Leaving a dog at home all day

[Mile195]

It does depend very much on the dog. Mine sleeps a lot and he's fine for a period of hours, but then he gets walked either 2 or 3 times a day.

But a puppy is like a baby. If nothing else they need to eat more and wee more. You should tell the owner that he's barking a lot and sounds distressed. They might be able to get a dog walker in or something if they can't change their working hours to accomodate the dog more. If my neighbour told me that I wouldn't be upset - I'd be glad they brought it to my attention.

 

[fabregas485]

Bring it to their attention, some people do not understand how much some dogs hate being left for a period of time. They will most likely thank you.

 

[Globalti]

If you don't fancy talking to your neighbour, most local authorities publish a booklet about dog noise that explains the reasons "why your dog may be barking a lot", which you could pop through their letter box. You would probably get that from the environmental health department.

 

[Accy cyclist]

At least it's only a small breed which tend to yap rather than bark loudly. Years ago we had an Alsation left alone next door, from 6 in the morn till the evening when the owners returned home. The barking drove us nuts leading me to take the law into my own hands after the council did nothing about it! I ended up in court because of that things horrible owners!

 

[gbb]

If I think over the years ive had dogs, 3 labradors, 2 crossbreeds and one jack russell, all of them have been left all day while we are at work and to the best of my knowledge, none have had a problem with being left alone. My long term next door neighbour has always said she never hears them bark.
Part of this is upbringing. We have always stopped our dogs barking as pups. We have always, perhaps by chance, perhaps with hard work and love, raised our dogs to be chilled and relaxed, playful but not mental. None have ever really chewed furniture etc. Theyve all been so good.
Do I think its right to leave a dog 8 or 9 hours...no. I sometimes feel bad about it but on the flip side, all our dogs are happy, well treated and relaxed. It may not be ideal, but our dogs dont show signs of distress or fustration, so it neednt be a disaster.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

It isn't right, it happens too often however.

Cindy lives with either us or my Sister, so she usually has somewhere to go, but does still need to be left alone for relatively short periods from time to time. We don't feel good about it, but what can you do??

 

[Gravity Aided]

Mrs. GA comes home at noon to be with the dogs for an hour, as I did when I had that flexibility in my schedule. Otherwise, if we have to travel, or have some other committment, they go to a doggie daycare place where they get to be with other dogs.

 

[Dave Davenport]

Update;
It's actually a Spaniel, which I understand is a breed that's very lively and can be a bit bonkers. It's left in a 'crate' in the kitchen during the day which I understand is the done thing these days. I know sod all about dogs but it still barks fairly constantly whenever it's left and doesn't sound happy.
Last Saturday it was left from about 12.00 'till 7.00pm and barked virtually the whole time, either us or our son were in all day. When the bloke got home and came out in the garden Mrs D said 'I'm glad you're home, your poor dogs been barking all day'. He replied that he'd been at football and he'd walked it that morning and that it was only barking because it had crapped in the crate.
Shortly after my son was in the garden and started talking to him, quite politely and saying he was just concerned that the dog was distressed. The bloke just repeated what he'd said earlier to Mrs D.
A bit later Mrs D was pointed to his face book page by someone who knows his partner where he'd just posted; F#i###ing c### next door trying to tell me how to look after the dog, he's going to get punched in the throat soon, c###s got a cat, what does he f###ing know! And more in a similar vein. Responses from his 'friends' included 'yea punch the c###s and tell them to mind there own business', 'set the dog on their cat' and 'put dogsh1t through their letterbox'.
I don't think there's much you can do with people like that.

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

Where I used to live many just chucked the dogs out on the streets then went out to work all day. It made it interesting walking to school when I was little with a pack of abandoned dogs following me.

 

[wintergreen]

When I did have more than 1 dog they were never alone for very long. I would always come home from work at lunchtime to let them out but whippets and lurchers prefer to spend the day sleeping anyway it was only the terriers that wanted to go out at lunchtime.
Now I only have the 1 terrier and work from home she rarely gets left behind. She even comes with me on most of my rides and gets over excited when she see's I am preparing for a ride.
Older dogs don't seem to mind being left alone but puppys need the human interaction from an early age. I think its important they get used to being around people as much as possible to avoid problems as they get older.

