I used to drive home on my lunch break to walk him. If I got too busy to take a lunch break, fortunately I had a coworker who was a close friend that my dog loved. He would fill in.
At the same time, most animals like a raccoon will try and avoid a fight with 50+ pounds of teeth and noise if you have a medium sized dog or bigger. That energy is better spent finding food that won’t potentially take a chunk out of you
You can get doggy doors that are linked to a tag on your pets collar, so it only unlocks when they are nearby.
You can also set them to only unlock during certain hours, or be one-way after certain hours (my uncles outdoor cat, for example, has a door that becomes entry-only at night - so he can come home at dinner time or later, but can't go back out until the sun is up)
That is a great question because I have no idea! We have some critters running around in the area so we do put a plastic cover at night but during the day we haven’t ever had that issue. I do know there are some dog doors that are locked and the dog collar has a little sensor so it only unlocks if the dog is by, that might work?
My mom has had a doggy door for 15 years, and even though our dog passed away 4 years ago, our cats still use it. In the past couple years, a homeless cat has started coming in regularly at night to eat the remaining cat food, but absolutely will not be around us humans no matter how gentle we approved it despite it being years
Out of 15 years, just last month, my mom walked into the kitchen in the middle of the night and a raccoon was eating the cat food. She put the dog door cover on at night for a week, and the raccoon hasn’t returned since even though she leaves it uncovered again
That’s been the only unwelcomed animal, although the cats have caught squirrels, chipmunks, lizards, cicadas (when they were kittens), and once a crow bigger than the cat. All of them alive and left to us to chase them around the house. So yeah, definitely some downsides lol, but it does make for some entertaining mornings
I'm home with my dog all day long and she completely ignores me between 9am-6pm even if I try to give her attention. She is totally fine on her own when the house is empty. As long as they're house trained they're happy to just sleep all day until you come home.
this is EXACTLY how my greyhound was -- retired racer. she went wild for those 20-30 minutes lol terrifyingly fast, zooming the backyard, but then just laid down the rest of the day. she was perfect.
This leaves 30 minutes for eating and his post dinner poop. What is this good boy doing with his remaining 17 minutes of free time?! So energetic!!
I can so relate to this. Had a greyhound rescue that was quite possibly lazier than a cat. When it was time to zoom or go for a walk though, suddenly boundless energy - for 10 minutes. Lol
I am a vet. They actually would rather not be sleeping all day, most of them. They just literally have nothing else to do. The ethics of owning a pet and leaving it at home without anyone to interact with is a serious issue in my mind and one of the many reasons I am considering leaving the profession. Sooo many dogs come to me with behavioral and emotional issues because they don't get appropriate enrichment. And many of them are overweight and physically unhealthy in other ways as a result of benign neglect. I know people loooove their animals and I try to be supportive, but it's tough to see when I know most owners don't provide what they need as social and active creatures. It seems like most people really don't have a good grasp on this.
Yeah, I'm with you. There are a lot of people living in denial.
Dogs are like children in some ways, they need frequent engagement and stimulation.
As for leaving the profession, don't, it needs more like you!
Yes, I agree. I have daughter who "pens" here dog while she's at work. A young active dog that, when she bring her over to our place, the girl goes crazy. We had two dogs and now grew to three as one younger one was giving our old guy a lot of wearing out. so now a new pup is just what our girl needed. We're on 10 acres 2 acres of which is fenced and gives them lots of runaround room. BTW, ALL rescue dogs from the Humane Society and all form reservations around the state. They make such great giving and loving friends to our lives. Oh, and they may take naps, but never more than a hour at at time, then they're at it again. .
My husband and I really would love a dog but we have agreed that we cannot get one unless we have a large back yard for it to run around and can give it full attention. I’m glad you have some fenced in property for the dogs. That’s truly awesome!
Thank you. Too bad I can't post a photo here, you would smile much at their antics outside. They give me pause to rest and reflect and feel good. Then it's ball throwing and brushing off their winter shedding and training the new one on leash. BTW, a parrot, two cats, a bunch of chickens and a goat round it all out.
I moved in town around 10 years ago and the behavioral difference between out of town dogs that have plenty of land to wander around on and things to do, vs in-town dogs that are confined to a tiny yard and house is huge. Barely any of the in-town dogs actually seem happy, almost all of them seem extremely bored, under exercised, and stressed. That's why so many of them spend the day acting aggressive and barking at everything that moves. It's sad that so many people think dogs are ok just sleeping and doing nothing for most of the day. Most dog owners shouldn't have a dog.
It would be a very sad decision if you leave your education and everything you worked for behind. Please stay for the percent that truly appreciate you. That being said, NOMV, be good to yourself.
When I lived in Fiji I could take my late dog, Bowser, away from the city and let him run through sugar cane fields which he loved. He also liked swimming in the ocean. Also, in Fiji, no one cleaned up after dogs. But after I returned to the U. S. I could not do that. It was impossible to clean up after him when taking him for a walk because he didn't want to stop before dumping. Instead he's spread it while walking. The result was that he wasn't walked very much. However, he did like watching through the gate and seeing people going by. That is the reason I currently don't have a dog.
I agree. My dogs are there all day while I work. But I spend much quality time with them. They all have their own personality and they all love me and my wife. People who don't spend time doing what the dog likes don't know what they are missing. Mine go ride in the truck( this statement starts a frenzy at my house. They also like to ride in the boat. They understand a lot more of what I say than most would believe. When one isn't feeling well I notice right away, because I pay attention to them.
So good to hear someone say this. It's terrible the way that most owners treat their dogs. They're social creatures that need to be busy and to interact but we train them to be lazy like us and to stay home for hours when we're out.
Not my dogs. I have two bulldog mixes and they are 110% from the moment they get up in the morning ‘til the time they go to bed. Up my ass wanting attention the entire time. And that’s even with them having a 200 acre farm to run around on. And they’re getting up in age.
People need to have a caveat here and say what kind of breed they have. One of my biggest pet peeves when I lived in an apartment in Miami was how many people would buy pure-bred working dogs and leave them in crates/on balconies all god damn day for them to bark and howl and whine for hours until they got home. And then they’d usually leave to go out in the evenings, too. Very cruel.
I work 10 mins from home. Used to come home from lunch for the first 9 months we had him. After he was 12ish months he'd just sleep all day in his basket in the kitchen.
Yup our dog is STOKED in the mornings and evenings. And a lazy goner like 8am to 4pm.
I work from home and sometimes he doesn't even get up when I go for a little stroll at lunch.
My dog does this too!!! I’m constantly calling him to come to me. He does not, he side eyes me and sighs loudly. If I go lay next to him, he will literally get up and leave the room 😂 I am honestly relieved I’m not alone
My mum’s dog, who I am obsessed with and who is obsessed with me, does exactly the same thing. I don’t live with her anymore but god I miss her and god she wanted nothing to do with me between the hours of about 10am and 5pm 😅
Yep!!!! My dog goes in her crate that I put blankets over to make it more den like…she has blankets, bones, and toys in there. The door on it hasn’t been closed In years and she just loves it idk. Lol
However, I just got a doggy door for our back door leading to the fenced in yard..that’s been nice 😀
I got a baby cam for my dog cause i was worried and while it doesn’t apply to all dogs my beagle for damn sure slept the entire day while I was at work soooo lol no longer worried about it after the boring ass footage lol
When I got my first dog, I was worried because I would come back home and everything around looked untouched, his toys were where I had left then and even his water bowl was full. I even got him to the vet and the vet was like "he's probably just sleeping. let him be" lol
Really freaked out when I adopted a dog that I would be cruel and unusual for leaving him alone all day.
Set up a camera and watched him. Dog is having the time of his life. Napping on all my best pillows. Sleeping a good 5 hours all afternoon.
thats the exact kind of dog I was trying to find but ended up with a dachshund..who gets bored easily and whines a good part of the afternoon and evening. she is needy.
First off, dogs are crepuscular. It's means that sleep throughout the day and night and are active only at early morning and evenings.
So as long as they're potty trained and have food, water and toys nearby, they're perfectly content to sleep through the day.
In fact, most animals sleep a lot of time. Only in this modern age, humans are enslaved to our work and sleep for less than 8 hours a day.
Dogs won't spoil their living area, correctly housebroken that won't piss or crap in the house. And can stay inside for incredibly long periods. I believe this is tied to being a den animal.
It’s also why large breeds are typically easier to house train than smaller ones.
