Working Mums

[sarah25]

I agree with Hannah.

IMO  I dont understand why people want a puppy when they are out working all day 
A puppy needs to be trained and needs to be corrected when they are doing things they shouldnt be doing.
I dont think taking the puppy and leaving it in the car would be fair on the dog. Maybe a older dog would suit you 

Good Luck

[speedyjaney]

We have 2 dogs and do work full time. We are responsible dog oiwners and if we didnt work the dogs wouldn't have got the extensive  (and expensive) training sessions we took them too. We found ways round the working days - flexible working helped as did working from home and until the girls were 2 we made sure they had 2 visits a day during the day for wee breaks and walks and playtime etc.

I have friends who don't work and their dogs do not get as much quanlity time as ours, they think that as they have company all daythey dont need 2 walks, or to go training etc

Janey

[Bryning]

I think we can all be guilty of anthromorphism from time to time and tend to think too much about what WE need rather than the dog.  Generally speaking I find that dogs that are left at home while their owers are at work seem to be much more biddable and attentive when it comes to training and also get a lot more out of it.  The key to a successful partnership with your dog is the energy you invest in the time you do spend together rather than the amount of time (Quality over Quantity). 

If you look at any pack of wild dogs/wolves they spend the vast majority of their day laying around and sleeping with only short periods of intense activity, dogs aren't actually meant to be 'on the go' all the time.  I have border collies and working cockers, both breeds were obviously designed and bred to be working dogs and as such they would spend their time kennelled/tethered until such time they were taken out and trained/worked.  I can't see that many gamekeepers/shepherds fretting over their dogs 'quality time' each day and to be honest I'm pretty sure the dogs wouldn't either.

I would love to be able to spend all day/every day devoted to my dogs but unfortunately I have to work to keep them fed, pay vets bills and be able to afford our agility classes/shows/flyball tournaments at the weekends etc etc.  As it is, both I and them greatly appreciate the time we do spend together and always make the most of it and they're all eagerly waiting by the door to load up into the van every morning, knowing they're coming to work with me and will be in their crates until their lunchtime walk...are they bothered by that???  Not one bit!

Caroline, you've proven that your system can work already with your exisiting dog so I don't see any reason why another wouldn't fit in just as well.  I don't have any experience at all of show bred cockers so I don't know if there's any difference but I have found my workers (and others I've met) to be very easy going about everything and quietly accepting of whatever routine you want to introduce them to.  (I think they may just be the happiest dogs I've ever owned lol).  I would suggest you construct a puppy pen somewhere in your home where you can leave the pup with toys/chews etc and have someone come in during the day to let the pup out and spend a bit of time with it, it would also have the company of your other dog.  I do this with all my pups and my mum pops in to see them during the day's I can't get home and they've all turned out just fine!

Good luck in whatever you choose.

[Helen]

Bryning, you mention a lunch time walk and that your dogs come to work with you which does not in my eyes compare with a dog being left at home all day.... does that means your dogs aren't left for more than 4 hours at a time?

  I do this with all my pups and my mum pops in to see them during the day's I can't get home and they've all turned out just fine!

...which is completely the point - in this case there is no-one that can pop in during the day....

[Bryning]

Hi Helen,

Sorry, I obviously haven't fully understood this dilemma 

I was just trying to make the point that working and keeping a number of dogs are not mutually exclusive but you do have to be organised and make provisions to do both well.

[Hurtwood Dogs]

Hi Helen,

Sorry, I obviously haven't fully understood this dilemma 

I was just trying to make the point that working and keeping a number of dogs are not mutually exclusive but you do have to be organised and make provisions to do both well.

I think most of us agree on this point - see previous comments about dogs being home alone for shorter periods of day time or catered for with dog walkers or taken to work etc - lots of us have worked or do work and have successfully owned happy dogs and trained our dogs within this remit.. the OP was asking about a different type scenario .

Hannah x

[emilyjw]

Out of interest do you think there is a difference between one dog being left alone and two or more dogs being left alone (as obviously they have each other for company?)

[bev6951]

Out of interest do you think there is a difference between one dog being left alone and two or more dogs being left alone (as obviously they have each other for company?)

yes possibly double the trouble and destruction!! more seriously I think it would make a difference, as you said, as long as the dogs get along and are not too young, it is nice for them to have that companion during your hours away.

