Just wondering what do people do if they have to go out for a day or a few hours ...where does the dog wee ?How do people work ?Do they all run in lunch hour to let the dog out? I have a cat flap that came with the house do dogs use this ? I am just looking ahead ...right now she can not reach the flap :) I am home in and out with the kids and I work from home but I just wonder if you go on a family day out let's say what does one do when the dog is fully trained outside ?

I try my hardest to make sure Taiko is home alone as little as possible, but obviously you can't stay in 24/7. I usually take him for a walk and play with him to tire him out before I go off for coffee/shopping etc I also don't leave him until after mid day, it doesn't seem fair if he's slept alone all night, I like to keep him company in the mornings. I was in a bind two weeks ago because hubby was working away and I work a couple of evenings mid-week,so Taiko got packed off to the in-laws overnight.They have a friendly bitch and a lovely big dog run attached,so they didn't need to walk him and he got to socialize/play. My parents live nearby and offered to dogsit but I thought Taiko would enjoy dog company. I wouldn't leave him for a whole day,I think most toilet trained dogs would just hold it in,making themselves uncomfortable rather than mess indoors. If you have friends/family that you trust to walk the dog,I'm sure they'd be happy to pop in.:)

If I'm off for a whole day then I either beg hubby to take a day's holiday (for something like Crufts, where I'll be going with Ali.C), or they're packed off to the kennels for the shortest time I can arrange around their opening/closing times. I wouldn't leave them all day on their own.
LynnT

I personally think it depends on your dog and your situation. My situation is that I work in the city 14 miles for home, so there is no chance I can get home in a lunch time, but, my partner is self-employed and works just 2 minutes from our home.

During the week my dog Buster is left for 4 hours in his kennel in the morning and then my partner comes home for an hour at lunch time, and then Buster is left again for another 4 hours until I get home from work. Buster is fussy about his toilet habits and insists on holding it all in until he can go in his favourite spots in the garden, so we never have to worry about that.

Because you seem to be home most of the day you should not have a problem, but going in and out is good too, as the dog will get used to being left. If you would never normally leave the dog for long periods and occassionally you want to go out for the day, then I might be concerned as the dog may not be used to this, but if you say you have a cat flap and the dog could use this then great. My mum has 2 Cav. King Charles and they would not know what to do without a cat flap! They come and go for wees and no. 2's as they please, but of course you need to ensure your garden is very secure!

I work all day gone for 8 hrs, hubby too. Dogs are fine and have free run of the house only one is kenneled and the pup. Right now hubby is at home but all the dogs do anyhow is sleep all day till I come home. I would like to put a video camera on them just to see what they do when we are gone. :D

ttfn :)

Would you really want a video of all your dogs sleeping all day?!:D :D

I should add a comment to my earlier post in that I'm home all day normally so my two aren't used to being on their own and it therefore wouldn't be fair to leave them all day, and they'd have no access to the garden.
LynnT

Just a word of warning about dog flaps - years ago one of our dogs somehow managed to trap his foot and couldn't get himself free. Fortunately I was at home when it happened but I'd hate to think what the outcome would have been if I'd not been there to help him....

I don't work and teach my children at home so it's not unusual for me to be at home with the dogs all day. I try to go out every day even if it's just for 15mins so that Holly learns to be by herself in the house - that way if I do have to go out for a while it's not such a shock to her.

As we've just got a new puppy we'll continue doing that so that Lara gets used to being left.

We leave Holly in her crate so that she can't come to any harm and we'll leave Lara in her crate as well, for the same reason.

HTH,

Fiona
x x x

I work on a Thursday and Friday, 8 hours per day- and so Kassie is left on her own but..............I feed her before I go to work and take her for a short walk even if it's only up and down the street just so she'll have a few hours sleep when I go- my Mum comes up at lunch time and spends an hour with her (sometimes tidies up for me too:p :D)- once she's picked the kids up she then comes again at around 3:30pm to feed her and let her out etc- and I'm usually back home for 5:30pm:) Then I take her out properly up onto the field:) When she was younger- up until about 6 month old- I left her at 8:15am- my Mum came at 10:30am- then again at lunch time to feed her and take her round the block sniffing about and meeting and greeting people- then again at 3:30pm- and as usual I was back in for 5:30pm:)

Stacey x x x

I guess there is no set rules everyone just finds a way to fit it all in ! :) I do have a friend with a westie and my mum if I ever have to go out for the day..I am just looking ahead at options ..summer etc..it is not always easy to take a dog everywhere as some places are not dog friendly .Although my 2 want to taker her everywhere..the school run !!!

i work, am out for 7 hours, but we walk for an hour before i leave....she kips most of the day(even if i am home) and we go jogging after work, then play awhile, or go visiting...I think she is glad when I go to work to be honest, she needs the rest. ....and then the cat keeps her company :)

I use the "cat flap" for my dog. Outside the flap I build a secure fenced area. I've had GSDs, a Cairn and a Yorkie using the same size flap with no problem. It was funny to watch four dogs all try to get through it at the same time!

Now I have a flap for my puppy, a Cairn. I trained her to go through the flap as soon as she was physically able. First, I lifted the flap for her and let her walk through the hole for a treat on the other side. When she was bigger (she's 4 months now) I trained her to push the flap up herself to get to the other side.

She quickly learned to use the flaps when she needed to go outside to relieve herself.

Of course, she is too young to leave free in the house when no one is home. I crate her for those times, never more than 2-3 hours.

Stacey

We agonised for months over what to do with the dogs if we both had to work all day. Usually, Chris works from home, but every so often we both have to work away. We deliberately got two dogs to keep each other company, then we built a massive dog run in the garden with an attached kennel for rainy days.

Now we find that both dogs hate the dog run, especially when it's cold. They refuse to relieve themselves inside it anyway so they're much happier just sleeping in the kitchen with toys, treats and the tv on to keep them amused.

We deliberately never punished them for 'messing' on the floor when they were younger, so that if they feel the need to go inside then they know it's ok to do this. I'd prefer that then the thought of them crossing their legs until we get home. We've got laminate flooring so it's no problem, and it turns out they've never needed to go on it anyway.