Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 9:06 am Post subject: Please help, honest advice needed on leaving a puppy
Hi everyone
We are looking for some honest advice, so we hope you can help us.
We would love to buy a pup but the thing thats always stopped us is that we both work and we would have to leave it home alone in a large kennel/cage/run during the day.
My husband leaves the house at 8am and is always back by 4pm, sometimes earlier. He can pop home every day at lunchtime for 1/2 hour or so. Our parents have agreed to pop in each morning and afternoon for 1/2 hour or so. We would be there in the evenings and at weekends.
I think I know the answer but is this cruel for a young pup? We had hoped that once it was older we would install a dog door so at least it would have the run of our (secure) garden.
We are genuine dog lovers and do not want to inflict any suffering on a young pup. However people have said to us that as long as you build up the time they are left for gradually, they will get used to it as they haven't known any different. But I'm not so sure.
I have a puppy (6 months) and both me and Dave work (theres loads of people on here who have dogs and work too). I leave at 9, pop home at lunchtime and Daves back about 4 ish usually.
Toby doesnt suffer any ill effects from me not being with him 24hrs a day, hes healthy, happy and a right handful at times lol.
I would take a week or 2 off though when the puppy gets here to help it adjust into its new routine as you know, going out and leaving it build the time up gradually. I took 1 week off then my OH took the next to help the puppy adjust.
Some people use create, personally i dont (wish i had though lol). Toby gets the run of the full kitchen while im out.
You are right you do know the answer really. As a helper for Labrador Rescue I must say we re-home a large quantity of dogs who are being left for long periods of time and are distressed.
There is an element that some dogs can be left but then you have to ask is that fair?
Labradors are a breed who crave attention and some get distressed when left for long periods. Boredom sets in and they can get distructive. Some get so excited when they finally get human company that they can be boisterous. Think of it from the dogs perspective and perhaps reconsider getting a dog when your circumstances change.
You sound like you really know this anyway and hopefully I dont sound too harsh
I agree very much with Alison. I have also worked with Labrador Rescue ... and have had the same experience. A lot of young dogs are handed to rescue as too boisterous and with careful questioning we discover they have been left alone for several hours each day from a very young age.
I know there are a lot of people that do work full time and manage to keep a dog.......but personally it wouldn't sit happy with my conscience, which is why when I worked full-time I only had my cats.
I just can't help but feel sorry for these pups that are whisked away from all there litter mates, then left all alone for hour on end day after day. I know they get used to it but it must be awful for them in the beginning. After all, most dogs (and especially Labs) have been bred to live and be in close contact with their owner, most of the time, so you are working against the pups instincts right from the start.
I'm sorry if that upsets anyone, it was not my intention, but the OP did ask for an honest reply.
At times other people have made me feel bad about having a dog when both of us work. But if i ever felt me not being with the dog 24hrs a day was having any effect on it at all i wouldnt have it. Every 2nd week Dave is home with him on a Monday, Daves home early most nights too so its not really that bad for us, plus me managing to nip home each day helps.
My black lab is in alone too while my mum and dad work, if you are home with him he gets upset lol.
I guess you have to ask yourself the honesty Q of can you manage a dog and work at the same time?
I agree with all that's been said but if you can offer a loving home and put in the enormous amount of effort required to love and train a dog, there is 'sometimes' a way around it.
For example - when Mario arrived, hubby and I did back-2-back time off work meaning for the first 4 weeks he had someone there. I only work in the mornings now during which time my retired parents 'dog sit' for us at their home around the corner. Mario absolutely loves this '2nd home' with an extra set of toys, games etc. It suited my parents who (although retired) still love the company of a faithful friend and get that without the stresses and expense of having their own.
Basically, I'm just trying to say there are often ways around things. Do you know anyone who might be able to help you? Snatched lunchtimes sound good in principle but I imagine it can be stressful racing around for the owner and ultimately the dog.
Good luck with your decision. If everyone thought as carefully about it as you, I'm sure the world would be a better place!
i am a stay at home mum so my dogs are lucky and they have company more or less 24hrs a day when we do go out and have to leave them i make sure i am no longer than 3-4 hrs because i dont want them to think were not coming back but also they might need the loo or they have drank all there water or they might be missing us silly stuff like that..lol..
or another point in them absent hours i have no idea what pickles they could be getting htere selfs into..lol.. (rosze destroyed our house when she was about 6months old she was left alone for 1hr) we bought a crate loads of ppl use them but now im thankfull she no longer needs it...
so ask yourself this
why do you want a dog? if its for company then were is the company for the dog while you are out for 8hrs a day?
would you like to be stuck in a crate for 8hrs (8-4)
or outside on your own again for 8hrs
if you can guarante that everyday someone will be able to check up play and walk your dog and give him/her some company say every 2hrs? then maybe but again its the quality time spent with the dog that makes him/her grow up into a lovely family memeber
but personally i couldnt do it xxxx unless your hours change of course or maybe you can take the pup along to work??..
i also think you already know the answer to this :O) x x x
Thanks so much for taking the time to answer. No offence taken at any of the replies ... I wanted honest answers ... and friends just tend to tell you what you want to hear!! LOL
If we got a pup we had planned to have at least 4 weeks off alternately so that we could settle it in, do some basic training and also build up the time it was alone gradually. But there's no getting away from the fact that it would be alone for several hours at a time, even if this is countered by the love and attention it would get at evenings/weekends.
I shall think long and hard about it and investigate whether our parents could possibly have it at home with them in the afternoons maybe, so at least it had some company during the day.
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