What to do with the dog during long work days?

ESF1

How long is too long to leave a dog alone?

What do you do with your dog if you work long hours?

We got our dog in June. I work from home, so she really hasn't been home alone that much.  The longest she's been alone has been about 8 hours, and that has happened exactly twice.   My work schedule is going to be nutty between now and April -- I'm going to have a bunch of long (10+ hour) work things, day long trips out of town, and numerous 2-4 night trips over the next few months.  Many of these may be scheduled and/or canceled on very short notice.  A short work day for H is leaving at 7:30 am and coming home at 7:30 pm.  So I'm just trying to figure out what to do with our dog when I'm out for a long time.  H can work from home one day a week and works in a casual office, so he can probably bring her in once in a while, like maybe for a day every few weeks, so that will help, but I'm concerned about days when we are both gone for really long times. 

We can't be the only people with a dog that work long hours, so I'm just wondering what others do.

 

 

 

 

 

TheLinkBride

I have a dog walker come to give him dog a walk, do some tricks for mental stimulation, or have some play time.  She comes for 40 minutes in the middle of the day when I need her.

jdbmjm

Home alone, with each other. Before I moved, I was able to come home a few days a week at lunch for 20 minutes or so to let them out and run around for a second. After I moved, my neighbor and I had a great arrangement and he would let the girls out a few times a day. 

Now they are back to hanging out at home by themselves. I honestly think they sleep the vast majority of the time, but every now and then I come home to find them in strange predicaments, like having locked themselves in the bathroom, and Heidi had a box stuck on her head... 

jdbmjm

Oh, but I'm only gone for about 9 hours a day, though today was closer to 10. If they were regularly going to be home for 10+ hours, a good dog walker, or even a friend. neighbor to drop by and let them out works wonders. 

I also take them for really long runs every evening, and they are much better (read: less likely to rip something up) when I work them out really good the night before.  

SillyStraw

My dog is alone for 10 hours a couple times a week (7-9 hours the other week days).  I always take her for a long walk or run before work.  On days when we'll be gone for longer than 10 hours (very rare) we have a neighbor who welcomes her to come over for a playdate with her 2 dogs (LOVE this lady) for the day.  Before we met this neighbor we would take her to doggie daycare for the day.

andreas4dogs

On the occasions where the dogs are going to be alone 4+ hours we have someone (either my friend or my in-laws) come in and let the dogs out, give them attention, and give them a treat. They need to be monitored and let out more because of certain issues (especially my incontinent collie) so we have someone check on them more frequently than the average pet owner because of these issues. I am a SAHM so that is not an issue usually...but I would see if you can get a dog walker (and check their background of course!).

DorothyofOz

In the summer we just leave him in the yard with a bowl of water. He likes to lay in a hole he dug in the shade or he runs around a lot chasing bugs and shadows (his name is Buggs). If my husband could, he'd come home for lunch.

Now it's winter and I work seasonally so I'm home now. I'm not sure what we'd do if I was working though and it got really cold (which could potentially happen someday, if we get lucky enough to move out of here and I can get a more reliable job!). Buggs would probably be fine in the house, and especially if DH got to come home for lunch, but we work 10 hour days so I don't know if he can hold his bladder for 10 hours. He's good about holding it, but I don't know if he's that good!

Mryan209

Generally she's just alone 8 - 9 hours so she just hangs out.  On occasion something has come up and we've had to leave her up to 12 hours and she's been fine, but that might be harder with a small(ish) dog.  If we know ahead of time it's going to be a long day, we try to send her to doggy daycare or stagger our schedules so she's not home quite as long.

dirtyred

We take her to doggie daycare, which I highly recommend if you have one near you.

Mryan209

DorothyofOz:

In the summer we just leave him in the yard with a bowl of water. He likes to lay in a hole he dug in the shade or he runs around a lot chasing bugs and shadows (his name is Buggs). If my husband could, he'd come home for lunch.

Now it's winter and I work seasonally so I'm home now. I'm not sure what we'd do if I was working though and it got really cold (which could potentially happen someday, if we get lucky enough to move out of here and I can get a more reliable job!). Buggs would probably be fine in the house, and especially if DH got to come home for lunch, but we work 10 hour days so I don't know if he can hold his bladder for 10 hours. He's good about holding it, but I don't know if he's that good!

 

CapeCodOct05

When our dogs are home alone for longer than 7ish hours, we always have someone come and let them out once. In the past it was always our pet sitter ($15/visit), but now FIL is retired and he does it for us (we pay him the same).

I know a lot of other dogs go longer, but that's just what I feel comfortable with. I'm sure my dogs could make it 9-ish hours if necessary, but I just prefer to give them a little break.

I have found our pet sitters on http://www.petsit.com/

jump*tunnel*climb*weave

Mryan209:

DorothyofOz:

In the summer we just leave him in the yard with a bowl of water. He likes to lay in a hole he dug in the shade or he runs around a lot chasing bugs and shadows (his name is Buggs). If my husband could, he'd come home for lunch.

Now it's winter and I work seasonally so I'm home now. I'm not sure what we'd do if I was working though and it got really cold (which could potentially happen someday, if we get lucky enough to move out of here and I can get a more reliable job!). Buggs would probably be fine in the house, and especially if DH got to come home for lunch, but we work 10 hour days so I don't know if he can hold his bladder for 10 hours. He's good about holding it, but I don't know if he's that good!

 

Yeah great idea, NOT

RedheadBaker

We initially had a dog walker come around 3 p.m. -- we were gone from 7:30 am to 6 pm (if traffic was good). 

We had to cut that out when we had to tighten up our budget, and they were fine as long as we took them out as soon as we got home.  

PremierMot

Maybe a neighbor could stop by and let the dog out for a bit?

 

ESF1

Thanks for the ideas.  I have a friend who lives nearby, works from home, and adores dogs, except her husband got a long term job assignment in another state, so she's 2000 miles away until April.  

My neighbors are all weird, but one of them is retired and has a dog, so maybe I'll talk to her if I can't find a dog sitter/walker that can work around my unpredictable schedule.

 

sandollar1010

I have a great walker come around noon everyday.  She is a vet tech and brings her dogs over to play with mine for about an hour.  It's great to come home to a tired pup.  You can try your vets office, they can usually recommend someone.