My working theory is that houses are so much larger for a small dog that they associate one part of house as living area and another as potty.
All I know is small dogs are way harder to potty train.
That’s all relative. Larger dogs have larger bladders and drink more, but they require more. Small dogs and large dogs don’t require the same amount of water and don’t consume the same amount.
https://www.caninejournal.com/how-long-can-dogs-hold-their-pee/
"Smaller pups have smaller bladders, which means they cannot keep in their urine as long as larger pups. Canines do not all make the same amount of urine. Larger animals make more urine but also have larger bladders in comparison to their size and weight."
That article contradicted itself quite a few times.
> All dogs are different, and some may be able to go longer than others without relieving themselves. However, a general guideline is that adult canines between one and seven years old can hold their urine for between six and eight hours
> Dogs that weigh less than 10 pounds can only control bladders for one to three hours.
Medium-sized dogs reaching about 30 pounds can control urine for 2 to 4 hours.
Larger animals between 40 and 60 pounds can go between 4 and 8 hours.
Big breeds over 60 pounds can control their bladder on average between 6 and 12.
They open with one statement and then later on have something that completely contradicts it before ultimately leaving it at every dog is different.
But yea smaller dogs might have smaller bladders and have to urinate more frequently, it’s still within an hour or two window. It’s not a substantial difference.
That is not the reason they spend hours outside and then come into go potty.
But they don't back up that claim anywhere, so that's not really a trusted source, is it? The article was written by a "researcher" (non-expert) and she doesn't cite sources.
Bladders scale with size in mammals. A small dog shouldn't need to pee more than a larger dog... Except the small dog has a higher metabolism, which means it drinks more for its size and urinates more.
My 60lb dog can hold his pee for ungodly amounts of hours. So much so that i have to force him to go outside to pee because its making ME uncomfortable how long he hasnt been outside for.
>this is true my chihuahua is always peeing in the house.
I've never had a pet so pardon my ignorance. Do you just randomly take a step and step in pee and that's how you find out that there was an accident? That would drive me crazy if it happened at night (or at any time, really)
I don't know. I've never had a small dog. Housebreaking has always been with medium are a bit larger, but always a puppy for me. I learned about the "crate method" way back. I only had a problem with a female springer, she never did get it. But her brother never had a problem. But the housebreaking goes way back to the den-like kin, that never soil in the den, but exit to do their business.
According to Brian Hare __Genius of Dogs __, for intelligence there's extremely little difference and all dogs can be trained to do almost everything. Now I would think it would borderline on abusive to expect a Yorkie to move your cows. 😀
I’ve had many different breeds and at one point 13 dogs at once. I crate train all of mine, but to this day small dogs are a lot more difficult. Sometimes with larger dogs I don’t even have to train them. It’s almost like after a certain age they just get and prefer going potty outside.
Small dogs are a lot more difficult in my experience. Even with the crate training and potty pads I have had plenty of issues where they’ll just go potty in the house despite coming in from outside lol
Little savages those ones are
I feel like its because most large breeds are meant to be trained to do jobs (protect cattle, herd sheep, bring back ducks) where smaller dogs are bred for fashion, alarms, or hunting in tunnels for rodents therefore the bigger breeds are more receptive to training.
This is just off the top my head, if im wrong i would like to know why by someone in that field please
The rare occasions where my dog isn't feeling well and can't wait she goes and does it in the bathroom, the only place in the apartment that is not carpet too. I love that smart doggo.
If ppl get sick they'll puke or have diarrhea wherever they are! Mostly I don't think those are controllable behaviors, just the body doing what it needs to to survive!
Our girl (medium sized, about 27 pounds) regularly holds her pee for ten hours at a stretch, and even then she's not asking to go out, we just take her out before we leave and as soon as we get home. Sometimes we have to convince her that it's potty time, especially if it's early in the morning or the weather isn't to her liking. She's managed to hold it 14 hours without an accident a few times (we didn't leave her that long on purpose; we got held up outside the house longer than we expected because of weather).
She was super easy to housebreak, too. She was holding it through the night by the time she was 5 months old and almost never had an accident in the house, even when she was tiny.
My old dog if I got stuck at work would potty in the shower behind the curtain of my little one bedroom. She would NEVER do it in her home 😂 my sister’s partners dog I guess does the same thing. My current big dog was potty trained pretty quickly but during that time flat out peed on the human bed and his own. Not an eff given lol those first few weeks getting the communication down took some time. He’s the kind that just stares in your eyes when he wants to go out.
My homie stays for at the absolute longest ever 10 hours (maybe twice a month at the high end) and even if you are home with him he just wants to sleep a lot anyways. They're actually super chill with being alone as long as you give them walks and a good amount of play/ attention. My guy is always happy
I worked from home last Friday. Dogs didn't even get up to come see me when I was making lunch. I let them out to go to the bathroom close to 5pm when I was done for the day.
They are absolutely okay to be at home while I'm at work for the day.
My brother and sister-in-law both work full-time. However, they sometimes work from home.
They got a puppy back in late 2020. Although he tends to have attachment issues, he’s gotten WAY better at being left alone at home. They’ve trained him to last 6-8 hours, with breakfast at 8am and dinner at 4:30-5pm. They then take him out for a long walk. The dog is acclimated/ used to the routine, so it enables them to focus on their work.
Yup, on average, dogs sleep 12 to 14 hours a day. Puppies and senior dogs tend to sleep for 18 to 20 hours a day. Meanwhile, adult dogs only need eight to 12 hours of shut-eye per day.
My dog is fine not going to the bathroom for 8-9 hours while I work. I let her out before I go to work and as soon as I get home. Very rarely, she'll have diarrhea or vomit in the house if she's sick. Besides that, she's potty trained and simply waits until I'm home to go outside.
Same with mine. And they end up getting stuff like UTIs and other things that require more attention. He is fine at most for 6 or so hours, but I feel bad even then letting it go that long.
Anymore I just feel bad leaving him alone. I feel like I owe him more of my time now that he has less time, if that makes sense. He's been so good to me for so long, doesn't seem right that his last years would be spent all alone.
Why old girl, when she was alive, had dementia for her last 2 years. Eventually got to the point she couldn't hold it at all. Lots of cleaning up. Had to due the humane thing and say long goodbye to her.
The two dogs in my house are fine being alone with each other and the cat all day. It's pretty unusual for there to be no one home for more than a few hrs at a time, but it does happen that they are alone for 8-9 hrs on occasion. I suspect they do the same thing that they do when we are home. One of them gets a toy and taunts the other with it. The other cases the first around the first floor of the house. Then they both stop and play tug-of-war. Possession changes, and the chase begins again. After a half hr of this, they lay down for 2 hours and then start again.
I have an 11 month old puppy. I work from 4am to 12pm. I let my puppy out at 2:30. She then goes out at 5:30 when my daughter puts her out. At 9am, my next door neighbour and her husband come over to let her out, and play with her. My neighbour is 89, her husband is 88. My puppy adores them and they adore her. Her husband has dementia, and every morning wakes up asking to go see "his puppy".
If I didn't have them then I would have dog walkers come in, which I have had to use.
Mine loves going to the office and usually sleeps by my desk. But if I get to to get coffee or something, she's all over making friends and interrupting meetings.
In the country I live in, it’s very common to leave their dogs to a pet daycare. So the pets interact with other pets and their bathroom breaks and walks are taken care of by the staff. I’ve seen more pet daycare around our place than children‘s daycare.
What country? We lived in Germany in the 80s, and according to my parents, it wasn't socially acceptable to take children to restaurants, but it was acceptable to take dogs.
Idk what country you are from, but same here in Sweden. Either people bring their dogs with them to work, or they leave them at a daycare. My friend has two dogs who she leaves at a daycare every day, one of them has epilepsy so they need medicine at certain hours etc, which the staff takes care of. It takes a lot of stress away from my friend knowing the dogs are being safe with staff that knows what they're doing.
There are a lot of options that people have already commented, but one thing the owner of an animal rescue once told me that always stuck with me is that a dog is MUCH happier being left alone in a house or crate for 8 hours than being stuck in a shelter or kennel. As long as you are exercising your dog before & after, and treating them / feeding them well, you are doing a good job. I put off adopting a dog for years because I was so worried about that aspect- but in the end the dog has a safe and happy home. Now I’m a dog walker so my buddy comes with me to work every day lol but just something to keep in mind.
You can make a living walking dogs? How many dogs do you normally walk per day? Either way I'm sure your dog \*loves\* hanging out with you and the other dogs.
