Leaving them at home during the day?

[Rich & Kody]

Hi All,

With Kody due back in a week my mind is now racing with what I can do for him during the day. My new job means i have to work 8:30 - 5pm. So he will be alone from 8am to 5:30/6pm with the pup.

From what i can see I have 4 options.

1) Leave them at home crated (don't want to do this)

2) Leave them at home with free run (worried they could eat something that I wouldn't know about for quite some time).

3) Bring them to work in the car (get a 4 mile walk at lunch) But i cannot park in the company car park, so it would have to be the public one opposite the office.

4) Pet sitter (£120 a week per dog)

Really at a loss, I cannot afford both of them at the pet sitter, and I fear they may hurt themselves. Work will not under any circumstances

let me bring them to the office, even in an air-con dog van (no company policy, just HR managers personal preference). And after all this

no way will I re-home him.

They will be getting a 4 mile walk in the morning and when I get back in the evening.

I would like to get to a point I can trust him at home so they can have free run, but Dakota is still toilet training, shes too young to hold it for a long period. And Kody

just coming out of Quarantine I doubt he will remember any of his training :/

I'm going to buy one of the Rascal Big Squirt doggy litter boxes, but this wont help in the long term.

Any tips/tricks/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Worst case I will pack in the job and find one closer to home/flexible hours.

Best Regards

Rich & Kody

[Tamz]

i would crate them.........then you will know they are both safe and not upto mischeif we crate shiloh when we are out and during the night and have had no husky destruction in the house at all

i know you mentioned in your post about not wanting to do it but its the safest thing to do.........re: dakota toliet training..have you got someone who can let her out to go toliet during the day? this will make things alot easier for you

[Sqwidge]

We never crated Eika and we had to work full time when she was a puppy, until Mike got into the police and was on shift work she was left for a long period. She was allowed the run of the kitchen. Yes she would have accidents in there, but i would never get mad as it was pointless. And being in the kitchen it was easy to clean up. We would take her out in the morning and when we got home. Now every so often when mike works a day shift she's left alone and she has the kitchen and hallway. Luckily the only thing she ever destroyed was the kitchen floor (our fault we picked a soft vinyl and where it bubbled where i went over it in my wheelchair she thought it was fair game to sink her teeth into it). Now she doesn't really destroy everything. It is like a military operation leaving her though, so we have to make sure anything chewable is moved off the counters (learnt that the hard way as all our cereals used to be on the side, i came home one day and all the boxes were destroyed, surprisingly she hadn't eaten any!) and that the cats are safely locked away, all doors shut and her toys/kong etc are left out...and i don't say a word to her when i leave, no eye contact no pet, just dump the stuff on the floor and run! some days she cries, other days she's fine!

Is there a way you could confine them to the kitchen and hallway? i understand our cirumstances are different in the sense that we have no stairs as we live in a bungalow...so you could always use a stairgate? And maybe take some holiday when he first comes home to get him used to being left for longer and longer?

[Staceybob]

Thats a difficult one because of you being away for 10 hours. Is there anyway you could invest in some sort of large pen that could keep them held in? I'm just thinking so they can get up, have a could stretch and a little play in there.

Stacey xxx

[Rich & Kody]

The dining room and kitchen will be open to them, found that under the carpet is a concrete floor, so this weekend the carpet is coming up and im going to seal the concrete floor.

The 2 rooms will be about 15m long by 5m wide. I dont mind the mess but I would like to get to a point they could have the ground floor. If they stick to the doggy toilet then Id be happy

with this. I just need to move some electrical sockets up from the floor (have exposed wires not live though) which i think Kody will find tempting. Hoping the walk will tire them out, Well Kody at least

as Dakota is too young for the full walk.

I've taken 5 days off for when he comes out next week to make sure he settles in and gets on with her. towards the end if they are getting on ill leave them for a while and see how it goes.

[valkyries]

i'd let them have free run of the kitchen/ dinner 10 hours is way to long. if in the crate during the day will they be also crated at nite ?? what do you do with the pup at the moment whilst at work ?? i have 3 that have free roam of the house with no issues 2 of these are rehome but i guess i took a chance leaving them lol

[Rich & Kody]

Nono no crate at night they are on the bed Im going to try the 2 rooms and see how it goes. Will also get the doggie toilet. Rather clean 1 place than 2 rooms

[valkyries]

set up a web cam so you can check in on them at work xxxxxx

[Removed #2]

I don't have a lot of help to offer, but when I started to leave Andy, he hated being confined and when I got home, I'd find him on the rug by the door. I started to give him a bone filled with peanut butter when I left in the corner where the crate used to be to distract him. It worked. When I would get home (just a few hours at the time) he would come from upstairs and I found he was in my bed. Enter Jackson...we never crated him, and now we leave them both with a bone, find the bones in any number of places when we return, and they both are sound asleep on our bed. Some days, I'm in the house hanging up my coat before they even come down. Having a pal is great, but the puppy will need assistance. Good that you'll be home for the first week, experiment leaving them for short periods of time. I have to leave mine here soon as I have a job interview that would greatly change their routine, and I'll just pray...

