What do you do with your dogs during the day?

What do you do with your dogs during the day?

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shambolic

2,146 posts

166 months

Wednesday 9th March 2016
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Kennel and run for £1k and has been fine for last 7 years. Dogs get 30 minutes at 630am then out at 2pm for a couple of hours.
They don't usually mess ( pee or poo) in the run only rarely happens if upset stomach.
Kennel part is insulated and has a fan heater which is rarely on ( dogs been out in minus 19 with no problem a few ears back (Scotland too)).
Run has a bench to lie on or under and a large galvanised water bucket.




condor

8,837 posts

247 months

Thursday 10th March 2016
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bakerstreet said:
....

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.
That seems a little contradictory to me confused

I charge £10 for an hours walk and the dogs get at least an hours walk - the driving to the premises and getting the dog/s ready to walk isn't separately charged for, nor is the towel drying ( if it's been raining) afterwards. There's also a physical limit to how many hours a day you can walk - in my case 4 hours dog walking is the maximum I'm willing to do.
I love what I do, but it's not a great money earner!

rscott

14,690 posts

190 months

Saturday 12th March 2016
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Another greyhound owner here. Our 2 are left from 9am until 6pm Monday - Friday.

They're absolutely fine with it - I had a webcam set up to begin with and the boy didn't even move for over 6 hours!

The older girl is now 14 and can't always hang on until we get home any more. It's not a major problem - we have a supply of cheap & cheerful doorways from Aldi in the tiled utility room and she always goes on them. Quick spin in the washing machine and a wipe of the floor with cleaning wipes and there's no trace.

We find they actually get fed up of we're home too often. I think it disturbs their sleep patterns.

bakerstreet

4,755 posts

164 months

Tuesday 15th March 2016
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condor said:
That seems a little contradictory to me confused

I charge £10 for an hours walk and the dogs get at least an hours walk - the driving to the premises and getting the dog/s ready to walk isn't separately charged for, nor is the towel drying ( if it's been raining) afterwards. There's also a physical limit to how many hours a day you can walk - in my case 4 hours dog walking is the maximum I'm willing to do.
I love what I do, but it's not a great money earner!
This is my point. £8 is very reasonable considering what is involved. £8/9 per hour is the going rate round here and all you get is a half hour walk.

Makes me think that the doggy day care we use when we go on holiday is quite reasonable at £25 per night.

The Mad Monk

10,474 posts

116 months

Tuesday 15th March 2016
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I wouldn't attempt to keep a dog unless I could look after it properly.

Anything else would be very selfish.

bakerstreet

4,755 posts

164 months

Tuesday 15th March 2016
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The Mad Monk said:
I wouldn't attempt to keep a dog unless I could look after it properly.

Anything else would be very selfish.
I'll bite.

Sounds like you want to start something, but don't quite have the guts to take it up with the people who have posted that their dogs stay at home whilst they go to work.

I can assure you my dog is looked after properly.

This will always be a controversial topic among dog owners. Thousands of greyhouds are destroyed each year and that number could be reduced if some of the kennels were willing to adopt to owners who work. They are a breed that are ideally suited to lazing around all day. Not all breeds are.



RB Will

9,662 posts

239 months

Tuesday 15th March 2016
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Mine is home alone most week days from 9-5.
It used to be less but has got gradually longer as I work more and more.

Dog is not bothered by it at all. She is about as active a breed as you can get but she just has a play with her toys then sleeps most of the day. She does have the run of the downstairs of the house if she wants to explore and we leave the radio on.

I dont see the big fuss in leaving a dog alone for more than a couple hours at a time.
People routinely crate their dogs or dont allow them in their bed so the dogs manage 6-10 hours by themselves overnight. No different to in the day.


framerateuk

2,730 posts

183 months

Tuesday 15th March 2016
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When I was a kid our dogs would be in all day as my parents were teachers, so from about 8:30 am until 5. They were always fine.

We've got a Collie/Malamute cross now and we haven't left him a full day, but he's been left for 5-6 hours when we're gone out for the evening and his always been absolutely fine.

