Where Do You Leave Your Dog When You Are At Work

[pomchi]

Hi Guys,

I have a two year old dog and up until now my partner and I have always done shift work, so she was never home for alone for more than 6 hours so she stayed in a large playpen, which had her bed,food,water, pee pad and toys although I think she slept most the time.

Now I have a 9 -6 job and I think the playpen is too small for such a long period of time. Although she is obviously toilet trained she can not have free run of the house as she will just bark constantly ( this seems to stop when in the playpen)

So what do you think, what size are is big enough for her whilst we are gone. She is a tiny dog only weighs 2kg :)

Thanks in advance

[Sheridan]

Could you block off one room for her with baby gates that would give the feel of the playpen?

[Podengo]

I block off the laundry for my 6 month old with a puppy pen, our house is open plan and the attached lounge, kitchen and hall have alarms, so she has to stay in the laundry.

[halfthewords]

Our 4 dogs were barricaded in to the back living area/laundry (with access to the backyard) until a few years ago. We had a gate installed at the bottom of the stairs, too, but that's been used maybe twice. They have full access to upstairs, downstairs and outside now that we trust them, but the laundry would be where they would stay otherwise.

[Guest donatella]

I have a baby gate that sections her to the tiled areas (laundry/kitchen/dining). She gets left a wee pad in the laundry and toys and chews while I'm gone and there is nothing she can jump on/off to hurt herself (I too have a small dog at 3kg).

[smisch]

Ours have the back yard well majority of it as we have fenced off a portion, but we also have a dog run that we will confine them to if needed but for the most part they roam free. if we had a house with tiles I'd be fencing off an inside section for them as I prefer them inside where I know they are safe

[Lady Flying Furball]

I agree with the suggestions of the others...still confining her to some degree to keep her settled but just bigger than the play pen. I live in a unit and close bathroom, a bedroom and the living room doors so Tonka ends up with the hallway and kitchen and my bedroom. It is the quieter end of the unit as he was barking at passersby and dogs when he could get into the lounge. It may be a bit of trial and error but don't be disheartened...just a new routine to establish. I also leave the radio on as a sound buffer and often feed him as I go out the door, so my leaving is a great thing!! I balance out my time away with a walk and play before I go and often to the dog park first thing when I go home.

[Red Fox]

Buy another couple of pens and connect them together to make a bigger one. If the dog is already used to being left alone she probably won't even notice the extra few hours anyway.

[pomchi]

Thanks for your responses guys, I have decided to leave the playpen where it is but leave it open and add a barrier in the lounge so she can have the safety/comfort of her playpen but more room to move. This should be about 5m long by 3m wide.

Do you think this is enough room for her to stay in while i am at work.

Cheers

[Esky the husky]

As long as she's got things to do I think that sounds like a good sized space :)