So,how long are you willing to leave your dog alone for?

HayleyMarie

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#21
Once I start work it will probably be more than 8 hours, I don't feel bad about that. They just spend their days sleeping. Mitsu is her kennel an Teagan has the whole house to herself. We put a bench infront of the window so teagan can spend her day looking out the window and creeping on the neighbors, plus we were always finding her up on the kitchen table looking out the window when we came home so the bench was the solution to that.
 

elegy

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#22
Usually no more than five hours or so, but sometimes as much as ten. If I get stuck at work over lunch and can't get ahold of somebody to let them out, it makes for a long day for them. I feel worse because somebody is always crated.
 

Grab

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#23
Usually 8 or so, they usually just sleep

My dogs are not in any way active, so if I came home on a break and tried to make them run around they'd be really horrified:p
 

Zizzy35

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#24
No longer than 4 hours.
It's not really a potty issue for me, they can hold it for much longer.. I just feel bad leaving them cooped up in the house with no walk or playtime.

Don't know why I feel so bad about it lol honestly, when we are gone all they do is find a comfy spot and sleep.

I'm like this.

I'm lucky my husband works nights, so he is home all day with him while I'm at work.
 

Dogs6

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#25
Generally there's always someone home but a few days a week (if that) they could be on their own for 4-6 hours.

Fudge and Taz were left for 14 hours once when my sister had to go to hospital but I think that's been the max.

There was once they were left for 24 hours but they were outside in the run and someone came to check on them, exercise them and feed them so I do t think that counts.

ETA: I have no issues with leaving the adults for up to 14 hours as I know they can last that long and they're able to be loose in the house. I wouldn't want to do that with Aura or Diesel though. Even Tika actually since bes getting on a bit :(
 

Zhucca

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#26
I'm willing to leave him for a full work day, which is around 8 1/2-9hrs. He gets kind of loony after 5hrs though. He hates being left alone, but he's slowly getting better.

Luckily, he has a place he can go every day. I drop him off every morning at my friends' plumbing shop before I go to work. He gets to hang out with tons of dog loving men and Boomer all day. If I didn't have that option, he would be left in my room.
 

Teal

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#27
There were times when I've had to leave my adults for 14+ hours while working 12 hour work shifts... but it wasn't a daily thing (maybe a few times a week, during holiday seasons when there was extra work to be had). I HATED that they were crated that long... but I put them into ginormous extra big crates with bones and stuff to occupy them. They mostly slept though (given the state of their bones lol). I haven't had to do that with a puppy/young dog, luckily!
 
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#28
Thanks guys.It seems dogs are just all so flexible and different.
I'm weighing up wether I would need a dog walker if I was working 7-8 hours a day close by,I think she could hold her toilet that long and maybe with the saved money have 1/2days in daycare/with someone instead.
I just am really really REALLY finding it hard to even begin to find someone I would trust with my house keys...let alone my dog!!!
What would you do?If I was leaving her alone for 7/8 hrs a day it would have to start and end with a good walk which I'm up for.I just worry about her being stimulated since she doesnt really play with toys whilst I'm away!
I would LOVE to leave her with my nan,unfortuantly she sometimes drops her medicine on the floor ...and not noticed..which I cant risk!!!
 

Lyzelle

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#30
I don't think Zander would care if I was gone for 12+ hours. If he wanted to do something, he'd just open the door and do it. He doesn't need me to do something.

Which is why I don't like being away from the house for more than 4 hours unless I know he's going to sleep forever.
 

ihartgonzo

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#31
My boys are fine with being left alone for 8-9 hours... 12 hours is the MAXIMUM time that I'd leave them! I always take them on a very long walk before leaving.

When my sister was having her baby in SF, I left in the middle of the night thinking the baby would be born soon. Well, the baby didn't come until that night, so my dogs were alone for like 18 hours. :( They each made one giant pee puddle, because they could not hold it, poor guys.
 

crazedACD

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#32
We just came back from visiting family for the holiday for about 8 hours...I feel guilty! Usually they aren't left alone, between me, my mom, and my siblings someone is almost always home. Only Fez is crated because he gets weird with his housebreaking...Skye, Romeo, and Zoie stay upstairs in my big bedroom. They have a **** ton of toys and goodies to keep them entertained.
 
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#33
The maximum time I'd leave them alone for is 8-9 hours - that never happens more than once a week or so, depending on work/class schedules. Usually it's more like three or four hours.
 

JacksonsMom

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#34
If I absolutely HAD to for some unknown reason, I technically know he'd be okay for 8-9, maybe even 10 hours. But that's an emergency situation.

On normal days, no longer than 4-6 hours usually. And that's just because it's what I'm comfortable with and would feel bad if it was much longer, but there have been circumstances where he's had to stay longer and he seems to do fine, but I wouldn't make 8 hours an every day occurrence unless absolutely necessary.
 
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#35
Mine can do 8-12 hours, at least once they have done 14. I can sleep up to 10 hours and they will wake me earlier if they need too. The caveat here is, as long as Blue doesnt get over excited, he is a leaker and will drop a deuce if he reaches his excitement limit.
 

Jules

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#36
Well, we both have the same hours and car pool.. We leave at 6.45 am and are back at 4.45 pm. So ten hours. Is it ideal? No. But T-Bone gets a lot of attention when we're home. It's a morning ritual, the last thing I do before leaving is to let her on our bed. She snoozes.

I would not leave her alone for more than 12 hours.
 
B

Blue_Dog

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#38
Sam has been left alone, no crate, for maybe 12ish hours or so at most. It isn't a regular occurrence but he has always been a good boy and his bladder is strong. The most he is left alone on a more regular basis is maybe 4 or so hours at most.
 

Michiyo-Fir

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#39
The longest is about 8 hours. Nia struggles to hold her bladder any longer than that and unless I'm working, I try to keep it under 6 hours.
 

BostonBanker

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#40
How do people find jobs with such flexible work hours? lol
Luck, prioritizing it, and being sure that, whenever there is a time you can help out with odd hours, you do :p

I come in on my days off when I get an emergency "nobody showed up today" text, I run in on Sundays or holidays and shut off equipment if needed, I make sure I am so ridiculously appreciated that when something comes up (like the request I'm going to make on Tuesday to be able to leave 2 hours in the middle of the day on Wednesdays for 6 weeks while I take a class with Gusto), they feel obligated to say yes!

Not that it is possible with every type of job, of course, but flexible hours was a *huge* priority for me when I was looking for this job.
 

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