What does your dog do while you are away?

[iLLt3cK]

Through some discussion I'm curious as to what you leave your BC with while you are gone at work.

 

There are a myriad of things you could use to occupy the dog's attention however what do you find works best?

 

A frozen kong w/ treats in it + the radio on?

 

What works best?

 

How long is your dog left alone?

 

(difficult topic to search on).

[MrSnappy]

My dogs are alone for between 9-9.5 hours a day while I work. As far as I can tell, the two oldest nap all day in various places and positions. Piper and Woo appear to play with things and Woo eats books. But when I home with them all day, or they come to work with me, they all mostly sleep all day, so I assume they do this for most of their home time as well.

 

RDM

[iLLt3cK]

Originally posted by MrSnappy:

My dogs are alone for between 9-9.5 hours a day while I work. As far as I can tell, the two oldest nap all day in various places and positions. Piper and Woo appear to play with things and Woo eats books. But when I home with them all day, or they come to work with me, they all mostly sleep all day, so I assume they do this for most of their home time as well.

 

RDM

Thanks for the quick response!

 

I would asssume they would sleep most of the day as well.

 

With my future BC I would leave @ 8:00am come home for lunch @ 1pm (when work permits) and then return home @ 5:30 or so depending on traffic.

 

Even if my dog were in a large fenced yard they'd probably do the same thing as well (in my experiences they do).

[Carson Crazies]

From what I can tell my dogs mostly sleep all day. When I come home at lunch they appear to be fairly disgruntled that I would have the nerve to interrupt their naps. However, when I come home at 5:15, they are wired up and ready to GO!

[Mr_Tiki]

The TV seems to work fine with our dogs Boy and Fynne.

We still can't leave Boyden for long, but he is getting better now. They get anxious when we leave but settle (lay down) after a while. We found this out by leaving the cam-corder on one day. It was quite funny as Fynne appeared on the camera sticking her nose into the lens trying to find out what this weird object is!

[border_collie_crazy]

they sleep lol Everyone but Happy is crated when we leave and we dont give them anything so they just nap till someone comes home

[Jo&Tex]

When I am gone for a short time, Loki goes into his crate.

When I am gone longer than 2 hours, I make the house safe for Loki - Pick up, nail down everything that can be put into motion or chewed.

 

Whether I am home or away, mostly they wrestle, crash, boom, bang and then suddenly they stop and are asleep within seconds.

[iLLt3cK]

So it sounds like with proper crate training, some good exercise in the morning, and a morning meal that most BCs usually just hang out and sleep for the majority of the day.

[PSmitty]

Mine's a mix, but he's in his crate if we're going to be gone at work all day. He eats and plays a little in the morning, and is fine all day. Of course he's rarin' to go when we get home. He's almost two, now. When he was a puppy, my DH had a different work schedule, so luckily he didn't have to spend all day in the crate then, only an hour or two at a time.

 

We're working on letting him have a little freedom, but his love of eating pillows makes us fear for our furniture. He's been left with free roam of the house a couple of times, but not for more than an hour or two, tops.

 

My lab girlie has free run of the house. She was a hellion as a youngster, but she's very reliable now.

[SoloRiver]

My two are both loose while I am gone. As far as I can tell, they sleep. If I'm gone much longer than usual by accident, once in a while Solo will check the counters in the kitchen. (No foul unless I was dumb enough to leave something out.) That's pretty much it.

 

They're both middle-aged now (7 and almost 8) but this is how they've always been even when younger. They are used to getting a lot of exercise in the mornings and evenings.

[iLLt3cK]

Thanks for everyone's input thus far

[Sue R]

Even if my dog were in a large fenced yard they'd probably do the same thing as well (in my experiences they do).

They might, and then they might find obnoxious ways to entertain themselves outdoors - digging, barking, racing up and down the fence, fixating on neighborhood cats or dogs, etc. Not that they can't get into bad habits indoors, either.

