I have two dogs, age 2 and 9, golden retrievers.  At the moment I live in suburbia and I am out of the house 8 - 6.  The dogs are shut in the kitchen while i am at work.  They get a good walk by me in the morning and then a dog walker visits at 1 to take them out for 30 mins.  This has been the case since they were puppies and they are well adapted to this routine.

I have the opportunity to move out to the countryside, a large house with stables and a large 2 acre field.  However, would not be able to have a dog walker.  While at work the dogs would have a double stable (heated) with outside run, and would continue to be exercised morning and evening, probably even more so than at present,as they would have the run of a large field.  They would, however, be left 8 - 6 with no visit from the dog walker.

Any thoughts whether they will adapt to the new routine, or if this is not acceptable?

Hi I'd worry incase they were stolen, if they were mine. Thieves could get a long way in 6-8 hours.

Dawn R.

Hi,

Although i have my Golden retrievers in a luxury kennel and run they they have the company of a large family during the day and im at home all day too and still have the option to come into the house,I also have cctv if we go out they are either locked inside indoor kennel or come into house til we get back couldn't take any chances.

Your dogs however are used to having someone come in too and Goldens thrive on human company so to be left that long in a kennel and run no matter how large and heated it is, it still might be a lot to ask of them could no one pop in and see them even for a short time?I would definately think twice about leaving them in a run unattended anything could be thrown into them or worse be broken into.
I always tip their bowls upside down when we go out (water bowls).
We only know too well how some people are so cruel .We had £10,000 koi carp slug pelleted we were gutted.

Briony

Forgot to say we live in quiet rural area too.

Briony

Hi there

we both work full time - my wife teaches so can get home around 4 p.m and sometimes at lunchtimes but usually not - Our oldies are left in the house with access to a dog flap which leads out into a large paved dog yard - the youngsters are left in our kennels with a large shared run. This works well - the dogs are all happy and settled and we have had not problems with noise etc ( we are next to our village school) but otherwise have no neighbours near the kennels. We also have a field of around 1 1/2 acres and the dogs are exersiced off lead morning and evening. I say go for it - life in the country is SO much better than in the town and your dogs WILL adapt

Hi Trevor,

A dog flap from his house to an outside secure run area certainly sounds a good idea at least the dogs could get back inside a secure house,just a question making the dog run as secure as possible and leave water bowls in the house.

However living in the countryside with no near neighbours can be even better for theives etc it fact more perfect for them (no one to watch them or hear the dogs) I too live in a rural area,but first any potential thief would have to pass some neighbours,avoid cctv ,get over 6ft fencing and prickly hedging then to try and break into my kennels which are made of brick and pantiles and secured with dimond leaded upvc double glazing (windows and doors)the same as our house.The run itself is also locked but dogs are never left in the run when we are not in or about.

Friends of ours had her stud dog stolen plus her puppy  despite living in a lovely country setting with no neighbours just a track to get up to the house again they had several acres of land they owned surrounding them.They leave the dogs in the house now when they are both at work,but one works different shift hours so it works for them.

Its always better to be safe than sorry especially when it comes to family and animals.

Briony :-)

Hi,

I agree im sure your dogs will love the country mine do, go for it, just bare in mind secuity measures especially as society has changed and not always for the better.
Good luck with our plans.

Briony :-)

Best to check with your insurance company, as having a dog flap large enough for a retriever could invalidate your insurance :(

Daisy

Hi,

Thats a good point daisy one of my pop holes in kennel for the Goldens I can climb through no problem however if we out they are locked.
Also could the flap be forced open easily on outside?To be perfectly honest I don't know what our insurance says on the matter as we dont have any flaps for cat or dogs for the house must go look out of interest.

Briony :-)

Most (all ? ) insurance companies insist that all doors have to have 5 lever mortice locks and that ANY accessible window has 1 or 2 window locks (depending on size of the window). If you go out and leave a door or window unlocked, it will probably invaldiate the insurance. I can't see how a large, dog-sized flap would be treated any differently to a door/window :) Insurance companies will do anything to wriggle out of paying up :( :(

Daisy

yes  - all our gates are padlocked - the kennels/dog runs are out of sight and we do not advertise the fact that we have show kennels here (took our sign down after reading about dog thefts).

Belgians WILL guard and it would take a very brave person to try and crawl through the dog flap or break into the kennels :-D - we once had someone try and break into the barn to get our sit on mower when we were out at a show - they were scared off by the sound of our oldies in full cry ! ( they're all soft as anything really :-) ).

Trouble is what if they tried to throw poisoned meat through the dog flap or a sedation heard this being done before now??
Extreme maybe, but I just wouldnt want to find out which why all water bowls are tipped upside down and when we return rinsed and refilled just routine we dont think about even children do it as part of routine.

Briony :-)