Leaving a dog at home all day

[Dave Davenport]

The next door neighbours got a puppy a few weeks ago, a small breed of some sort. It's obviously been left shut in on it's own all day as it's been barking and whining virtually non stop.
I don't have a clue about dogs, never had one and never plan to, but this doesn't seem right.

 

[fossyant]

It's not fair, certainly.

 

[cosmicbike]

Not nice. Our 2 get left 4-5 hrs tops, and that is only a couple of times a week at worst.

 

[TeeQue]

Definitely not right for a puppy, unfortunately nothing you can do (RSPCA won't be interested as long as the dog is "healthy").

Ours is left on his own for between five and seven hours a day which does sound like a lot but he's a lazy thing and generally sleeps most of the time so I truly think he's quite happy on his own. I would definitely not do this with a puppy though.

 

[Saluki]

Our lot get left for 4 hours tops while I go out and walk the dogs of people who are out all day at work.
Maybe have a chat with them and suggest a dog walker as their puppy sounds very distressed. Make out it's concern for their puppy's welfare and not annoyance on your part and they might just ring a dog walker. Even if the dog is too young to go out, half an hour of playtime in the middle of the day goes a long way in a puppy's life.

People think that small dogs can be left all day and that big dogs can't be. I have no idea why that is but people - in my experience - have some funny ideas about their pets.

 

[Peter Armstrong]

knock on and tell them when they are in.

 

[TeeQue]

I've got no idea how they're going to toilet train it if it's being left on it's own all day from such a young age; their house must stink!

 

[Peter Armstrong]

My dogs 11 month now, he is left until lunch time when the dog walker comes and take him out. It first when we left him he would cry all day, we didnt even know until next door told me the other week.

 

[azir]

Agree with all of the above - when mine was in his twilight years I was happy enough leaving him on his own for a full working day (although this was still far from ideal). No way would I have done this when he was younger and especially not right for a puppy. Its why I don't have a dog at the moment as much as I would love one.

 

[yello]

It'll be them that has to clean up the mess!

No, it's not right in the ideal world but if they have no garden, and they both have jobs to go to, then there might be little else they reasonably can do. Arguably, they should have given more thought to owning a dog but it's not the worst thing in the world. As long as the pup has enough water then it'll not come to harm. They'd better take it for a walk once they get home though!

We'll leave ours inside for hours if we're going out and the weather's shite. Or leave her in (as she's getting on now and just sleeps) and put him out in the garden where he can bark at birds to his hearts content!

In total honesty, I don't think people should have dogs in certain circumstances, and can make a good level of commitment to them... but they do and there are greater injustices in the world. And it's only what I think so worth nothing on the scale of things.

 

[Chromatic]

Ours gets looked after by my parents while my wife and I are at work, if they are unable to have her either she goes with my wife if she's going somewhere where she can take her, or I take a day off work to look after her.

 

[Globalti]

The poor dog is lonely and anxious. It might help if the neighbour left the radio on but it's hardly a substitute for exercise and stimulation.

 

[Archie_tect]

It's a bit awkward to start the conversation as it's their responsibility, but dog owners would never find out that their dogs are distressed and/or bark all day if people don'r tell them.

My mum was a district midwife and occasionally took our dog with her on her home visits when my dad was on day shifts and I was at school.

The first practice I worked in had an open house for people to bring their dog in to work- it was brilliant as they just used to sleep most of the day under desks and wander about cheering people up!

Someone who worked for me had a lurcher/ labrador cross who came to the office regularly, he was a great dog and clients used to bring their children in to meetings so they could play with him. He was taken to the park to run at lunchtime, that dog was fast but loved to jump into the river off the log bridge when he was running full pelt- the splash could be heard a mile off!

 

[Saluki]

Jack is left on his own for about 8 hours a day when Mr R is at work. He spends a lot of his time asleep on our bed. Otherwise, he's asleep on the stairs. He only really barks if the postman or someone else comes to the door, or if the ice cream van goes past.

We actually had a webcam on when we first left him, and we saw what he got up to...

We did the webcame thing too and our dogs do nothing. The highlight of 4 hours worth of fast forwarding was Millie dog got up, turned around and then laid back down again and then a bit later the Greyhound got up for a drink of water and then went back to bed. The little JRT didn't twitch.

 

[gavgav]

The next door neighbours got a puppy a few weeks ago, a small breed of some sort. It's obviously been left shut in on it's own all day as it's been barking and whining virtually non stop.
I don't have a clue about dogs, never had one and never plan to, but this doesn't seem right.

Here here. Out next door neighbours have 2 little rat like dogs and they leave them at home all day. The dogs bark/yap incessantly all day long and it is getting on my nerves. If it continues i will be having a word