 

[EltonFrog]

Update;
It's actually a Spaniel, which I understand is a breed that's very lively and can be a bit bonkers. It's left in a 'crate' in the kitchen during the day which I understand is the done thing these days. I know sod all about dogs but it still barks fairly constantly whenever it's left and doesn't sound happy.
Last Saturday it was left from about 12.00 'till 7.00pm and barked virtually the whole time, either us or our son were in all day. When the bloke got home and came out in the garden Mrs D said 'I'm glad you're home, your poor dogs been barking all day'. He replied that he'd been at football and he'd walked it that morning and that it was only barking because it had crapped in the crate.
Shortly after my son was in the garden and started talking to him, quite politely and saying he was just concerned that the dog was distressed. The bloke just repeated what he'd said earlier to Mrs D.
A bit later Mrs D was pointed to his face book page by someone who knows his partner where he'd just posted; F#i###ing c### next door trying to tell me how to look after the dog, he's going to get punched in the throat soon, c###s got a cat, what does he f###ing know! And more in a similar vein. Responses from his 'friends' included 'yea punch the c###s and tell them to mind there own business', 'set the dog on their cat' and 'put dogsh1t through their letterbox'.
I don't think there's much you can do with people like that.

Report this to the RSPCA and the police, this is not an acceptable way of treating an animal, and they publicly used threatening language about you.

 

[Saluki]

^^^^
What @CarlP just said.
When the dog is barking, record it for the police and the RSPCA. That owner needs a kick up the arse.
Spaniels need a lot of exercise. One of the reasons that I have Greyhounds (I'm lazy). Spaniels are working type dogs who will run all day given half the chance.
I walk a couple of Spanners and they have 2 hour slots, off lead and we go for miles with them. Their owners take them out for an hour in the morning and again in the evening. At the weekend, those dogs go hiking and are out - come rain come shine - for 6 - 10 hours depending on where their owners have on their hiking agenda. We all know that they would be happy to walk further and faster given half the chance.

 

[Fnaar]

Print out the facebook post, tie it to a brick, and chuck it through his window

 

[Sara_H]

Update;
It's actually a Spaniel, which I understand is a breed that's very lively and can be a bit bonkers. It's left in a 'crate' in the kitchen during the day which I understand is the done thing these days. I know sod all about dogs but it still barks fairly constantly whenever it's left and doesn't sound happy.
Last Saturday it was left from about 12.00 'till 7.00pm and barked virtually the whole time, either us or our son were in all day. When the bloke got home and came out in the garden Mrs D said 'I'm glad you're home, your poor dogs been barking all day'. He replied that he'd been at football and he'd walked it that morning and that it was only barking because it had crapped in the crate.
Shortly after my son was in the garden and started talking to him, quite politely and saying he was just concerned that the dog was distressed. The bloke just repeated what he'd said earlier to Mrs D.
A bit later Mrs D was pointed to his face book page by someone who knows his partner where he'd just posted; F#i###ing c### next door trying to tell me how to look after the dog, he's going to get punched in the throat soon, c###s got a cat, what does he f###ing know! And more in a similar vein. Responses from his 'friends' included 'yea punch the c###s and tell them to mind there own business', 'set the dog on their cat' and 'put dogsh1t through their letterbox'.
I don't think there's much you can do with people like that.

How delightful. They sound like charming neighbours.

 

[Profpointy]

Print out the facebook post, tie it to a brick, and chuck it through his window

appealing though fnaar's suggestion might be, I would print it off and stick it in an envelope safe - just in case there's an escalation, perhaps over an unrelated problem.

On the dog front - I'd let it go. In the great scheme of things the dog is merely fed up and will have to get used to it, rather than "cruelty" - although you (and I) would have a better arrangement if it was ours