Leaving your dog alone

[Dzbabykel]

Yeah I leave Oliver alone for about 4 hours in the morning and take him for his walks on my lunch break, play with him for an hour, take him on his walk again then leave him until I'm home 4 hours later. He seems to be in a pretty good schedule and on weekends if I know I'll be gone I take him to my dad's where he plays with his buddies Other than that, he's pretty much attached to me!!

[jlui91]

Yes he does have free range of the house. The entire house actually. Before i use to put a gate up so he couldn't go down the stairs to my brother's room which is quite messy and has tons of stuff on the floor he can get into. Eventually he learned how to open the gate up enough for him to get by so now I just let him go wherever he wants. When I come home he usually greets me with a big stretch from sleeping and I find everything in its place so I trust him =]

[lovespandp]

Originally Posted by jlui91

Yes he does have free range of the house. The entire house actually. Before i use to put a gate up so he couldn't go down the stairs to my brother's room which is quite messy and has tons of stuff on the floor he can get into. Eventually he learned how to open the gate up enough for him to get by so now I just let him go wherever he wants. When I come home he usually greets me with a big stretch from sleeping and I find everything in its place so I trust him =]

Aw thats good!! If I let Pnut have free range, I would come home to my carpet looking like his pee pad! He is 3 years old btw!

[viviansnickers]

Snickers (and soon to be baby brother Reesie) are left home alone for 3 hours, then my babe comes home for lunch for an hour-1.5hours and then for another 3 hours alone. Total 6 hours but a nice break in between. Snick has minor separation anxiety and will never sleep while we are gone, he is also in a PacknPlay and stares out the window all day. After Reesie is transitined into the family, they will stay together and hopefully be able to sleep and play and just be together while we are working.


Snick & Viv & soon to be baby Reesie

[Mugwai]

My Furbaby is left alone on average 6 to 8 hrs per day. Sometimes less than that. She does great! Rarely if ever uses a pee pad or has an accident. She's awesome!. (i put them down for her) My Rottie and Lab keep her company. Usually when I get home, all three are on my bed..LOL....Gotta love them!

[MollysMum54]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

Hmm, must have been about 18 hours. She had food though and wasn't expected to hold it that long. Someone was home with her, but she had to be in a room by herself. Now we do about 10.5 hours sometimes.

[gram2k]

Great thread! Came here to post the same question actually. I'm curious if any of you leave the dog out freely during the day? When gone for shorter periods on the weekends, she does well out all day and I'm wondering if keeping her in her room during the week is necessary? ( she is now 1.3 years old ) She gets so upset ( in a room, not a cage ) during the week when isolated. She seems to have far less separation anxiety being able to roam freely around the house. Anyone?

[Nancy1999]

Two hours is the longest, and that's only happened a couple of times, we take Joey with us most places. I'll be going to a wedding soon, and since it may last much longer than Joey's accustomed, we will be taking him to his breeder for babysitting. I tried to talk the Bride into letting Joey be a ring bearer, but no dice.

[Mugwai]

Originally Posted by gram2k

Great thread! Came here to post the same question actually. I'm curious if any of you leave the dog out freely during the day? When gone for shorter periods on the weekends, she does well out all day and I'm wondering if keeping her in her room during the week is necessary? ( she is now 1.3 years old ) She gets so upset ( in a room, not a cage ) during the week when isolated. She seems to have far less separation anxiety being able to roam freely around the house. Anyone?

Mine has free roam of the house along with my cat, Rotty and Lab. But like I said earlier, usually they are all on my bed when I get home..lol

[Roccosmommy]

Originally Posted by gram2k

Great thread! Came here to post the same question actually. I'm curious if any of you leave the dog out freely during the day? When gone for shorter periods on the weekends, she does well out all day and I'm wondering if keeping her in her room during the week is necessary? ( she is now 1.3 years old ) She gets so upset ( in a room, not a cage ) during the week when isolated. She seems to have far less separation anxiety being able to roam freely around the house. Anyone?

