I was a shameful dog Mom today :(

[luvmygsp]

C was home alone from 715am-545pm

MH found out Monday that he had to travel to NY today (flight @ 630am, airport 1.5hrs away, so he left at 230am) Usually he comes home for lunch b/c he works like 10min from home, so C usually gets to go out around lunchtime, but when H is gone C is SOL.

So this morning I get up early & take C for a 20min walk, our usual morning routine when H is OOT. My plan was to ditch out of work a couple min early so I could come home & feed C & take him for a walk quick before I had to go volunteer (which we do every Weds night).

Yeah so much for that, I didn't even leave the office till 530, & it takes me about 20min to get home. Thank god the director of the foster center for dogs we volunteer at texted me this afternoon & let me know that we didn't need to come out today, b/c I for sure would have only had time to come home, let him out & feed him before having to leave again. Of course we always take a walk when I get back from volunteering, but still, poor guy, breaks his heart when I walk out the door again after being gone all day!!!

Anyway, we took a super long, almost hour long walk when I got home, so he's happy! But I still feel bad...

[ali2005jason]

Thanks stinks! Luckily for us, I stay at home with my DD so the dogs get to stay out of the crate most of the day. But there are days when I'm in and out and Dapper runs from me when I go to put him in the crate. At night, he'll walk right in but during the day he'll run An hour long walk sounds wonderful!

[corgilove22]

If it makes you feel better I leave for work every day at 7:30 and don't get home until 5:45. They all expect get walked and playtime for the evenings. Sometimes DH will stop by and let them out but generally they are in for the long haul. So don't beat yourself up too much .

[mrsmc08]

Currently my dogs are left alone from 7:30am until 8 or 10pm at night. My sister goes over and lets them out around 4ish, and sometimes her husband comes by and walks them for me. I walk them each a mile in the morning and then I TRY a mile when I come home, feed them, eat and then take them. Its happening less and less. Then I go to bed and start all over. Until last week they were used to someone being home almost always. I feel bad, so I keep giving them kongs filled... but that is probably not the very best idea either. They seem to accept it at this point. I have no idea what they are thinking, or feeling since the last time anything like this happened my husband never came home, someone else moved in and then we all moved. Luckily I think dogs are more adaptable than we are.

[patches31709]

My dog is alone for 10 hours 5 days a week. I don't find it shameful. Is it ideal? No, but it hurts me when other people call it things like "shameful." My dog has a far-better life in my home than in his previous one.

[amavelle]

Based on some webcam footage, I know my dogs sleep generally the entire time I'm gone, usually 8-10 hours five days a week. It's hard when that's not really their normal routine, but I think it's harder on us than it really is on them.