I have a 8 month old lab who is great. Very calm and "chill." We are actually training him to be a therapy dog. Currently, we take him to doggie day care during the week as we work. On weekends, we have left him alone for the longest at 6 hours. If we leave for under 3 hours, he has the run of the house. Anything over that, we crate him. He is not in the crate at night, he sleeps on a dog bed right next to us. I would like to transition him to being home three days a week and daycare twice, as it's expensive. However, he loves it so I don't want to take it away completely. How did you guys transition your pups? At what age? I always leave him with a frozen kong. I'm a teacher, so he would be home alone 7:30-3:30. I don't want to hire a dog walker- the companies near us are more expensive than the daycare we found for him!
I don’t think many owners on here will say it is ever ok to leave a dog alone for 8 hours a day. Young dogs easily get bored and then become destructive.Through no fault of their own they become unreliable badly behaved dogs. 6 hours is also too long to be in a crate during the day. Will you be giving him a long walk before you leave at 7.30? What happens if you have to stay late at school? I would stick with the routine you have until he is at least 2 and then reconsider your options.
Sometimes we have to say things which people don't want to hear, and this is one of those occasions. Leaving a dog crated for 6-8 hours a day is abuse. Straight and simple. These are intelligent animals, who need to be able to implement choice for psychological health (which they can't do in a tiny box for 8 hours) and to have enriched lives with physical and mental stimulation. Folks need to think about the needs of a dog, before getting one - and whether they can meet those needs.
Woah, I wouldn't be leaving him in the crate, he would be out loose in our house. I walk him every morning before work. He rarely is in his crate, he hasn't even slept in the crate since he was three months old. I just want to know at what age did people leave their dogs at home, with the run of the house, when they went to work.
I have left my dog (uncrated in the kitchen) for 5 hours a day, 2 days a week since I got him aged 6 months. He is absolutely fine with this and appears just to sleep. I wouldn't want to leave him much longer or every day for this long. Maybe you could use the dog walker in the transition period and see how it goes.
Hi there, leaving a young dog alone for more than five hours or so raises the potential for problems. One is the risk that the dog may be distressed by being unable to empty their bladder. A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself "would I be likely to need to pee at all during that time". That gives you an idea of how a mature dog might cope with your plan. So, if you let your dog out for their last pee at say 7:20am and they are not going to be able to pee again until 3:30pm just like people, some dogs will cope with that but are likely to feel uncomfortable, others would be really upset. Some will hang on till their owner gets home despite that discomfort, others will not be able to do that. Which in itself is also distressing for most house trained dogs. The other problems, especially with a lab under two years old, is the risk of very destructive behavior. Maybe not at first, but if repeatedly left for this long. You might get away with it, depending on the temperament of your dog, but you might not. Some dogs will also empty their bowels in the house if upset by long separations. So those are two of the risks. One way around the first risk is to set up a large sturdy playpen or a puppy proof room with an area lined with puppy pads, so that the dog can pee indoors. But that isn't a great solution. Daycare, a dog walker, or a kind neighbor willing to let the dog out are likely to be better options for most families.
@Paige Bower you said... So I assumed you'd be crating him if leaving him all day, as that's what you said.... 7.30-3.30 is a very long time for a dog to be left home alone every work day, without a dog walker or anything else to break the day up. Regardless of whether or not your house gets trashed or peed in, I can't recommend that. Dogs have needs, and are not here for our convenience - and when we take a dog on, we need to ensure we can meet their needs for companionship and physical and mental stimulation. Research shows that dogs left alone regularly experience elevated cortisol levels and distress. Further, when people are busy working and coming home tired at the end of a working day, the dog is going to get the short end of the straw - especially since it is pretty much dark by 3.30 in the winter months. I'd highly recommend continuing with day care or a dog walker. Neither of which are perfect solutions either, but much better than being left alone daily...
