I have been thinking about getting a dog for a while now, but the thing putting me off is leaving a dog alone whilst I’m out of the house between 8 and 6 Monday to Thursday. I finish work at 1 on a Friday so that isn’t too bad.

Plenty of people have dogs and also must work similar hours, so how do they make it work?

Your tips and experiences please!

IMHO those hours are not really fair on a new dog.

Can a member of the family look it/after during the day?

Dogs are fine they’ll sleep most of the time you’re out and adapt around the hours but yes if someone can pop in and walk them it would be better.

I have nearby family but don’t want to burden them with it, although maybe they would if it was a temporary thing whilst the dog settled down.

I had thought about dog walkers but that could soon get expensive.

If we were to get a dog, it would be on the proviso that the dog would be happy, so if I can’t make it work, I will have to go without. I see people about with dogs though and it makes me wonder how they make it work.

We always had them whilst growing up, but a household with children in is obviously a busier household than ours right now where the two of us work in the rat race.

Dog walker, neighbour or lazy older dog.

Dogs are fine they’ll sleep most of the time you’re out and adapt around the hours but yes if someone can pop in and walk them it would be better.

Rubbish. Dogs are social animals and need people or other dogs around. Long hours locked in the house will result in behavioural problems, and I speak from experience.

10 hours is too long imho and not fair on the dog

Personally I wouldn’t even consider getting a dog if it were to be left 10 hours a day 4 days a week.
Neither should you. Just my opinion of course.

I see people about with dogs though and it makes me wonder how they make it work.

We waited until my wife got a job closer to home. She nips home every lunch time for 45mins.
Even then they are only alone 9-12 / 1-4pm

Grew up with dogs that were left for 7hrs a day, they were fine.

I’m 29 now with two young energetic dogs and have previously worked a very flexible/slack job which saw me at home a lot. Now i’m looking at a commute with no chance of getting home during the day, I’ve organised family/friends/dog walker and cleaner to come in up until xmas, after then I’d hope they’d have got used to it.

The media has warped stuff a bit. Even though we love them like children, they’re still dogs. They’ll be fine.

I’d like a dog but work similar hours. So we have a cat instead. They’re plenty happy left on their own and if you fit a cat flap then they can come and go as they please.

Too long. Don’t get a dog.

I’m with the posters above. When we are out working the dog goes to (and loves) to the dog walkers. Like people say dogs are pack animals and get stressed by being alone for long periods especially when young. Being out 10hrs 4 days a week isn’t something I’d consider suitable for having a dog.

We leave our two for those times, and they’re fine..
I often wondered what they get up to all day, and when I was off sick I found out.
Like Lee said, they sleep.
Well, sleep, eat, have a stretch, then sleep again…
It’s a hard life…

I have two dogs that are in the house 3 days a week for between 8 and 10 hours. No behavioural issues whatsoever. One is a greyhound who does love to sleep a lot the other a whippet who is quite content to watch the world go by until I get home. They also have a cat and chickens for company. Get minimum hour long walk a day which can become a chore in winter.
Working and dogs can be done if you are sensible and research the breed/personality and pick a dog that fits you.
Please make sure it is a rescue dog, so many need homes.

I have two young, energetic dogs, and they are left for that long 3 or 4 days a week.

I am lucky that I have space for a big run outside, and I walk them for an hour morning and evening.

They are fine and happy, but I am glad that there are two of them…

Dogs are fine they’ll sleep most of the time you’re out and adapt around the hours but yes if someone can pop in and walk them it would be better.

Rubbish. Dogs are social animals and need people or other dogs around. Long hours locked in the house will result in behavioural problems, and I speak from experience.

When a puppy its not really on. Later it will depend on the breed of the dog an what that breed was developed for.

A livestock guard dog will consider it it’s duty to be left for the day, and will take the task very seriously, though likely only a few people will have ‘walk in’ privileges to your house.

Guard dog might be ok but more likely to bark a lot of noises.

A Collie/Spaniel etc, just not fair, far too active a breed.

Gundogs you could do a few days, but 5 days not really fair IMO.

We leave our two for those times, and they’re fine..

Two dogs. The OP is on about one.

Rubbish. Dogs are social animals and need people or other dogs around. Long hours locked in the house will result in behavioural problems, and I speak from experience.

In case you hadn’t guessed I speak from experience too. I’ve never had a dog with behavioural problems, very much the opposite tend to have very well behaved dogs.

Our lurcher is left in the back garden from 8/9 till 5/6 3 days a week. She doesnt appear to give a shit. Walked am and pm. She’s been ok with this since she was about 6-8 months old. Wouldnt want to leave her in the house though. Neighbours report that she sleeps on the grass all day, unless it rains when she goes in her kennel.

for the first say 3 years of ZIva’s life I was home by 1pm at the lateist so it was perfectly fine but than I had to get a full time job so things had to change. We now take it in turns to get up at 6am so Ziva gets minimum of 3 mile walk before work and then she gets another either bike ride or 4-5 mile walk after work as well, even during winter when we load up with the head torches and either ride or walk. She sleeps all day but is naturally a very lazy dog, if she’s out she’s fit and lively but if she’s inside she sleeps or snuggles, its one of the beauties of her breed so I would make the decision based on the breed. If I was working what I work now when we first thought about getting Ziva I would of said no way but she was fully settled and we knew how she’d be having already been part of our lives for ages.

We did that with our Border Terrier. She was on loan from my parents and was already a decent age. Took her for a walk before breakfast and another after we got home. Never had a problem with her. If and when we get another it will probably come to work with me at least for some of the week. I wouldn’t want to leave a pup alone all day. Don’t know if it’s my imagination but there seems to be an awful lot more dog walkers going about these days compared to say 10 years ago. They are ten a penny in Edinburgh and I’m not sure how many of them I’d leave my dog with.

