Alone all day?

Many of you are lucky enough to spend your days with our wee heart stealers, I wondered for those who work full-time & have to leave yours at home all day how you manage that? Do you feel guilty as you walk out the door, what environment do you leave them in etc
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With my previous dog I was working an average of 80 hours a week for many years. I would leave her with food, water, toys, and the radio on. If I knew I could not make it back for lunch I would have someone take her out for an afternoon walk.

I also moved 9 times, including 3 different countries while she was alive and traveled constantly. I always made sure she was familiar with numerous people so she would be comfortable. It took allot of work but it can be done.

That's awesome, what a great result!

I'm in a similar situation sometimes Bek. I work real close to home so am home lunchtimes most days but I often have to work away too. My youngest is still at school so the max Flo is left alone is between 8 AM And 3:30 when he gets home. I do feel guilty but work pays the bills and can't be avoided sometimes.

Flo has gotten used to the routine and being an older girl is perhaps more accepting of this as she gets a walk first thing and then let out lunchtime in the garden with a good walk in the late afternoon or evening. If I can't make it back lunchtime she is always good but I do feel ever so guilty.

As i work shift work, i work 4 days on then 4 days off, 2 day shifts then 2 night shifts. On the 2 day shifts i leave at 4am & dont arrive home again till 7pm so Samba is home alone for 15hrs for each day (please dont give me a hard time for doing this). Sure its not ideal but thats what i gotta do at this stage in life. I leave Samba a huge bone to keep him busy which i hope for many hours. Iam sure he just sleeps most of the day away. The 2 night shifts are alot easier on him (i hope) as its night time & he snoozes the night away. He has a big yard to roam around in & 5 chickens to stalk & theres two dogs in the next doors yard.

I work school hours but leave the house at 7:30 so my two are alone 8hours a day. They are crated while I'm out. I get the kids to leave the house just before me so the house is quiet and calm as I leave. I give them both their treats and leave without a word. I am pretty certain they sleep the whole day as when I'm home on a weekend they sleep most of the day until around 3:30, unless I'm out and about with them.

I work shifts too, my longest day is 14 hours, but my boss is very flexible with my rota so generally I work my OH's off days in the week (he does 4 days a week 7.30-17.10). In general she is never left more than 7/8 hours, and that's never more than 2 days a week now. We have somebody in half way through the day for a 30 minute hang out and to let her out for a wee. She gets 90 minutes of daily off lead running (minimum) to tire her before being left and has Kongs/activity balls/free roam of the lounge and kitchen.

I used to work in kennels, 8-5, 5 days a week with no break. Bug didn't cope with that at all. She was very badly behaved due to lack of social contact and pent up energy. Training was impossible. She was just too tense and stressed.

I've seen both sides and every dog is different. I do think that more than 10 hours a day without any break isn't fair on the dog however, as our breed especially need contact-stimulation-exercise to thrive.

I hate leaving Knox but we take him out for a walk in the morning try to knacker him out. Then I go home at lunch times and walk him. Then home after work and walk him and again before bed. He's only ever left 4 1/2 hours at the most (still too much for my liking) but he does tend to sleep the majority of it x

I work three day shifts per week and Theia is left for a maximum of four hours before I come home to see to her, then back to work for another four. One of those days Lynn is on a half day.
Pete

Cant be helped sometimes mias never left long but always make sure she has plenty food water had a walk and of course treats before i leave

dav wrote:As i work shift work, i work 4 days on then 4 days off, 2 day shifts then 2 night shifts. On the 2 day shifts i leave at 4am & dont arrive home again till 7pm so Samba is home alone for 15hrs for each day (please dont give me a hard time for doing this). Sure its not ideal but thats what i gotta do at this stage in life. I leave Samba a huge bone to keep him busy which i hope for many hours. Iam sure he just sleeps most of the day away. The 2 night shifts are alot easier on him (i hope) as its night time & he snoozes the night away. He has a big yard to roam around in & 5 chickens to stalk & theres two dogs in the next doors yard.  

I would never judge for that, it's all part of a balanced lifestyle!

Thank you all for your replies. I am SO relieved ! I have been reading comments about how many people here are with their dogs most days, or manage to get home for a lunch time walk as well as morn & night etc. I am gone from home 12 hours a day, and my OH is gone on average around 9 hours a day (he has flexibility), we put Koda outside and he has free roam of the yard and is left with his breakfast, 2 snacks (a stuffed Kong + a toy treat dispenser) and 3 or 4 toys (although he prefers to dig my garden & eat our BBQ!!) and I only put him outside as I am leaving the house, with a quick 'goodbye' or 'see you soon'. When we get home he goes mental with excitement, it's such a great feeling to be welcomed like this but I always have a tinge of guilt run through my veins. When he's home he is inside with us, sleeps on our bed (not by choice but just does!) and I make sure he's walked every morning & night and on weekends I spend tonnes of time doing fun things with him - big walks, play sessions at the park, going for rides in the car, extra treats etc. Thanks again I really appreciate your responses and to know we are not the worst parents on the earth because we both work full-time and have to leave him!

i hate having to leave howie even for a couple of hours i feel really guilty. i always take him for a walk before work, he is left in his cage for most of the day till half 4, i always try and get someone to pop in to let him out and feed him.

