Unsure whether this is the correct place to post this but here goes anyway... Recently me and my partner have bought a house after the recent birth of our daughter and needing to upsize. The time leading up to this obviously my partner was on maternity and Bruno was able to have full access of the house. However, now we have moved (closer to my work yet still is a 20 - 30 minute commute) we are away from relatives who use to let Bruno out for an hour or so when my partner was at work before the maternity. This is the dilemma. Bruno is now locked up in his crate from 08:00 - 13:20 to be let out for literally 10 minutes, then 13:40 till 18:15. I can't help but think this is really unfair to Bruno and I am unsure what to do. I have looked into dog walkers and sitters but currently after paying full time child care fees it is something were not able to afford. This is the first day my partner is back at work and Bruno is having to be in his crate for the long periods of time and I'm hopefully looking for some helpful advice.
Hi, sorry to be blunt, but that is really not ok. That is FAR too long for any dog to be locked up in a crate on his own. I think you know that. You need to find some dog walking or dog sitting alternatives in order to be able to give him the exercise and mental stimulation that he needs. That is basically 10 hours a day in the crate. Can you find some neighbours who will help?
You could try this website, www.BorrowMyDoggy.com for people who will walk your dog for free. I've never used it but you simply can't leave your dog alone all that time and this might work.
Not to be nasty, but Karen is entirely correct. Being shut in a crate for 10 hours a day is no life for a dog, especially a young one. No doubt when you are at home you want, no need, to spend time with your child. I can appreciate your problems in affording day care for Bruno. However, all is not lost. There may well be someone, probably an older person, who is at home all day and would welcome the company of a dog without the financial commitment. Or perhaps a responsible teenager would welcome the chance to earn a little by taking Bruno for an after school walk Ask around, it could be a good way of getting to know people in your new community. The one thing you cannot do is nothing. Not only is it unfair to leave a dog shut up all day, when it is finally released it will probably have more energy than you can cope with. Good luck with it.
How big is the crate? Usual crate size recommendations have only enough space for the dog to stand up, turn around and lie down. If animals in a zoo were in such a small crate for so many hours there would be an outcry. At the very least a much bigger crate would help. Better still would be a safe room or a large, sturdy pen. Emphasis on sturdy. This is what we did, the pen for Jet, our gated kitchen for Oban. at least they could move more freely, find a cooler spot on the floor to lie. And still it was only the odd day for us, we (me) juggled work hours to be home off times from each other, the OH and I. Big, big caveat on the room, puppies can wreck a room and seriously hurt themselves. Some will literally eat the walls. Ours was fine. I suggest BEst is the suggestions above for a walker (low paid teenager?) I regularly meet people who walk their own dog and a neighbour's dog. ONe couple switches it up and on family takes both in the morning, the other family takes both in the evening. Me, I'd want to do a couple of walks together, all the people and dogs, before trusting my dog to other people who are not in the business of walking dogs. And a bigger place to stay in between outings. Good luck, you can make it work, we all did.
I`m afraid I agree with previous comments , you simply cannot carry on crating a dog for this length of time . I hope the suggestions have helped you and that you find a solution that is good for all of you .
As others have already being crated for what amounts to 10 hours a day us unacceptable and creating a safe room is really no better, Bruno is still being left for 10 hours a day for 5 days a week. I hope you can take forward some of the suggestions
As I have mentioned this is the first day of him being crated for a long period. I have looked for alternatives months in advance of this day and I'm not happy having to do it. The only option I had that was in my control was to not go into work. However, if I did this he wouldn't be fed neither would my two children. I've tried to do the best I possibly can hence asking for advice on what to do on here. If I could i'd pay for daycare or an alternative to this. I weren't expecting to be in this predicament else i'd never of got him 2 years ago. So having to do this was not an easy choice! And I am trying my best for this to be the case for the shortest amount of time possible.
Hi again, we're not trying to give you a hard time - you know already this is not a situation that can go on for any length of time without Bruno (and your family) suffering as a result. I think there have been good suggestions - are there friends or neighbours who can help? Or any families with teenagers who might like to earn some money after school, or even an older person who would like the company of a dog during the day? The way I deal with it when my OH is away on business is a combination of my cleaning lady coming in and taking Poppy out at lunch, and also I share the dog walks with a neighbour on those days - I walk her dog together with mine in the morning before I go to work, and she walks them both at 3pm when she gets back from work. Of course it is perfectly possible to have a dog, a family, and to work full time, but the logistics are complicated and/or expensive. But you owe it to Bruno to work it out. In the meantime, at the very least I would give him more room to move around - put him in the kitchen with the door closed or in another safe room.
