What do you do with your dog during a work day?

[Lola's mum]

My mum lives here with us so is home all day with the dogs. She goes away in September every year for a week though and every year I panic about leaving them

 

[GreenOpal]

I get to bring my pups to work with me. I mainly work on the computer (unless I'm on BW) so no one comes in our office. The dogs have a couch and tons of toys and they get to run around the warehouse out back a couple times a day. They're spoiled, but so am I. I love having my pups with me at work.

I jokingly say (not really, I mean it) that I'm not using my degre (education) because I can't take the dogs in the classroom all day. So spoiled.

If I couldn't take them with me, I'd probably do doggy daycare a couple days a week. My pups are pretty lazy and I'm not going to pay someone to watch them sleep. So a couple days of playing and a couple days of staying home and running the house would work for us.

 

[nswain]

I only have to be at the office one day a week, and spoiled Grumpy goes to daycare that day! The rest of the week I spend driving around visiting clients. I usually arrange all my visits close together so that I spend afternoons and early evenings with clients and mornings "working from home" (going to the dog park :D) On really hectic days I at least come home for an hour around lunch to play with Grumpy for a little bit.
I find that if she gets a long walk in the mornings (or better yet, off leash play with her doggie buddies) Grumpy will happily sleep for 6 or 7 hours. So if I leave at 10 am and DH is home by 5 pm, she's fine snoozing on the bed all day. Having said that, if you have the $$$, daycare is wonderful. Grumpy goes on Fridays and is a sleepy angel all weekend

 

[ELubas]

I have always used a dog walker-took me awhile to find a good one but the one I have now is GREAT! He takes my two out for two hours a day with a group and they have a blast-at the park, the beach, each others houses-they remind me of a bunch of rowdy kids at recess . I am very lucky. But doggie day care can be great too if your pup is the social type. Just check them out carefully first (drop in unexpected) and with walkers be sure to get references. Good luck and congrats on completing law school! gradicon

 

[ikissmyboxer]

I work 8-5 with an hour lunch at noon. In the summer, the dogs (currently 3 of them) are outside before noon..fenced yard, plenty of shade, and no escape attempts. I crate Skynyrd and Sammie and leave Dite loose in the house when I come home for lunch. In colder weather I switch it to in the first half of the day and out the second. All mine are adults and I try not to leave them for more than six hours (inside or out). Surely, there's someone (relative?, neighbor?) that could drop by and check on your pup. There have been times when I've gotten stuck at work all day and have had to call around and get someone to let them in or out. My co-workers make fun of me because of my routine...I'm definitely a dog mom.

 

[billbgh]

I am fortunate that I control my own schedule, but the boys are in the crate anywhere from 2 hours to 6 hours about 2-3 times a week. They are SPOILED!!! If I were to be gone for a long period of time, I would make time to come home during the day, and I have a neighbor that loves the boys and she has offered to let the boys out if need be.(She does so for other neighbors) Damn, I'm lucky.

Erin
Apollo & Rocky's mom

 

[Haylydon]

We are lucky because we found a great dog walking business in the area and the owners and the walkers are fabulous. So they come and take Splash for a 3-45 minute walk every afternoon around noon. Plus, DH works right up the street and he will come home and take him out when he has a break. So Splash is never in his crate very long, only long enough for some ZZZZZ because these ladies poop him out when they take him for walks and when we get home it is Play,play, play!!

 

[Boxernurse]

My husband and I both work long hours-he's gone 10 hours a day five days a week and I'm gone 14 hours a day three days a week. The days that we both work we pay a dog walker to take our pups out for half an hour and play with them. We keep the 3 year old crated-he loves his crate and I just feel safer with him in there and the 9 week old we keep in the kitchen with her crate door open and a baby gate up. I"m waiting for the day that I open the door to find her waiting for me on the mat-I know she can climb the gate but she doesn'y know it (yet) and then we will keep her in her crate with the door closed.

 

[megangnagey]

When we first got Layla she was already a year old, but adopted her from the shelter as a stray. We left her in her crate during the day until she got used to the house. Now she has a little more freedom, she is in the dining room with all other rooms closed off. ( lots of gates and clothes baskets to block rooms off) Eventually she'll have free range of the house but we want to make sure she'll do ok. Good luck with your pup, I am sure though you'll be able to find a neighbor or kind to let him out when they get home from school. Good luck!!!

 

[mygirldaisy]

Any way of putting in a doggie door? Daisy has a doggie door that enters into our laundry area. Since the laundry area is open to the kitchen, I bought some of the pre-fab picket fence panels and enclosed an area just for her. It's big enough for a bed, food, and a water dish. When it's hot, cold or wet she can get out of the weather.