Ok – opinions split here clearly, but I’m more prone to err on the side of caution.

How would those saying no view it if somebody came in to see the dog once a day, and the dog was walked in the morning before I left for work?

Oh and any dog would be a rescue dog.

As I say, I’m just trying to figure out how other people manage it, I pretty much knew that leaving a dog for long periods is not desirable.

kennel and a run

for some trendy bullshit reason its gone out of fashion, but its much better for the dog!

If I can’t take ours to work with me, she spends the day with a dog walker, where she gets to run around with a bunch of other dogs of all shapes and sizes, messing around, chasing whatever will run away from her and nicking every other dog’s tennis ball. We don’t do it because we worry that she’d be “bored” at home, but the walker is inexpensive and I just reckon she has a better time out and about with other dogs (possibly helping with socialising too, but who knows) than if she was on her own. The cats we have won’t play with her.

What you do is up to you and your outlook on dog ownership. Kennel and a run aren’t necessarily cruel, and it might be a dog that’s happy on its own. if that’s the case, then leaving it all day between long walks may well be an option, but it was never one for us.

I had 2 Spaniels (Springers) brothers, one mental, one normal. The normal one would be fine with those 8-6 times, the mental one chewed through carpets, curtains, a washer dryer front load door, a sink, the doors of the sink cupboard, the stable door bottom half..

I’m going to say, depends on what type of Dog and it’s nature.

Never again for me, poor bloody Dogs.. 😥

Oh and any dog would be a rescue dog.

I’d imagine that would complicate things further.

What Jamie said…you have no idea what that dog has been through.

Pay for a Dog walker….

Don’t even think about it. Too long. Not fair.

Ok, I understand that 8-6 4 days a week is too much, if I didn’t think that, I wouldn’t be asking how it works for other people on here.

What I’m trying to understand is at what point does it become ok? Dog walker? Ok for 0/1/2/3 days a week but not 4? I’ll not get a dog and leave it 4 days a week, but if I can manage things so it is fair for the dog, then maybe I’ll give it further thought. The question is, at what point does it become fair on the dog?

Please – don’t get a dog and leave it alone for that length of time.

I worked shifts (nights and days) and the amount of howling/barking dogs from 8am until about 6pm in the houses around me as I tried to sleep made me wonder why the owners got a dog.

The question is, at what point does it become fair on the dog?

A police dog trainer advised us 6 hours max alone daily, when we were considering a dog but advised that really was the max. I’m no expert and I’m just passing on the info I was given.

I get home at lunch time for 40 mins walk them, so they are only alone 9:20 – 1 then 1:40-5 for a max of 4 days a week as I sometimes work from home. We recently got a puppy and our first dog (now 2) seems to enjoy the company. No behavioural issues and as said above they sleep, play with toys, sleep and sleep.

Oh and any dog would be a rescue dog.
I’d imagine that would complicate things further.

You may struggle to get a rescue dog working away those hours.

You could tell the dog to GET A JOB. The lazy, workshy little freeloader!

Yours,

The Daily Mail

owned labbies all my adult life.
walk at 7am, wife comes home and walks at 1pm and walked again at 7pm.

i have been off work 5 weeks, and the dog has got a built in clock that tells her when to walk, and she wont leave me alone until i have walked her.

8 to 10 hours is far too long for any dog to be left alone, moreso from being a pup.

What a load of bollocks. Someone up there is right though the rescue places wont give you a dog. They prefer them to be alone in a kennel and run!

To be fair, my second dog came from the SSPCA. They were well aware that both dogs would be alone 8-5 on a few days a week. I was lucky that they saw the bigger picture.

It depends so much on the dog and your circumstances it’s hard to give the definitive answer that the OP is looking for.

OP – many of us do have dogs that are left alone, but we have different ways of doing it. My two have each other for company and a large outdoor run, others ensure the dog has the run of the garden, use dog walkers or have a calmer breed. These dogs are all fine. Everyone who posts here thinks that their way is ‘right’, I’m not sure that you will ever get a consensus on this one.

We got a puppy last March, she’ll be 2 in December this year. We work full time but are only 5-10 minutes form home. She came to work with me for the first few weeks, then just for the mornings and I’d walk her home at lunch.
She was crated while at home alone so she didn’t destroy the house chewing. She just slept whenever she was in the crate.

We walked her in the morning and got a dog walker to take her out at lunch time for a couple of hours. She loved it, too much in the end. We noticed she wasn’t excited when she was with us, she started chasing smaller dogs and bullying them, her training became very difficult. She was having such a great time with the walker she got more attached to the walker than us. She was knackered when we got home in the afternoon and wouldn’t be interested in playing with us. She’d stand at the door waiting for the walker to come get her!

We stopped the walker after a few months when we realised her behaviour was as a result of this. She changed dramatically over the following few weeks and our relationship improved massively.

We do a 2-3 mile walk every morning, go home for 45 min at lunch then another 2-3 miles after work. There’s lots of fun, training, swimming and playing on the walks so she gets good mental and physical exercise.

I wouldn’t recommend a dog walker, your dog will pick up to many bad habits. A 1-2-1 walker maybe, not one with a pack of dogs. Also 10 hours is too long.

Ah well suspicions confirmed then. Maybe I’ll have to wait a few years and see if my circumstances change, one thing that is for sure is that I won’t be getting a cat!

Cheers for the replies.

Well one thing I’ve leaned from this, some people get a bloody long meal break at work.