What do you do with your dogs during the day?
Discussion
We won't be able to come home to our dogs in the middle of the day any more, and not sure what to do with them.
They get a long walk/run before and after work, but they need out in the middle of the day too.
Absolute cheapest we've found a local dog walker is £10 per dog. That's over £400 a month for a single short walk a day
They sometimes spend the day in a large kennel in the garden and they're both happy there - so we've thought of extending the run to include and area of garden where they can toilet. But that seems... wrong. Even with a big run I don't like the thought of caging them in with their poop
They get a long walk/run before and after work, but they need out in the middle of the day too.
Absolute cheapest we've found a local dog walker is £10 per dog. That's over £400 a month for a single short walk a day
They sometimes spend the day in a large kennel in the garden and they're both happy there - so we've thought of extending the run to include and area of garden where they can toilet. But that seems... wrong. Even with a big run I don't like the thought of caging them in with their poop
I leave about 7am and Poppy is left alone with the back door open so she can wander in/out and the TV left on for company. A very kind elderly lady picks her up about 10am and has her for most of the day until she drops her off at about 4pm and I get home just after 6.
Very fortunate really as the property is impossible to approach apart from the front and my neighbours watch like hawks. One of them also has a key just in case.
Added#: Luckily she is a friend so it does not cost anything. That was my biggest worry of her being alone all day.
Very fortunate really as the property is impossible to approach apart from the front and my neighbours watch like hawks. One of them also has a key just in case.
Added#: Luckily she is a friend so it does not cost anything. That was my biggest worry of her being alone all day.
In Scotland.
Dog day care would be the ideal option, I'd love to do it but the cost is so high! The cheapest I could find locally is £30 per day for two dogs if we take a long "subscription", and it's not a particularly nice place. The nicer one is another £10pd.
... I could literally buy the dogs their very own detached 3 bedroom house with a large garden and the mortgage would be cheaper than dog daycare.
... I could find a friend on minimum wage, ask them to quit their job and hire them as a full-time slave for my dogs and it would be the same price as dog daycare.
Even dog-walker rates seem far too high. Compared to the cheapest local dog-walker, I could rent a small flat near my work where I drop the dogs off in the morning and walk them myself at lunchtime - that would be £80 per month CHEAPER than paying a dog-walker for a single walk per day.
The dog walker charges more per hour (for 2 dogs) than I did as a freelance software developer with 10 years experience.
I think the idea of extending the kennel into a doggy-palace with a bathroom area is looking more appealing. I could spend thousands on it and make it all back in savings over a dog walker in a few months.
Dog day care would be the ideal option, I'd love to do it but the cost is so high! The cheapest I could find locally is £30 per day for two dogs if we take a long "subscription", and it's not a particularly nice place. The nicer one is another £10pd.
... I could literally buy the dogs their very own detached 3 bedroom house with a large garden and the mortgage would be cheaper than dog daycare.
... I could find a friend on minimum wage, ask them to quit their job and hire them as a full-time slave for my dogs and it would be the same price as dog daycare.
Even dog-walker rates seem far too high. Compared to the cheapest local dog-walker, I could rent a small flat near my work where I drop the dogs off in the morning and walk them myself at lunchtime - that would be £80 per month CHEAPER than paying a dog-walker for a single walk per day.
The dog walker charges more per hour (for 2 dogs) than I did as a freelance software developer with 10 years experience.
I think the idea of extending the kennel into a doggy-palace with a bathroom area is looking more appealing. I could spend thousands on it and make it all back in savings over a dog walker in a few months.
Edited by AAz01 on Friday 4th March 14:13
When I have to, I crate the dog while I'm out. Normally I arrange somebody to pop in and look after the dog for at least an hour if its for about 8 hours, over 8 hours and the dog goes to my Mom's for the day. I typically do the former once or twice a week and the latter a couple of times a month.
I'm lucky in that my (retired) Mom lives nearby and we trust the cleaner and gardener to let the dog out.
I'm lucky in that my (retired) Mom lives nearby and we trust the cleaner and gardener to let the dog out.
Appreciate the costs can be prohibitive. If you have to resort to leaving them in a kennel with a run, I would suggest these are insulated and heated for the cold days, especially in Scotland.
If not already, can you ask any friends/neighbours if they would be willing to pop over in the middle of the day?
If not already, can you ask any friends/neighbours if they would be willing to pop over in the middle of the day?
I'm surprised prices are so high in Scotland. Dog day care around Bedfordshire is the order of £18-£20/day.
I'm a dog walker and charge £10 for hour+ walks, no extra charge for more than 1 dog from the same house. One of my regular clients has a large outside kennel for their dog and he's happy with his lunchtime walk and play.
What breed of dogs do you have? some cope far better on their own than others.
I'm a dog walker and charge £10 for hour+ walks, no extra charge for more than 1 dog from the same house. One of my regular clients has a large outside kennel for their dog and he's happy with his lunchtime walk and play.
What breed of dogs do you have? some cope far better on their own than others.
Its tough, I currently try and leave mine for 4 hours max at a time (I pop home every lunch and take him for a quick walk). I've left him a couple of times all day if something has popped up at work... And to be fair, I think he'd be fine if I left him all day; everyday. I have a camera set up and those times I've left him I've monitored closely and all he does is sleep anyway. Same for when I'm working from home too. I'm starting to think it's a waste of time coming home at lunch as it is.
