Should People Who Work 7 Hours A Day 5 Days A Week Buy A Puppy?

[Stitch]

As a breeder, I would like to canvas everyones opinions here as to whether they think a person or a couple should be looking to buy a puppy when they both work full time, five days a week and the baby puppy would be left home alone when they were at work??

I realise that not everyone can work at home or work part time and my heart goes out to people who desperately want a dog, but to my way of thinking putting an 8 week old puppy into this situation isn't right on so many levels.

Over to you!

[huski]

I don't see a problem with it at all as long as the pups mental and physical needs are met and the owners are responsible and have a good set up for the pup. However I would set the same criteria for ANY owner no matter how much or little they worked.

If you ruled out owners who work full time from owning pups you would rule out many great responsible homes. Most people have to work.

Edited June 29, 2014 by huski

[~Anne~]

I can't see anything wrong with it.

Sure, it's not 100% ideal but dogs adapt.

[SkySoaringMagpie]

Depends on the dog and the owners. It would not be fair (or sensible if you want to avoid behavioural problems) to take the pup from its mother and siblings and then leave it alone for 8 hours immediately. But if the people take some time off during which they settle the pup in and get it used to being by itself for increasing amounts of time and secure with its surroundings, then I don't see a deal breaker.

However, I think all that is a bit irrelevant. If you're a breeder, you set the terms you are happy with for your puppies. What other people would or wouldn't do isn't really relevant, if you're not happy with the pup being by itself that long, then don't sell them a pup.

[WreckitWhippet]

I worked 9 plus hours a day, bred and raised litters.

It's been done to death, it's the time you commit to the animal and what you do with it when you are home that counts.

I have and will always sell to working people who are committed.

[mita]

Depends on the dog and the owners. It would not be fair (or sensible if you want to avoid behavioural problems) to take the pup from its mother and siblings and then leave it alone for 8 hours immediately. But if the people take some time off during which they settle the pup in and get it used to being by itself for increasing amounts of time and secure with its surroundings, then I don't see a deal breaker.

However, I think all that is a bit irrelevant. If you're a breeder, you set the terms you are happy with for your puppies. What other people would or wouldn't do isn't really relevant, if you're not happy with the pup being by itself that long, then don't sell them a pup.

Yes, to the first paragraph.

Yes, to the second paragraph.

[Mystiqview]

No problem with it here. I work 5 days a week for just as long and my dogs are left at home....I am a breeder. If you provide for the dogs - both adult and puppy with stimulation and activities to sustain it through the day then nothing wrong with leaving it at home all day.

Even when people are home, work at home etc - we don't always dote on our dogs for a continual 7 hours.

There are some people who are more organised than some others will ever be. Just like there are really crap parents and very good ones.

Each case judged on its individual merit. Just because someone works full time should not automatically exclude them from owning a dog. There are some people who do work from home or part time I would not even give a flea off my dog to... There are others who are probably better "parents" than I am.

[Steph M]

I know lots of amazing dog people who work more than 8 hours and have some of the happiest, healthiest and best adjusted dogs out.

Imagine ruling the majority of society out as puppy owners, that's a dangerous position right there.

[mumof4girls]

I thnk it's ridiculous to expect a person to be home each day in this financial climate ..

They need to set the puppies environment up for being left during the day , take time off when puppy arrives and get them used to being alone for longer periods during the day , it's not rocket science if you prepare ..

I read this a lot on FB pages where people say, if you can't be home 24/7 with your puppy you shouldn't get one .. Just a ridiculous thought in my opinion .

[dotdashdot]

Definitely. I'm one of those people myself, our second dog came home last November. I took her to work with me for the first week, then took 2 weeks off before acclimatising her to being alone/with our other dogs and then leaving her alone with an "escape" to her private run/our loungeroom as she needed.

Baby puppy going into a home where it is to be left alone for that long 5 days a week immediately, and the new owners don't take any time to settle pup in - well no I wouldn't be happy with that.

[Bjelkier]

I thnk it's ridiculous to expect a person to be home each day in this financial climate ..

They need to set the puppies environment up for being left during the day , take time off when puppy arrives and get them used to being alone for longer periods during the day , it's not rocket science if you prepare ..

I read this a lot on FB pages where people say, if you can't be home 24/7 with your puppy you shouldn't get one .. Just a ridiculous thought in my opinion .

I agree with all of this.

If I didn't sell most of my last litter to working homes I wouldn't have had anyone to sell pups too and all those dogs turned out just fine.

[sas]

I think you'll find the majority of people have full time jobs are capable of raising puppies.

[huski]

Personally I don't think it's a good thing for my dogs to have access to me 24/7. They need to be able to learn how to self settle and cope with being on their own. It's the same reason I will always separate pups from older dogs, so they can learn to be on their own happily. It isn't nice for a dog to develop separation anxiety or to have an inability to relax and settle if left on their own. If you don't work or only work very limited hours it's harder to ensure your dogs learn to cope being on their own than if you left the house each day for work.

