Reply With Quotesometimes you have to love something so much you have to let it or the idea go.
As I know there are alot of passionate dog owners here, I would appreciate your thoughts on bringing a dog into a home that would have him alone for about 11 hours a day.
My wife and myself would both love to get a dog, but I'm afraid that a dog might be upset being on his own for so much of the day. We have a decent sized garden for a city house, and would be more than willing to do the walks etc but just afraid that might not be enough. The other problem is neither of us would want one of the lazy litte dogs that probably wouldn't miss us, we would like a decent sized dog with a personality.
Appreciate your thoughts..........would it be cruel to get a dog in such a situation, or not?
sometimes you have to love something so much you have to let it or the idea go.
Young dogs often get separation anxiety - and they need exercise and attention.
My view as a long standing dog person would be a NO.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
"would it be cruel to get a dog in such a situation"
Yes.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Gotta think about the dog really,would it be fair on it being left in the house 11hrs a day
Emphatically, no to the idea.
No....and no, and when no has sunk in, no.
Sorry, but it's another no from me. A cat, or better still two cats would be a far better bet.
There's always...
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Far too long as others have said, even if you got a dog walker to come in it would still be 2 lots of 5 hours or so alone either side of the walk. Doesn't sound feasible or fair to the dog.
I know this is beginning to get samey but please, don't do it. It's really cruel on the dog and would end up making your life a misery too as you dealt with the fallout.
Not a good idea, as said young puppies get desperately lonely and anxious.
Please don't. Dogs are social creatures and aren't designed to be alone.
How about a cat?
They dont seem to give a stuff whether your there are not most of the time
We got a puppy in May and after 3 nights indoors she has been outside all day and night and perfectly happy.
We are out from 8-4 but there is someone in the house for about half that time. Our next door neighbor has a free range dog that jumps into our garden for a play most days and we let the dog in the house for a bit most evenings.
This is how she is used to being and she seems happy with the arrangement. She has shelter from the sun (and rain ) but she is not digging, chewing or destroying the garden like an unhappy dog would.
Cruel and selfish.
I used to be a lodger in a flat, sharing with my landlady and her dog. The dog adored my landlady, and was utterly utterly miserable whenever she wasn't there. When she returned it was like the lights went on inside the dog. My landlady was lucky that she never had to witness how unhappy her absences made her dog (who she did spend literally as much time as possible with)
Fas est ab hoste doceri
Please don't even consider the idea.Dogs need exercise and companionship.
Leaving a dog in the house on its own for 11 hours a day is the kind of behaviour Channel 5 makes 'reality' TV about.
Doesn't matter what kind of dog, it would be wrong, wrong, wrong, and then some.
By now you should be getting the idea.
NO!.
Thanks guys.....getting the message which I sort of expected (but had hoped for a 'we did it & he was fine as he was breed x' or something). Ah well....
Thanks again...
Hmmm..free range dog. Bit more expensive but taste so much better.Originally Posted by MarkO
^^^ this ^^^
We do have a feral dog problem that appear as road kill but not seen it on any local menus
He looks as though he would rather you weren't there at all
RsPCA guidance and actually legally no dog should be left for more than 4 hours....
Common sense would dictate the same... and is it selfish? Hell yes...
Please don't ...just don't....
I agree.
We would also love to have a dog but our working hours simply will not allow proper care for the dog. We just have to accept that until things change, and I wish more people would do the same.
Dogs are just not made that way.
Loz, are you saying that you don't believe a dog should be left alone for more than 4 hours, or that it is illegal to do so?
I struggle to believe the latter but I'm happy to be referenced wrong.
That said the missus has asked me a hundred times over the last 8 years when we can get a dog, and I keep saying not now.
She think's I'm being awkward, and that the time will never be right - she might be right! I can't see how it's tenable when your spend
50-60 hrs a week in the office and you dont' have local support who can look after the dog during the day.