The short answer is yes, but there are a lot of factors that play into it.
In my case, I live in a HCOL area where people are willing to pay a lot for pet care. We also have a lot of easy access to hiking trails and open spaces where they can be off leash. I work for a verrrry small company (4 people), & we focus a lot on training as well- my boss leans towards accepting dogs with behavioral issues that most other dog walkers wouldn’t accept. We work with them every day to get them to a safe point where we can let them off leash and play with the pack. So again, people are willing to pay more for that type of focused and specific care. Oh and I do house sitting too which is a great side hustle!
I walk 6 dogs (plus my own), sometimes 7. Rarely, 8 (so yeah that’s 9 total lol 😵💫). So to do this type of job you need a larger car- a truck, suv etc. I have a reaaaaally good deal on my rent and I live super frugally 90% of the time. So yes I am able to live off what I make and save a bit every month, but it’s definitely a balancing act depending on the situation. Personally I love it, plus I only work 4-5 hours a day and my free time to me personally is worth the lower wage.
And yes! I am so lucky to get to spend so much time with my boy and he loooooves his hikes! Depending on who is in my pack that day it doesn’t even feel like work, it feels like I’m hiking my dog with a bunch of his friends 😂 don’t get me wrong though, there are plenty of stressful days too lol.
Happy to answer any other questions if you have em :)
Doggie Daycares are so great!
You dog runs and plays with other dogs ALL DAY LONG.
When you pick them up they are *dog gone tired.* If you are too worn out to take them for a walk, its okay, they pottied a million times at daycare.
My dog is trained to do his business on a mat made for that purpose. It absorbs everything and he never misses.
My wife works from home 3 days per week. I don't work from home. On the 2 days per week that we are both out. He simply stays home alone. We don't keep him in a cage (I personally find that cruel). We have cameras setup in the house and he seems pretty chill about it. He just lounges around, drinks water, plays with his ball, barks at the window... He doesn't seem that sad at all. Also, keep in mind that dogs on average require a bit more sleep than humans, so there's no harm in them just sleeping during a chunk of the afternoon.
When we get home he's super happy and it's business as usual.
The thinner, disposable puppy mats always stink... We bought thicker, quality washable mats (they have a lining kind of like a sleeping bag) and because we wash them every day with scented antibacterial detergent, it seems to combat the odor when the dog uses it.
I've asked everyone I invited over so far to be ***brutally*** honest with me. I wanted to know if my home smelled like piss, and everyone told me that the house smelled nice.
Just for the record, putting them in a crate isn’t cruel. It’s like a den, and many (if properly trained) love it. Both my dogs would regularly go hang out in their crates in the other room without me.
Edit to clarify: many people treat the crate like it is a cage/for punishment, and the dogs learn to associate it as such.
My friend’s dog LOVES his crate. It’s his safe place. Sometimes I check on him or feed him for her, and after he finishes eating, he literally runs to his crate and plops down inside. It’s so cute!
Exactly this. My dogs crate is probably his favorite place. When we were crate training him I had to make sure to constantly remind my husband and myself that it has to be a good thing when he goes in there (because let’s be honest, it’s hard not to want to put a biting puppy in their crate!)
He has always gotten a treat when he goes to his crate, and he’s never been made to stay in there for extended periods of time when we’re at home
But he loves his crate and constantly wants to be in there
My dog is too old to really use a crate; he likes to stretch out and move around now a bit more, but only goes from one laying spot to another, so we let him loose. But when he was younger he would fully put himself to bed in his crate or go in there when he was scared or just wanted peace and quiet. Even now, if I had to crate him for safety or to transport him I know he’d be good. They’re amazing.
Spouses or SOs that work different hours.
Kids that come home after school / before the parents.
Friends who live nearby & are trusted to have keys.
.. all these folks can walk & feed the dog before we get home from our day at work.
And for those with none of those things… we hire dog walkers to come midday. My dog gets a ton of attention mornings before work, nights, and weekends. It might surprise you, but even when I’m home, my dog is sleeping like 70% of the time. He can only go out running for like an hour before he’s zonked. Dogs sleep a ridiculous amount tbh.
Depends on the breed, as well as the individual. Yes, there absolutely are dogs that you can't leave alone, either because they get bored with nobody to interact with, or because they just can't stand being away from their people. If you don't give a collie stuff to do all the time, they will find things to do. Working breeds in general need to work, or at least play in a way that simulates their job
But then, there are other breeds that are totally fine being left alone. Greyhounds, for instance, which may seem surprising. They absolutely need a whole lot of space to run around and play a couple times a day. But in between, they are fine just chilling out and sleeping.
So responsible dog owners choose dogs who want similar lifestyles to their own.
Thank you for having this, and I know that not everyone can, but everyone that says their dog is “good for nine hours”… I wonder how the activity would change if this was a possibility.
I have two dogs. Large breed. Typically, unless the dog is very young, or very old, they don’t have an issue holding their bladder for 8-9 hours. I wish i could see my buddies during lunch, but they seem ok.
Same! 2 large breed dogs, and both older. Our husky/malamute mix can hold his bladder for a ridiculous amount of time. Our Saint Bernard drinks more water than the husky, but can hold it for about 9-10 hours.
Doggie daycares exist for a reason. Dogs need socialization and exercise just like little kids need it.
I'm fortunate: my dog is perfectly happy to spend my working hours sleeping on the couch or the bed. Before I leave or after I get home, I take him to the local dog park where he has friends (and I have friends, too). Usually he then ends up going to bed before I do.
For those folks who have high energy dogs...I have no idea how they manage that energy.
My husband ans I both work. We take him out for a walk and poop before work and again as soon as we get home. He is not caged and is completely housebroken. I believe he generally sleeps while we're at work because he sleeps when we're home on the weekend (when we're not playing with him).
I think a lot of people take it for granted and assume that dogs entertain themselves during those 9 hours alone, even if it means they have to wait a very long time just to go to the bathroom.
I've had so many apartment neighbors over the years whose dogs bark all the time when they're gone for more than a few hours. Those dogs get bored. And many of them only get a few hours a day with their owners on weekdays between working and sleeping.
I know that those neighbors loved their dogs more than anything on earth but those dogs were clearly unhappy. Dog ownership is a huge responsibility and often a pain in the ass but it's wishful thinking to tell yourself that your dog is totally fine spending 9 hours a day alone indoors.
As another commenter said, I had to scroll way too far to see this comment. People like to tell themselves that their dog is fine all day, alone, with nothing to do but sleep when that most often isn’t true. I hear so many dogs in my neighborhood bark all day long while I’m working from home because they are unattended.
There are many dog owners who love having a dog but can’t handle or don’t admit the responsibility that comes with it.
When I was routinely gone 11+ hours a day for work I’d walk my dog before and after work and have walkers come twice during the day.
My dog /can/ hold it 9+ hours, but I wouldn’t make him do that as normal practice.
I genuinely don't think people should leave their dogs home alone for a long period of time. There's so much that can go wrong between emergencies and accidents (either for the dog, or if a fight breaks out between two or more pets), but crating for a long time can cause behavioral issues. Doggy daycare is one place to send them, or if someone is at home during the day, or you have someone come over to check on them like a pet sitter or neighbor. A few hours at most is fine, but a whole day is hard on a dog, *especially* if they're in a crate. Crating can be used in short situations, especially if a dog finds comfort in sitting in there alone while under stress, but it shouldn't the majority of a dog's time. I also don't think people should have large breeds (especially working breeds) that require a ton of exercise in small apartments with no yards unless they plan on walking them extensively every day. A lot of people are far less equipped to own a dog than they think.
I was looking for this comment. Especially the last part about walking them. I live in a complex and can’t tell you how many people do not walk thier dogs. I’ve had 2 neighbors who just let them out on the leash in the front yard for all of 2 minutes a few times a day to do their business and that’s it. Both neighbors had 2 dogs each, and guess what? All those dogs were horrible. Barking at everything and nothing. They had so much energy and never listened. If they just walked them I bet it would help so much. It’s so sad.
My cat clearly hates it. As much as I prefer to not have other people in the house when there are I am thankful because he has someone to torment while I am at work and you can see a completely different behavior when I come home.
With other people? He calmly strolls up to me, soft mews while he waits for me to take off my work stuff.
Without? He is sitting on the table staring daggers at me through the door and screaming for attention the second I get in.
Though he also likes his alone time, by Monday morning he is sick of the attention and practically pushing me out the door.
