How long will you leave your dog home alone to go do something unnecessary?

[Lenny]

I've done 10+ hours before, but they have the run of the house and a dog door to the back yard with a 10 foot fence.

[Oskar der Drachen]

Bear has been his crate for eight hours at a stretch only twice, and I hated doing it. He was all right though, and I did have time to plan ahead to avoid a recent feed.

He can stay crated overnight for 8 hours plus every night.

He can successfully be in the fenced back yard for more than that while we are at work, and the kids are at school.

[Waffle Iron]

I'm getting my girl, Lanee, used to being home for longer periods. She has gone from being destructive to now not touching a thing (occasionally I find things moved around, but they aren't chewed.)

I usually work 8a-5p during the week, but I have an hour for lunch, when I spend at home and with her, which she likes. And I'll usually spend an hour at the gym five days a week as well.

But we walk for 45 minutes to 1 hour every morning and night before and after I go to work. She never seems to care, and is always happy when I'm around.

[chancey]

hi,
i now happily can leave my dog alone inside the home w/o any type confinement. he is free to roam the house, along w/ my 5#maltese, occasionally the 2 cats are running around as well- actually i try to remember to put cats up just b/c mr bob (american bobtail) at age 14 is not always pleasant to other animals (he himself walks right up & initiates attack on gsd who doesn't respond aggressively, except to whine at scratch etc- but don't want to take chance that dog will bite cat back).

we make sure plenty of water and he has been fed. also he has his chew bone *nylabone only one he doesn't eat completely in one "chewing" lol

typically we try to be home at least every 3 hrs, just for that companionship w/ chance- since his tail amputation he is more needy in wanting to be with us constantly (others tell me this is trait of gsd),

we try *never* to be gone more than 6hrs. b/c don't expect him to be able to hold his bowels etc much more than that. cody (maltese) can go nearly 8hrs.
chance eats on a sched 2x/day, but we try to adjust slt if will be gone, i do not want him to get too hungry while we are gone... just incase he decides to find his own food.

i think the dogs mostly sleep while we are gone. i do set alarm.

[Stella's Mom]

I hate leaving her home. I try to take her with me as many places as I can. I really try not to leave her home for no reason. Sometimes it just can't be avoided though.

[shaner]

My dogs don't get crated, not ever. Cedar has never chewed anything, even when she was a puppy, and Titan seems to follow her lead. He doesn't chew stuff up or go to the bathroom in the house even though he's still young. I've left Titan home for about 7 hours before. I've left Cedar home for 10+ hours, although that's very rare.

[Chicagocanine]

I don't have a good place to put a large enough crate, and all my dogs have behaved well in the house alone so I generally don't use a crate unless there's a reason (housetraining, surgery recovery, etc...) Bianca was already crate trained when I got her but her previous owners had stopped using it a long time ago because she didn't need it. I used an x-pen for her for a short time when I first got her, until I was sure she was trustworthy in the house alone.

I do use a baby-gate now though because I have an elderly cat who needs to have access to food and can't jump anymore or move around well, so I have to put her food on the floor next to her favorite bed so she can reach it easily. Bianca leaves it alone when we're around but when no one is around it sometimes is just too tempting. So at night and when no one is home I baby-gate Bianca in the back of the house, so she is away from the cat food but has access to the bedroom because she always wants to be where I am (she also refuses to leave the room in the morning until after I get up).

[GsdLoverr729]

I take Dakoda everywhere with me. I actually just returned from a week-long trip to North Carolina and my bf and his family actually planned our schedule completely so that she would not be away from me at all xD

[Diamond.S.Ranch]

Since I live in the mid-south part of Texas in the hot summer of 100 to116 degrees I just can't take him any where with me where I have to leave the car running for over an hour. Otherwise he goes every where with me and in the winters he can go and just stay in the car, unless its of course for hours and hours . I leave him in the house with all 7 cats and he has never been crated and has never been a chewer even as a puppy, thank goodness. He is so depressed when I'm gone that I swear I think he lays in the exact place until I get back. I have a doggy door and he could go in and out as he needs to, but I think he still just waits for me to take him out. Needless to say I hate the summertime and I know he must too because its the time of year he doesn't always get to go in the car with me. The longest I've had to leave him was 10 hours, which I hated but had to unexpectedly had to drive a few hours to my son's house.