Dog left alone during the day

[strass]

Hi all,

My husband and I are thinking about getting a smallish dog soon. We're both huge dog lovers and can't wait to have a furry companion! But we're gone at work 8-9 hours a day, and neither of us is able to make it home at lunchtime. If we feed our dog in the evenings, will s/he be able to make it through the day without accidents? We're considering crate training, and we're also considering adopting a young dog (as opposed to a puppy). We live in an apartment, so we don't have a yard or pen to keep the dog in during the day.

I know we could get a dogwalker, but we're not sure we can afford it! Any advice is very welcome!

thanks so much,
Amy :)

[Rottieluver45]

Adopting a young dog would take up more of your time with training and attention but then again he`ll love you in a special way!! If you adopt an older dog he might have already been trained to tell you when he needs to go to the bathroom! If I were in your situation I would get a puppy!And it would be good if feed here before you go to work but don`t give her alot of water or she just might have to go!!:D



Welcome to Pet Talk!!!:D

[Freckles]

but, for the reason you stated, I became a cat person. Worked best for me.

[ramanth]

I work 8 hours a day, Monday thru Friday but including the drive to work and home, it's more like 9 hours.

I adopted Kia when she was 3 and she was already house trained and crate trained. I take her out for a short walk every morning and then out for a longer walk when I get home. She's never had an accident in her crate.

Weekends are total fun time. :)

I'd recommend adopting a dog that is already house trained. There may be some accidents during the adjustment period but in the end it will be well worth it! :)

Pictures if you get a dog!!

[strass]

Oh, I wish we could get a cat...but my husband is horribly allergic!

I know there must be people out there in our same situation with dogs...would love to hear how you handle it!

edited to add: Thanks Ramanth! That helps a lot! :)

[mugsy]

Since we have 15 dogs and we crate most of them when we are gone, we have been able to make some observations.

We just adopted a 6 month old hound mix who is a joy and while usually I have the summer off, this summer has been different and I have been taking inservices and doing homebound teaching so both of us have been gone all day for 8 or 9 hours and Sammy has not made a mess in his crate (or anywhere else for that matter)

On the other hand Max, the Weim, makes a mess in a crate whenever he can, but, if we leave him out of the crate, he's fine.

I would say, it really depends on the dog. Most dogs will not make a mess in their crate because they view it as their domain.

We feed our dogs as close to 5 pm as possible everyday and they are fine during the day the next day, if that helps.

Since you live in an apartment, I would read up on the different breeds that are better for apartment living, for example, I would never get a Jack Russell if I were living in an apartment. But then again, I am especially partial to mutts.

Our preference has been to get more adult dogs for a couple of reasons. We don't want to mess with the puppy stage and there are so many adult dogs at shelters that get overlooked because they're not all cute and cuddly anymore.

I hope that helps!! Sorry I was so long winded.

[strass]

Mugsy, thanks so much. The people here are so helpful!!

That's why we're looking into dogs that are a bit older--we don't think we have the proper amount of time to devote to training a puppy, and we know that older dogs don't always get adopted from shelters. We're definitely going to go the shelter route, and we'll probably end up with a mutt--we love them!

Some people say that by adopting an older dog, even one that's just a few months old, you're getting a dog with "baggage"...but we don't see it that way. The dogs I had growing up were adopted at 3 and 7 months, and they were absolutely fine!

[Karen]

I, too, think getting an adult dog would be your best bet. That way, he/she is already trained, has a longer "staying power" than a puppy, yet you could still love, wrassle with and spoil him/her rotten on nights and weekends! AND adult dogs tend not to be adopted as quickly from shelters, so you'd probably be saving a life!

Speak with the shelter people, find out who the relaxed dogs are - as Mugsy said, it can vary from dog to dog, regardless of the breed! :)

[ramanth]

You're welcome Strass! Welcome to Pet Talk!

Mugsy brought up a great point too. Not all breeds are great apartment breeds, but your local shelter can help you pick one out that would be good.

They say Huskies are not good apartment dogs but I just HAD to have Kia. (she's a mix though) I'm ever gratetful they let me adopt her.

Good luck!

[mugsy]

Strass, we aim to please!!! I'm glad to hear that you'll be going the rescue route, you won't be sorry. As for the baggage, they get over it. The worst thing that we've run across is a bad case of separation anxiety.

Good luck in your search. If you can't find what you want locally, you might try www.petfinder.com to see if there are any dogs you might be interested in in your surrounding area.

[strass]

I am already addicted to Petfinder. org. :)

Here's one more question--thought I'd post it here instead of starting a new thread. Say we adopt a one-year-old dog who's already housetrained, but not crate-trained. Can an "adult" dog be crate-trained, or does this need to happen as a puppy?

