# How long do you leave your dog alone for?



## OliveSheprador

I'm assuming we can't _always _ be with our pets. 

In that case, how long do you feel is appropriate to leave your dog alone for? Crated, or otherwise. (I personally use a tall baby-gate - the dog has her own small room....) 

My S/O and I are working on training our puppy to be alone for small amounts of time - we want to be able to leave her for short periods if we have to, without worrying about her barking or whining up a storm. So far, she's doing really well. We notice this works extremely well after we've taken her for a long walk! All she wants to do after is sleep.


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## Sendiulino

Samantha is alone for 16 hours a day. 8 hour work day, 8 hours at night while we sleep. She is not crated, but baby-gated into the kitchen.

Sam is 15 weeks old, we brought her home at 10 weeks old and she has been alone this amount of time since day 4 (we took three vacation days in the beginning to help her cope with the transition). She is 100% well-adjusted despite having a lot of alone time. *Edit*: And she only whined for the first two weeks. Now she does not whine at all when she is placed in the kitchen when we go to work, or for the night. It's just a matter of training and consistency. Remember never to reward the behaviour (the whine) with attention of any kind, and you'll be golden.

Younger puppies I'm told should never be crated more than 4 hours, and never more than their bladders will allow for -- roughly 1 hour per month max. Older dogs can be crated upwards of 8 hours but probably shouldn't be pushed much longer than that. Some people will tell you no more than 6 hours, no more than 5 hours, no more than 4 hours, but there are lots of people who crate their dogs for an entire full-time work-day who do just fine. Once the dog is an adult, it's really a personal preference by the owner.


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## RonE

How long you can leave your dog alone for depends on several factors. The age of the dog. Puppies have limited or no bladder control and need pretty regular supervision. (Old dog s may have similar issues.)

Another important factor is what you do with your dog when they are no alone. A tired dog sleeps a lot. A bored, under-stimulated dog will find mischief.

My adults dogs may be left to their own devices for 8-10 hours, though it's usually a shorter period. They are no longer crated or restricted and more than likely spend most of the day either sleeping or watching the world go by from various windows.


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## Niraya

Bella almost always has someone home with her everyday. The most she's ever been left alone by herself was I think two hours when the family went out for dinner. 
If she does get left alone she goes out for a walk before we leave (She has full run of the house now) to make sure she's gotten all of that rambunctious puppy energy somewhat under control.


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## katG

I hate leaving my puppy alone (he is 8 months old) so I drop him off to play with my parents' dogs down the road whenever I have to do anything :-D. I'm very lucky!
For puppies under 6 months, I don't think they should be left alone for anymore than 3 hours or so, especially if you're potty training outside only. When they pass 6 months they can go a little longer and slowly build up to 8. I wouldn't want to leave my dog alone for any more than 8 hours during the day, especially if he was the only dog (or animal) in the house. I just don't think its very fair for the dog. 
However, my parents have a boxer who lives in the basement with a dog door out to a huge fenced in back yard. We see her during the day when we're outside, and she comes upstairs at night (she can't be with the other dogs during the day, she is extremely dog aggressive). She goes on long walks with my male dog almost daily but has no other dog interaction. So she is alone for probably 16 hours straight (well usually she has interaction with us and a walk in there somewhere)... but she has a huge yard to chase butterflies, her own kiddie pool, snakes to kill (she kills snakes almost daily..weird), a cool basement with her own mattress and tons of bones and toys. 
So basically I think people should just make the best out of what their situation is to make it the best life possible for the dog... even if you're not there with them all day. A lot of domestic dogs were bred to be companions... man's best friend


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## zeronightfarm

well my lil dude is just 2 months over a year. Usualy if I was not at home he would go out side in his pen, but a few months ago if I was onlt going to be gone for like an hour I would leave him in his crate. He now has a X-Pen set up in my room for when I'm gone. Now that we are in the rainy season I have taken the leap! He has now stayed indoors for up to 8 hrs. NO PROBLEMS!!! YAY!! I'm so happy. I live in my granparents house so the less mess the beter.


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## sheltiemom

Mine are alone 6 hours a day while I'm at work plus whatever additional time I'm gone if I have to run errands or do whatever. My husband used to work from home, until about 3 months ago, but they have adjusted nicely to the new schedule. Three of them are confined in the bedroom, one is crated in the dining room.


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## Wynterr

I leave mine alone for up to four hours at a time - twice a week. Anymore than that and she is at "Grandma's" house. She sleeps beside my bed at night on a blanket. I have never used a crate and never will. If we are gone she has the run of the house. Dogs are pack animals and I feel sorry for them being left alone, even more so being stuck in a crate for hours at a time.


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## katG

Wynterr said:


> I leave mine alone for up to four hours at a time - twice a week. Anymore than that and she is at "Grandma's" house. She sleeps beside my bed at night on a blanket. I have never used a crate and never will. If we are gone she has the run of the house. Dogs are pack animals and I feel sorry for them being left alone, even more so being stuck in a crate for hours at a time.


You're lucky like me with the use of "Grandma's house" lol! I do use a crate however, but my puppy only goes in the crate when we go out to dinner or I go to the store and will only be gone for a couple hours. He is very content in there with his kong  I don't think he'd be safe on his own in the house.. he'd probably be anxious and destructive. A lot of dogs will spend time in their crates when they aren't locked in there, they like the closed, safe, "den" feel. Every dog is different though, we'll see what I end up doing when he gets older. In the meantime... Grandma's house is the go to place for dog buddies and love when I'm not going to be around for the day.


