NFT: New dog advice

I've been there many times, most recently with the first cat I ever had and it is still tearing up 5 months later. Our pets really do become like family members.

The only advice I have is to not spend a ton of energy wondering about the "when" question. They have a way of letting you know when it is time.

I think you meant this for arcarsenal. You may want to repost there.

Russell mix, 25 pounds, and she can go all day without going to the bathroom.

I struggle with leaving the dog home alone all day in a crate though.

If no one is home we bring her to doggy day care where she's uncrated and plays with other dogs all day.

That can be expensive though I guess. Most days I'm home with her since I work out of the house.

She is crate trained but rarely spends more than a couple hours in her crate any more.

We have small dogs and work all day as well. Yes, they can easily go 8hrs after they are trained. Never had an issue.

..

She has free run of the house. She loves sitting on the chair in the living room so she can look outside.

My Standard had the run of the house. I never used a crate after he was trained, so having to crate a dog never occurred to me. Is that what most people do when they're gone all day?

but we just recently also added a second very small dog to the family.

I hope that he will end up being able to hold it that long. My parents have a Bichon Frise and he can go all day with no problems so I kind of assume that the size is still relative to the amount of urine they hold so it isn't much different because of their size.

I do think some individual dogs may vary with their ability to go longer or not regardless of their size; more kind of luck of the draw.

But our 25 pound dog can go all day. We rarely leave her that long though.
Smaller dogs do have smaller bladders but they drink less water, so I think that's probably not a big factor.

There's probably no universal answer here. Each dog is different. Certainly the dog is going to need a midday walk during the first 6-12 months if you get a puppy. And Even if you're getting a rescue, the dog needs to develop new habits.

In comment 13656564 Pete in VA said:

Quote:

My Standard had the run of the house. I never used a crate after he was trained, so having to crate a dog never occurred to me. Is that what most people do when they're gone all day?

Many people do. Our dog, which was a rescue, has never gone to the bathroom in the house (literally zero times), and never eaten anything she wasn't supposed to except toilet paper/tissue from the bathroom trash can when one of the kids left the bathroom door open.

but if we're gone long periods we do crate her. She loves the crate though so it's not a punishment, it protects her and us.

my comment was more if you planned to crate her 8 hours a day 5 days a week, I think that would be cruel.

run of the house is different, but I've never been comfortable with that either.

But I have read that adult dogs can be safely crated for up to six hours during the day and eight at night. For puppies their maximum crate time is their age in months plus one.

Or a smaller dog? Mine is a 40 lb corgi/Australian Sheppard mix and she can hold it all day if need be.

she goes all day without having an accident.

Smaller dogs are way more neurotic though. She was tough to train though, very tough. The outcome is that she has waaaaay more personality than your average dog, and she's a very very good dog

you can follow her of you want on Instagram comezoomwithroob

My daughter created it

Especially if you get a pup. Remember they need exercise too.

We have a doxon/beagle mix. He's is 19 lbs and goes 7-8 hrs with no accidents. We got him as a rescue when he was 1 maybe 1 1/2 and had to train him. On occasion, he has gone longer with no problems.

compatibility quiz on their site that's a pretty fun way to start searching different breads. It'll match you with a breed of dog & give you some other comparable options too.
Link - ( New Window )

check out apps Rover or Wag! which are sortof like uber for dog walkers. We swear by it.

once trained. Dogs can have accidents up to 2 years of age when they are considered adult. The older the rarer.

As far as keeping them in a crate for 8 hours, 5 days a week, it's not a problem. Whatever their routine is, That's what they are happy with.

More important than the size of a dog is the dogs personality and temperament.

Some breeds require a lot of activity and should not be left home alone for long periods of time.

Other breeds are perfectly content to be left unattended.

Some dogs just don't like being left alone and will become destructive if they are left alone too long and too often.

Especially if you get an older one (5 years old+). They are small, tidy, good alone, and have great temperment. You can adopt a rescue from cavaliers usa.

if they are going to be home alone. That way they have a campanion