Hello,
       Me and my family would love to own a dog and so we went down to our local cat and dog home and we all fell in love with a brown cocker spaniel who was 3 years old house-trained and very friendly, he had been put in the home because his owner fell ill.
      We decided to think about it as we did not want to rush in to it. When we came back the next week he had been sold. We were all heart broken. We then decided to enquire into getting a golden cocker spaniel pup. We phoned a breeder in Glassgow and she had a litter that were due to be born on the 12th April and after a lot of trips over there and interviewed we had our name down for a pup to collect on the 22nd of june this year!! We were so happy!! Then my husband had to change work hours to fit in with his work mates so now there will be no-one to look after the pup after the summer holidays when it would be about 4 months old, due to work commitments we would be out from 8am until 11am then 12pm until 4pm. We would love to own a dog but is this to long?

Id go for it, its only a few hours at a time. You sound like very responsible people.

i certainly wouldn't dream of leaving a puppy/adult dog that long. Wait until your circumstances change and you can give it more time.
I won't leave my two for longer than 2 hours, if I have to I make arrangements for someone else to be here with them.
Maybe that's just me.

I can't see the problem, ours get left just over 4 hours (ok admitidy once they are over 6 mths and they always have another dog for company) but all 4 of our dogs now are into the rountin, during the day they sleep.  I have been home all halfterm, someone has been in most of the time, they sleep between 8:30 and 4...just getting up now and again to move to a different spot or maybe go outside in the garden at lunchtime (or to see whats cooking!) and they come 4ish...they are up awake and playing....they have learnt the routin and are happy with it...

How do you manage to get your dogs to sleep so much, mine get up approx 7.30a.m., play time, get taken for a 1.5 - 2 hours walk, come home get fed and if I'm lucky I will get an hours peace. Then it's playtime for the rest of the day.  What's your secret? Do you add something to their food?

lol :-)
I think crating could be a good option if you do get a dog, that way your dog is safe and secure, and more likely to sleep during the time it is left.
You could also consider having a friend, neighbour or relative pop by and let your dog out?
Or a reputable petsitter/ dogwalker? (make sure you vet them thoroughly )
these are some options you might want to consider :-)

Go for it!

And anyone that wont leave there dogs for more than 2 hours is doing their dogs no favours allowing them to rule their life in this manner.

I do have to agree to go for it... I think that four hours a time is not a problem... it certainly has never affected my danes when I have left them before. A good walk, a meal and leave them to sleep :) Needs must these days I'm afraid.

Spotty dog, I have no-idea!!  they just do, no-matter what we do, if we try and get them up before 7 they look at us asif to say "sod off its night still" and try and play during day, uh huh they sleep....howver rattle the leads they are up...but even before 5:30 they don't move when dog bowls are picked up...I think they are just weird!!! :D Setters as well

If you can arrange for someone to come in say twice a day while pup is under six months, and then once a day until about a year, coupled with your lunchtime visits then the pups shopuld adjust.

Spaniels as a whole are not that fond of being left so a puppy will need to get used to the  routine from the word go, which will be helped if as little as possible goes on during the work day when it will be sleeping a lot as a baby anyway.

You shpould expect once the dog is adult to walk it before work for a good hour, and on returning home the same.  Before this walk it twice a day appropriate to it's age, roughly 5 minutes per month of it's age per walk. 

I am confused.

You say you collect the pup on 22 June this year and are worried about leaving it after the summer holidays.

But we are in October

Ooh, good point. That's muddled me too now.

