# how long can a puppy be left alone?



## iiisecondcreep (Oct 29, 2007)

A friend of my boyfriends has just got a puppy. I know this guy has a job and I was concerned that the puppy would be left alone for long periods of time.

Apparently the guy has told my boyfriend that the puppy 'isn't being left alone for more than 4 hours during the day'

I still think this is too long, they've only had the puppy for 2 days and its only about 8weeks old.


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## Kylie (Mar 12, 2006)

i wouldnt leave a puppy for longer then 2 hours and i would make sure the puppy was safe in a cage they can become very nervous and distructive if not contained


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## stephenie191 (May 29, 2007)

4 hours is fine. As long as it's been fed before hand and maybe a radio is left on for it.

You have to start as you mean to go on with them. It will get used to being left alone for short periods then.


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## Kylie (Mar 12, 2006)

i have to disagree an 8 week old puppy on its own for 4 hours is not a good idea even if you get a neighbour to pop in every 2 hours that is better


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## stephenie191 (May 29, 2007)

ZIPPY&VESPA said:


> i have to disagree an 8 week old puppy on its own for 4 hours is not a good idea even if you get a neighbour to pop in every 2 hours that is better


If it's in a large enough create, with water, radio or tv left on. 


Why not? Your teaching it from a young age that it will be left alone and it will get used to it.

Training, - like sit and stay can be taught at 6 weeks as a breed friend of mine has puppies who can do it at that age. 
So being left alone for upto 4 hours i think - with all my experience and from other breeders i know - is fine.

Everyone has their own guide lines - anything longer than 4 hours is too much but puppies sleep alot during the day. 

It will have a cry then go to sleep after being fed - no big deal : victory:


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## Scoffa (Nov 23, 2006)

Depends on the age of the pup and also the individual animal. My German pointer is 2 years and I've only just started to leave her for 3-4 hours. She suffered from seperation anxiety and I've had to take things very slowly.


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## Kylie (Mar 12, 2006)

steph i understand your view but the guy 2 doors down from me has a puppy he is 4 months now. he got him at 8 weeks and left him for four hours in a large create came back and had to be rushed to the vets as the puppy had got soo bored he had pretty much bit through his own foot so from personal expeirence i would say 2 hours but each to there own i have my reasons for believing 4 hours is too long i think once the puppy is 12 weeks old and has a bit more of a routine then 4 hours but no longer would be ok


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## stephenie191 (May 29, 2007)

ZIPPY&VESPA said:


> steph i understand your view but the guy 2 doors down from me has a puppy he is 4 months now. he got him at 8 weeks and left him for four hours in a large create came back and had to be rushed to the vets as the puppy had got soo bored he had pretty much bit through his own foot so from personal expeirence i would say 2 hours but each to there own i have my reasons for believing 4 hours is too long i think once the puppy is 12 weeks old and has a bit more of a routine then 4 hours but no longer would be ok


I have never came across anything like that. - it is more likly it has a nervous disorder or they're was somthing wrong with the foot.

I would go on each individual puppy - things like big dogs would need a long walk before hand, lots of excess energy etc.

As long as it has enough exerices and is stimulated the rest of the time the four hours would be 'rest' time.

I know what your saying though - if we had more details on the breed etc would help more : victory:


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

I think your spot on Kylie 

why get a puppy so youngg if you know your gonna have to leave it for long periods of time............i find that a bit selfish really 

It didnt get my pups till i knew i could be here for them and they wouldnt have to be left for long 

yes all mine are crate trained but i dont leave them in them for longer than an hour at a time 

How would you feel being left in a crate for 4 hours on your own everyday?

you wouldnt do it to a baby so why do it to a puppy??


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## Kylie (Mar 12, 2006)

exactly if you do not have the time for an 8 week old puppy dont get it 

4 hours is way too much i have a 6 year old staff who is not left for longer then 2 hours 

each to there own....


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

Depends what 4 hours of the day also. If it was say, fed and let out at 8am, and then the dude was back at noon.. then I'd say, well ok.. my pup was fed every 4-5 hours at that age, and when she was awake needed to go to the bathroom every 2-3 hours at max. I personally would not want to leave a pup for 4 hours unless someone was coming in half way through to at least take her outside for a wee. 

If it has to be 4 hours.. then it depends on the timing, if it's a time when the pup has just been fed, and will likely just be sleeping then it's probably ok.

4 hours is probably the very maximum you can fit between feeds though, and I know people who have puppies who go to work for 7-8 hours 

I don't even leave my adult GSD on her own that long she always comes to work with me, although my border collie sleeps all day and stays at home because he's lazy and hates coming into work.


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## peaches (Apr 3, 2007)

I was told 2 hours tops when we got our puppy. My tuppence, I'm new to the dog lark!


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## Art_Gecko101 (May 6, 2006)

according to our dog trainer, dogs dont really have a sense of time, so it makes no difference if you leave it for 2 hours or 4 hours so long as it isnt hungry or needs the toilet. Its only when it needs something else i.e. to get out of the crate to go to the loo that problems will occur. Thats what our trainer says anyway.

Personally i wouldnt leave a puppy at all, half the joy is watching it grow up and you cant do that if youre at work all the time.


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

ZIPPY&VESPA said:


> exactly if you do not have the time for an 8 week old puppy dont get it
> 
> 4 hours is way too much i have a 6 year old staff who is not left for longer then 2 hours
> 
> each to there own....


