It's at a disadvantage sometimes because since there is a lot of extra space they WILL sometimes go to the bathroom in one corner of the pen if I'm gone more than 2-3 hours. But, I also free feed and have water available all the time so that might have something to do with it.

In the future if I go off to work and have to be away 8 hours, I'll most likely puppy proof the kitchen or an area where they can have a lot of space to play. I also like to leave a tv on so they arent in total silence.

 

[Dizzy]

But what do you do if you have a dog that you can't trust to not chew things? You obviously aren't going to endanger the dog's life just so that they can be "free".

I'm all for crate training. I don't believe it is cruel to leave a dog in one at all. Think about it. What do dogs do most of the day anyway? SLEEP

So - your dog is chewing - you "fix" the problem by locking the dog up?

A dog will chew because it:

a) is BORED - crating will not stop boredom - it will increase frustration..

b) has anxiety - crating does not cure anxiety....


Again we see the quick fix method

 

[dogsarebetter]

puppies chew when they are teething

 

[Beanie]

I definitely think it's one of those things that depends on the dog, and depends on the situation for the rest of the day, too. I feel bad for the dogs who are crated or stuck in a little apartment all day while their owner(s) are at work, and then they don't even get out very much in the evenings either... how much energy they must have built up! But then again, some dogs are mellow and it's okay for them, so it loops back around and depends on the dog again.

But it's unavoidable to an extent. I think so long as you make the best of the time you have (and don't go out every night and weekend like my sister does... I swear the only time she spends with her dogs is when they're sleeping on the foot of her bed...) it's not horrible. =>