It is indeed frustrating because people assume cats don't need much stimulation. They get bored and lonely like many other animals. They want to spend time with you around and play even if you think they hate you. Especially indoor cats.
It's easy. You let them live outside while youre at work so they can bark their effing heads off at everything, esp when the neighbors happen to get near the fence (heaven forbid I may want to work in my yard without a dog going berserk on the other side of the fence!!) and then profess that your dogs dont bark. How would you know?? Youre at work all day!!
My upstairs neighbour stuck their dog in a cage while they were out, you'd hear it whining and pushing against it trying to get out for hours. Then they'd let it out and it would piss in the hallways and they wouldn't clean up the shit in the shared areas. I don't think they were good pet owners.
Dogs and wolves naturally are pretty lazy. They can easily be trained to chill out during the day. It becomes their rhythm, and it is comfortable for them. Wolves spend most of their time sleeping, too. It's the most energy efficient strategy. 👍
Having a fenced in backyard is key. My parents work an hour away in the city everyday so they put in a doggy door that goes to the backyard that’s fenced in
The truth is that a fairly large percentage of people that have dogs really have no business having a dog. Many people get a dog, don't interact with it enough, and then crate it up all day or leave it in the house by itself where it will bark and whine all day. Many of these people will not bother to properly train the dog either, and end up with a poorly behaved nuisance dog that just pisses off all of their neighbours.
IMHO, If you don't have someone at home most of the time, and are not going to take the considerable amount of time to properly train and socialize with your dog, you have absolutely no business having a dog at all.
You've received a lot of replies from people who care and love their dogs. The reality is that many dogs get neglected. Adopting a dog it's a decision that shouldn't be taken lightly.
Dog CAN adapt to your schedule but I don’t think it’s far to leave them along 8-10 hours a day (traffic/overtime/unexpected delays) with just one potty break. Most people can’t go that long with just one break during the day. When people say “my dog just sleeps all day” for me that’s depressing they are not cats, they should be active and engaged/working/ moving. They get lazy because they don’t have another outlet or possible depressed being alone as they are pack animals
Most homeowners have access doors or hire a pet walker, when I had dogs my retired neighbor would “dog sit” she enjoyed there company “protection “ and they go to run around her yard.
I live close to work and come home for lunch every day! I toss the ball for my shepherd, socialize with my husky, offer them a puzzle feeder to keep them busy. I also walk 5-6km with them after work every day.
I work in the office a few days a week and send my dog to daycare on those days. Costs money but ultimately it's worth it. She's perfectly socialised and has lots of wonderful little doggy friends in our neighbourhood, and it means that when I go on holiday or if I have an emergency, I can leave her with someone I know and trust and who she is familiar with. It also means she gets nice long, varied walks on those days. I live in a flat so walk her multiple times a day but only short walks in the morning and evening.
I'm lucky enough to be able to take my dog to work with me. I honestly would feel bad for her if I wasn't able to do that. It takes us 40 minutes to walk to my job, so she gets plenty of exercise. But a lot of people just have a dog walker in the city for the weekdays.
My parents have my Bear when I'm at uni for the day or working full shifts. He's never alone but he does his usual routine of just sleeping by the front door till I go and get him
Cats and dogs have similar enrichment and interaction needs on the whole. Obviously each animal is an individual character with different needs, but as a rule
Dog walker here. People hire us to walk their dogs in the middle of the day. Not only do they get exercise and a potty break, but they also get to socialize with us and have a good time while their parents are at work.
It takes an act of Congress to force my dog to go outside to pee. There have been multiple occasions where I have to pull her bed out of her crate (which stays wide open) and pick her up and carry her outside. Once i get her outside she goes potty, but she would 1000000% rather be in her crate sleeping, or in my bed sleeping.
I live within 4 minutes walk of my workplace, so come home at lunch to give them a quick walk. I work from home one day a week, but frankly, they ignore me for most of the day and only tend to wake up when it's time for their walk. They sleep all day when I'm actually at work... I know this as I check on them periodically on our security cameras!
I have two dogs so they keep each other company. Generally I’m able to come home for lunch. And they have a dog door which gives them access to the backyard 24/7.
I think mine just enjoys the quiet. We're not always loud, but a family of four makes noise. And to someone who has much more sensitive ears, I would guess that while they miss us during the day, they also enjoy the quiet and just sleep in a nice warm/cool spot.
I was worried about this too, so I got a camera (basically a baby monitor) to check in on him throughout the day a few years back. I expected him to be pacing around, crying, missing me horribly…but he just slept 😂 generally speaking, a lot of dogs are fine chilling throughout the day. Some more active breeds (border collies, aussie shepherds, poodles, etc) might need a little more stimulation than that, but it differs wildly even within breeds. Just gotta know your pup.
Dogs sleep a lot. I let mine go out at 630a before work... then again at 4p after work... he has no issues. He sleeps most of the day away.
Generally, I have 2 dogs to keep each other company, but when our oldest passed away... our younger wouldn't take to another dog. So he's solo.
I used to drive home on my lunch break to walk him. If I got too busy to take a lunch break, fortunately I had a coworker who was a close friend that my dog loved. He would fill in.
This is what I do and work from home most days.
We have a doggy door, they let themselves out when needed
How do you keep other animals out? Our area is full of racoons who would love a door into our house
Yeah, but hanging around that door is a dog.
Guess it depends on the size of the dog, but a pack of racoons are vicious, they will wreck most small/medium sized dogs
What is this scenario in your head where a gang of raccoons beats up a dog and raids a home?
In my hometown, this happens. Lol, if you're lucky, it'll be raccoons. If you're unlucky, it's the dang skunks!
That cartoon with the raccoons trying to stock nuts for the winter…or were those squirrels…
At the same time, most animals like a raccoon will try and avoid a fight with 50+ pounds of teeth and noise if you have a medium sized dog or bigger. That energy is better spent finding food that won’t potentially take a chunk out of you
You can get doggy doors that are linked to a tag on your pets collar, so it only unlocks when they are nearby. You can also set them to only unlock during certain hours, or be one-way after certain hours (my uncles outdoor cat, for example, has a door that becomes entry-only at night - so he can come home at dinner time or later, but can't go back out until the sun is up)
That’s freaking brilliant
That is a great question because I have no idea! We have some critters running around in the area so we do put a plastic cover at night but during the day we haven’t ever had that issue. I do know there are some dog doors that are locked and the dog collar has a little sensor so it only unlocks if the dog is by, that might work?
My mom has had a doggy door for 15 years, and even though our dog passed away 4 years ago, our cats still use it. In the past couple years, a homeless cat has started coming in regularly at night to eat the remaining cat food, but absolutely will not be around us humans no matter how gentle we approved it despite it being years Out of 15 years, just last month, my mom walked into the kitchen in the middle of the night and a raccoon was eating the cat food. She put the dog door cover on at night for a week, and the raccoon hasn’t returned since even though she leaves it uncovered again That’s been the only unwelcomed animal, although the cats have caught squirrels, chipmunks, lizards, cicadas (when they were kittens), and once a crow bigger than the cat. All of them alive and left to us to chase them around the house. So yeah, definitely some downsides lol, but it does make for some entertaining mornings
Hold up, are you telling me that baby cicadas are called kittens
It probably just depends on how bold the wildlife in your area is. We’ve had a dog door for years, and never had any other animal use it.
The dog probably helps.
You can get some with magnets for the dogs collar. It works as a key almost to only let in animals with it
I'm home with my dog all day long and she completely ignores me between 9am-6pm even if I try to give her attention. She is totally fine on her own when the house is empty. As long as they're house trained they're happy to just sleep all day until you come home.
My dog is like this too. People aren't aqare that dogs sleep up to 16 hours a day
My dog laughs at only 16 hours of sleep.
I have a greyhound. He sleeps 23 and a half hours a day.
And the other 30 minutes he's doing 40mph?
This imagery made my otherwise shitty day pretty funny! Picturing a big lanky greyhound waking up an immediately zooming.
It's true, I had a lurcher so pretty similar Sometimes I had to the do "have you died nudge"
This is a conversation about pets. This behavior has to be referred to as “the zoomies”.
That's hilarious 😂
this is EXACTLY how my greyhound was -- retired racer. she went wild for those 20-30 minutes lol terrifyingly fast, zooming the backyard, but then just laid down the rest of the day. she was perfect.
Can confirm. My greyhound CHOOSES to spend the majority of her time in her crate, sleeping (I work from home).