I definately would not leave a pup/dog in a crate for longer than an hour,2 at the max,avoiding a crate altogether would be even better.Some will disagree but i hate those cages and locking a dog up in one is cruel imo!They are o.k if the door is left open continuously but thats it.
It doesnt sound like your'e gone for too long,but long enough, i guess. One of the main reasons i dont work is because i dont want to leave my dogs for 8 hours everyday,it wouldnt be fair on them. It would be a good idea to look into doggy daycare or a dog walker,and it is a must to take the dog out for a long walk to tire him out each morning,that way hopefully he will sleep and then again when you get home.My dogs(shih-tzu's) get 3 walks per day,a total of around 1-2 hours of off leash exercise.
Another option is to wait till your dog is housetrained and settled and then bring another dog in,to keep eachother company :)

Is your breeder aware of the hours the pup will be left alone? A few breeders i know,will not sell to people who are out at work all day or who have small children,these were the first 2 questions i was asked when looking for a pup.
The breeder i got my last dog from, had me fill out a 3 page questioner,i was a nervous wreck,i felt like i was doing a school exam

Why dont you register so you can keep us up to date :)

Maybe guest doesnt live in Britain??the summer holiday's are coming up here in Australia.Maybe i read the post wrong but did you say you were getting the pup in June this year? THat was 5mths ago.

I say go for it - most households involve both partners working and dogs DO adapt - I have 6 and they are left from 8-12 then from 1-4. In the summer time they have 2 good long runs off the lead each day but once the dark morning /evenings draw in I can only fit in 1 walk - they just get used to the new routine. Mine all sleep through the day even when we are at home during the holidays or at weekends. You should be able to leave your dog for more than 2 hours ! - I also use crates - they are great for toilet training pups and my dogs choose to go into their crates for a nap through the day ( the doors are left open though !). I have a dog room with an old sofa/ crates/beds and a dog flap leading out into the paved dog yard. the youngsters go in my kennels through the day as they are stilll going through the chewing/ bouncing on the old dogs heads/disembowling the sofa  etc stage and when the bitches are in season my stud dog goes in the kennels as well. If owning dogs was only restricted to people who were at home all day then many folk on this forum would not be able to have them ! :(

auzzie72 i have to disagree with u i could not be without my crate and neithe could my sibes they will even use it just to sleep in when we wach telly with the door open through their choice and def if i have to go out even hough i do only work like 10hrs a week.  But def for their own safety its beter for them than my 16yr old bro looking after them as when i got back from work and had him looking after them i found my 6 month old was chewin the end of a phone charger whilst it was still plugged in and switched on i tought my bro could be trusted but oh no and so now def use the crae for their own safety.  But then that is my opinion and need to because of the breed i have.  Whereas when i used to own staffs the didnt ever have one an they were fine so it does depend on he breed.

if u sill dont like  leavin them in their just make it fun for them somethin i do is get a kong (large rubber ball type hollowed out|) u can get it from mos shops and put some of their dried food in to it that has been soaked in water for a few hours so it has expanded then put it in the freezer. then when u have to leave te have a tasty snack tha can last quite a while.

ok rambled on quite abit best go

Maybe she had put her name down for a pup, due to be picked up in June, but then her husbands work changed so they didn't go for it...............but would still love a dog and is asking if being left alone for that amount of time was ok???....................I don't know either............lol.  bit confusing!

I would not sell a puppy to anyone who proposed to leave it for most of the day.  The only exception to this would be if they had another dog already, so it had company.  But I would still think long and hard about it, and it would depend on what I thought of the potential owners. 

I'm sure you are as caring as you sound, but in your own interests you don't want a miserable, howling puppy with neighbours compaining etc! I agree that a dog should get used to being alone, but this takes time and that doesn't mean that a pup can instantly cope with long periods of solitude when it has always had the company of other dogs. 

