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What do you do with your dogs while at work?

I'm 17 and I've had a dog all my life. I used to have two jack russells, but sadly one died a while ago. I still have my one, though. He is without a doubt my best friend. And he's the best company anyone could ever keep. I'm purposely living at home during college so that I don't have to be away from him. And when I move away after college (planning on moving to Washington state, just outside of Seattle) I hope to have dogs of my own- preferably one German Shepherd and one white Husky. I love big dogs and need a dog that can be my running partner, not one that only wants to walk. I'm also going to have a large, fenced-in yard built so the dogs will have plently of space to run around. I am curious though, would it be horrible of me to leave my two dogs at home while I go to work 5 days a week? Would they be happy? What do other people who work outside of the house do with their dogs? P.S- I am not having kids. I am sure of this. I've had WAY too many bad experiences with kids. And my love for dogs is my top priority. So I will be devoting all of my free time to my dogs.

Public Comments

1. You can leave them at home provided they are house broken. It should not be an issue and as long as you exercise them and play with them when you are home they will be perfectly happy.
2. whatever you can perfect solution is not to leave alone most people don't have a perfect solution some have to crate while gone some dogs can be left alone in house. some stay with someone
3. I leave my Standard Poodle and German Shepherd at home for 8 to 10 hrs a day.. they do fine.. (Beware of the puppy stage though! ;P) I let them have free roam of the house, and I have a dog door to my backyard that is fenced in. Don't run those dogs too hard when they are pup's, let them grow first.. I'm sure you know though! Once you devolp a social life down there you can have a nieghbor or friend check on them, or take them for a walk. I have a elderly couple come over and play with my dogs while im at work.. I've never asked them to, they just adore the dogs, heh. leave plenty of water/food.. Washington is awesome, btw.
4. I leave them plenty of food and fresh water. I'd leave them a cell if they knew how to use it. LoL
5. its ok to work and have dogs while your at work make a check list for your dogs like feed water nothing in the yard tht can hurt them while ur at work then when u get home u show all the love u can
6. If you can afford it l suggest a dog walker a few times a week for an hour , if not make sure the dog is comfortable lots of toys water and lots of attention when you get home some breed of dogs don't mind being alone that long some dogs wont adjust well
7. I let mine have free roam of the house. They are well trained though and it took some time to get to that. I have one that I put in a crate sometimes due to his behavior but most of the time they just roam my house. During training you will need to crate for both your homes safety and the dogs. While dogs need lots of love they also like lots of sleep so while you will be working they get to relax!
8. My puppy is crated while I'm at work and someone comes to take him out mid day for a bathroom break. When he is fully housebroken he will just be left in the house when Im at work
9. I'm a single working person. I have pets. They do very well when I away. Mine have a large area that is fenced. They stay in there when the weather is above freezing and below 100F. There is plenty of shade and shelter available. In the summer they have a kiddie pool. When I'm at home they're with me. We do many things together especially dog sports. If I wasn't working, I wouldn't be able to have pets so I work. Dogs are very adaptable. More so then many of their owners.
10. If you have some extra money, you can hire a dog walker. I have a dog walking company so my dog comes with me for some of the walks. But most dogs are fine for about 8 hours, but it's nice for them to have that break in the day.
11. At the moment our dog is crated when she is left at home (I don't trust her enough out of the crate atm to give her free reign of the house). It's not usually for very long though, most days its just a few hours due to our varying work shifts. We're moving shortly to a bigger house and going to put up a large fence and a kennel outdoors. That way she can have a little more space to move around in, get some fresh air and watch the yard (she's a big fan of bird/squirrel/bunny-watching from her window seat) while we're gone and then have play time & indoor lazy-family time when we're home.