[emilyjw]

Out of interest do you think there is a difference between one dog being left alone and two or more dogs being left alone (as obviously they have each other for company?)

yes possibly double the trouble and destruction!! more seriously I think it would make a difference, as you said, as long as the dogs get along and are not too young, it is nice for them to have that companion during your hours away.

We had no destruction from Bracken when she was a puppy and I think this is because she had Jasmine to keep her company and the cat. Jasmine being a sedate lady of 5 doesn't do destruction anymore, I think the most she destroyed when she was a pup was the odd wooden spatula and she was left for quite a long time on her own from about 4 months.

We also have a dog flap and often come home to find Bracken sunning herself in the garden. I work from home and can confirm that apart from when I move or go outside my dogs sleep all day. Bracken is the funniest, she might come down to go tinkling in the morning,then goes back up to bed. No interest in breakfast if there is a warm bed to be found...

Now one of my friends mums choccie lab was a very destructive pup and created her own route between the kitchen and downstairs toilet by chewing a hole in the wall, she also destroyed all the laminate, chewed all the skirting board and the odd wooden stall 

[Bryning]

Found this link in the FAQ section...

http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=2018.0

I think that pretty much covers everything and encompasses the general consensus on this thread doesn't it?

[Robbie34]

Generally speaking I find that dogs that are left at home while their owers are at work seem to be much more biddable and attentive when it comes to training and also get a lot more out of it.  The key to a successful partnership with your dog is the energy you invest in the time you do spend together rather than the amount of time (Quality over Quantity). 

If you look at any pack of wild dogs/wolves they spend the vast majority of their day laying around and sleeping with only short periods of intense activity, dogs aren't actually meant to be 'on the go' all the time. 

I'm not sure that I can agree with you here.  As you have mentioned, wild dogs live in packs, but they don't spend all day in a solitary existence.  Any dog confined to live alone for eight hours per day is not enjoying any stimulation.  I'm not even sure that the dog regards activity in terms of quality: it's an activity, pure and simple.  You may regard it as quality but the animal sees it as fun.

I mentioned in my post above that Charley is quite different in his personality than my previous Cockers.  I attribute this to being with me twenty-four hours a day.  He isn't on the go for the whole of the day but he leads an active life and has company - mine - around the clock.

[Countrygirl]

When I was fretting about putting our last cocker, Sophie, into kennels when we went on holiday for 2 weeks, my vet said that dogs have no concept of time.  I don't know whether this is right but if it is would they know whether they had been left for 2 hours or 5 hours. 

[bev6951]

When I was fretting about putting our last cocker, Sophie, into kennels when we went on holiday for 2 weeks, my vet said that dogs have no concept of time.  I don't know whether this is right but if it is would they know whether they had been left for 2 hours or 5 hours. 

a couple of people have told me this too

[Cob-Web]

When I was fretting about putting our last cocker, Sophie, into kennels when we went on holiday for 2 weeks, my vet said that dogs have no concept of time.  I don't know whether this is right but if it is would they know whether they had been left for 2 hours or 5 hours. 

Even if this is the case, their physical needs would begin to cause discomfort after a longer period; a dog that is housetrained or crated will try and avoid soiling indoors and will become distressed and uncomfortable if unable to go outside.

[joanne_v]

Doesnt matter if they have a perception of time or not IMO, a dog knows when its 5 o'clock and dinner time and also knows when it needs a pee! I still think dogs shouldnt be left for more than 4 hours a day tops and if I couldnt take mine to work I wouldnt have them. I couldnt afford to pay for daycare such as my own and personally dont think a dog walker is enough which is why I stopped doing it for a living. An hours walk during a 9 hour period certainly wouldnt be enough for my current dogs. I've seen the effect that going from one walk a day to a full day at daycare has on dogs. Their whole personality changes and they become much more full of life and vitality because of the extra mental and physical stimulation. Its a bit like humans in some ways. When I was a lazy student I got used to sleeping loads and doing nothing a lot of the time and was okay with it but now I'm a busy fulltime worker I have much more 'get up and go' and inspiration to do more things. I think dogs are the same, they take what they are given but a lot might be even happier with a bit extra out of life...