Home alone?

I'm curious...
On average, during the work week, how many hours does your dog spend alone (without humans)?
Where does your dog spend that time? At liberty (home or yard) or confined (to a room, pen, or crate).
How old is your dog?
I don't want any stones to be thrown, I'm just looking to see what reality is. So if you'd rather not publish your information, send me a private message and I'll compile the data.

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Permalink Reply by Deanna on August 29, 2009 at 8:19am

I work 9-5, Mon-Fri, and my Corgis are at liberty in the house during the extreme cold of winter and extreme heat of summer for those hours, except when I come home for lunch to let them go potty. During the spring and fall, they are at liberty in the backyard to enjoy sunshine, fresh air, running around barking at passers-by, etc., but have covered protection should a storm suddenly come through while I'm away. They're used to the seasonal "change-up" in routine and actually enjoy the variation -- they're spoiled rotten with warm, fuzzy places in the winter, and cool A/C in the summer -- oh, yeah, they also have a "swimmy" pool for those warm spring/fall days that are too mild to keep them in the house, but too warm outside for their liking.

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Permalink Reply by Ginny and Diggory on August 29, 2009 at 9:37am

Ginny is almost 2. I leave for work at 7am, and I'm usually home by 4:15. I often come home at lunch to let her out, but not every day. She has the run of the living space. I close the doors to the bedrooms and bathrooms. If it's nice out, I open the door to the patio, and she tends to like to hang out there all day watching the world go by.... Probably once or twice a week, I'll take her to my dad's house, and she spends the day in their yard playing with their golden retriever. She loves "Camp Grandpa." There are some nights I'll be gone, too... when she was a puppy, she went to either my mom or my dad's house every day until she was about 6 months old. Then from about 6 months to a year, she stayed at my house, but I kept her crated when I was gone. After she sort of got past her "chewing-on-everything" phase at about a year, and was reliably potty trained, I started trying to leave her home alone for short periods of time, just to see how she did. We just sort of knew when the time came that she could start staying out in the house while I was at work.

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Permalink Reply by Kyle, Megan and Loki on August 29, 2009 at 9:39pm

Loki spends about 9-10 hours alone during the day, weekdays. He is left to roam my apartment, I only close my office doors as I have a guitar or 2 out on stands. He doesn't go near my guitars, and if a toy gets knocked near them he leaves it, we just don't want an accident to occur.

Generally he sleeps on his blanket in the bedroom while we are out. Loki is 8 months old as of a day or 2 ago. He has had free reign since he was 5 months.

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Permalink Reply by Marion and Vern on August 29, 2009 at 11:07pm

Let's see Samantha is only alone when she sleeps, so maybe 7/8 hours a night. Even though we both work, Samantha has Grandma when we are at work. She is a spoiled rotten little demon dog, that is just a nick name for her she is truely a wonderful pup who has stolen our hearts. She sleeps in her own bedroom (the laundry/pantry room) where she has her bed, blanket, toys and water bowl. That is the only time she is shut off from the rest of the house. Guess the only time she has time to herself is when we go grocery shopping, then she is outside. Of course if she wants quiet time all she has to do is curl up in her bed and she is left alone or is put out side because of the vaccuum, she hates that monster.