We both work full time, I leave the house at 8am and walk back in the door around 6.30pm and my OH leaves the house at 4am and gets home around 3pm-4pm but we are lucky enough that our friend, who doesn't work as he is a full time dad, comes to ours at around 10am, takes Axl out then spends the day at our house until my OH gets home so he's never left alone too long, he's a lucky boy

I walk him at 6am and then come back and get ready for work. When I leave him to go to work in the morning I play "find it" with him, I hide biscuits around the living room and when I'm about to walk out the door I'll tell him to find it, that usually keeps him occupied (I think) for a little while and then when our friend gets to our house Axl is usually fast asleep on the sofa... it's a dog's life eh!

Oh and not to mention if I'm running late he'll get up from the sofa and pester me to go out so he can have his biscuits. He's very spoilt lol

Aww axl love how clever a staffy is

Aww axl love how clever a staffy is

When they want to be! lol

Aww Bek and others who work full time, I would be useless my ultimate limit to leave Vin is 4 hours and thats bad enough.

Vin is a v lucky boy, I'd love that to be my situation with Koda c'mon Lotto!!!!!

Love it when i come home after a few hours, she is usually looking out the window for me. When i open the door she jumps all over me and then runs around the garden like a loon but i always bring her a special treat home prob cause i feel a little guilty so maybe thats what she wants

Iza must love when u come home col i must admit im sure mia kens when its a thursday as i must have a treat radar halo around my handbag

I have two active dogs and I'm out of the house 07:45 until 18:10 sometimes I drive 20 mins home at lunch, spend 20 mins with them and drive the 20 back.
while out I restrict them to the living room and kitchen and recently left a cam running with motion detect. it didn't get much apart from stretching and yawning as the lil buggers sleep through until around three, have a play and then sleep until i get home....

Aww bless them nathan who knew they wud be lazy being so active while the cats away i guess no pun intended

Oh Nathan Im sure Koda sleeps all day too then unleashes his fury in the last hour before i get home lol!!

We're in a similar situation to you Bek, I work as a nurse 5 short shifts a week, either lates or earlies and adam (also a nurse) works a variety of long days and shorts. So Rio is left, at shortest, about 9.5 hours if we're both out, we leave water, food, toys, his bed all out and the radio is left on and when i'm back he goes mental bless him but he just sleeps all day.

If i'm away and adam is on a long day we have a trusted friend come over and fuss him and walk him. No one likes leaving him, but the situation works quite well and he doesn't get stressed which is the most important thing

My partner and I both leave the house at 7 and get back at about 5. Our dogs have their own room with toys, kongs, blankets, water, radio and beds. They can't have the run of the house cos Crash goes on a trail of destruction. To be honest, Crash could probably manage the day alone with a good walk but we have JRT with separation anxiety whose maximum alone time is -with a lot of work- now 5 hours so they have a dog walker for an hour in the middle of the day. Both my dogs are under 3 too so too energetic to be left alone a long time. Our dog walker also house sits so if we go away a familiar face looks after them.

Great, thanks so much - I don't feel like the worst parent ever now ! Wish hubby was open to a dog walker, would make such a difference I reckon but he won't have a bar of it.

Really good thread, thanks Bek. My partner and I are having some difficulties at the moment and so I'm on my own at home which has resulted in Jackson being left on his own for long days for the first time since we got him in September last year - I'm out at 9am and back at 7pm. On the days when I know my son wont be home early from college (he spends half the week with his dad), I get up at 6.30 and take him for a proper walk to the park, lots of ball chasing, tug of war, and charging around so that I know he will be happy to sleep all day - let's face it, most of them are! And then I get him out for another hour in the evening when I get back, plus a quick trot to the dog park for a wee before bed. He seems to have adjusted really well, my neighbours don't hear him barking and he's not destructive so I really do think he just sleeps the whole time I am out! Still breaks my heart to leave him though

Thanks for sharing Jane, sorry for your situation (sucks for all) but rest assured you're not alone, we all worry about them and as you said we know the lil buggers sleep all day anyway . I feel heaps better after reading everyones replies and now Koda is growing up (19 mths) his behaviour has settled considerably, and we are about to move house and he will have a huge back yard to gallop around in which will make a difference too I think. Look after yourself x