[Rich & Kody]

Haha way ahead of you. I work for a security company going to see if i can borrow the software to keep an eye on them. Will be interested to see what they do all day

[valkyries]

i'd love to see what my 3 get up to but i would not know how xxxx

[slaves to kaya]

Are there any stay at home mums or dads near you, or someone that you could pay to leave them out while your at work?

that way you could keep them crated but know they are getting their toilet breaks and having a run around the garden a few times a day. if i was nearer I would do this for you for free. maybe you could advertise it in the local paper and offer to pay something each day? I dont think it will cost you too much that way as they are only popping in 2-3 x a day

[Rich & Kody]

i'd love to see what my 3 get up to but i would not know how xxxx

If you have a webcam you can get programs online that have website access. Fairly simple to set up. Or you can set your PC to record and point the cam in the room. So when you get home

you will have a nice video. But you need a big hard disk to take all the video.

[Rich & Kody]

Are there any stay at home mums or dads near you, or someone that you could pay to leave them out while your at work?

that way you could keep them crated but know they are getting their toilet breaks and having a run around the garden a few times a day. if i was nearer I would do this for you for free. maybe you could advertise it in the local paper and offer to pay something each day? I dont think it will cost you too much that way as they are only popping in 2-3 x a day

I would love to, but after the whole Quarantine experience, it would be hard for me to trust most people with them I might speak with the people next door, but I hardly know them

(we live in the countryside so not many people around.

[valkyries]

l Richard thank you but me an computers lol ask marc how many times i brake mine, i do have a great web cam cost me a furtune but turning a pc on is good for me lol

[HeatherZeman]

I would crate them during the day until they can be trusted to be in a larger space. Can you hire a dog walker to walk them in the afternoon? Usually lots of school-age and college kids who have flexible schedules and will do this very inexpensively!

+1 on the webcam setup

[Staceybob]

Use USTREAM and broadcast it so you can watch it from anywhere and it gets saved so you can watch it later.

Wont cost you anything, as long as you have good bandwidth useage with your provider of internet.

Stacey xxx

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

could u crate the pup but leave kody in the room with her??? that way they arent getting into fights/mischief and you know they are ok - thats if they have any tiffs when you bring him home that is - i can understand why you dont want to crate them tho

[husky princess]

I think that they are gonna need close monitoring before you know what your options are. You needto becareful with toys & treats due to dekotas food aggression.

Tbh 10hrs is wayyyyyy too long altho I know you are trying to sort the job situation out to change this. I don't think you will sort her toilet training g until your home more.

[SibeSpace]

Think about it from the dogs perspective for a moment. They are going to be locked in with no access to an outside area for a very long time. A fully grown dog that is house trained, being desperate to go to the toilet and having no choice but to go inside the house is going to be very distressing for the animal. They are also being denied human contact for the same period, something that Sibes thrive on and is often the cause of separation anxiety - which leads to other complications.

IMHO - it is wrong to have any animal if it is to be left alone for long periods of time. By alone I mean without human contact. I appreciate that people do, but it's not something I would ever do. I waited 8 years before I got my 1st Sibe and that was because I didn't want to leave it at home all day on it's own. I'm fortunate to have a very flexible job and a wife that is home most days.

I would seriously think about what's best for the dogs. If you have to leave them at home for so long, give them enough space and toilet access. Maybe see if a friend or neighbour can let them out at lunch time - just something to break up the monotony. A tired dog is a good dog as they say. With enough exercise you can limit the potential damage they might cause.

Sorry if it sounds harsh, but it's my opinion.

[Austinville]

One option for you is to crate them at home and find a trusted individual to come and let them out.

I did this a few years back for an individual when I worked a different job 45 miles from home. I would go to his home each day and take Lucy (a golden lab) for a walk. It was good as I had an hour lunch and nothing to do but shop. This way I made a little money (He paid me $10 a day) and Lucy got to be outside. She was a sweetie - now at Rainbow Bridge and we very much enjoyed our hour each day together. Sometimes, we'd even go for a short ride to the ice cream store and get her a cone.

I'm fortunate to work only five miles from home, but hubby is even closer - just across the road, so Ryn gets out for an hour over his lunch. During the summer months, I normally go home for lunch as well and often time it so she gets even more time outside.