Im with you all the way on that one : victory:

This is why most dogs end up in rescue and welfare when they hit between 7 and 18 months because the most important time for training and socialising and everything for a pup is in the first few months of their lives.............if they are spending 4 hours a day everyday in a crate what exactly is that teaching them other than............ok im alone now 

young dogs and pup need constant interaction and attention its an important factor of them growing up and learning they cant get that being shoved in a crate most of the day everyday 

If someone cant be at home with pup most of the time then pup shouldnt be there...........

thats the way i see it anyway 

like Kylie said each to their own


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## iiisecondcreep (Oct 29, 2007)

I did tell him to tell his friend that 4 hrs was too long to leave the puppy.
But hes not exactly one to stand up and tell his friend he is wrong and if he doesn't have time for the puppy he shouldn't have got it. 

Its his friend and his girlfriend, who have been together only a couple of months.
and the way their shifts work 'it won't be alone for more than 4hours'. 
Grrr :bash:


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## Kylie (Mar 12, 2006)

artgecko i have to disagree with your dog trainer our dog while we are at work is with my oh parents he pics himup every day at 530 never late and you can gaurantee jack will be sat by the gate waiting for him to pull up from 20 past 5 onwards 

dogs are very intelligent and need stimulation said by emmaj

its a shame people do not think into what they are doing when they take on a pup


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

ZIPPY&VESPA said:


> artgecko i have to disagree with your dog trainer our dog while we are at work is with my oh parents he pics himup every day at 530 never late and you can gaurantee jack will be sat by the gate waiting for him to pull up from 20 past 5 onwards
> 
> dogs are very intelligent and need stimulation said by emmaj
> 
> its a shame people do not think into what they are doing when they take on a pup


exactly and like i said thats the reason...............welfares and rescues are having to turn dogs away because they are that full................people dont think before they get into getting a dog that dog is gonna live anywhere between...............10-16 years sometimes longer 

It really is a lifelong commitment taking a dog on


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## stephenie191 (May 29, 2007)

You can have a well rounded dog - and still leave it alone.

But all dogs are differn't. . .

Some dogs - HATE being alone and have seperation anxiety. some curl up and go to sleep.

Others don't seem to mind at all.

With a little training most dogs will be ok in many situations.

I do agree most people rush into buying a puppy without even thinking about it :bash:


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## Reiyuu (Sep 21, 2007)

our dogs are now about 15 month old and can be left alone. They are a destuctive breed and have to be crated when we are at work.

all puppies vary but things influnec like breed. The sled dog breeds and spitz breeds can be monumentally destructive in a very short amount of time becaus ethey get bored easily

I would think that a puppy as young as 8 weeks should be supervised at all times or crate trained.. but thats because I like my home without teeth marks in it and my furnature in tact!

we were lucky cos our boss let our 2 puppies come into where we work till they were toilet trained and they learned people skills and what behaviour is and is not acceptable.. they just destroy my klitchen when they have destroyed their toys hence the ctrates white at work.


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## iiisecondcreep (Oct 29, 2007)

The pup in question is an Australian sheperd crossed with some sort of hound.


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## ferretlad (Mar 6, 2008)

I cant see any point in getting a puppy and leaving it locked up in a cage for hours on end while you go to work.. even if someone is letting it out. I imagine the puppy will be in the cage most of the day and most of the night while the owners in bed too, this dont leave much time for puppy to be out of the cage enjoying its self playing and just being a mischievous little pup. I dont think the owner has put much thought into getting this puppy, its not going to be a very happy future for the pup if its going to spend much of its life left all alone.


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

I have 13 dogs and mine are NEVER left.I even get a dog sitter so I can just to nip to the shops.My OH works all hours so we can keep our hounds as with this many both of us could never go out to work. I think 4 hours is a long time to leave a puppy as how can you toilet train it???? or teach it the social skills it needs to be a well adjusted family member.As they get older its not so bad but baby puppies need a mother figure. Personally I would never leave a new puppy for 4 hours.Can they not find a relative or friend to mind it while they are out just until housetraining is well underway at least


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## Andy (Jul 27, 2005)

I didn't leave my pup alone for that long everyday but sure there were days when I have had to do something and he was crated for 4-5 hours. It didnt seem to bother him. He doesnt have any seperation anxiety and is happy to be left by himself now. I think if you never let your dog get used to being left thats just as likely to cause problems as leaving it alone for four hours. Its not that long really if you got up took the dog for a walk, played with him for a while, fed him, let him out for toilet then went to work at 8.00am and were back by twelve I dont think its too bad. We dont know if the dog is crated or not so it might have a run of the garden for what we know.


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## spoons (Mar 27, 2008)

i havent read the whole thread just skimmed so if i repeat im sorry but i got a staffy hes 6 now and has neva been left on his own for more than a few hours in the mornin ( as an adult )but as a pup he was neva alone i hate leavin him id take him everwhere with me if i could as has been sed if ya cant give time dont have 1 .............


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## Roewammi (Mar 23, 2008)

I really wouldnt recommended it. Ive had 3 puppies; 2 of them jack russels who are really destructive and until they're older I wouldnt leave them alone.

Maybe some gentle advice to your boyfriend's mate is in order!


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

Personally, if you don't have the time don't get one in the first place......will only end in tears later down the road


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## iiisecondcreep (Oct 29, 2007)

They are "crate training" it, I was informed a short while ago.

:bash:


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