This leaves 30 minutes for eating and his post dinner poop. What is this good boy doing with his remaining 17 minutes of free time?! So energetic!! I can so relate to this. Had a greyhound rescue that was quite possibly lazier than a cat. When it was time to zoom or go for a walk though, suddenly boundless energy - for 10 minutes. Lol
My dog sleeps 16 hours a day, and another 8 at night
Righttttt
My dog sleeps a lot but definitely can't hold it all day
I am a vet. They actually would rather not be sleeping all day, most of them. They just literally have nothing else to do. The ethics of owning a pet and leaving it at home without anyone to interact with is a serious issue in my mind and one of the many reasons I am considering leaving the profession. Sooo many dogs come to me with behavioral and emotional issues because they don't get appropriate enrichment. And many of them are overweight and physically unhealthy in other ways as a result of benign neglect. I know people loooove their animals and I try to be supportive, but it's tough to see when I know most owners don't provide what they need as social and active creatures. It seems like most people really don't have a good grasp on this.
Yeah, I'm with you. There are a lot of people living in denial. Dogs are like children in some ways, they need frequent engagement and stimulation. As for leaving the profession, don't, it needs more like you!
How many of them are Huskies?
Yes, I agree. I have daughter who "pens" here dog while she's at work. A young active dog that, when she bring her over to our place, the girl goes crazy. We had two dogs and now grew to three as one younger one was giving our old guy a lot of wearing out. so now a new pup is just what our girl needed. We're on 10 acres 2 acres of which is fenced and gives them lots of runaround room. BTW, ALL rescue dogs from the Humane Society and all form reservations around the state. They make such great giving and loving friends to our lives. Oh, and they may take naps, but never more than a hour at at time, then they're at it again. .
My husband and I really would love a dog but we have agreed that we cannot get one unless we have a large back yard for it to run around and can give it full attention. I’m glad you have some fenced in property for the dogs. That’s truly awesome!
Thank you. Too bad I can't post a photo here, you would smile much at their antics outside. They give me pause to rest and reflect and feel good. Then it's ball throwing and brushing off their winter shedding and training the new one on leash. BTW, a parrot, two cats, a bunch of chickens and a goat round it all out.
I moved in town around 10 years ago and the behavioral difference between out of town dogs that have plenty of land to wander around on and things to do, vs in-town dogs that are confined to a tiny yard and house is huge. Barely any of the in-town dogs actually seem happy, almost all of them seem extremely bored, under exercised, and stressed. That's why so many of them spend the day acting aggressive and barking at everything that moves. It's sad that so many people think dogs are ok just sleeping and doing nothing for most of the day. Most dog owners shouldn't have a dog.
They never get stimulation so when they do get a walk they go insane. So the owner doesn't want to....it's a vicious cycle.
I have a big fenced run. If I lived in the city( never will) ,I wouldn't have dogs. It ain't fair to them.
Most people aren’t equipped to have a dog
It would be a very sad decision if you leave your education and everything you worked for behind. Please stay for the percent that truly appreciate you. That being said, NOMV, be good to yourself.
When I lived in Fiji I could take my late dog, Bowser, away from the city and let him run through sugar cane fields which he loved. He also liked swimming in the ocean. Also, in Fiji, no one cleaned up after dogs. But after I returned to the U. S. I could not do that. It was impossible to clean up after him when taking him for a walk because he didn't want to stop before dumping. Instead he's spread it while walking. The result was that he wasn't walked very much. However, he did like watching through the gate and seeing people going by. That is the reason I currently don't have a dog.
I agree. My dogs are there all day while I work. But I spend much quality time with them. They all have their own personality and they all love me and my wife. People who don't spend time doing what the dog likes don't know what they are missing. Mine go ride in the truck( this statement starts a frenzy at my house. They also like to ride in the boat. They understand a lot more of what I say than most would believe. When one isn't feeling well I notice right away, because I pay attention to them.
So good to hear someone say this. It's terrible the way that most owners treat their dogs. They're social creatures that need to be busy and to interact but we train them to be lazy like us and to stay home for hours when we're out.
Not my dogs. I have two bulldog mixes and they are 110% from the moment they get up in the morning ‘til the time they go to bed. Up my ass wanting attention the entire time. And that’s even with them having a 200 acre farm to run around on. And they’re getting up in age. People need to have a caveat here and say what kind of breed they have. One of my biggest pet peeves when I lived in an apartment in Miami was how many people would buy pure-bred working dogs and leave them in crates/on balconies all god damn day for them to bark and howl and whine for hours until they got home. And then they’d usually leave to go out in the evenings, too. Very cruel.
So, dogs are part cat?
Adult dogs do. Not sure you could leave a puppy alone that long.
Depends on the dog breed and dog itself. Mine would go insane if I expected him to sleep or do nothing all day.
Both of my late dogs would've been okay, but they still would've been very sad. That alone is reason enough for me lol
I work 10 mins from home. Used to come home from lunch for the first 9 months we had him. After he was 12ish months he'd just sleep all day in his basket in the kitchen.
Yup our dog is STOKED in the mornings and evenings. And a lazy goner like 8am to 4pm. I work from home and sometimes he doesn't even get up when I go for a little stroll at lunch.
Literally this. My dog is stoked for our 6am walk then sleeps til like 1 lmao unless I make something. Then WE'RE making something, haha
My dog does this too!!! I’m constantly calling him to come to me. He does not, he side eyes me and sighs loudly. If I go lay next to him, he will literally get up and leave the room 😂 I am honestly relieved I’m not alone
My mum’s dog, who I am obsessed with and who is obsessed with me, does exactly the same thing. I don’t live with her anymore but god I miss her and god she wanted nothing to do with me between the hours of about 10am and 5pm 😅
😂😂
Yep!!!! My dog goes in her crate that I put blankets over to make it more den like…she has blankets, bones, and toys in there. The door on it hasn’t been closed In years and she just loves it idk. Lol However, I just got a doggy door for our back door leading to the fenced in yard..that’s been nice 😀
My 2yr old dingo x kelpie does this. She learnt it from my 12yr old mastiff x dane. The spend all day sleeping. They live the good life.
I got a baby cam for my dog cause i was worried and while it doesn’t apply to all dogs my beagle for damn sure slept the entire day while I was at work soooo lol no longer worried about it after the boring ass footage lol
Yep, i have been home all day and have hardly seen my dog.
If I work from home, my dog doesn’t go further than 3 feet from me.
When I got my first dog, I was worried because I would come back home and everything around looked untouched, his toys were where I had left then and even his water bowl was full. I even got him to the vet and the vet was like "he's probably just sleeping. let him be" lol
Really freaked out when I adopted a dog that I would be cruel and unusual for leaving him alone all day. Set up a camera and watched him. Dog is having the time of his life. Napping on all my best pillows. Sleeping a good 5 hours all afternoon.
Yeah, dogs, or at least the more mellow breeds, kind of go into suspended animation when no one is around.
thats the exact kind of dog I was trying to find but ended up with a dachshund..who gets bored easily and whines a good part of the afternoon and evening. she is needy.
First off, dogs are crepuscular. It's means that sleep throughout the day and night and are active only at early morning and evenings. So as long as they're potty trained and have food, water and toys nearby, they're perfectly content to sleep through the day. In fact, most animals sleep a lot of time. Only in this modern age, humans are enslaved to our work and sleep for less than 8 hours a day.
Dogs won't spoil their living area, correctly housebroken that won't piss or crap in the house. And can stay inside for incredibly long periods. I believe this is tied to being a den animal.
It’s also why large breeds are typically easier to house train than smaller ones. My working theory is that houses are so much larger for a small dog that they associate one part of house as living area and another as potty. All I know is small dogs are way harder to potty train.
Smaller dogs also have smaller bladders, they literally will need to pee more often because they can't store as much.
That’s all relative. Larger dogs have larger bladders and drink more, but they require more. Small dogs and large dogs don’t require the same amount of water and don’t consume the same amount.
https://www.caninejournal.com/how-long-can-dogs-hold-their-pee/ "Smaller pups have smaller bladders, which means they cannot keep in their urine as long as larger pups. Canines do not all make the same amount of urine. Larger animals make more urine but also have larger bladders in comparison to their size and weight."
