Feeling Guilty

Due to a change in my personal life - I am faced with making different arrangements for my two dogs while I work. They have never been left like this before - it's breaking my heart.

I've hired a dog sitter to come each day to let them out mid day and give them some attention.

I plan to confine them in my kitchen for the morning and then having the dog sitter put them in their crates for the afternoon.

I am not good with change and I am so worried about them.

Would love to hear from others that leave their dogs all day.

I leave my smooth collie boy alone all day. What really made this hard was that my older dog died last January, so TJ had to be left really alone for the first time in his 8 years of life. What helped BOTH of us was changing up the daily routine. I started getting up an hour earlier so I could not just trot him out for a morning walk, but add in more playing, hugging and just hanging around. It burns off some of his energy, since he doesn’t have Rachel to play with throughout the day anymore. When I get home, he gets the usual walk and play, but now I do my grading and lessons plopped on a beanbag chair instead of at my desk. He gets more physical contact from me. I also have him fetching up balls of paper that I throw at the recycle bin. I miss on purpose, and he learned to pick them up and put them in the bin to help me. I also taught him to get me my pen. So he’s right next to me or doing jobs for me . I try to build in more interactions and opportunities to give him positive responses. It’s kind of like what you do when you’re occupying a little niece or nephew... he’s more okay now, and doesn’t seem as lonely and bored. Changing the routine helped me, too. Maybe you could do something like this?

Luckily I have two Boston Terriers that will be able to keep each other company. I do devote all my time to them when I'm not at work. My life revolves around my girls.

I hated to spend the money on dog care (I could have a brand new car) for what this is costing me but I can not possibly leave them home for 11 hours without a potty break or some human interaction.

I know people who do leave their dogs all day but I don't think it's right for my girls. They are not used to it.

I thought an hour getting in a walk in the morning before I leave but it's so cold here and my dogs don't like the cold at all.

Do you have a friendship with anyone retired? Or do you have friends who know a retired person? Based on your level of trust, you could hire a bored and lonely retired person to dog visit.
I know that didn’t come out right, but I’m in a hurry because I work Saturday Detention at my school.
One of my friends who retired last June was all out of sorts when school resumed in September. When her neighbor asked her to look in on her cats and dog and care for them for a long weekend, it was a match made in heaven. Now she does it for a bunch of people. Some of her clients even have her go in a couple times a day.
Since the motivation isn’t to make enough money to live on, she does it for cheap. Obviously you have to trust the person in your house.

Unfortunately I don't have any neighbors that can do it. I have hired a husband and wife team that do this for their business. Very reliable and trustworthy but of course that comes with a price tag.

I have made changes to my spending and cut out any unnecessary bills on order to cover the weekly dog sitter bill.

I still feel bad for having to leave them all day but unfortunately it is my reality right now.

You’re a very kind person.

I completely understand your pain. I had some life changes that resulted in something similar for myself and my two dogs. Unfortunately I work 12 hour shifts. I actually ended up moving to be closer to my job so I only have a 10 minute commute instead of an hour each way, so its not a 14 hour day for the dogs. My rottie mix is well behaved enough that she can have free rein of the house while Im gone, but unfortunately my Min Pin is not quite so well behaved. I feel like a horrible dog-mom having to crate her for 12 hours at a time, but unfortunately its a necessity. I can occasionally have someone come let her out, but its inconsistent at best.

Long story short, I can commiserate!

I have two Old English Bulldogs that I leave out all day. They'll regularly be left for 6-8 hours and sometimes over 12. They have almost full run of the house and I installed a dog door in our sliding glass door so they can go outside as they please.

I don't feel bad and they don't seem to mind. I'd feel bad if I crated them but as a part of my home security system crating them would be counter productive.

I think of them as my children. I just love them so much. I know they will adjust to the new arrangement in time. I think I'm more stressed about this then they will be.

My two girls are beyond pampered.

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Originally Posted by L.West

I think of them as my children. I just love them so much. I know they will adjust to the new arrangement in time. I think I'm more stressed about this then they will be.

My two girls are beyond pampered.

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Why must you crate them?