Do you have a dog that has to stay home alone for a number of hours while you are at work?

it appears he sleeps most of the time, never causes trouble which is good considering I also have six cats.

One of them is crated while I am gone because that is his preference. The other is out and has a number of toys and bones, but he too sleeps much of the time. Sometimes he gets into things he shouldn’t but it is nearly always my fault when that happens.

Yep, most of the time he sneaks up and sleeps on my bed because he is not “allowed” up there when I am home but if this is the worst thing he does I’m ok with it. We have a cat too but she is too proud to condescend to play with a dog. She sits in the window wishing she could get out and go after that goddam squirrel and that the dog would quit whining at her to play.
I might add he is 13 which is old for a border collie.

We have two dogs who play together and keep each other company. They stay outside most of the day. My wife stays home all day and lets them in if the weather is getting bad. When I drive in they run to the fence to greet me

Two dogs. A lab and a black shepard. They can stay home all by themselves between the hours of 9–5 as long as they have been out and done #2. When I get home they are right at the door. The shepard often moves the curtain on the window beside the door the side window squishes his nose against the window like a kid does against the l its hilarious, his nose squishes so much his teeth press against the window and then he will just stay there for awhile, I think he believes he can see better. Thats as crazy as either dog gets

Our 12-week-old puppy is crated during the day (big crate) and my husband comes home at lunch to feed her and let her go potty outside. She doesn’t love it, but I think she sleeps quite a bit.

Once she’s older and fully house trained, we hope to be able to go to work without leaving her outside (weather permitting) or crated, but we’ll see how she does.

Two dogs, little old brown dog (14 years) young dingo mutt (about 6). They often stay home, I do have a dog door so they can go outside into a small confined area if they wish. The cockatoo is out there too so I think they all hang out. If it is a nice day the dogs sleep outside in the sun, if it is chilly they sleep inside on the sofa. I usually let the telly on for them and outside the bird likes to listen to the ipod. I have crated dogs during the day when they were young and bad but as soon as they grow up and have enough sense not to eat the sofa, they have the run of house. As was said above, they sleep most of the day. If I am home they sleep beside me where ever I am, if we leave, it is the sofa.

My little terrier does and she just eats and sleeps, looks out the window. She can go chat with my two birds as well if she wants.

Since we put my old dog down a month or so ago, she had shredded the bathroom trash a few times, but she’s good now. I think she was adjusting to being alone.

My dog just seemed to sleep when I was out at work during the day but if we went out in the evening as well, he would tear up his bed.

Willow is home and (usually) alone for about ten hours a day. When she’s at my house and it’s just me and her, she usually stays on her own patch of rug or checks the window. She never gets on the furniture or causes any trouble.

At my uncle’s house, she is awarded the couch. She likes my uncle. (He also gives her ice cream and cookies. She likes him more than she likes me, I think.)

My dog comes to work with me, she used to stay on her own for a few hours at a time but as she is now old and blind I choose not to leave her for too long if it’s not absolutely necessary. When she is left she has toys and puzzle feeders (kongs etc) to give her some occupation and I am lucky that, if I have to leave her for a really long time, there are a couple of people on hand that would be able to check in on her and let her out for a wee etc. If I do leave her, it has to be in small space as she appears to get stressed in big spaces, I think this may be to do with her lack of site as it is a fairly new problem.

if you dog is not used to staying home alone, i would recommend starting with short periods of an hour or less. then increase it until he/she is used to staying home alone for as long as you need to. dogs are really good at adapting to new environments, you just have to work with them.

I have two dogs. They have the run of a large part of the house but areas with soft furnishings are blocked off to them. They can also go out into the garden. They sleep when I’m not here.
When I have been home for a long period because I’m on holiday, they sulk when I go back to work. I have a big square dining table and their way of telling me they are pissed off is to go under that table and sulk. Or they stand at the fence as I drive out. If they start howling at me I feel particularly bad.

@Bellatrix Newspapers on furniture worked really well for me, after a week or so, they never even tried to get up there again.

They can’t get into the areas where there are beds or sofas. They do have a couple of very comfy beds each. Human furniture is much more inviting though.

@Bellatrix Tell me about it sister! Now that I’m down to just one little 12 lb dog, I let her get on the furniture, even my leather couch (w/ blankie on top). My big boy I had to put down was about 80lbs.

There’s nothing cuter than her cuddling between my husband and I at night in our king-size bed, she’s so stinkin cute. And every morning she is sitting by my husband and they share a throw while watching morning tv, it’s pitiful the way she loves him so. :)

I don’t mind if they come up on our bed for a cuddle in the morning. They tend to hog the room on the bed though so they can’t come in during the night. They sleep fine. We don’t. :-)