[poochmad]

I think it's a fantasy to want your dogs to go to homes where people are only away for 7 hours of the day. Most professionals work longer hours up to 10 or more and don't forget, not everyone lives within 5 mins drive from their home

By taking full time workers out of the equation you are left with stay at home parents (who wouldn't have time for a pup), people who work from home (who couldn't devote all their time to a pup), retired people, or the unemployed.

By taking out the above people/groups you'd be left with a minute pool of people.

Edited June 29, 2014 by poochmad

[Trisven13]

Depends on the dog and the owners. It would not be fair (or sensible if you want to avoid behavioural problems) to take the pup from its mother and siblings and then leave it alone for 8 hours immediately. But if the people take some time off during which they settle the pup in and get it used to being by itself for increasing amounts of time and secure with its surroundings, then I don't see a deal breaker.

However, I think all that is a bit irrelevant. If you're a breeder, you set the terms you are happy with for your puppies. What other people would or wouldn't do isn't really relevant, if you're not happy with the pup being by itself that long, then don't sell them a pup.

Exactly

No problem with it here. I work 5 days a week for just as long and my dogs are left at home....I am a breeder. If you provide for the dogs - both adult and puppy with stimulation and activities to sustain it through the day then nothing wrong with leaving it at home all day.

Even when people are home, work at home etc - we don't always dote on our dogs for a continual 7 hours.

There are some people who are more organised than some others will ever be. Just like there are really crap parents and very good ones.

Each case judged on its individual merit. Just because someone works full time should not automatically exclude them from owning a dog. There are some people who do work from home or part time I would not even give a flea off my dog to... There are others who are probably better "parents" than I am.

100%

I thnk it's ridiculous to expect a person to be home each day in this financial climate ..

They need to set the puppies environment up for being left during the day , take time off when puppy arrives and get them used to being alone for longer periods during the day , it's not rocket science if you prepare ..

I read this a lot on FB pages where people say, if you can't be home 24/7 with your puppy you shouldn't get one .. Just a ridiculous thought in my opinion .

Not that many years ago women were criticised for going back to work when they had children but now that is expected.

Personally I don't think it's a good thing for my dogs to have access to me 24/7. They need to be able to learn how to self settle and cope with being on their own. It's the same reason I will always separate pups from older dogs, so they can learn to be on their own happily. It isn't nice for a dog to develop separation anxiety or to have an inability to relax and settle if left on their own. If you don't work or only work very limited hours it's harder to ensure your dogs learn to cope being on their own than if you left the house each day for work.

Yep and my dogs are a great example of this as I work from home. They are not used to being home alone.

[Dame Aussie]

I agree with everything that has been said. We worked full time raising both our guys from about 11 weeks and they are both happy, healthy and well behaved. All our spare time is spent with them and they dictate where we live and work to a large extent.

[Sash]

Hasn't this topic been done to death already?

It depends entirely on the owners and how much work and time they invest in the dog when they're not working. It's just offensive to the people (like myself) who do work full time and who have happy/healthy/well adjusted dogs and love them to bits.

I was in the fortunate situation of living with family when Astro was tiny so he got to hang out with my mum and her dog during the day while I worked. But even if that wasn't the case, I certainly don't think that just because I work full time I shouldn't have a dog.

Yes, for 40 hours a week, I'm not with him but the majority of the rest of my time, he's by my side. We walk in the morning every day, go to the park for at least an hour everyday in the afternoon, we work on obedience training every day, we go to obedience training every weekend, and often do things like go to the beach/bushwalking.

Edited June 29, 2014 by Sash

[Guest hankodie]

Personally I don't think it's a good thing for my dogs to have access to me 24/7. They need to be able to learn how to self settle and cope with being on their own. It's the same reason I will always separate pups from older dogs, so they can learn to be on their own happily. It isn't nice for a dog to develop separation anxiety or to have an inability to relax and settle if left on their own. If you don't work or only work very limited hours it's harder to ensure your dogs learn to cope being on their own than if you left the house each day for work.

Totally agree huski. I work from home and my dogs have (or had I should say, we are working on it - as you know :)) this problem. Hank especially has a very hard time learning to settle on his own because he is so used to having access to me 24/7. This creates training problems too on top of the whole separation issue.

Quality not quantity I say.

[Airedaler]

There are many of us who, had the values/conditions of some breeder's/rescue people, been imposed upon us would never have been able to buy a puppy which in many cases was the catalyst for many (over 40) years experience and commitment to the dog world.

Not only did we both work when we bought our first puppy, I continued to work for the next 35 years and managed to raise many litters while working.

[OSoSwift]

I see no issue with it.

I have owned, raised and trained dogs to reasonably high levels working 5 days or more a week. The time spent with my dog was quality time.

The persons commitment to their puppy/dog is the most important thing. How can people who work very little or not at all be expected to cover unforeseen vet bills??? Would they then get critised for not spending money on treating their dog?????

You can't very often find owners who have that much money they don't need to work.

So what would it be???

I think expecting people who work to never get a puppy is a tad over zealous, and totally unreasonable