I agree, no way would I let a puppy go to a home where it would be alone for most of the day and having another dog for company doesn't always make any difference. Some dogs may get used to it but some won't and will just get more and more stressed causing problems with neighbours, damage to the house etc (8 hours in a crate, even with a break in the middle, is unacceptable in my view) leading to the puppy being returned to the breeder or the dogs home, very distressing for owner and dog.  Just because more households have all parties working hasn't changed the basic nature of dogs so I think if you both work full time you have to accept it may not work out and therefore is it right to attempt it? When I got my first dog 20 years ago my husband worked shifts but when that changed a couple of years late I gave up work which meant giving up a lot of the things that many people consider necessities but in reality when you live without them for a bit you realise they are infact luxuries :)

I have cocker spaniels...............only once were they left on their own for 4 hours plus, when we got home they had ripped up the kitchen floor covering, dug the plaster out of one wall and chewed on the door frame, I never leave them on their own now any longer than 2 hours and haven't had any problems since.  But Cockers do thrive on company and will cause destruction if left alone............especially a new pup that has just been taken away from it's siblings and mum!

Once a dog is adult, up to 4 hours a day is fine; but, my worry is that expecting a puppy to learn how to be clean, how to not chew etc and also how to learn to cope with being alone for that long out of the blue is asking a lot.

I tried it with my first 2 BSDs and ended up working in a grotty job closer to home, because they were destructive and also tended to bark a lot. Baptism of fire because of course my other dogs were quite different. Now my life is pretty much built around the dogs LOL ;)

Lindsay
X

Isabel - I don't think anyne mentioned leaving a pup for 8 hours in a locked crate - that would be akin to animal abuse and I'm sure that is not what the poster had in mind

>"we would be out from 8am until 11am then 12pm until 4pm"

OK that would be 7 hours, my mistake :) and Tobermory suggested crating.

We purposely got our SBT Maisie when i was going to be home all day for 3 months due to working in a university, i didnt work from june - august when the students were on summer hols. When i did start back at work it was durring the evenings so when i was setting off OH was just getting home. When Maisie was 7 months i was offered a new job, too good to miss so me and OH are out about 8 hours a day taking it in turns to come home in our dinner hour to give Maisie a bit of company, take her a walk and have a play usually too sleepy though. She is in a routine of sleeping during the day she even did this when i was home all day she then goes mental from 4pm and doesnt settle for bed untill 12ish. Shes not a morning dog but a night time dog. When left she doesnt chew or destroy anything and is fully housetrained. I think it depends on the dogs personality plus i think she is so good because of all the time that was spent with her from being a puppy and adapted straight away to the new routine she doesnt seem to mind been left on her own a bit. 

I have no problem with my dogs being left. i have 3 flatcoats and work full time.  I feed them first thing and start work at 7am.  OH then takes them for a walk and leaves for work at approx 8am.  I come home at lunch time for an hour and finish work at 3.30pm. Then the dogs all go out for a free run.  My dogs are perfectly happy with this arrangement and thrive on the routine, and as i think someone else has said, when I am at home during the day, they are sleeping anyway! We cannot build our lives around our dogs.  We need to work to be able feed them and afford the shows (we all know how much that little 'hobby' costs!!!)

Hope valley,it sounds like you have a good routine going,routine and consistence are very,very important to dogs and i think helps to settle them in better.

Trevor i watched a show on animal planet the other day,this lady was asking for help as her neighbours were complaing about her min pin howling and barking all day,this dog was kept in a crate,the woman left for work at 8am and said she didnt return till around 10-11 pm
I felt like grabbing her threw the screen and shaking some sence into her!! That poor little dog was in a TINY crate with no toys or anything,just enough room to turn around for 14 hours a day!!! Some people see nothing wrong with this,and 8 hours is nothing to them,i feel so sorry for those dogs :(

There is nothing wrong with working folk owning dogs,it's just the ones who get a pup and then go to work the next day for 8-12 hours and leaving the dog alone for the whole time,these are the people my breeder takes exception to,as would i if i was a breeder,it takes time to get a dog into a routine and once they know whats going on they usually accept it,hopefully happily.I still think 2 dogs are better than one,they need another member of their own species around them,sometimes us humans just cant give them everything they need in that respect.

If i were to start work,i would wean my dogs into it,they are used to being left for maybe 3-4 hours max where they have run of the house,when i go shopping or out to tea or whatever,which for obvious reasons cannot be done with a wee pup.