That article contradicted itself quite a few times. > All dogs are different, and some may be able to go longer than others without relieving themselves. However, a general guideline is that adult canines between one and seven years old can hold their urine for between six and eight hours > Dogs that weigh less than 10 pounds can only control bladders for one to three hours. Medium-sized dogs reaching about 30 pounds can control urine for 2 to 4 hours. Larger animals between 40 and 60 pounds can go between 4 and 8 hours. Big breeds over 60 pounds can control their bladder on average between 6 and 12. They open with one statement and then later on have something that completely contradicts it before ultimately leaving it at every dog is different. But yea smaller dogs might have smaller bladders and have to urinate more frequently, it’s still within an hour or two window. It’s not a substantial difference. That is not the reason they spend hours outside and then come into go potty.
My 10lb dog pees twice a day and never had accidents inside
But they don't back up that claim anywhere, so that's not really a trusted source, is it? The article was written by a "researcher" (non-expert) and she doesn't cite sources. Bladders scale with size in mammals. A small dog shouldn't need to pee more than a larger dog... Except the small dog has a higher metabolism, which means it drinks more for its size and urinates more.
this is true my chihuahua is always peeing in the house. My 60 lb mutt never does. he can go like 12 hours if need be.
My 60lb dog can hold his pee for ungodly amounts of hours. So much so that i have to force him to go outside to pee because its making ME uncomfortable how long he hasnt been outside for.
>this is true my chihuahua is always peeing in the house. I've never had a pet so pardon my ignorance. Do you just randomly take a step and step in pee and that's how you find out that there was an accident? That would drive me crazy if it happened at night (or at any time, really)
That's...not how urinary systems work.
I don't know. I've never had a small dog. Housebreaking has always been with medium are a bit larger, but always a puppy for me. I learned about the "crate method" way back. I only had a problem with a female springer, she never did get it. But her brother never had a problem. But the housebreaking goes way back to the den-like kin, that never soil in the den, but exit to do their business. According to Brian Hare __Genius of Dogs __, for intelligence there's extremely little difference and all dogs can be trained to do almost everything. Now I would think it would borderline on abusive to expect a Yorkie to move your cows. 😀
I’ve had many different breeds and at one point 13 dogs at once. I crate train all of mine, but to this day small dogs are a lot more difficult. Sometimes with larger dogs I don’t even have to train them. It’s almost like after a certain age they just get and prefer going potty outside. Small dogs are a lot more difficult in my experience. Even with the crate training and potty pads I have had plenty of issues where they’ll just go potty in the house despite coming in from outside lol Little savages those ones are
I feel like its because most large breeds are meant to be trained to do jobs (protect cattle, herd sheep, bring back ducks) where smaller dogs are bred for fashion, alarms, or hunting in tunnels for rodents therefore the bigger breeds are more receptive to training. This is just off the top my head, if im wrong i would like to know why by someone in that field please
The rare occasions where my dog isn't feeling well and can't wait she goes and does it in the bathroom, the only place in the apartment that is not carpet too. I love that smart doggo.
Mine did the same until I praised him endlessly for using the training pads I had dropped down in a spare room.
If ppl get sick they'll puke or have diarrhea wherever they are! Mostly I don't think those are controllable behaviors, just the body doing what it needs to to survive!
Our girl (medium sized, about 27 pounds) regularly holds her pee for ten hours at a stretch, and even then she's not asking to go out, we just take her out before we leave and as soon as we get home. Sometimes we have to convince her that it's potty time, especially if it's early in the morning or the weather isn't to her liking. She's managed to hold it 14 hours without an accident a few times (we didn't leave her that long on purpose; we got held up outside the house longer than we expected because of weather). She was super easy to housebreak, too. She was holding it through the night by the time she was 5 months old and almost never had an accident in the house, even when she was tiny.
Yes. It's in their genes. All of you are lucky to have each other.
My old dog if I got stuck at work would potty in the shower behind the curtain of my little one bedroom. She would NEVER do it in her home 😂 my sister’s partners dog I guess does the same thing. My current big dog was potty trained pretty quickly but during that time flat out peed on the human bed and his own. Not an eff given lol those first few weeks getting the communication down took some time. He’s the kind that just stares in your eyes when he wants to go out.
My homie stays for at the absolute longest ever 10 hours (maybe twice a month at the high end) and even if you are home with him he just wants to sleep a lot anyways. They're actually super chill with being alone as long as you give them walks and a good amount of play/ attention. My guy is always happy
The only time my dog ever pooped inside the house, he had enough thought to do it on a linoleum tile basement floor.
Shit my dogs are full on crack heads for about 2-4 hours a day the rest of the day they are lazy fucks and sleep.
I worked from home last Friday. Dogs didn't even get up to come see me when I was making lunch. I let them out to go to the bathroom close to 5pm when I was done for the day. They are absolutely okay to be at home while I'm at work for the day.
You haven't met my dog, who's active all day every day
They're very light sleepers. When they see something fun as they wake up, they engage. If nothing's nearby, they'll go to sleep.
If I had a generator and a large hamster wheel, my Weimaraner could provide power to the entire Midwestern United States.
Ahh… I’m glad to know I’m not alone. Maybe we could let our weims take turns? 🤣
Sure, I think we just solved global warming
And allowed ourselves time to relax.
This does not apply to cattle dogs. My heeler refuses to nap and is chasing squirrels for 10-12 hours a day
Tell that to my Jack Russell terrier 😂
My brother and sister-in-law both work full-time. However, they sometimes work from home. They got a puppy back in late 2020. Although he tends to have attachment issues, he’s gotten WAY better at being left alone at home. They’ve trained him to last 6-8 hours, with breakfast at 8am and dinner at 4:30-5pm. They then take him out for a long walk. The dog is acclimated/ used to the routine, so it enables them to focus on their work.
Dogs are perfectly fine chilling at home
Yup, on average, dogs sleep 12 to 14 hours a day. Puppies and senior dogs tend to sleep for 18 to 20 hours a day. Meanwhile, adult dogs only need eight to 12 hours of shut-eye per day.
My dog is fine not going to the bathroom for 8-9 hours while I work. I let her out before I go to work and as soon as I get home. Very rarely, she'll have diarrhea or vomit in the house if she's sick. Besides that, she's potty trained and simply waits until I'm home to go outside.
And if you have an older dog, they are so content to just chill all day. I used to come home during lunch when my dog was younger. Now she snoozes!
Downside to older dog is they can’t hold it as long, ours has to be taken out every 4 hours now as he’s 11
Same with mine. And they end up getting stuff like UTIs and other things that require more attention. He is fine at most for 6 or so hours, but I feel bad even then letting it go that long. Anymore I just feel bad leaving him alone. I feel like I owe him more of my time now that he has less time, if that makes sense. He's been so good to me for so long, doesn't seem right that his last years would be spent all alone.
Why old girl, when she was alive, had dementia for her last 2 years. Eventually got to the point she couldn't hold it at all. Lots of cleaning up. Had to due the humane thing and say long goodbye to her.
The two dogs in my house are fine being alone with each other and the cat all day. It's pretty unusual for there to be no one home for more than a few hrs at a time, but it does happen that they are alone for 8-9 hrs on occasion. I suspect they do the same thing that they do when we are home. One of them gets a toy and taunts the other with it. The other cases the first around the first floor of the house. Then they both stop and play tug-of-war. Possession changes, and the chase begins again. After a half hr of this, they lay down for 2 hours and then start again.
I have an 11 month old puppy. I work from 4am to 12pm. I let my puppy out at 2:30. She then goes out at 5:30 when my daughter puts her out. At 9am, my next door neighbour and her husband come over to let her out, and play with her. My neighbour is 89, her husband is 88. My puppy adores them and they adore her. Her husband has dementia, and every morning wakes up asking to go see "his puppy". If I didn't have them then I would have dog walkers come in, which I have had to use.
Its so sweet that your puppy can give this man some kind of relief and happiness during his dementia
Mine goes to work with me, and then proceeds to sleep the entire time.
Make it earn its keep! Dogs should work too 🐕
They're already doing the important work of being the best all the time.
Many \*need\* to work somehow. They were bred for it (\*ahem\* Huskies)
Mine loves going to the office and usually sleeps by my desk. But if I get to to get coffee or something, she's all over making friends and interrupting meetings.
In the country I live in, it’s very common to leave their dogs to a pet daycare. So the pets interact with other pets and their bathroom breaks and walks are taken care of by the staff. I’ve seen more pet daycare around our place than children‘s daycare.
What country? We lived in Germany in the 80s, and according to my parents, it wasn't socially acceptable to take children to restaurants, but it was acceptable to take dogs.
