Advice on leaving a dog alone (16 months old Choc Lab)

Hello All,

I have had lots of great help / advice on the forum previously, so I thought I would ask in relation to leaving a dog home alone.

This is causing me quite a lot of concern / worry..

My wife has changed her job approx. 4 months ago.. previously we were leaving our 16 month old chocolate lab 'maisy' alone for maybe 2 to 3 hours a day.. However currently her daily routine can vary a little (she always gets 2 walks a day approx. 50mins each walk)... our older kids are at home most of the day however they work different shifts... Maisy usually settles providing some one is in the house with her... but she probably gets only a little interaction as our kids will be sleeping...

Next week for example our daughter will be out Mon / Tues and Wed from 11.30 and our dog will be left alone until 17.00... which really worries me as she seems quite hyper and a little stressed when I arrive home.

I am thinking what is the best solution... so any advice would be welcome.... worst case would be find a new owner for her that can take care of her better than us... we all love her too bits and that would be a very tough decision to make... I am just hoping that someone has been in same situation and has come thru the other side...

Thanks

What about taking Maisie out in the morning before you head to work,then maybe having a dog walker,family member or friend take her out around 1/2ish,to break the day up for her

I think with that many of you in and out of the house (even if in bed) you shouldn't have too much of a problem.

She could be reacting to your worry and stress when you return home, as long as she isn't tearing your house apart or toileting everywhere she probably isn't half as worried as you are.

At one point in my doggie owning career I have had to leave one of my girls 9 hours at a time (I'm not saying that's a good thing but at the time I had no choice) she coped and life changed again as it does and she then had me home all day.

As a quality control auditor in the food industry in UK, I once worked from 5am until 2pm Sats and Suns. I chose this grinding shift which meant getting up at 4am and leaving at 4.30 just so I wouldn't have to leave my dog alone as my then college age daughter would still be in bed when I left! (She was usually still in bed when I got back at 2.30pm!)

My dog just poodled off and slept on her bed with her! My daughter was over the moon as the dog ALWAYS slept with me and she would not sleep with my daughter in her room at night.

Previous to this that same dog would have been up out and walked, back and fed and then out again at midday to pee - but she quickly adjusted to being whizzed round the block to do her stuff and deposited back indoors with daughter dearest.

I do not think that a dog has such a perception of time that it could differentiate between 2-3 hours or 5-6 hours. It is not going to be every day, is it.

So if Maisy can cope with 2-3 hours I think she should be fine being alone for another couple of hours.

Some dogs get wound up no matter how long you have been out. Rigsby my OHs dog reacts the same when we return to the house whether we have been out for five minutes in the garden or out for an afternoon, a quick blast in the garden and a not to excited hello and he calms down quick enough.

Some days Rosie has been left from 8.30-3, I worry more than she she does. Rosie usually gives me a sulkie look as I go out

I think in this day and age we all have to work silly hours my other half works nights and I'm around in the day so Oscar is not on his own much. But for the last 3 weeks we have been emptying my dads house as he passed away our dog was very close to my dad so I didn't want to take him there and upset him so for a few hours he has been on his own for longer than usuall, glad to say he has been fine so I wouldn't worry about your dog been on his own too much make sure he has something like a Kong to keep him busy for a while, they are very foregiving after a treat and a good walk.

If you can organise someone to come in just for a short period and let your dog out in the garden to relieve herself and give her a biscuit or something I'm sure she'd absolutely fine. Good luck. I think all of us dog owners have times when we have to be out and worry about our dogs. I've got to be out next week on two occasions for a lengthy time and as yet haven't sorted what I can do with the dogs either.