Some dogs are more easy going than others,but leaving a new pup at home all day on it's own would be very hard on the dog and it's owner due to housetraing and socialisation etc.

Was the show US based? Sadly it seems crates are somewhat over used over there..... :(

although of course not by everyone.

Lindsay
X

I agree too much use of crates/cages

I'm sorry, I lost a dog 5 years ago and have not replaced her because at the moment my home situation will not, in my opinion, allow it. We may want a dog but if our circumstances do not allow it then it is irrisponsible to take one on. I know we all have to earn a living but the rescues are full of dogs where people discovered their mistake too late. I will have another puppy just as soon as I can do it justice but until then I'll wait.

Regards, John

Yeah it was a u.s show,crates seem to be the norm over there and are used as cheap babysitters.Thats why i hate them so much,it's hard to find a middle ground,i've heard too many owners useing them for their own selfish reasons rather than the welfare of the dog.

It took me 3 miserable months to housetrain my last pup,after cleaning up the puddles on the carpet i always sprinkled some bi-carb soda over it to suck up lefover moisture,my house ended up looking like a mine field with little white mountains all over the floors,it would have been so much easier for ME to throw her into a crate but i just couldnt do it,i knew what i was in for when i got her,so i had to grin and bear it :D
To tell you the truth,i have never seen a crate in person,only on the t.v,i dont know anyone who uses them.Over here the majority of dog shows are held outside,the show people either use baby play pens or hook their leashes up to their marquee's.

Ozzie there is a middle ground - if crates are used to help with house training they can be extremely effective - they can also be used to provide a safe 'den' when necessary and are invaluable for travelling safely with your dog. Interested that crates are not used in Australia - they are certainly in evidence around the British show scene - ( lots of the soft ones are now used). My pups are now 8 months old and were fully house trained using the crate method by 4 months - they still use their crates to sleep in or just to have a rest in during the day - the doors are never locked and they just go in them by themselves when they want some 'time out'

Dogs naturally choose small enclosed spaces to rest in if they can and a crate makes an ideal 'den' for them. Of course locking them up for hours is completely unacceptable and cruel.

> It took me 3 miserable months to housetrain my last pup,after cleaning up the puddles on the carpet

It took me two weeks to get Fagan completely clean and asking to go out, and this was by using a crate.  He was only ever shut in at night though, this way he whined when he wanted to go out and woke me up.  During the day I was extremely vigilant by putting him out all the time.  I can honestly count the accidents he had in the house on one hand - and they were all my fault ;)

As for getting a pup whilst working, I believe it can be done but I wouldnt recommend shutting the pup in a crate all the time you are out.  My OH works from home but sometimes has to go out on site in the mornings therefore sometimes Fagan was left for 3/4 hours shut in the kitchen with access to his crate.  I used to play with him before I left the house and always left him with a filled kong and the radio.  He never once peed in our absence.  He is now 7 months old and doesnt mind being left for 4/5 hours, I just give him a walk and a game before I leave then leave him with his breakfast and a kong and he is happy.  I think it is what a dog gets used to, if you molly coddle them from day dot and dont leave them alone then yes they will kick off when you leave them :)

JMHO

I can imagine what would happen if you hooked the lead of a Malamute to a Marquee :D :D :D :D

:p

Many people simply use a crate as a nice cosy dog-bed, Christine (cosy because you can put a blanket over the sides and top and it makes a nice den - the sort of enclosed space a canine naturally chooses. Generally there's no need to close the door.

The advantages are that the dog is (and feels) secure in strange places, and many hotels will only allow dogs in crates in the rooms. At shows crated dogs are more secure from both other dogs and horrible people who poke about at them on their benches.

They're also invaluable when transporting strange dogs in your car (helping breed rescue etc).

That said, I don't have crates for mine - there'd be no room in the house for people! But if I only had one dog I'd seriously consider it. Not for house-training, though - I prefer my tried-and-tested 'watch-the-puppy' method, that takes a month tops.
:)