Rocco is alone for about 6 1/2 hours during the week, sometimes less. He has free roam of the house and seems very content...he sleeps and keeps 'watch' out the front window which gives him a lot of mental stimulation I think, since we live on a main road. He people watches, squirrel watches, and generally enjoys perching on the couch in front of the picture window. I think if he was caged or secluded it would be a more difficult day for him and I'd have a less than content furbutt. He is 13 months and has had free roam since about 6 months.

[kdhawks]

Originally Posted by gram2k

Great thread! Came here to post the same question actually. I'm curious if any of you leave the dog out freely during the day? When gone for shorter periods on the weekends, she does well out all day and I'm wondering if keeping her in her room during the week is necessary? ( she is now 1.3 years old ) She gets so upset ( in a room, not a cage ) during the week when isolated. She seems to have far less separation anxiety being able to roam freely around the house. Anyone?

If I didn't live in an apartment, Levi would have free roam of the house. In the apartment, I'm just too concerned that maintenance could come in for an emergency and Levi would dart out the door. Instead, I keep him in my bedroom area with the door shut. He has access to my bedroom, bathroom, and walk-in closet. It works out well for him - huge windows for plenty of sunlight, tons of places for naps, water bowls, and toys. Even though I'm pretty sure all he does is sleep when I am gone.

[lexi43]

My babies are very seldom alone. During the week I'm with them all day because I do some work from home. On the weekends my housemate and I go food shopping for maybe an hour or so. On special occasions we go out for the day but we have 5 dogs and they have company. The only one I worry about is my new baby Oliver because he is just 8 1/2 weeks old and hasn't had his shots yet so he can't be with the other dogs.

[QuickSilver]

Originally Posted by gram2k

Great thread! Came here to post the same question actually. I'm curious if any of you leave the dog out freely during the day? When gone for shorter periods on the weekends, she does well out all day and I'm wondering if keeping her in her room during the week is necessary? ( she is now 1.3 years old ) She gets so upset ( in a room, not a cage ) during the week when isolated. She seems to have far less separation anxiety being able to roam freely around the house. Anyone?

I've always heard that it's safer to leave them in just one room / crate, but then, I've also heard that makes them LESS anxious. If you've definitely noticed that she's better with free roam, maybe that would be better. I would definitely make sure the house is thoroughly dog-proofed, though.

I leave Thor by himself around 5 hours once or twice per week. I always put him in the living room with a pee pad, water, and some kind of food puzzle. I either hide treats in different places, or I put them in a bag and he has to shake them out. It's really cute watching him race into the living room to start his treat hunt.

[lovespandp]

Originally Posted by kdhawks

If I didn't live in an apartment, Levi would have free roam of the house. In the apartment, I'm just too concerned that maintenance could come in for an emergency and Levi would dart out the door. Instead, I keep him in my bedroom area with the door shut. He has access to my bedroom, bathroom, and walk-in closet. It works out well for him - huge windows for plenty of sunlight, tons of places for naps, water bowls, and toys. Even though I'm pretty sure all he does is sleep when I am gone.

Yes, very true, I live in Condos and this same thing happened to my neighbor, they called for maintenance, their chihuahua got out. She is now missing, and has been for 7 days!

[DvlshAngel985]

Originally Posted by lovespandp

Yes, very true, I live in Condos and this same thing happened to my neighbor, they called for maintenance, their chihuahua got out. She is now missing, and has been for 7 days!

Same reason Kaji was confined when I lived in a condo. If I wasn't home, Kaji would walk out the door and look for me. After hearing that happened to my roomies, I just put him in the expen every time I was out. He's much more content at home with my parents. He has free roam of the entire apt, except for the kitchen where he has proven he can not be trusted. His pad is in the bathroom, and he has all the couches, beds, and his own beds at his disposal. I have been told that he has been found napping in my laundry basket on top of my clean clothes.