[Stormy]

We leave shadow 6 months and Logan 4 years free run of the house apart from three bedrooms shadow has access to our bedroom with his crate and toys as Logan doesn't like to go upstairs they don't chew anything atall but we so make sure all remotes etc are out the way but then ours are only left 6 hours max one week then 4 hours another week alternate and only for four days they have a walk in the morning and a walk when my boyfriend gets home from work

[Rich & Kody]

Think about it from the dogs perspective for a moment. They are going to be locked in with no access to an outside area for a very long time. A fully grown dog that is house trained, being desperate to go to the toilet and having no choice but to go inside the house is going to be very distressing for the animal. They are also being denied human contact for the same period, something that Sibes thrive on and is often the cause of separation anxiety - which leads to other complications.

IMHO - it is wrong to have any animal if it is to be left alone for long periods of time. By alone I mean without human contact. I appreciate that people do, but it's not something I would ever do. I waited 8 years before I got my 1st Sibe and that was because I didn't want to leave it at home all day on it's own. I'm fortunate to have a very flexible job and a wife that is home most days.

I would seriously think about what's best for the dogs. If you have to leave them at home for so long, give them enough space and toilet access. Maybe see if a friend or neighbour can let them out at lunch time - just something to break up the monotony. A tired dog is a good dog as they say. With enough exercise you can limit the potential damage they might cause.

Sorry if it sounds harsh, but it's my opinion.

I agree, I got Kody when i was based at home 90% of the time. I would rather he had someone with him during the day which is why im looking at pet sitting until my work situation changes.

[HuskyCouture]

i'd crate them, mine are crated 5 days a week from 5pm to 1230am when i come home, but i have someone (my sister) who lets them out for 30min-1 hour for potty and play

[Tams Teeko and Keeta]

Hi All,

With Kody due back in a week my mind is now racing with what I can do for him during the day. My new job means i have to work 8:30 - 5pm. So he will be alone from 8am to 5:30/6pm with the pup.

From what i can see I have 4 options.

1) Leave them at home crated (don't want to do this)

2) Leave them at home with free run (worried they could eat something that I wouldn't know about for quite some time).

3) Bring them to work in the car (get a 4 mile walk at lunch) But i cannot park in the company car park, so it would have to be the public one opposite the office.

4) Pet sitter (£120 a week per dog)

Really at a loss, I cannot afford both of them at the pet sitter, and I fear they may hurt themselves. Work will not under any circumstances

let me bring them to the office, even in an air-con dog van (no company policy, just HR managers personal preference). And after all this

no way will I re-home him.

They will be getting a 4 mile walk in the morning and when I get back in the evening.

I would like to get to a point I can trust him at home so they can have free run, but Dakota is still toilet training, shes too young to hold it for a long period. And Kody

just coming out of Quarantine I doubt he will remember any of his training :/

I'm going to buy one of the Rascal Big Squirt doggy litter boxes, but this wont help in the long term.

Any tips/tricks/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Worst case I will pack in the job and find one closer to home/flexible hours.

Best Regards

Rich & Kody

Hi!

It seems you are getting a bit of an earful about the 10 hours business....but at the end of the day it doesn't sound like it is something you planned and, let's face it, lives change! It can't be helped. I am sure that, had you known you would be away for ten hours then perhaps you wouldn't have gotten your husky but you have them now and they are your family and for you to care for in the best way you can.

When we were getting our I emailed so many people as he would spend time alone. i am lucky and am able to come home every lunchtime for the four days a week that my partner is at work also, my partner work shifts and I teach so I have all the lovely school holiday's off! We were very honest about our circumstances and spoke to other owners, SHWA, breeders and a vet! Everyone said that our dog would be fine in the time he would be alone and not to worry as he would probably sleep for most of that time....and he does!! When I am off I pretty much have to wake him up to come and play or go for his lunchtime walk. But the vet's opinion was the one that made a lot of sense....she said for her, as a vet, she would prefer a dog lived in a kind, caring home where both partner's worked than one where it had company all day. A household where both people work means a household that can afford the best possible care for their dog. You are planning to alter your entire ground floor for the welfare of your dog! If that isn't a caring owner then I don;t know what is. You know 10 hours is a long time, you don;t need to be told that.

As for crating....10 hours is too long in that case. The dog/puppy would end up having to go to the toilet in there and that would leave them distressed, so I agree with the not crating idea. Can you dog proof the area you have chosen? Designate a region for toileting? Plenty of toys is an obvious must. But the thing we have found most helpful is a dog walker. We have a lady (she happens to have a son at my school so I feel I can trust her) who has her own company that provides doggy day car and dog walking. She comes one of the lunchtimes so that I have one day that I don't have to be home. She only charges £5 at the minute as Teeko can only have a short walk. She walks, feeds and plays with him. It is definitely worth looking in to until your circumstances improve. Perhaps advertise for a dog walker in the local shop? You may find a keen young thiing who will take the best possible care of your dogs and charge you pittance! I walked dogs for a neighbour when I was in my teens and I was trustworthy and responsible!

Good luck....and don't be too disheartened. When circumstances change, you can only do your best until they improve again. I am sure that this was never your intention but is something that needs to be worked around.

Tam