I know I can probably find this answer in a book, and we do plan to do some research, but everyone here seems to know so much...

thanks again!

[Karen]

Any dog can be trained in theory, and most in practice, regardless of age. Dogs LIKE to have their own "cave" - their own safe, secure place, so with most dogs, it's not too big of a struggle.

My brother's dog was not quite an adult, 9 months old, and she took to crate training quite well. Now, her "crate" has become the kitchen, with a baby gate separating it from the rest of the house.

[mugsy]

Geez Strass, I went on petfinder and went to Chicago and there are 450 dogs for adoption just on there!! Whew. I finally got past Chicago and the burbs and was in Gary and Hammond. They have a huge number of Pits for adoption I saw and some gorgeous Rotties, but neither are suited for apartment life for sure. Good luck in your search.

[Sudilar]

Strass, are you near Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge?? I see you are from Chicago. I adopted both Killian (2 1/2 at the time) and Shiloh (9 months) from there. It is a kill shelter, so you would be definitely saving a life. They have a lot and I do mean a lot! of dogs there to choose from. They just built a new addition to house more. They have so many, I don't think they even have their pics on the internet anymore.

As to baggage that a rescued dog may bring... sometimes it is just the love and APPRECIATION that they bring from taking them away from that horrible prison. Good luck to you. Keep us posted.

Sue

[Kfamr]

My suggestions are that you go the the local Humane Society or SPCA, or anykind of animal rescue and look for one to save... My Simba came from the pound and we got him when he was 8 months old... he was extremly laid back... You should do what we did, we went almost every single weekend to the pound and just looked around until we found Simba. And im sure youll find one that suits your living requirments. (yeah ok i can't spell),,,,anyways i hope i helped. Welcome to Pet Talk!

[strass]

Thanks for the tip, Sudilar! I'll check that place out. I don't think it's TOO far away. And we definitely want to save a life.

[xoxjoaniexox]

I have a female Yorkshire Terrier that I got as a puppy. I also am gone about 9 hours a day. Tiffany has her Kitty Cat sister to keep her company so she's not alone all day.

I dual trained her. She weighs 5-1/2 lbs and female (so she doesnt lift her leg when she goes). That is I trained her to go outside and also to go on a wee wee pad that I keep in the bathroom. If she has to go while I'm at work she goes into the bathroom and does her business on the wee wee pad. Actually it works out great for me because I don't have to walk her in bad weather. She's a Princess and doesn't like to go out in the rain. lol

I kept her in a crate till she was about 1 year old. You can only do that with a small dog though.

[Pam]

I got Bella has an 8 week old puppy but I only worked part time so the most she was left in her crate during the day was 4-5 hrs. It was always clean. Even at night when we crated her for 8 hrs. the crate was clean in the morning. I am a firm believer in crate training until you can be sure your dog understands what is acceptable behavior (not just where to potty, but what to chew and what not to chew). My ex-daughter-in-law had a Pekingese who, at the age of 2-3 yrs. old, was going potty in the house occasionally while they were at work. I suggested a crate and that was the end of his accidents. He kept his crate clean through the day and he was not a puppy learning something new. He was about 3 yrears old and un-learning bad behavior. I too agree that an older dog might be more advisable in your situation. Good luck and please keep us up to date on your search for your new best friend!

[Cincy'sMom]

You have already had a lot of replies and good advice, but I'll add anyway :)
We have two lab mixes, Sadie, we got when she was 8 weeks, and Cincy when she was 6 weeks.

With Sadie, Ralph was home the first week. When he went back to work, she was crated from about 7:45am-4:15pm. It took her til she was 4 months til she could reliably make it all day without messing. Sadie is no longer crated. (She is now 20 mos.)

Cincy was in her crate from the beginning. For the first few weeks, Ralph would come home at lunch and let her out. most days that was enough for no crate messes. She was realibly making it all day by the time she was 2 1/2 or 3 mos. Cincy is still crated during the day, most days ( we are slowly trying to get her her freedom!) but not at night.

My parents have three dogs. Oreo, the oldest, we got as a puppy and she was trained almost immediatly. She was let out at lunch and then when we got home from school at 3. Dazzi, they got when she was 1 1/2 and she was almost housebroken. I don't think they ever had any issues with her having accidents at all. They recently got a puppy who is now 4 months old. They are home everyday at lunch, yet he still seems to have accidents in the afternoon in his crate.

Every dog is going to be different and even a housebroken dog may have some adjustment issues. But with traiing and patience, any dog can be house broken, even an older dog who wasn't previuosly.

Good luck !!!

[Snowy's Mom]

Hi,

I would definately advise to adopt from your local ASPCA or shelter!

I got my baby, he was 9 months old, from a shelter...it was the BEST thing I have ever done in my life!!!!!!!!