Ok, so I recognize that this is probably one of “those” threads that is ridiculous to everyone but the poster. Since that never stopped me before, here goes.
How long do you leave your dog alone in a day and if you have to leave the dog for longer than that you prefer, do you kennel him or her?
Next Friday we have two college visits scheduled for the PreciousBabyKing and the PreciousBabyPup can’t come. PBP has never been left for more than 2 hours and is a Vizsla mix who takes his role as a Velcro dog very seriously. On that one day, he will have to be left for 9 hours and I am, as you can tell, making myself nuts about this. We would have liked to have someone visit him or a playdate with another dog, but it’s Friday and everyone we know is working or away for the holiday weekend. It’s probably a one-shot deal, but I can’t decide if he will be ok for 9 hours or if he will be traumatized. Or if he would be more traumatized at a kennel. Our previous dog was vicious so doggie daycare wasn’t an option. He also hated everyone and probably danced around in his underwear when we all left.
I’m no expert, other than being a dog owner/lover. I personally don’t think dogs have a very good sense of the passage of time. They can tell time really well (my puppy starts giving me the dinner stare exactly 20 minutes before her dinner time), but I don’t think the difference between hours registers so much. I wouldn’t worry about the trauma.
However, I do think 9 hours is a long time to be left alone without being able to relieve themselves. Since your dogs aren’t used to being boarded, the ideal solution would be to pay a dog walker to stop by around midway through to let them out.
I don’t think it’s ridiculous. I have two dogs and recently struggled with this issue.
Sabadog and Sabapup spent Mother’s Day at home alone. They were alone for a little over 8 hours. They were VERY happy to see us return. Next time they are going to daycare or if necessary, the kennel. Sabapup is velcro dog when I am home. If I’m not there, Sabadog is the next best thing. I worried that we would have car trouble, or get in an accident, or something terrible would happen and there would be no one to take care of the pups because we were all in the car together.
I would go with daycare or the kennel. Or a walker if that’s an option. That’s me. I almost made myself sick worrying over this and it was supposed to be a fun day!
I have organized my life so I don’t have to leave my dogs for more than 6 hours at a time; when I do, they are in their crates, which they see as a safe comfortable den. I do sympathize with your plight.
Two ideas: can you organize the car so the PBP can come? Silver cloth, park in the shade? Or can you arrange for a professional dog walker to come in the middle of the day and take the him for a walk?
Sabaray, that’ what I’m doing now. I lay awake and worry about this. PBP is only 3 1/2months old and he is a rescue, so I don’t want him t feel disconnected.
Hayden, he’s still enough of a puppy to be using the wee wee pads, so that won’t be much different for him that one day. Dog walkers aren’t a thing in my area and we don’t need one regularly, but maybe I will check with the vet’s office for someone to help on one day.
Our dog goes to doggie day care three days a week if I’m at home or not:-) He’s a very high energy, social dog and needs to run and play with his friends.
Unless crated, your rugs and furniture may be traumatized. I heard the general idea when they’re young is: leave them alone no longer than an hour for each month of age. Maybe that’s more about a trip outside than emotions, dunno.
Our dog adored the kennel, the staff doted on her. We also had a groomer who would take her for an overnight or two.
Be aware that some states don’t allow a dog to be left in a car.
I stopped kenneling my dog. It made me feel so guilty. I have my house cleaner house-sit when we are out of town. She loves doing it because she doesn’t have to anything but watch TV, walk the dog, and get paid even more (I pay her extra for it, on top of her salary).
It’s worth it to me to have an always eager dog-sitter on retainer. And I can tell the dog is happy, because instead of being desperately insane with joy when we return home, he’s just medium insane with joy. :o3
I would never leave the PBP in the car, so that’s not a worry. I just found a daycare local that seems like it would have been a good option except I waited too long. He needs a three-hour interview to see if he can be accepted and I may have waited too long to do that.
My puppy (who’s 9, by the way!) is a Velcro dog too. She sleeps on the floor next to me and if I get up during the night, she has to follow me across the room to sit by the bathroom door until I come out. Being able to see the bathroom door a few feet away isn’t good enough.