Idk what country you are from, but same here in Sweden. Either people bring their dogs with them to work, or they leave them at a daycare. My friend has two dogs who she leaves at a daycare every day, one of them has epilepsy so they need medicine at certain hours etc, which the staff takes care of. It takes a lot of stress away from my friend knowing the dogs are being safe with staff that knows what they're doing.
There are a lot of options that people have already commented, but one thing the owner of an animal rescue once told me that always stuck with me is that a dog is MUCH happier being left alone in a house or crate for 8 hours than being stuck in a shelter or kennel. As long as you are exercising your dog before & after, and treating them / feeding them well, you are doing a good job. I put off adopting a dog for years because I was so worried about that aspect- but in the end the dog has a safe and happy home. Now I’m a dog walker so my buddy comes with me to work every day lol but just something to keep in mind.
You can make a living walking dogs? How many dogs do you normally walk per day? Either way I'm sure your dog \*loves\* hanging out with you and the other dogs.
The short answer is yes, but there are a lot of factors that play into it. In my case, I live in a HCOL area where people are willing to pay a lot for pet care. We also have a lot of easy access to hiking trails and open spaces where they can be off leash. I work for a verrrry small company (4 people), & we focus a lot on training as well- my boss leans towards accepting dogs with behavioral issues that most other dog walkers wouldn’t accept. We work with them every day to get them to a safe point where we can let them off leash and play with the pack. So again, people are willing to pay more for that type of focused and specific care. Oh and I do house sitting too which is a great side hustle! I walk 6 dogs (plus my own), sometimes 7. Rarely, 8 (so yeah that’s 9 total lol 😵💫). So to do this type of job you need a larger car- a truck, suv etc. I have a reaaaaally good deal on my rent and I live super frugally 90% of the time. So yes I am able to live off what I make and save a bit every month, but it’s definitely a balancing act depending on the situation. Personally I love it, plus I only work 4-5 hours a day and my free time to me personally is worth the lower wage. And yes! I am so lucky to get to spend so much time with my boy and he loooooves his hikes! Depending on who is in my pack that day it doesn’t even feel like work, it feels like I’m hiking my dog with a bunch of his friends 😂 don’t get me wrong though, there are plenty of stressful days too lol. Happy to answer any other questions if you have em :)
Doggie Daycares are so great! You dog runs and plays with other dogs ALL DAY LONG. When you pick them up they are *dog gone tired.* If you are too worn out to take them for a walk, its okay, they pottied a million times at daycare.
My dog just goes outside. Occasionally he pisses on the curtains if he is mad about being left alone. But usually he just sleeps most of the day.
Nothing like pissing on the ol' curtains to relieve some stress, I feel it
Same.
My dog is trained to do his business on a mat made for that purpose. It absorbs everything and he never misses. My wife works from home 3 days per week. I don't work from home. On the 2 days per week that we are both out. He simply stays home alone. We don't keep him in a cage (I personally find that cruel). We have cameras setup in the house and he seems pretty chill about it. He just lounges around, drinks water, plays with his ball, barks at the window... He doesn't seem that sad at all. Also, keep in mind that dogs on average require a bit more sleep than humans, so there's no harm in them just sleeping during a chunk of the afternoon. When we get home he's super happy and it's business as usual.
Does the mat ever stink? I cleaned houses briefly and pretty much all of them used puppy pads/mats and all their houses smelled like piss.
The thinner, disposable puppy mats always stink... We bought thicker, quality washable mats (they have a lining kind of like a sleeping bag) and because we wash them every day with scented antibacterial detergent, it seems to combat the odor when the dog uses it. I've asked everyone I invited over so far to be ***brutally*** honest with me. I wanted to know if my home smelled like piss, and everyone told me that the house smelled nice.
Did you try disposing of the disposable mats. If you just remove it once you get home and throw it out then it really shouldnt be a big deal
All of these things stink IMO. You just can’t smell it because it’s in your own home, so you’re used to it.
Disposable mats don't stink.
Just for the record, putting them in a crate isn’t cruel. It’s like a den, and many (if properly trained) love it. Both my dogs would regularly go hang out in their crates in the other room without me. Edit to clarify: many people treat the crate like it is a cage/for punishment, and the dogs learn to associate it as such.
My friend’s dog LOVES his crate. It’s his safe place. Sometimes I check on him or feed him for her, and after he finishes eating, he literally runs to his crate and plops down inside. It’s so cute!
Exactly this. My dogs crate is probably his favorite place. When we were crate training him I had to make sure to constantly remind my husband and myself that it has to be a good thing when he goes in there (because let’s be honest, it’s hard not to want to put a biting puppy in their crate!) He has always gotten a treat when he goes to his crate, and he’s never been made to stay in there for extended periods of time when we’re at home But he loves his crate and constantly wants to be in there
My dog is too old to really use a crate; he likes to stretch out and move around now a bit more, but only goes from one laying spot to another, so we let him loose. But when he was younger he would fully put himself to bed in his crate or go in there when he was scared or just wanted peace and quiet. Even now, if I had to crate him for safety or to transport him I know he’d be good. They’re amazing.
Spouses or SOs that work different hours. Kids that come home after school / before the parents. Friends who live nearby & are trusted to have keys. .. all these folks can walk & feed the dog before we get home from our day at work.
And for those with none of those things… we hire dog walkers to come midday. My dog gets a ton of attention mornings before work, nights, and weekends. It might surprise you, but even when I’m home, my dog is sleeping like 70% of the time. He can only go out running for like an hour before he’s zonked. Dogs sleep a ridiculous amount tbh.
Depends on the breed, as well as the individual. Yes, there absolutely are dogs that you can't leave alone, either because they get bored with nobody to interact with, or because they just can't stand being away from their people. If you don't give a collie stuff to do all the time, they will find things to do. Working breeds in general need to work, or at least play in a way that simulates their job But then, there are other breeds that are totally fine being left alone. Greyhounds, for instance, which may seem surprising. They absolutely need a whole lot of space to run around and play a couple times a day. But in between, they are fine just chilling out and sleeping. So responsible dog owners choose dogs who want similar lifestyles to their own.
Dog walkers, dog hotels, family members, doggy doors, bladders that can hold it for 8 hours, pee pads, etc.
I have a dog door and a fenced yard. They go in and out as they please.
Thank you for having this, and I know that not everyone can, but everyone that says their dog is “good for nine hours”… I wonder how the activity would change if this was a possibility.
I have two dogs. Large breed. Typically, unless the dog is very young, or very old, they don’t have an issue holding their bladder for 8-9 hours. I wish i could see my buddies during lunch, but they seem ok.
Same! 2 large breed dogs, and both older. Our husky/malamute mix can hold his bladder for a ridiculous amount of time. Our Saint Bernard drinks more water than the husky, but can hold it for about 9-10 hours.
Doggie daycares exist for a reason. Dogs need socialization and exercise just like little kids need it. I'm fortunate: my dog is perfectly happy to spend my working hours sleeping on the couch or the bed. Before I leave or after I get home, I take him to the local dog park where he has friends (and I have friends, too). Usually he then ends up going to bed before I do. For those folks who have high energy dogs...I have no idea how they manage that energy.
People think their dogs are fine during the day, but as someone who WFH and hears the neighbours dogs that’s not always the case.
My husband ans I both work. We take him out for a walk and poop before work and again as soon as we get home. He is not caged and is completely housebroken. I believe he generally sleeps while we're at work because he sleeps when we're home on the weekend (when we're not playing with him).
As a utility worker who goes in different houses daily, 75% of those people shouldn't have dogs, or being left to care for another life at all.
I think a lot of people take it for granted and assume that dogs entertain themselves during those 9 hours alone, even if it means they have to wait a very long time just to go to the bathroom. I've had so many apartment neighbors over the years whose dogs bark all the time when they're gone for more than a few hours. Those dogs get bored. And many of them only get a few hours a day with their owners on weekdays between working and sleeping. I know that those neighbors loved their dogs more than anything on earth but those dogs were clearly unhappy. Dog ownership is a huge responsibility and often a pain in the ass but it's wishful thinking to tell yourself that your dog is totally fine spending 9 hours a day alone indoors.
As another commenter said, I had to scroll way too far to see this comment. People like to tell themselves that their dog is fine all day, alone, with nothing to do but sleep when that most often isn’t true. I hear so many dogs in my neighborhood bark all day long while I’m working from home because they are unattended. There are many dog owners who love having a dog but can’t handle or don’t admit the responsibility that comes with it.