There is really only one breed of dog that would be perfectly happy with this (it wouldn't be fair on any other breed) - we know because we had exactly the same situation and did our research very carefully.
It's the Greyhound. They are the calmest, most chilled out of all dogs, and they generally and happily sleep around 20hours a day. Your dog will simply get on the sofa and doze for pretty much the entire time you are out.
Ideally get a retired racing Greyhound from one of the charities, and to be fair, if someone can pop in to let him or her out for a quick wee during the day that would be great, but it isn't usually essential.
Our situation is that he is not generally left for more than eight hours, but according to the security camera he does precisely nothing during that time except sleep.
They are gentle souls, very zen, and the males are even more chilled than the females. They aren't known as the worlds fastest couch potatoes for nothing.
Last edited by TheFlyingBanana; 5th November 2016 at 02:54.
I think I would like my atoms reconstituted as a Greyhound when my time is up.
The other option is doggy day care for when you are out. Basically a nursery for dogs
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Ours goes to a dog minder two days a week when nobody is in. They also look after one that is there 5 days a week. The owners wanted a dog but work long hours. They get to enjoy it at weekends and during the week their dog gets to play everyday with a few of his mates!
Sorry TFB but I don't agree with the above at all. When you say doze on the sofa how do you know the dog is not worried as a lot of them just shut down rather than pace, destroy things etc. Then I hope you don't mean leaving a dog up to 8 hours without it able to go for a pee/ crap as they also hate fouling their home. I'd struggle to hold it in that long even with knackered kidneys.
A dog shouldn't really be left more than 4-5 hours at a time.
This is Ireland we are talking about here - animal welfare standards fall well short of UK ones.. Of course you hear plenty of horror stories about animal welfare in the UK, but a lot worse goes on in Ireland I'm sure..
To the OP, please heed the advice from experienced dog owners here and give up on this idea...
I've loved dogs all my life and would love to one again, but we specifically haven't even looked due to us working and it just not being fair on a dog.
Two people working 11 hour days would surely struggle to have the motivation to tag on an hour either side for a decent walk morning and evening.
That said, it was a naive opening question and one the OP had the bottle to answer and will possibly save a dog being re-homed.
We have someone at home pretty much all the time, but we holiday for sometimes a month in one hit, I will therefore not have a dog as I believe even putting it in kennels for that length of time will be too emotionally distressing for it.
Do you like dags?
Have a baby instead. 11 hours shouldn't be a problem as it'll be asleep most of the time. Just leave the telly on for when it wakes up.
yep, I find Peppa Pig works a treat until the daily feed comes around.
on that note...5 hours of Peppa Pig, must make an 11 hour version....
Have you thought of this https://www.borrowmydoggy.com/ works for a colleague and his family without the pressure of full time care.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
Most dogs sleep about 20hrs/day, in common with most other carnivores.
But, as has already been pointed out, that doesn't mean they don't suffer anxiety when they're left alone. There's a reason dogs are so damn pleased to see you when you get home.
Agree with the above. As a dog lover, no way, its cruelty.
Fair play for heeding the advice - your circumstances are utterly unsuitable for you to become a dog owner. A cat on the other hand would be absolutely fine. There are rescue centres up and down the country that are full of cats looking for homes.
I grew up with dogs all my life - have a big family (of 7), and we all lived together, so there was always someone around to look after the dogs.
I would love nothing more than to have one here! Sad thing is, as everyone has mentioned already, they need someone around and a one bed flat with no backyard aint the place.
Our dog could eventually make it up to 7 hours on her own (9-4) but this was after we'd done a year of popping home at lunch time combined with me starting college (late starts/early finishes), and even then the neighbours would mention her howling after the first hour of being gone :( You've definitely made the right call.
She wasn't on her own for 7 hours regularly though was she?? My dog has to be on her own for 5 hours once per week while I teach on Thursday evenings. This is the only time (including during the night) that she is ever on her own.
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