I an amazed at how many questions about leaving dogs are met with a barrage of iinsults! My dearly loved dogs are walked three times daily and left for a total of 7 hours on working days (not all at once)
Even though I have a collie shes fine and has lots of thinking games balanced with exercise. i just wonder when someone is told off for thinking of getting a dog if they work whether those doing the telling off have ever left their children in nurseries or with childminders for more than a couple of hours as this would seem hypocritical.
I do find some responses quite amazing and over critical even though I have no children and am a real dog lover!

People come here and ask questions ...and they get other peoples opinions as answers :) Things sound like they work extremely well for you , but they dont in every case ..and it often is not a good thing to get a new puppy and leave it for up to 8 hours a day . This can lead to chewing and other bad habits through sheer boredom .

It is great that things have worked out in your case , but I do think it is a good thing for people to be made aware that it doesnt always work ;)

Why don't you Register with us and you would be able to add your personal experience to the threads?

Melody

PS We do have several members who work fulltime and have raised pups quite successfully ;)

Not ALL dogs LIKE being left alone. Some breeds are quite happy to be left and snooze the day away . Others need more stimulation and can become destructive when alone . It is also damn hard to train a pup if it is alone all day .
People who dont agree with leaving a dog all day are concerned for the dog and are not tryin to be overly critical .
With regards to leaving children with the childminder/nursery - this is a silly comparison -at least the child is supervised and stimulated which is more than a pup alone would be .
I work also ( as do other members on the Board) but I make arrangements for when I am not there. I took this into consideration when getting a pup .
There are people on the board who have questioned getting a pup and have admitted there is no one to pop in during the day etc. Every ones situation is different and you shouldnt accuse people offering advice of bing insulting and hypercritical. They have the dogs interests at heart .
A destructive or unhappy dog will only end up being another rescue statistic :(

bulldogs arent exactly athletic but they love company. so even though exercise isnt the problem in our house reef is never left for more than 2 hrs on his own. we plan trips and days out around him...lol. and when my son is at home to babysit. its not always the need for a run.....some dogs just crave company.

Point 1: there is a huge difference leaving one dog alone for over 5 hours and leaving several dogs alone (with dog company) for the same time.

Point 2: there is a huge difference between what is possible and what is desirable.

Point 3: there is a huge difference between leaving a puppy to leaving an adult dog

Point 4: what is the point of having dogs if you only spend a couple of hours with them each day

A fifth point you could add Jackie:-

5/ How do you house train a puppy if you are not there?

John

Id love to know that too....

Im struggling to house train Dill, and im here ALL THE TIME!

Em

And there are owners who would give up and rehome the pup - therefore reinforcing my point about rescue statistics :(

my four month old boxer does bird (in his crate) for two hour in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. We have set a camera up to see if he was coping ok. He ate the contents of his kong had a drink and went to sleep. I could never leave him for more than a two hours, id personally would get somebody round to keep him company.
My next door neighbours dog is left from 8am until 8.30pm and gets a servere telling off if he has left a little package. I have offered help but have been informed its her f***k**g dog, she should of taken it when she left. Nice bloke

I totally agree with whats said, as a full time worker I know how hard it is to look after a dog properly!!

I would like to think I've managed it but can see why so many end up in rescues and so try not to actively encourage anyone to do it (but do offer advice and support if the decision has already been made)

I did have one thought though. I wondered how many people that rave about only non workers having dogs have rabbits/guinea pigs/hamsters/birds etc in little cages.

I think that is far worse than leaving a dog for a few hours (provided of course it is made up to them the rest of the time)

Just a random thought that popped into my head!

edit: didnt make it clear I agree with both sides of the arguement so very clearly sitting on fence!!

It isnt just the training of a puppy it's the feeding, how can you make an 8 week/16 week old pup go with out it's food until you come home at night that is awful.

It isnt impossible to raise a puppy if you work!! I had Darcy at 6 weeks old and we managed fine (possibly not perfectly but still fine)

I initially had 2 weeks off work and then worked part time (half days) for a further 2 weeks and then my partner did the same.

Then we employed a dog walker who came in twice a day.

The house training was a challenge, she wasnt 100% until she was 6 months old but then I've seen lots of posts for people who dont work whos dogs still arent house trained at 6 months so I wasnt too despondant.
We used training pads and although our capret took a beating initially, had to have it replaced once she'd got the hang of it, we got there eventually.

It was bloody hard work but isnt impossible (saying that it'll be a long time before I am brave enough to have a puppy again)

I also dont think that working dog owners should be condemned. I would place my years salary on my pup having a better, more stimulated life than a lot of family owned dogs who's owners dont work full time. I also wouldnt encourage someone to take on a dog while working full time as I think its a bit of a hit or a miss on whether the dog takes to the situation or not but I made the decision to get my pup knowing that if he couldnt be left during the day, I would change every other part of my life to fit around him rather than give him up.

Luckily he is fine when home alone. He's 18 weeks old and rarely soils during the day while Im out at work. I train with him in the evenings and play with him and several trainers have commented that he's very advanced for his age. Maybe I just got lucky or maybe Im doing something right.

I think its a lot like parents who buy a kid as many toys and games as it wants - if it doesnt have proper care and love, its not going to be happy. Just my take! :)

I work full time but luckily I have 3 dogs to keep my young boy company and he is absolutely wonderful. When I decided to keep him I did wonder whether I was being kind to him but luckily he has been no trouble at all, only chewed one handle off the cupboard and chewed one wire, luckily not switched on at the time.

I'm also lucky because my dad pops in at lunchtime to see to them all.

When I come home and before I go to work the rest of my life near enough is dedicated to my dogs. Oh, and I wonder why I'm still single:d

It's not the best situation and each breed is different. If I didn't have older dogs and my dad there's no way that I wd. have considered keeping Anton. I decided to give myself until he was about 16 weeks and if I felt that he was not happy in the situation I wd. of sold him but luckily for me he is so laid back that it's never been a problem but it was something that I thought about long and hard.

I had 2 BSDs as pups and worked, and learnt pretty quickly they were just not happy so ended up being a landlady and jacking my job in. It was very hard and i hated having lodgers in my home :( but i would have done anything not to give my dogs up and for them to be happy.

We even built a superb run for them but they hated it - and our neighbours hated them barking out of boredom. I know it can work, but i too know of dogs who have been left all day and beatedn with a slipper when owner comes home at teatime and the dog has messed. Very unfair.

If it is to work, the prospective owner HAS to be aware of the cons as well as the pros, be able to pau for dog walkers, etc etc.

Lindsay

Oh I agree completely. I bought my dog knowing that if I needed to I could afford a professional dog walker/visitor up to 3 times a day. Obvioulsly thats not what I wanted, it would have nearly bankrupt me but I was prepared to do whatever was necessary to keep my girl happy.

There are far too many people that dont realise how hard it is and dont put enough thought into it. The dog does some damage and a few months down the line they just get rid of it. I canc ertainly understand why some breeders wont sell to working homes, its just a shame for those of us that understand and are willing and able to put the time/money and effort into it

My boyfriend is convinced I love Darcy more than I do him because she gets all of my attention when I'm home and thats the way it has to be!!!!!!