Home Alone

[Borgan]

Hi All,

My husband has been off full-time work since bringing Luna home, and I worked in a dog-friendly office, so the days my husband was gone for longer than 5 or so hours, the dog came to work with me.

Now my husband's business is off the ground and I am at a NON-dog friendly office. I do, however, live 5 minutes walking from work, and will be able to come home at lunch for 40 minutes. This means that 5 days a week, from 8:30-5, minus a 40 minute break, the dog will be alone. She would be in her crate for those hours, as she is not accustomed to being out while we are gone.

Is this too much crate time? I will do doggy daycare up to 3 of those days once my financial situation turns around (possibly 6 months from now), but until then??????? I have thought of taking her for a big run in the morning and then one when I get home, plus leaving her with a huge treat-filled kong, but I am not sure if that is enough.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Brooke.

[franp]

Borgan,
Dari was crated when she was a pup for about the same amount of time and she did fine.What she did was SLEEP!
Can you get a dogwalker for her? I like that better than daycare. When I tried Daycare, the people were not all that dog smart and did not really watch the dogs that well.
Dari came home stressed. With the dogwalker, she gets an hour-hour and a half walk to the dog park with 2-3 other dogs and plays. Then she naps.
I like this much better.

But I think your coming home to take her out will be fine.

[Borgan]

Thanks, Fran. That makes me feel less guilty! Question – how old was Dari when you began to leave her out of the crate alone? How did you achieve this? How long can she be left alone, and do you ever consider getting a companion dog?

- Brooke.

[frogdog1]

Is there a room you could gate off from the rest of the house? That way your dog would have access to water and you could put papers or wee wee pads down. You could put chew toys and treats in as well and I think your dog would be a lot less bored. Maybe you could walk her at lunch? Nan

[franp]

Thanks, Fran. That makes me feel less guilty! Question – how old was Dari when you began to leave her out of the crate alone? How did you achieve this? How long can she be left alone, and do you ever consider getting a companion dog?

- Brooke.
Dari was a year when I let her out of the crate;there were the cats to consider. And the first few days she did not want to come out.Dari was VERY happy in her crate.One of my cats attacked her when she was a pup and I was nervous about letting them alone. So I waited longer than I needed to. Now they all are friends and sleep in a pile.

I left the door open and the first day she was (putting it mildly ) HYSTERICAL. So , on a Saturday, I left her out for about ahalf hour and left the house and worked up.
On Monday I left her in the crate and told the dogwalker not to put her back in. It took a while but she got used to it.The about a week later, I left her out in the morning. And she adjusted.

At this point she could be alone for 8 hours if it were a necesity. But I try not to.And no I don't want a second dog. Even if I got one; I would not leave them loose alone.IMO, that is asking for trouble.Her breeder was here last week with a pup for 5 days . Dari is all I want and need. Walking 2 dogs at one time is not fun.

One of the things that we do not realize; dogs SLEEP while we are gone for the most part.

[Borgan]

Thanks to the both of you!

I am not concerned about Luna getting in to anything - she does have a penchant for toilet paper and dental floss, so I would shut the bathroom door. She is also fully housetrained.

What concerns me is loneliness and depression. Nothing saddens me more than a dog without a sparkle. But I shall try to remember that they sleep while we're gone!

So, Fran, it only took you a week to have Dari accustomed to being left out? That seems pretty quick! Maybe I will leave Luna out for an hour alone tomorrow, 2 the next day and work up to 4. That would be the max without me coming home in between. Does that plan seem logical? She is 14 months old.

This might be weird, but do any of you leave the tv or radio on for your dog while you're gone? Are there movies or cds for dogs to keep them stimulated?

Thanks!
Brooke.

[Martina]

I worked up to leaving my two alone like that ... but I started with 15min (to get milk) and worked up to 3hrs. I've stopped because of pottying. Unlike Luna, they are not fully potty-trained. They seem good for two hours, but it's that third that gets them. Which is weird, 'cause they can hold it in the kitchen for up to 5, sometimes even 6hrs. Other than that, I had no problem with them destroying stuff - but I don't normally. I do keep the bathroom door closed because the little waste-basket there is too, too much temptation :p, but other than that, we have no problems.

Good Luck!

[franp]

Borgan, you would be surprised at how adaptable our dogs are. Luna will be fine. Can she look out the window? That is something that Dari does like to do. So I have a chair in the window for her.

Martina, you might want to crate the girls to get them past that 3 hour mark. Crating is what teaches them muscle control. It is the best IMO way to potty train. They will learn very quickly how to "hold' it and be able to be out for a longer period of time.

[aussieowner]

Hi,

My husband and I work full time - 8.30-5pm sometimes later. We have a puppy pen for Mac and we started off coming home once a day around lunch time to let him out. He initially wouldn't be able to hold out that long, but then he got the idea. Then, one day, I came home really late to check on him (like 3pm)! He had done nothing in his pen!! We were really impressed. The next day 4pm - nothing! And then we tried 5pm - nothing again!! We now leave him by himself for the whole day and he does nothing!

We leave water in the pen the whole day as well.

When we come home, however, it's play time ... we don't put him back in his pen until bedtime. He's only 5 and a half months so we think he's pretty clever!!

aussieowner