Luckily, I work from home most days and the other half is a supply teacher so we can manage our schedules so one of us is home for the dog.

Flip Martian

19,504 posts

189 months

Tuesday 15th March 2016
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bakerstreet said:
I'll bite.

Sounds like you want to start something, but don't quite have the guts to take it up with the people who have posted that their dogs stay at home whilst they go to work.

I can assure you my dog is looked after properly.

This will always be a controversial topic among dog owners. Thousands of greyhouds are destroyed each year and that number could be reduced if some of the kennels were willing to adopt to owners who work. They are a breed that are ideally suited to lazing around all day. Not all breeds are.
Genuine query. I wonder why kennels aren't more aware of this then, if this were the case? You'd think they'd have more interest in finding the dogs a home and not having them put down. Seems a real shame.

bakerstreet

4,755 posts

164 months

Tuesday 15th March 2016
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Flip Martian said:
Genuine query. I wonder why kennels aren't more aware of this then, if this were the case? You'd think they'd have more interest in finding the dogs a home and not having them put down. Seems a real shame.
We were instantly given a cold shoulder as soon as we said we worked. We know we aren't the only people who have experienced this.

Some of the larger re-homing organisations need to realize that not every dog re-homer aren't retired couples or people who work from home.

The Greyhound situation really does frustrate me as you couldn't get a much more suitable breed for lazing on the sofa all day! I swear ours gets more confused when we are home!



Flip Martian

19,504 posts

189 months

Tuesday 15th March 2016
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I've not taken a dog on as I've been out all day for generally at least 10 or 11 hours (long commute) so never looked into it. My ex did approach one animal orphanage place about a particular cat and they gave her the brush off for working all day. A cat! She got 2 at another local cat rescue centre in the end. It seems dog rescue places could be more aware of some breeds which would be suitable. Although maybe its linked to their age as well as breed? Which does narrow it down a bit - but then you could argue each dog should be treated as an individual case anyway.

nessiemac

1,525 posts

240 months

Tuesday 15th March 2016
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We thought long and hard about this before we got our collie and think we have a good balance.

There is always someone in the house Friday to Monday during the day and for Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday i take him out for an hour at 5:30am after my night shift and then he is with my wife until half 8 when she goes to work. I am usually up by half 12 at the latest and then he's with me all day for walks, comes to school with me etc. The wife is home at five and then i leave for work at 8pm.

He's only left for 4 hours and then he has the run of the Kitchen/ back room but he is normally tucked up in his crate by choice.

The only problem we have is when we are out biking for the day and my wife comes to watch us race. We then get my nephew to come over a couple of times during the day for an hour at a time. Mack loves him and we bung him a few quid for helping.

elephantstone

2,176 posts

156 months

Tuesday 15th March 2016
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Luckily for my dogs i work from home so they get to spend most of the day bugging me and generally driving me up the wall. Good thing is i give myself nice lunch breaks rummaging around national trust parks rather than a crummy office staff room smile to be honest im glad i have the dogs as working on my own in the house all day every day would get abit lonely.. Even though they are pains sometimes! They do get left from time to time.. Normally if im out in the MX5 or we go to the pub at a busy time (two scrappy terrier crosses can be a pain in a busy pub.. Roll on the nice weather.. Beer gardens!)

bigbob77

593 posts

165 months

Monday 21st March 2016
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bakerstreet said:
Flip Martian said:
Genuine query. I wonder why kennels aren't more aware of this then, if this were the case? You'd think they'd have more interest in finding the dogs a home and not having them put down. Seems a real shame.
We were instantly given a cold shoulder as soon as we said we worked. We know we aren't the only people who have experienced this.

Some of the larger re-homing organisations need to realize that not every dog re-homer aren't retired couples or people who work from home.

