Hi... i was concerned about how long my future dog is gonna be on its own, im out of the house 4 afternoons a week from 12pm to 5.30 pm is this unfair? the dog will have access to a run outside and a kennel for shelter? what do you think?

Not unfair at all, as long as he/she is used to it. If you have an outside run, all the better. They only sleep most of the time anyway.

If you think about it, what does a dog do all night when you're upstairs asleep?

sleeps in the bed next to me :D

'IN' the bed??

Well 4 of them do dont let the boxer cos he's too big :D

Oh good - I'm not the only one then!

LOL, definitely NOT the only one:)

Wendy

My other half goes to bed earlier than I do - so my two BCs annexe my half of the bed, until I chuck them out for late widdles. Then they go to their own beds - at least till they think all's quiet, then they steal the sofa, having dragged their own bedding round the house.

Wouldn't matter if they weren't farm-bred dogs from working stock, born in a draughty Orkney barn - I don't half get some stick from the neighbours (farmers, of course!). The local name for a pet Border Collie appears to be "Potlicker"!!

It didn't help that Dog 1 ("Kali") puked all over the sofa last night -yukkkkk!

AWWWWWWW but he'll feel left out bec! heehee

hi dave thanks for that... its what i was hoping to hear, a few people have said they thought i was being selfish and i should not leave the dog for more than a few hours, so i was starting to doubt myself...

In an ideal world then yes - it should only be a few hours but this can't always be the case.
My husband is self employed and works all sorts of strange hours and when I was working (and I should be again soon) it would mean the dog (now 2 dogs) could be left for an hour or 5 hours depending on what he was doing. We too have outside runs and pens.
The bit Dave said about being used to it is something to note - if you have some time off at all when you get the dog then put them out there for a while even if you are at home to get them used to it. We have been doing this with the pup in preparation for when I go back to work. My two are waiting at the pens when they see me get their water dishs and kongs and are perfectly happy to go in :) If they know I'm here they have a bit of a grumble once the kongs are unstuffed but soon quieten down again and according to neighbours they are quiet when we're out.
Sara :)

hi sara... firstly what are kongs! lol im sure im gonna looking real silly now! and thats a great idea about letting them outside in the run while im in...:)

A kong is a stuffable rubber toy for dogs. Have a look at this website there are some great recipes in the How to Use section.

You can get them from most pet shops and they come in all sizes. My 6mth old Cocker has got a medium.

Fiona
x x x

ooohh good idea! thank you :)

if my dog gets kept outside in the kennel while im out, what is best in the winter as im hopefully getting her in september? i dont want to get her used to being outside for a while then bringing in her in when its raining and snowing when im out,it seems unfair... but so does a dog being outdoors in cold weather?

Why do you want to keep her outside when you are out? Would it not be better to invest in an indoor crate?

well, the reason ive been thinking of keeping her outdoors when where out is im out 4 afternoons a week for about 4-5 hrs,i dont have a dog flap and i want her doing her toileting outside,4-5hrs is too long for her to be holding on. and i thought it would be more stimulating for her.

and i think 4-5 hrs is too long for a dog to be crated... jmo

Hi
I had the same problem , my solution was to get another dog of about the same age.
I have come home and watched them( without them knowing) playing like a pair of loonies.
Make sure the time you do have together is good quality time.

two!!! id be a loony be the end of the day! hee hee, do you have children?its just i have a little girl,my hubby is in the army so hes away an awful lot so id be taken care of both... i think it would be too much.

It's probably OK to leave a dog for a few hours each day, especially if it's during the afternoons. If they have walks and/or play in the mornings they will probably welcome a nice sleep when you leave them.
However it's hard to then leave them again if you want to go out in the evening. Because this used to cause me endless guilt, I always tried to make sure that if I had to go out in the evening I would take the afternoon off work. If this wasn't possible, I just didn't have my evening out. Now, many years later, it's a major hassle to go anywhere after 5.00p.m. even though hubby is at home with the dogs full time !!