@nottoosure I have a goldendoodle and usually leave him alone in the house when I go to work. One time I entered the house and he looked like he slept the whole day and didn’t know what was happening lol
@churchoffaith Most people work 8 hrs per day, add commuting to it and it is normal for dogs to be left at home alone for 9 to 10 hours per day. On days I needed to use the laundromat before returning home, my elderly dog was left for closer to 12 hrs. She was never freaked out and I’m pretty sure she slept most of the time.
@churchoffaith When I used to go to an office, My work + commute time was about nine hours a day. I felt guilty leaving my dog alone, so got a second dog. I set up cameras expecting to be able to see them playing, or at least hanging out with each other, but what I found was they pretty much just slept in separate rooms, occasionally went through the dog door to do their business, drank some water, then went back to sleep.
@churchoffaith If you leave him home for that long, I would ask someone to walk the dog and give it some attention in the middle of the 9 hours. Especially if it’s an Aussie.
@churchoffaith Why doesn't he want to go into the daycare? I only ask because one of mine was injured in a significant way while left at a daycare, and I was too stupid to pick up on the signs he gave after the fact.
@seitsem%C3%A4n I agree. My Labrador became reactive after going to doggie daycare and the dog park. If I ever get another dog, I have learned from my mistakes.
@churchoffaith I think it really depends on your dog. I leave my dog for 12 hours sometimes if I can’t get home on my break. He does fine. I just take him for an extra long walk when I get home.
@imagebeastmarkbeast I'm the same with mine. However, my boy is super low energy and on the older side. He lives in an apartment and doesn't like to play. On days I'm home, he is just content to sleep, have some cuddles, and go for a walk. So on days that I'm away for up to 12 hours, I make sure he goes for a walk when I get home and gets lots of cuddles when I'm home. The guilt when I'm at work is still very real though
@decemberbell My boy is like this too. But I feel the same way. I try to get a dog walker as often as possible if I can’t come home in breaks or work night shift. But my boy seems like a pretty happy boy so I try not to stress about it too much
@churchoffaith My dog is used to 8-9 hours and he has no issues (I once used my work phone to FaceTime him while I was gone and he just parked his butt on the couch and slept and didn’t move for like 4 hours). He gets a good 1.5-2.5 hour walk (but an interesting one, usually combining relaxing sniffing and some good running around) when we get home. But he’s used to it.
If your dog has never been alone for that long I’d work up to it and try to leave for half the day, then work up to the full day.
@churchoffaith Would it be possible to crate him somewhere at the facility where he wouldn't have to deal with the other dogs and then walk him on your breaks and lunch for a while. Has he been neutered?
@churchoffaith I leave my dog when I go to work. So like 9 hours, but my husband comes home for lunch and let’s him outside. He’s very good and toilet trained. He’s just happy being an indoor door and lying down all day.