 

Our two, prior to the pup, could and sometimes did have the run of the house along with the old Aussie (who's always had the run of the house as he's never been crated or confined) once they reached a dependable age. I could tell they were playing games sometimes but no damage. Now that we have a youngster again, all three Border Collies are crated for a workday or any other significant part of the day when we are all gone.

 

They sleep, they chew bones, they sleep, they chew, etc. Today was the first weekday I have been home in a while and I put them in their crates to eat. They just settled down and napped until the later afternoon because that's what they've become accustomed to doing while I've been at work. It was a treat as I was able to get a lot done without worries.

 

Living on a country road with limited traffic, there isn't much to disturb their peace except for the occasional car and, if it isn't one of ours or apparently stopping here, they ignore it.

[Kyrasmom]

Mine stay outdoors when we're gone, it's not something I would suggest for a lot of dogs or people, but according to my very watchful neighbors, they all sleep and/or hang out on the deck around the house And my neighbors are very watchful...in a good way.

 

I've also had various dogs alone in the house for normal work hours and they were fine. I'm sure they mostly slept. I'm hesitant now about leaving 7 dogs under the age of 4 loose and alone in the home for any amount of time even though they do fine at night, each settling on their pillows.

 

It really comes down to your dog and what is best for him, you, and your home...mostly in that order.

 

maria

[Lunar]

Oreo sleeps the entire time she's alone - and half the time my parents are home as well. I think she spends a little bit of time lounging on the couch watching out the window, but mostly she sleeps.

 

Zeeke was extremely destructive when we first got him due to seperation anxiety, and anything we left with him was destroyed. So for his own safety we crate him when we're out, and leave nothing in his crate that can possibly be chewed.

 

Zoe prefers to be in her crate, right beside Zeeke. She naps.

[Dog Lady]

When I first began on this site, I told you how I was at work for a few hours and that my BC had the run of the yard, and was reprimanded that she shouldn't be left alone, but it sounds like alot of you leave your dogs for long times, and crated too, which I think isn't too much fun for the dogs. So I would take my BC for a run and then with me to work. The older dog (GS 16yrs) has got a new burst of life and so I'm now taking them both out for runs in the early hours of the morning, then they both are left at home, the older one sleeps and the BC hangs about in the bushes by the fence, keeping an eye on the scatty little dog on the other side of the fence. Now and again they race each other up and down the long length of our yards. I think they are happy enough

[urge to herd]

I'm self employed and work has busier and slower times. When I'm home a lot, the dogs (11, 11 or around there - maybe older, and 8) all sleep most of the day. This is after a good run at the park and breakfast and a frozen kong.

 

They do tend to move around a bit. Wake up, get a drink, see what the cats are doing, see if Dad needs a cold nose on his neck since he's still in bed, you know.

 

They have another exercise fling in the afternoon. I try to do at least some trick training or brush up stuff at least 2x/day. This is usually only for a couple minutes for each dog, but they miss it when I can't do it.

 

They've got really difficult lives . . .

 

Ruth n the BC3

[hoku's mum]

I'm also self employed, mostly work at home, and Hoku has gotten really good at holding the rug down all day long. A quick walk and training in the AM, and he's good till 4:30 or 5:00 and then he starts in, playplayplay. When I have to work away, we separate the dogs with a gate, as Hoku was getting too rambunctious with the little older dog Gussy. That has helped a lot, he does not get to practice his passageway guarding, and they are doing better together. When we're gone, Hoku gets the downstairs and Gussy gets the upstairs, and so far, so good. But we have been lucky with him, he's not a destruct-o-dog, just what is for him to destroy (rope bones, he loves that ripping tearing thing!)

 

Kristin, Hoku the ho-hum-they're-gone-boy, and Gussy the get-home-quick-girl.