It's great that you've come to ask for advice, and it's clear that you're not happy with the option you currently have. You already know it's not fair on Bruno. I think the advice given is good; look for cheaper alternatives to an expensive dog walker. If he's not too boisterous, having him stay during the day with an elderly person might be a lovely thing to do - giving both of them company. Or an active, but retired person or part-time worker, maybe, who would like a dog for themselves, but can't commit to one. Maybe you could place an advert in your local paper?
Firstly congratulations on the birth of your daughter Obviously your not happy and Bruno won't be either so I wonder do you have any friends with dogs that you could come to some arrangement with, they look after Bruno during the day for a small fee or for favours in return i.e. walking their dog when they need it or babysitting their children, anything really. Teenagers are very helpful and will do a dog walk for a few pounds, I know mine would! Of course this would depend on how good Bruno is on lead and his behaviour. You could put an advert in Pets at Home, Waitrose, Tesco etc. and at your vet practise notice boards for a willing dog walker, you might be surprised. I help my neighbour out looking after her dog and she has had Hattie for me in the past so it works really well. You have recently moved so this might not be so straight forward. I really hope you can sort something out for Bruno and your family. Helen x
Welcome to you, all the advice above is good. Please don't crate your dog for longer than 3 hours at a time, it will be very bad for his bones and mental health. I know people who have 'puppy proofed' their kitchen to at least give the dog space to move around, 'tho it still isn't ideal as dogs are social animals - just like us. Leaving them alone is like leaving you alone for hours with no computer, phone, TV or books to read. .
Hi there, I am sorry to hear you find yourself in such a dilemma, you obviously realize it can't continue. I hope you find this article helpful: Raising a dog when you work full-time Unfortunately, and there is no easy way to say this, unless you are lucky enough to have someone who can help you for free, paying for day care or dog walkers for your dog is part of the cost of returning to work, just as you have to pay for day care for your child. It has to be factored in to your sums. I do hope you are able to come up with something - there are lots of helpful suggestions from other members. Do let us know what you decide to do, we all want the best for you and your dog.
Just a thought but there could be a forum member who could walk Bruno, or put you in touch with someone, if we knew your general location.......
Hello there, I can see you already know you are not in a great place, and you feel your options are limited. On this forum we hardly ever tell anyone to rehome a dog, mainly because for most of us that would be the worst option but I think it should be on your list of possible things to consider. You'd need to do your own research but my perception is that the UK (I assume you are in the UK?) has a good infrastructure for rescue dogs, and young Labradors without many behaviour problems are pretty much snapped up by people reputable organisations have checked out. Obviously, you'd have to look into everything to be sure of doing the best for Bruno. So, you need to weigh up Bruno's quality of life, and what you are able to do to improve it - as Pippa points out, a lot of people that work have to go to some not inconsiderable expense in paying for others to care for a dog while they work. Certainly it is one of my biggest outgoings each month, unfortunately. It is possible you could get Bruno to be ok with his routine. Particularly if perhaps you could manage just one or two days at day care? I can tell by the behaviour changes in my own dog when he is starting to suffer from too much crate time, or not enough activities (he has had several injuries, and I've closely observed him through some difficult times). In the meantime, the things you could do to improve things (if you are not already doing them) include: Make sure Bruno gets a least an hour off lead run before you leave him, and the same when you get home. Pack the evening and weekends with activities that make his brain work - training classes, or a hobby like scentwork or so on. Try to vary his activities and outings - take him to new places, give him as much mental stimulation as you can when you are with him. Leave him in a large space, with room to walk around a little - us panels or gates to keep him in a safe area if necessary. If he likes the radio (my dog does, he likes classic fm) leave a radio playing. Let him sleep with humans, so he has 14 hours company to offset the 1o hours he is alone. Go into mass production of kongs - seriously a huge amount, with a bit of imagination you can eek out quite a small amount of food to keep your dog busy with kongs for a couple of hours. This not only cuts down on the amount of time Bruno has nothing to do, but also will make him more likely to want to snooze the rest of the time. If someone is visiting him at lunch, then can refresh his kongs, and you can give him another 2 hours of something to do. 4 hours out of 10 having kongs would be a very good thing.
Borrow my doggy website is really good. I have met several retired / semi retired people out on walks who have gone through this website and love walking the dogs daily. One lady can't have pets where she lives, so being able to borrow a dog every day really lifts her spirits. She built a really good relationship with the family and has become a surrogate Nan to them It's really sad that you find yourself in this predicament, but you do have options. Please do let us know how you get on
