Why do people just leave their pets at home for long hours?
 

I mean, if you did this to a small child, child services would be all up on your ass.

There's a guy in my condo that that owns a small studio, and his dog is literally left there for very long hours. Even longer during the weekends.

Whenever I walk past the door, sometimes it'll bark a few times, probably out of desperation and lonliness. How can dog owners not see this?

What should someone do that works?

Leave the pet at a doggy daycare for 8-10 hours a day?

My cat couldn't give 2 shits if I was wiped off the face of the planet.


Most animals are fine for a couple of hours, just be sure they have water and food there. If it's for longer periods like an entire weekend is when I would worry.

Most dogs don't care if there left alone for hours, so long as they get enough exercise and socializing the rest of the day. For the most part they are just as happy lazing around the house as we would be.


I wish I was a dog.

I have a cat who is 17 and loves to cuddle. But he also only wants to do it on his time and is more than content to do as he pleases with free reign of the house when I'm not there.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39822

I think you should tape a sign to his door that reads " they may be only a part of your life but you are all of theirs"

Eh I can leave my cat alone for a couple of days, won't do her no harm. Just leave a mountain of food and open a couple blinds for it to get some sun.

Dogs though, heck no they can't take care of themselves for more than a few hours! I feel sorry for dogs who's owners don't play with them every day!

We have 3 dogs, both of us work. Neither of us the standard 9-5

2 of the dogs are good for 8-12 hours at a time if necessary, the new puppy 7 is pushing it.

Luckily the gf works at a vet and can take the little one with her every day.

We also have a cam set up to check on them from smartphone. 99% of the time they're sprawled out on the bed sleeping. The other 1% they're barking at the neighbors dog when it's out.

They are in no way upset.

You don't assume every time you see a dog in a car with the windows cracked, sunroof open and parked in the shade that the owner is some negligent **** that's been in the store 8 hours do you?

We had 2 dogs, and we'd leave them all day, with a couple bowls of water, plenty of food, sliding glass door open, and a dog door on the screen porch. A/C bill sucked, but the dogs could come and go as they pleased, neighbors never complained about barking, and thieves never tested the German shepherd's ability to guard the open door, lol. Any longer than that, they came with us, it limited our travel, either only day trips, or with 2 big dogs. I owned a minivan, because of our dogs, we have no children...owning a minivan is a sacrifice, trust me :)

Now we have cats, 3 right now, but 4 at one time. We can leave them for days, a week is the longest. Plenty of food, water, and litter boxes. One of them gets a little "needy" when we get back, the others are no different. One would see the bags being packed, and he'd go looking for the auto feeder, he knew us leaving meant the buffet opened up.

Dogs and cats are different, and each pet is different. A responsible, that thinks of their pet as family, will do what's right, and safe for the pet.

I disagree with comparing a dog to a kid. I mean yes, pets are a part of the family and I love my dogs more than anyone can imagine. Sometimes things come up. I go to college and can be gone from 3-10 hours. Other plans come up and I have to go. They both get their water and food before I leave. They're walked and taken outside to go to the bathroom. They're perfectly fine.

But a dog barking doesn't have to mean desperation... Hell my lab/bulldog mix barks at every car, person, dog that goes by. Even if I'm there. That being said sure there are people that treat animals wrong, but people have to work or go to school. That doesn't make them a bad person for their pet being alone for a few hours.

My fiance and I pre plan a sitter if we're going to be gone longer than 8 hours but seriously anything less than 8 or even 9 hours is unavoidable sometimes...

Because she's a fucking cat.

Now, let's go on. OP, know how I know you don't have kids?

This is what happens if I leave my cat at home for a few hours: She moves three fucking inches over and goes back to sleep.

This is what would happen if I left my almost-four year old at home:
http://static4.businessinsider.com/i...rates-home.jpg

If I'm going to be gone for days, we kennel her. Otherwise she's fine.

My neighbours had a dog that was outside in a small backyard every weekday all day and he'd whine and moan all day.

One day he dug through under the fence and was sitting on my back porch.

He was not in good condition either,he had bad rot around his nails and bleeding from the digging he'd done.

Got him some mince cooked up and looked after him for the day and then took him over to the neighbours in the early evening (after ascertaining they were home).

I did not say anything negative,just explained what happened and left it at that.

Poor dog died about a year later.

we get up at 6 am, the bulldog doesnt even think about getting out of bed until noon:bellyroll:

This can't be worse than people who leave their pets in the car with the window slightly cracked.

On a hot day and not in any shade.

Because pets are animals and as humans, we will always value the life of our own kind over another species... unless you're one of those people that would do harm to another human just to protect a cute puppy... then there's really no discussion to be had.

Also, believe it or not, dogs and cats can might be conditioned to seek your company, but in the end they can fend for themselves a lot better than a human child can, assuming they're not locked up in a cage (yes, that includes your house). The "desperation and lonliness" that you're hearing are the indirect result of the animal being placed under human captivity.

Take it easy, Sarah Mclachlan

Amazing how a song about doing heroin has been tied to so many emotional and/or tragic events.

The reason it barks at the door is because it hears you and thinks you're the owner and is excited for him to come home.

My cat used to do that too oddly enough.

Your cat barked?! :confused0068:

yes, but its also in the background for those animal cruelty commercials she makes. Maybe they gave the dogs heroin?

We have 3 dogs and they're fine at home for 6+ hours because we have long work hours. We have our ipad set up so we're able to check-up on them if we need to and most of the time, they're either sleeping or playing with each other. They have plenty of food and water left out and are always taken on a very, very long walk so they're worn out if we plan to be gone longer than 6+ hours. They also have a doggy door from the garage to the backyard so if they need to relieve themselves, they're free to do so! If we have to go on a trip that's overnight, then they are put into daycare/boarded.

It's not like their owners are leaving them at home and gone for long periods of time on purpose. They have jobs/lives and sometimes they can't bring their pet along, so what else are they supposed to do?

Haha!!