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## Sendiulino

Best thing for the OP to remember is exactly what katG just said: every dog is different.

On a side note, I look forward to the day when we live in a world where people can give their opinions without simultaneously defecating on the opinions of others. Very _sorry _for people who feel sorry for my dog  Mostly because it's an entire waste of time to feel sorry for a happy family, dog included.


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## katG

Sendiulino said:


> Best thing for the OP to remember is exactly what katG just said: every dog is different.
> 
> On a side note, I look forward to the day when we live in a world where people can give their opinions without simultaneously defecating on the opinions of others. Very _sorry _for people who feel sorry for my dog  Mostly because it's an entire waste of time to feel sorry for a happy family, dog included.


Well yep like I said, you make the best out of the situation you're in. I'm in a different boat than you as far as breed of dog and the specific needs.. I have a Pit Bull... it would not be fair to him to leave him alone for that amount of time because the breed requires a lot of mental stimulation, socialization, and exercise. He would probably be a nutcase if left to his own devices for extended periods of time lol. Sometimes its hard to generalize what other people should do from your own life and experience, and at the end of the day, if you have a happy and well-adjusted dog, thats all anyone can ask for. 
So yeah... every case is different. I'm sorry if I offended you in my earlier post, I should have considered the different needs of different breeds etc...


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## JulieK1967

Right now, and at least for the foreseeable future, she's not alone for more than 2 hours at a stretch.


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## lisak_87

Brady is left alone, crated for 10 hours M-F. He is also alone in the living room w/ the cat overnight (9PM-5AM). He is in daycare from 10AM-5PM every Saturday. Pretty much all of the rest of his life is concentrated time with me (Dog park, training, walk).

ETA: Oh, and Brady does just fine with this situation. He is very well-adjusted.


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## LuvMyAngels

Im a stay at home mom so Buster is pretty much with me all the time. The exceptions being when I have to run errands that take me to places he's not welcome and if the weather makes conditions outdoors unsafe for him. Saints dont handle heat well so he stays home snoozing in front of his favorite A/C vents when temps are above 80. I also wont take him walking when conditions are overly icy, no need for him to slip and injure himself.


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## Wynterr

Sendiulino said:


> Best thing for the OP to remember is exactly what katG just said: every dog is different.
> 
> On a side note, I look forward to the day when we live in a world where people can give their opinions without simultaneously defecating on the opinions of others. Very _sorry _for people who feel sorry for my dog  Mostly because it's an entire waste of time to feel sorry for a happy family, dog included.


I am not defecating on your opinion. I am stating my own. She is your dog - your property - so you decide how long you crate or do not crate her for. She probably is happy with her life, animals adapt. It is my opinion that it is unfair for any animal to be crated for long periods of time. It is your opinion that it is not. People's opinions can not help but conflict unless we all agree, which we obviously never all will. That doesn't mean I am defecating on your opinion, just disagreeing.


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## KodiBarracuda

I guess we always used the formula : Age of the puppy in months plus one = the number of hours a puppy can hold his bladder/be alone in a crate (A whole room is totally different IMO), up to eight hours. For the dogs we have had, it worked well.


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## katG

Wynterr said:


> I am not defecating on your opinion. I am stating my own. She is your dog - your property - so I have no say in how long you crate or do not crate her for. She probably is happy with her life, animals are very adaptive. However in my opinion long periods of time alone in a crate is unfair for any animal. People's opinions can not help but conflict unless we all agree, which we obviously never all will. I am sure you do the best for your dog that you can do and I am sure she understands that.


Long periods in crate I agree with. I don't see a problem with a couple hours during the day on occasion, and at night if thats what people choose. My dog sleeps in bed with me and doesn't get up all night, just repeatedly steals the covers and kicks me all night haha. So sometimes if I NEED to get a good nights sleep for whatever reason, I will crate him, and he could care less.. I have to drag him out of it in the morning just like I have to drag him out of bed lol.

You're right we all have our own opinions, and we also all have different dogs with different needs. Every dog in my family and extended family has a different lifestyle as far as freedom within the house, crating, and outside time etc. They're all different breeds, different needs, different personalities etc. My dog, even as a puppy, is the easiest to drop off at someones house to babysit because he can be crated if need be. My brothers dog will stay with my parents on occasion, but has to be WITH my mom at all times, in bed, EVERYWHERE. My dog will either go in bed, in the crate, in the kitchen.. he is adaptable and I like it that way! 

At the end of the day, most of the people who would bother joining a dog forum to begin with PROBABLY love and care for their dogs more so than the average dog owner.


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## jkliveng

Mine is 1.5 years old and he is alone for up to 8 hours max usually, maybe once a week. Otherwise just a few hours here or there. Longest in his crate was 6 hours once when we had an ER visit in the family.


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## hanksimon

I have a 10 yo Sheprador, who is alone all day, and sleeps by himself in the living room all night. At this age, I trust his housetraining and don't crate him. In 4-5 years, I may have to watch him again.

Clearly, puppies require more management until about 6 mos...


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