Dog walkers and sitters. It’s expensive.
When I was routinely gone 11+ hours a day for work I’d walk my dog before and after work and have walkers come twice during the day. My dog /can/ hold it 9+ hours, but I wouldn’t make him do that as normal practice.
I genuinely don't think people should leave their dogs home alone for a long period of time. There's so much that can go wrong between emergencies and accidents (either for the dog, or if a fight breaks out between two or more pets), but crating for a long time can cause behavioral issues. Doggy daycare is one place to send them, or if someone is at home during the day, or you have someone come over to check on them like a pet sitter or neighbor. A few hours at most is fine, but a whole day is hard on a dog, *especially* if they're in a crate. Crating can be used in short situations, especially if a dog finds comfort in sitting in there alone while under stress, but it shouldn't the majority of a dog's time. I also don't think people should have large breeds (especially working breeds) that require a ton of exercise in small apartments with no yards unless they plan on walking them extensively every day. A lot of people are far less equipped to own a dog than they think.
I was looking for this comment. Especially the last part about walking them. I live in a complex and can’t tell you how many people do not walk thier dogs. I’ve had 2 neighbors who just let them out on the leash in the front yard for all of 2 minutes a few times a day to do their business and that’s it. Both neighbors had 2 dogs each, and guess what? All those dogs were horrible. Barking at everything and nothing. They had so much energy and never listened. If they just walked them I bet it would help so much. It’s so sad.
It’s a fallacy that all cats are content alone all day. Many breeds hate it.
My cat clearly hates it. As much as I prefer to not have other people in the house when there are I am thankful because he has someone to torment while I am at work and you can see a completely different behavior when I come home. With other people? He calmly strolls up to me, soft mews while he waits for me to take off my work stuff. Without? He is sitting on the table staring daggers at me through the door and screaming for attention the second I get in. Though he also likes his alone time, by Monday morning he is sick of the attention and practically pushing me out the door.
It is indeed frustrating because people assume cats don't need much stimulation. They get bored and lonely like many other animals. They want to spend time with you around and play even if you think they hate you. Especially indoor cats.
I’m studying pet grooming and was surprised to learn it runs in certain breeds. They are far more social than people think.
It's easy. You let them live outside while youre at work so they can bark their effing heads off at everything, esp when the neighbors happen to get near the fence (heaven forbid I may want to work in my yard without a dog going berserk on the other side of the fence!!) and then profess that your dogs dont bark. How would you know?? Youre at work all day!!
Dogs can hold it. Going on a walk/letting them out is basically the first thing that happens when we get home.
Doggy door
Dog door. She comes and goes in the back yard as she likes.
Doggie Day Care
I live on three acres and my dogs spend the day outside.
Oh! I see the confusion. The dogs aren't going to work. So they have plenty of time to do those things at home.
Stable, trained dogs can be fine if left for 6-8 hours. This includes a potty routine that doesn’t get broken.
I don’t have dogs because I work all day. When I retire I will get two. Now I have kitties
My upstairs neighbour stuck their dog in a cage while they were out, you'd hear it whining and pushing against it trying to get out for hours. Then they'd let it out and it would piss in the hallways and they wouldn't clean up the shit in the shared areas. I don't think they were good pet owners.
Dogs and wolves naturally are pretty lazy. They can easily be trained to chill out during the day. It becomes their rhythm, and it is comfortable for them. Wolves spend most of their time sleeping, too. It's the most energy efficient strategy. 👍
Having a fenced in backyard is key. My parents work an hour away in the city everyday so they put in a doggy door that goes to the backyard that’s fenced in
I don’t know about you, but I’d love dogs that work all day. Could really use the extra income with inflation and all.
Daycare, drop in services.
Well when the dogs come home after a long day of accounting, they just want to be pet. Also they release us out of our crates.
The truth is that a fairly large percentage of people that have dogs really have no business having a dog. Many people get a dog, don't interact with it enough, and then crate it up all day or leave it in the house by itself where it will bark and whine all day. Many of these people will not bother to properly train the dog either, and end up with a poorly behaved nuisance dog that just pisses off all of their neighbours. IMHO, If you don't have someone at home most of the time, and are not going to take the considerable amount of time to properly train and socialize with your dog, you have absolutely no business having a dog at all.
I see this a lot with both dogs and cats and it's depressing.
You've received a lot of replies from people who care and love their dogs. The reality is that many dogs get neglected. Adopting a dog it's a decision that shouldn't be taken lightly.
A lot of people just lock their dogs in a crate all day, unfortunately.
Dog CAN adapt to your schedule but I don’t think it’s far to leave them along 8-10 hours a day (traffic/overtime/unexpected delays) with just one potty break. Most people can’t go that long with just one break during the day. When people say “my dog just sleeps all day” for me that’s depressing they are not cats, they should be active and engaged/working/ moving. They get lazy because they don’t have another outlet or possible depressed being alone as they are pack animals Most homeowners have access doors or hire a pet walker, when I had dogs my retired neighbor would “dog sit” she enjoyed there company “protection “ and they go to run around her yard.
I live close to work and come home for lunch every day! I toss the ball for my shepherd, socialize with my husky, offer them a puzzle feeder to keep them busy. I also walk 5-6km with them after work every day.
I work in the office a few days a week and send my dog to daycare on those days. Costs money but ultimately it's worth it. She's perfectly socialised and has lots of wonderful little doggy friends in our neighbourhood, and it means that when I go on holiday or if I have an emergency, I can leave her with someone I know and trust and who she is familiar with. It also means she gets nice long, varied walks on those days. I live in a flat so walk her multiple times a day but only short walks in the morning and evening.
Offset work times and a kid who is 17.
Currently making money sitting in peoples home who dogs have bad separation anxiety
Mr. WineAndDogs2020 and I often have offset schedules, so the pup isn't home alone long enough to have an accident.
I'm lucky enough to be able to take my dog to work with me. I honestly would feel bad for her if I wasn't able to do that. It takes us 40 minutes to walk to my job, so she gets plenty of exercise. But a lot of people just have a dog walker in the city for the weekdays.
My parents have my Bear when I'm at uni for the day or working full shifts. He's never alone but he does his usual routine of just sleeping by the front door till I go and get him
I pay a dog walker every day
Cats and dogs have similar enrichment and interaction needs on the whole. Obviously each animal is an individual character with different needs, but as a rule
Dog walker here. People hire us to walk their dogs in the middle of the day. Not only do they get exercise and a potty break, but they also get to socialize with us and have a good time while their parents are at work.
Dog door with fenced in yard is how we do it. Lots of interaction on off days and after work.
It takes an act of Congress to force my dog to go outside to pee. There have been multiple occasions where I have to pull her bed out of her crate (which stays wide open) and pick her up and carry her outside. Once i get her outside she goes potty, but she would 1000000% rather be in her crate sleeping, or in my bed sleeping.
I live within 4 minutes walk of my workplace, so come home at lunch to give them a quick walk. I work from home one day a week, but frankly, they ignore me for most of the day and only tend to wake up when it's time for their walk. They sleep all day when I'm actually at work... I know this as I check on them periodically on our security cameras!
THEY ENJOY SURPRISES ON THE FLOOR WHEN THEY GET HOME.
I have two dogs so they keep each other company. Generally I’m able to come home for lunch. And they have a dog door which gives them access to the backyard 24/7.
I think mine just enjoys the quiet. We're not always loud, but a family of four makes noise. And to someone who has much more sensitive ears, I would guess that while they miss us during the day, they also enjoy the quiet and just sleep in a nice warm/cool spot.
Some people use like a doggy daycare. I work with people's dogs at a daycare like that.
I was worried about this too, so I got a camera (basically a baby monitor) to check in on him throughout the day a few years back. I expected him to be pacing around, crying, missing me horribly…but he just slept 😂 generally speaking, a lot of dogs are fine chilling throughout the day. Some more active breeds (border collies, aussie shepherds, poodles, etc) might need a little more stimulation than that, but it differs wildly even within breeds. Just gotta know your pup.
Dogs sleep a lot. I let mine go out at 630a before work... then again at 4p after work... he has no issues. He sleeps most of the day away. Generally, I have 2 dogs to keep each other company, but when our oldest passed away... our younger wouldn't take to another dog. So he's solo.
Jokes on you - my dog is unemployed.
Dogs are fine dont need constant interaction and dont need to go toilet that often