My pups are home alone from like 6:30am to 2:30pm twice a week when I'm having my clinical days at the hospital and they've been fine (even a couple days where they were home alone until 5:00 although I'd work out something else if it was a regular thing). I'm pretty sure they sleep/window watch all day. Like I mentioned, if they were alone regularly for more than 6 hours, I would arrange for one of my neighbors (or pay someone) to come let them out for a potty break around lunchtime and to stretch their legs out.
Hopefully Charlie will adjust quickly when you start to work outside of the home but I think that is great that your daughter will be home to let him out and keep him company after school. He'll be okay until she gets home! And you can always get someone to pop in and check on him to give you peace of mind.
I'd be careful about adding a second pet (if it ends up being allowed) since you're going to be spending more time outside of the home unless you have more time initially to get them acclimated. But I will say that adding a second pet worked out really well for us! Toki and Teddy are good buddies and keep each other company when they're home alone. I brought home Teddy at the end of my spring semester...I had the entire summer to be at home with them (or have my BF be at home with them) a majority of the time so that we could make sure they were getting along well and that Teddy was adjusting to his new home. It ended up being a really great decision! |