[kelpiegirl]

This is a very timely topic for me right now. My Kelpie pup is having a hard time with her crate. She was imported and thusly had a long time in the crate. She doesn't prefer to be in the crate. She just recently broke off one of her incisors by chewing on the latch of the vari kennel, which I am having looked at tonight. This upsets me. She gets something good to chew when I go. IN the mornings she is better about me leaving, and is usually clean (that is, when she gets freaked out, she pees- which yest I found residual urine on teh ceiling of the crate!!!). Sometimes in the afternoon, she will pee when I leave again. Sometimes I find lots of drool on the crate/carpet where she has been licking etc. The breeder and I spoke last night and she feels that she was traumatized and that I shouldn't crate her. All okay, if she was 100% trustable in the house (NOT). She says I should chain her up. I am not big on that (I know too many dogs who have hung themselves), and she does do okay in the crate a good amount of the time. Today will be bad I bet, because I moved all the crates out of my bedroom to another room (she is next to one of my other dogs), as I reorganized, and needed to re-do. Anyway, what would you all suggest??? I am thinking of bringing her to work with me....

Thanks

Julie

[D'Elle]

Jester stays out in my large fenced yard for 9.5 hours a day while I am at work. I think mostly he sleeps, although no doubt he barks if someone goes by. Once or twice a week I take him to work with me and then on my lunch hour he goes with me to the p-a-r-k to play frisbee! On the weekends he is mostly with me wherever I go, if at all possible.

[Catu]

Chemukh is the Snoopy dog. She lives in the balcony of my 10th floor apartment and she likes to sit in the roof of her house and look the cats fighting in the neighborhood floors and imaginin she the Worl War I Flying Ace and the FlashBorder.

 

Kelpiegirl. You are right: DON'T chain your dog, any dog can hurt himself, but the chance of a puppy doing it are ten times worst. Older dogs learn how to desentangle themselves, but a pup could not just choke but broke a leg or something.

 

If you can take her at work, do it, there you can do crate training puting her there from time to time where she can see you, extending time as she progress. As she becomes old will be easier to do the transition to be crate at home too.

[bailey44]

My dog is crated when I'm gone, but I'm usually only gone for a few hours. A couple of weeks ago, I had to leave for a few hours, and when I came home, guess who was waiting at the door for me!! My first thought was that she had learned how to open her crate--(oh Lord help me if THAT ever happens), but as it turned out, I had not latched her crate properly, so she had the whole run of the house while I was gone. She had redecorated the upstairs with kleenex, (it looked like someone had blown up a feather pillow), and decided that the kitchen baseboard had to go.....so there it went... It looked like she was digging a hole to the basement. I was so glad that she had not decided to see how tasty lamp cords can be!!! Naughty puppy!! Charlene

[Cheri McDonald]

When we are all away from the house they sleep. I leave toys out for them to play with but usually they wait till we are home to begin playing.

[JackoDog]

Charlene, that happened to us not too long ago. Jacko is crated anytime we can't watch him (sleeping, not home) and apparently H didn't latch it properly when he but J to bed. I woke up at 6 am to the sound or rustling in the house and thought we had an intruder. Turned out just to be our Jacko-Pup!

 

J is "alone" several hours a day. When we're home he's generally out with us, playing in the backyard, or crated if he needs some down time. I'm a substitute teacher so some days I'm home all day and sometimes I'm gone all day. His general routine is: Up and out for an hour or so in the morning, breakfast in a treat ball, crated until after work, out until bedtime, with a bikeride or two and perhaps a trip to the park.

[Meg's mum]

Meg sleeps, plays with the cat, takes chew toys out of her box, rips up paper into tiny little peices, gets up on the....gasp....dinning room table and knocks down the mail, leans on the upstairs hallway wall and scoots along it over and over - we have a nice stripe about 15-18" up, barks at birds, steals the toilet paper from the roll, attacks the straw broom and drags it to the stairs, chews her bully sticks and plays drop the tennis ball over and over. Most of this I know from the evidence...some of it I know from fooling her into thinking we'd left the property and watching through the picture windows.

[Meg's mum]

I forgot to add how long we leave Meg in the house alone. Once in a great while we will leave our 10-month old alone all day about 9-10 hours. Once in a while for 4-5 hours when we go out for an evening or a weekend show. Most of the time she's only alone a few hours. We no longer crate her with the door latched except for 30-45 minutes in the evening when she needs to calm down after the maximum effort zoomies have rendered her one of the hyperactive dead.