Dog Advice

Emerate

Hi
I am thinking of buying a Pug, but have not had a dog before and wanted to get some advice. The dog would be on his own from about 8 - 4:30 every weekend, but there would always be someone there in the evenings and the weekend. Is this too much time on his own?

kerrysgold

Well, 8 hours is quite a long time especially if it is a puppy since they need to be taken out every so often to house train them etc and going from being with their litter mates and mother to being alone would probably be very depressing.

IMO these are some things you could do:

get 2 puppies so they'd be company for each other
adopt an older dog(s) who doesn't need house training
adopt a pair of dogs so they'd be company for each other, it can be difficult for rescues to find a home for 2 dogs that are attached to each other.
provide dog/pup with loads of toys and treats. kong toys are suppose to be good boredom breakers.
leave a tv/radio on
leave the dog with a friend/relative while you're at work to dog-sit!
employ a dog walker to come to your house around lunchtime and take him out for about an hour or so to break the dog's day until you come home.

personally I wouldn't get a puppy because of the house training and loneliness thing unless you could leave it at a relatives during the day. again, personally, I wouldn't buy a pug due to the possible health problems even though they are absolutely gorgeous, but that's your choice of course :P

Annika30

Yes that is way too long to leave a dog.

pinklady2

Emerate wrote: »

Hi
The dog would be on his own from about 8 - 4:30 every weekend, but there would always be someone there in the evenings and the weekend. Is this too much time on his own?

I am bit confused if there is someone there why are you worried??? or did I read it wrong.. :rolleyes:

Sorry I get it now... personally I do'nt think it is, our dog was left for that long when she was a pup in the kitchen, as we had to go to wrk, she is nearly two now. She was grand just left paper down for her to go to the toilet and she went straight to it and we had toys for her. Then after a couple weeks when she got her needles, she went out the back garden.
You can spend time with the dog in the evenings and weekends to make up for it.

SuzyS1972

Getting 2 puppies together means double the hard work of toilet training - I had 2 fosters over the Xmas and at 10 weeks old they were a full time job - I was off work and spent every minute picking up wee and poo
The pups were very into each other and would be more interested in messing and I found it quite difficult to get ones attention.
While one would be about to squat for a wee and I tried to get them out the back the other would be doing it somewhere else -
So for training reasons and for the bonding process with you I would be very much against getting 2 together.

Get one - see how you go and at 6 months when the dog is settled and neutered and house trained think then about getting a companion !

Princess J

We had a 2 year old Bassett Hound and both of us are out at work during the day so she was alone from 8am til 5pm. Although she didn't seem to be suffering for this (and we kinda wanted another ) we decided to get a beagle puppy. He's now 6months old and toilet trained. They love each and happily go out to their garden run (with huge kennel) while we're at work, then spend the evenings and weekends in the house with us. We're lucky we live in the country so can just let them out into the fields for runs. I definitely think that two dogs would settle a bit better as they would have company, but it would be ALOT more work! Our pup still chews everything he gets his paws on! But two pups would also be twice as rewarding in my opinion

TheB

Annika30 wrote: »

Yes that is way too long to leave a dog.

+1 .. too long for a puppy anyway IMO.

Our 2 are company for each other but we got the 2nd when the 1st was house-trained etc.. Lots of work other wise. We don't usually have to leave them for long as OH works from home and when he is abroad ( a lot) I take them to work.. but can if need leave for a day now. Usually have someone to let them out for a wee and feed at lunchtime though if we are gone long. They have a large crate that they love - they are in that when left alone.

I also worry about leaving pups alone as they can get into trouble with such nosy/mischievious natures.. I know of one unfortunate woman who's puppy electrocuted itself when left alone, loose in a kitchen. It chewed a lamp wire.

If you want puppy, get puppy but I would arrange a dog-sitter/relative/reliable friend to let the puppy out during the day and spend some time with it. I would also invest in a puppy crate and crate train for safety reasons.

Good Luck

Bx

Annika30

I would not recommend getting 2 dogs at the same time(2 pups means twice the amount of work!), I'd recommend waiting until the first dog is around 11/2-2 years old and then maybe get a companion, after all dogs are very social animals and needs company!

d-redser

Pugs need to be around people quite a lot as they were bread as lapdogs, constant companion dogs.

I have two pugs and they demand attention every single minute of the day

They get incredibly anxious when they are on their own, and I would say that YES that is a very long time to leave a pug, never mind a puppy.