I never had to board her since we had a friend stay in the house when we were on vacation. But that friend just moved away. We had to be out for a long weekend recently and we boarded her. What a mistake. I saw her on the doggy cam - while all the other dogs ran around playing, she scrunched up into a corner with her head down the entire day. I felt like a monster.
If I had a young puppy again, I think from an early age I would put her in doggy day care for half a day every week or so, just to get her used to the fact that it’s fun and I come back. I made a big mistake not doing that.
I kennel for vacations but before that I daycared to get him used to the place. He loved it. I think it’s nice to have daycare as a backup. For example when I had gallbladder surgery bc he won’t walk with anyone while I am in the house. IOW I think a trial time is worth a try either way.
We are going to make the appointment for the interview anyway, because I think you’re right Hayden, and we need to get him the PBP more social. It looks like fun and I can watch him on my phone. Which is probably not a good thing because, well, I am a crazy person and I can just hear myself “that poodle is being mean to my baby!” He sleeps on the armchair next to my bed. I am just insane about this dog. I had really wanted a companion dog for a long time and now I have one. And he is so CUTE!
I’ve never even had a dog - but unfortunately I get the barking dog complaints for the city I work for. Please don’t leave your dogs home alone for 9 hours. They will bark their heads off. Your neighbors will be miserable and will complain to someone like me.
We have never left our dog (corgi/beagle, rescued at age 4, now 8) in a kennel/doggy day care. He is a very chill dog and has never been destructive in any shape or form. He has never been crated in his life with us. We did close him off in the kitchen when we first got him for the first month or two. Since then, he has complete roam of the house. He is almost ALWAYS in the same room as us when we are home.
He is frequently left home alone while we are at work for 6-8 hours. The longest we have left him is 12 hours. Only a couple of times. He got a LONG walk before we left and a LONG walk when we got home.
Things to consider:
a top thing to consider - how long in hours currently between pee/poop opportunities? This would be the most major concern IMO - if your pup can “hold it”.
do you have a room you could close off that he could roam a bit but have limits??
Pup is a dog - more than likely he will sleep a good bit of the time you are gone. Or watch out the window for you.
Which sounds better to you? Your pup alone at a home he is familiar with or a daycare/kennel he is NOT familiar with???
How long does your pup go at night without pee/poop opportunities or human contact??? If he can go 10 hours at night, he can do it during the day as long as you take care of his needs before you go. And immediately when you get back!
You will definitely want a back up plan of someone who can get in the house and attend to his needs if you get delayed for some reason.
Oh, abasket, we also had a beagle/corgi, the best.
I see some had more difficult kennel experiences than we did. Ours was at the vet office. They took her out for romps in the yard. When the groomer took her, she played in a fenced yard most of the day, socialized.
I tried to get my D to sign up for rover.com, a listing of private dog boarders if you wanted to browse it. Agreed, 9 hours is long for such a young pup.
D’s summer job is at a doggie daycare, just started this week.
Personally, I would never kennel my dog, with the exception of an extreme emergency. There is not one kennel place that I have looked into that I have been a fan of. I believe it would be stressful for a dog, especially my dog, who has a history of surrender/living at the pound. Plus, I don’t crate him at home, and I am not OK with him being crated, except for travel.
For my dog, it would definitely be less stressful to stay at home for 9 hours than in a new, unfamiliar place.
If I were worried though, I would either have someone visit him at our home or use my regular pet sitter. The idea behind the company I use is that the dog goes to a person’s house and lives as part of the family. My pet sitter has a family and a house. My dog has the run of their house, is never crated, is allowed on furniture, etc.
I would not leave a 3 1/2 old puppy home alone for 9 hours. Doggie day care would be my choice. The dogs are not kenneled at day care and most also have doggie cam so you can check up on what they are doing all day. We always left our older dogs home alone for hours on end and all they did was sleep and even left them for a weekend - with neighbors coming in and taking care of them. Usually if we are going to be gone for a good 9-12 hours, my neighbor will come over, let them out a few times and feed them. When that wasn’t possible, the young ones would go to day care but the old dog never. She wasn’t destructive at all and never ever had an accident in the house.
Usually day cares want you to bring your dog in for a test (a few hours) to see how they do with other dogs. It is usually free to do that too. Call around or ask friends who they use.