We pay £20 a day for someone to walk Lola at lunchtime. Probably more pricey than some but Lola doesn't like other dogs which makes it harder to find someone who will walk her. Worth every penny though, as one time his van broke down and he cycled 20 miles to come and walk her. The quality of pet sitters and dog walkers seems to vary hugely as in the past we've had people who failed to turn up or who only took her out for about 10 minutes.
Vinnie is left for about 6 hours a day on average, as someone else said, all he does is sleep. I set up the GoPro for a few weeks and he sleeps the whole time. He is a lazy sod, had to be dragged out in the morning and evening, I give him a good walk when I get in though. I do early shifts mostly so I'm home early afternoon and the Mrs takes him out before work, we do have the odd days where we are both out till later in the afternoon, originally my aunty would come and walk him but now we know he lazy he is, we dont tend to bother so much now. I admit we're lucky he is so chilled out.
EnthusiastOwned said:
Its tough, I currently try and leave mine for 4 hours max at a time (I pop home every lunch and take him for a quick walk). I've left him a couple of times all day if something has popped up at work... And to be fair, I think he'd be fine if I left him all day; everyday. I have a camera set up and those times I've left him I've monitored closely and all he does is sleep anyway. Same for when I'm working from home too. I'm starting to think it's a waste of time coming home at lunch as it is.
I think it depends a lot on breed and ageOur two are lab crosses and are in the winter of their years now to say the least.
Above the age of around 6 or 7, they were fine to leave all day occasionally. They just slept, as many have said.
However, they're now 15 and after last year, we decided this was the last time we would do this. They themselves are OK, but the bladder/bowels just can't handle it anymore so after coming home to Poo-mageddon a couple of times, we've decided to ensure that someone in the family goes in.
We are in the fortunate position that 4 out of 5 mid week days the longest the dogs are left is an hour or so, one day a week it is 4 hours.
The wife goes to work at 6:45, I go at 8:00 and the youngest goes to school at 8:15, wife is back at 9:00 and about until 2:45; they will generally get an hour walk in that period, then the youngest is back in at around 3:30; she works one mid week day after school and on that day it is then myself back at 6:30; 4 hours by themselves.
On the very rare occasions that they are by themselves from 8:15 till 6:30, I will get up early and take them for a long morning walk and usually we can get a friend to pop in around lunch time to let them out and to play with them.
There have been a handful of occasions where they have been by themselves, for up to 8 hours and we haven't been able to get someone in, but we are talking 2-3 times in the last year, I don't like doing it but they have survived and I make sure they have a long walk in the morning and another walk in the evening.
The wife goes to work at 6:45, I go at 8:00 and the youngest goes to school at 8:15, wife is back at 9:00 and about until 2:45; they will generally get an hour walk in that period, then the youngest is back in at around 3:30; she works one mid week day after school and on that day it is then myself back at 6:30; 4 hours by themselves.
On the very rare occasions that they are by themselves from 8:15 till 6:30, I will get up early and take them for a long morning walk and usually we can get a friend to pop in around lunch time to let them out and to play with them.
There have been a handful of occasions where they have been by themselves, for up to 8 hours and we haven't been able to get someone in, but we are talking 2-3 times in the last year, I don't like doing it but they have survived and I make sure they have a long walk in the morning and another walk in the evening.
Ours are in a crate for up to 3 hour stints, any more than that we have a lady that picks them up 9am, takes them to her house/kennels in the countryside about 10 miles away and drops them back around 4pm. They seem to love it and we couldn't really have dogs without a service like this.
£17.50 per day for our 2 small dogs.
£17.50 per day for our 2 small dogs.
We use a mix of day care, dog walker and working from home. The day care is expensive (£20/day), but it is excellent and Lucy loves it. We are fortunate to have also found an outstanding local dog walker who comes in mid morning and mid afternoon on the days we need, and exercises Lucy with some of her dogs. We have quite a bit of land so it is all off lead charging around. If we have to leave her we try and keep it to less than 5 hours and never more than 6.
I wanted to use daycare but I visited the three local to me and none of them filled me with confidence so I use a dogwalker who visits twice a day. The morning visit is a long walk in the countryside, the second visit is a walk up the village and then gets his food. £19 a day, she's very reliable and Digby loves it and gets to kip in quiet in his own house inbetween visits and I'm home mid-afternoon so I reckon he's happy enough.
Ours is left alone all day for 3 days a week. Roughly 9 hours. Herbie is a greyhound and they are one of the more suitable breeds for this. Anyone who owns a greyhoud can testify how long these dogs sleep for.
We have had some issues recently, but we are close to solving them. However. He was fine with it for 7 moths before we changed everything
A dog walker or doggy day care has never been an option for us as its very expensive.
I don't understand how people are complaining at £8ph. Its an hours of someone's time, by the tome they have got to your house and taken the dog on a half hour walk its probably over an hour.
We have had some issues recently, but we are close to solving them. However. He was fine with it for 7 moths before we changed everything
A dog walker or doggy day care has never been an option for us as its very expensive.
I don't understand how people are complaining at £8ph. Its an hours of someone's time, by the tome they have got to your house and taken the dog on a half hour walk its probably over an hour.
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