The Greyhound situation really does frustrate me as you couldn't get a much more suitable breed for lazing on the sofa all day! I swear ours gets more confused when we are home!
Off-topic, but I used to work from home in a large dog-friendly flat in the countryside. Had one dog already and I contacted several local shelters & charities as I wanted to try fostering. Was especially interested in greyhounds but tried all sorts.
Long story short - I gave up after a few months of trying. The variety of excuses was ridiculous...
- "You can't keep a dog in a flat"... "I can and do, and it's a lot better than keeping them caged up in your shelter"... "Not good enough"
- "You don't have an enclosed garden"... "No, but I have a large open garden area and I live in the countryside. My dog gets out to fields/forests/streams every day"... "Not good enough"
- "You can't take a foster dog to the countryside because they're not allowed off-lead"... "It's fine I have a very long flexi-lead"... "Not good enough"
- "You can't have a greyhound because your dog is a German Shepherd and they don't get on with Greyhounds"... "WTF?"

I had a period of about 2 years where I could really easily have fostered several dogs and spent every second of the day with them. I even volunteered to take dogs with behaviour issues as I have an interest in that. Never even got as far as a home-visit from a single charity/shelter. Still pissed off about it now...

Edited by bigbob77 on Monday 21st March 13:39

AstonZagato

12,652 posts

209 months

Monday 21st March 2016
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I had this when trying to adopt a cat. The rescue shelter seemed to have an entirely impossible list of demands to be allowed to take a cat from them.
  • you've got children (explained that my kids were used to cats but apparently "they might sit on the cat")
  • you live on a road (my house has a 100m drive off a relatively quiet country road and is surrounded by fields: it's about a billion times more rural than 95% of the homes in the country)
  • you are out all day (well so is the bloody cat, in my experience)
  • the whole family hasn't come to the shelter (well, yes we all came yesterday but you told us to come back during the working week as the kittens weren't ready to collect until then)
They then bleated about not having enough homes for their cats. No st, Sherlock.

Jasandjules

69,825 posts

228 months

Monday 21st March 2016
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Flip Martian said:
Genuine query. I wonder why kennels aren't more aware of this then, if this were the case? You'd think they'd have more interest in finding the dogs a home and not having them put down. Seems a real shame.
You would think. But that is not the case.

For some reason many "charities" who are "very much for the benefit of pets" would rather PTS many animals than see someone who has the audacity to work for a living having the animals. Oh, I was told by a cat charity I couldn't have a cat as well....

ETA - and because this is such a major bee in my bonnet - these same charities think it is "better" to keep the animals locked in small cages for 23.7 hours a day rather than rehome them to someone who works... Then PTS them. Wonderful eh? Whereas I think someone who is home of an evening and weekend will spend FAR more time with the dog that any charity can physically manage, let alone the concept that a home is far larger than a kennel...

Flip Martian

19,504 posts

189 months

Monday 21st March 2016
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Yeah its a pity no-one from an animal shelter is here to explain why they might have that attitude really, its very odd.

The rules do differ from organisation to organisation though. My ex was refused a cat from the local sanctuary, as she worked and was out all day (and at that time, lived alone). The local cat protection league were happy to let her have a mature brother and sister with no problem at all.

sidekickdmr

5,065 posts

205 months

Thursday 24th March 2016
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We were paying a dog walker £20 a day for 2 dogs, one 1 hour walk at 10-11am and one half hour at 2.00-2.30.

She used to bring along another 2-3 dogs for the walk too (we live in the woods).


We then found a local lady that now comes to our house at 10am, does an hour dog walk till 11, does an hours house cleaning till 12, sits with/plays with the dogs/watches TV till 2,00, then does a 30 min afternoon walk till 2.30 and then goes home. All this for I think its £23 a day.

So we get 7 1/2 hours dog walking, 5 hours cleaning and 10 hours dog company/house sitting for £115 a week, and thats for 2 dogs.

She brings her kids along in the holidays too, it works for her and it knackers the dogs out.

Worth looking into OP?

HTP99

22,443 posts

139 months

Thursday 24th March 2016
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^^^^^ Sounds like a slave!

AAz01

Original Poster:

102 posts

149 months

Thursday 24th March 2016
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Sounds great but where do you buy a slave in this day and age?