Dog owners....
We just got a dog.....Cute lil guy....He is a Goldendoodle and so sweet. He is 13 months old.
My question is what do you all do during the day when you work with your dog? Anyone work 8, 12 or 24 hour shifts? Do you have a dogdoor? Do you pay someone to walk it or send it do doggy daycare? how does he/she do with you gone?
Just seeing what others do with their furry best friend when they are away.
Have a great day all!
If you work more than 8 hour shifts, I'd definitely look into a dog walker or doggie daycare. The daycare places can be really fun for dogs, and they get lots of exercise running around with the other pooches.
Gone about 10 hours, M-F.
She's in the backyard, has a big dog house and can come into the garage. There's a blanket in there for her. Last winter I bought one of those heating pads. It stays pre-warm and then her weight activates it to come up to dog body temp. That made her more comfortable.
She's so excited and loving when someone comes home.
ohh boy. don't be surprised if you get some bad reactions to your question...
However, I personally feel that if you have a mid size dog or bigger, and you have a back yard, it's perfectly fine to let them out during the day while your gone, as long as you have adequate protection for them. Like mooni said, either a garage, dog house, whatever with blankets to lay on, and some sort of weather control. We have a Great Dane, and she can lay under the patio, in her dog house. In summer we have a big industrial type fan pointed at it, and in winter we hang a heat lamp inside her dog house. She actually has access to a small office we have off our porch, but she does not want to stay in it. She prefers her own house.
MOONI - where did you get that heating pad? - our dog would LOVE it!
One of us is usually home at least long enough to let the dog out every few hours, but if not, I have a neighbor girl that let's her out each day after school. Our cue is, if she doesn't see any of the three cars at home, come over and ring the bell. If no one answers, she uses her key to let the pooch out. She loves the dog and the dog loves her, so they play for a bit. Her mom won't let her have a dog, so this is a win-win for all of us! (Keep in mind, I've lived there for 8 years so I've known this kid since she was 5 and I trust her.)
Technically, our breed can hold it for a very long time, so 8-10 hours and she wouldn't mess in the house. I just don't like to leave her go that long.
thmheh, a lady at work told me about them. I ordered it from www.petedge.com. I have an 85 lb. labrador so I paid almost $100 for the extra large pad. The pads that come on and stay at temp the whole time are a little cheaper. I didn't want to forget to turn it on, so I got the one that has a sensor so the dog's weight triggers it to come up to doggy body temp.
Warning to Suburban Dog Owners
I live in a nice suburban neighborhood with a large fully-fenced backyard and have two large-breed mutts (really no idea what breeds they are, maybe husky/german shepherd). My husband and I built a dog run for them which they love. We put in pavers so that they're not constantly in the dirt, and they have lots of shade and a huge bucket of water. We live in So. Cal. so the weather is pretty much always nice enough for them, but when it gets really hot in the summer we keep them inside with the A/C on.
Or at least that's what we used to do . . .
Unfortunately, someone decided that it would be fun to take pop-shots at our dogs with a bee bee (sp?) gun. We discovered this one day when we found a lump on Foster's chest. When we took him to the vet, they discovered a bee bee imbedded in his skin. Needless to say, we can no longer keep our dogs outside. Instead, we now have to keep them indoors while we're at work, which is usually about 10 hours away from home.
We're going to buy a security camera to monitor the yard, and then post a bunch of signs so that whoever did it won't do it again, but until that day, our poor (big) dogs live almost entirely in the house.
Just a reminder that if you do keep your dogs outside during the day, make sure you pay attention to who your neighbors are and check the dogs for injuries. If we hadn't found that lump, we might never have known that someone was tormenting our puppies, and who knows how far that person might have taken things.
As a veteran dog owner, I believe in the crate system. Our trainer recommemded it so that the dog would have a safe place that was all her own. Eventually, with our previous girls, we were able to leave them out during the day; this was after we had done some trial runs to the grocery and then to the movies and also endured a chewed coffee table and a hole chewed in the drywall. The new girl is 18 months old and I wouldn't leave her out to save my life; all my shoes and furniture would be devoured. She is crated all day (studies have shown that a dog NEEDS only 1 hour per day out of the crate, but I still wouldn't leave her crated that long), and then we take her out for a good walk and play session. Her crate is her safe place, and even now she will go in it to get away from my kids. My friend has a Great Dane and Sam uses the dog door--I would be afraid that someone would be able to get in that . Remember that the crate is the dog's place--if the dog is bored or freaked out while home alone (such as during a storm), he's still in his place. Even if doggie doesn't chew in front of you, he may when left home and is bored.
Glad she's not counting--how many calories in a tennis shoe?
as long as it's relatively warm and dry, i leave the patio door open so kenya has the run of the house and the fenced yard. she's a camel, though, and can easily go 12-14-16 hours without having to pee. not that i leave her alone that long. i'm rarely gone more than 4 hours at a time. but she's done for the night by about 8pm (sometimes i send her out into the yard between 9 and 10, but she usually just stays on the deck and checks out the neighbourhood), and in the morning she won't (i mean refuses) to go outside until it's nice and warm - 10, 11, even noon. if it's raining, i have to drag her to the door.
I work 8-10hrs, and because I don't start until the afternoon she gets two walks one first thing then the other just before I'm going to head off. She stays inside whilst I'm gone, and she is fine. Oh and as soon as I get home before I do anything else she gets a 30min walk.
Dogs can hold off for a long time, especially if they are in a crate. The last thing they will do is mess in the crate if it is the right size ,just big enough for them to lay down in.
I read that a dog has the mentality of a 2 year old, I would not leave my 2 year old unattended so I don't leave my dog unattended. Fortunately it is a dog and not a human so we can crate them while we are unable to supervise them. I crate my dog whenever I leave the house for more than a few minutes and I also crate my dog when he is riding in the car. My thinking is based on what would happen if the dog were to get into trouble with nobody around, they can't help themselves and in fact they could become injured trying to free themselves from the trouble. A dogs thinking is based on survival, not safety and if they get tangled in something they will hang themselves trying to get free :(
While we are on the topic of "dog care" please don't let your dog hang his head out the car window while you are driving, it is very dangerous. Anyone that has had a stone come up and crack their windshield should realize this. Imagine what it could do to the dogs eye. :\
I work 7 1/2 hours but sometimes I'm gone longer if I go out on the weekends. If I'm worried she might have an accident I will crate her but my dog has done well with me being gone for longer periods of time. I definitely don't like leaving her more than 8 hours though. I live in a studio in Seoul, Korea so it's not like there's a backyard I can leave her in.
