For the first year of Bender's life he was never alone. This was a lot easier since we lived in Europe where dogs are allowed in restaurants and malls and such. He became very attached to his leash
Last October my husband started working long days, and I was away a couple months in the US, so my in-laws kept him (he LOVES his grandpa, because he gives him his own plate at dinner time...makes him feel like a person). Anyhow, after I came back and got into work and such myself we started leaving him home alone more. We've stretched it up to 4 hours at regular intervals during the week, with work, school, etc. If we're going to be gone more than 6 hours, we find him a sitter. We always leave a light on in case we'll be out past dark (Bender is scared of the dark), and we always bring him a stuffed toy home...which is why he has over 100 stuffed animals! He seems ok with it. We just have to say bye-bye before we leave, otherwise he whines and cries for hours, because he thinks we're not coming home (and this goes for when only 1 of us leaves too). When we come home from work he sits with us on the couch while we eat dinner and watch Futurama or the Simpsons
