Leaving you hav to go to work

Tia · 12-20-2012, 03:30 PM

Hi all,

I just wanted some thoughts on what everyone's routines are with their havs and going to work.

I work Monday - Friday 9-5 and travel about an hour to and from work so it's quite a long day. My husband works shift work so often he his home when I am at work and vise versa. We were conscious of the fact Havanese are very social and like to be with their owners a the time and have set Doug in a routine from day one where even when we are home we make sure we are not giving him attention constantly in order to ensure he is comfortable with being on his own when we are not here. Which seems to be working great. He knows the routine when I leave and doesn't fuss at all.

Most days one of us are here but there are the unfortunate days where we are both working. On these days I have been getting a family member to come and visit Doug to play with him. So the longest he is on his own is about 4-5 hours on these days.

I know many of you on the forum are able to be home with your dogs or take them to work however I was wondering how long people leave their havs for as a maximum and what their routine is for that? Are your havs ok entertaining themselves?

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lfung5 · 12-20-2012, 03:55 PM

I normally don't leave my guys for more than 4-5 hrs. I will admit on occasion it's gone 5.5 hrs. It do get antsy though. I've only done that a few times when they were older. I've watched my guys on video and they pretty much sleep the entire time I am gone. There is no anxiety. In fact, when I leave for work, they jump up on top of the couch and watch me drive away. They also have a doggy door if they need to pee or poo and they have each other.

davetgabby · 12-20-2012, 04:44 PM

my wife is home all day. When we go out the most is five to six hours. Molly's fine alone. I think she plays video games. lol

Miss Paige · 12-20-2012, 04:53 PM

When I was working there were a couple days a week I had to work an 8 hr shift-I would leave at 2:00PM and not get home till 11:30. But my hubby would be home by 6:00. There have been other times they have been alone for 8 hrs but I hate that. I have two plus a foster so they do have each other. I just would not leave a dog home alone for longer than 4 hrs. Having someone come to the house to check on him & spend time is the best thing for him.

spiffylike · 12-20-2012, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davetgabby

my wife is home all day. When we go out the most is five to six hours. Molly's fine alone. I think she plays video games. lol

Bahaha! What game, Dave?

Tia, I leave Freddie for a max of about 3-3.5 hours during the day, and he's just over 3 months old. He is perfectly capable of entertaining himself in the kitchen during that time. I leave him with water, things to chew and things to cuddle and he *rarely* has any accidents during that time. I know he plays when I do this because I left Freddie in the kitchen one morning when I went to work and the DBF was still sleeping. When he woke up he found Freddie thrashing around one of his toys in the kitchen. What an independent little guy! I don't know how independent Doug is, but I'm sure he's good for a chunk of time like you mentioned. Bravo for getting someone to come in the middle of the day. That's my plan for Freddie if I ever have to work full-time.

davetgabby · 12-20-2012, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miss Paige

When I was working there were a couple days a week I had to work an 8 hr shift-I would leave at 2:00PM and not get home till 11:30. But my hubby would be home by 6:00. There have been other times they have been alone for 8 hrs but I hate that. I have two plus a foster so they do have each other. I just would not leave a dog home alone for longer than 4 hrs. Having someone come to the house to check on him & spend time is the best thing for him.

like your theory Pat.

Suzi · 12-20-2012, 05:27 PM

I have days where they are left for about 9 hours although my two jobs have now dropped my hours to less than part time

So the sisters are happy.
Anyway I should take a video of what its like when I come home and maybe someone can tell me if they seem stressed or not. I have a gate at my kitchen and the bathroom connects to the bedroom so they have the bedroom and kitchen all day while I'm gone. So I unlock the front door and Maddie starts jumping about two feet off the ground Zoey is also excited but not like Maddie. I try to get to the gate fast because Maddie has a bad knee and I'm always afraid she is going to hurt herself. I let them out and they are very excited. I tell them how much I missed them and we go to the couch and I get lots of licks.Zoey looses interest in me and will grab a bone and start chewing. ( That is a new behavior for her.) And I have wondered if that is anxiety or not. Maddie will get her ball and have me start playing.
In the AM we get up go outside. Maddie will go back to bed while Zoey follows me everywhere.Sometimes Maddie will get up and have me play ball.I'm fast at getting ready because I like my sleep so it is only about a half hour awake and I'm off. I go to the bedroom and say mommie has to go to work come say bye bye. We have kisses and bellie rubs and I tell them to have a good day. They don't try to follow me and I leave them in the dark. I have no idea what they do while I'm gone. Some days I find a collection of things they have brought up to the bed. Lately they have been barking a lot more and Zoey is chewing up things more. I think my longer hours is affecting them some.

Suzi · 12-20-2012, 05:38 PM

I have days where they are left for about 9 hours although my two jobs have now dropped my hours to less than part time

So the sisters are happy.
Anyway I should take a video of what its like when I come home and maybe someone can tell me if they seem stressed or not. I have a gate at my kitchen and the bathroom connects to the bedroom so they have the bedroom and kitchen all day while I'm gone. So I unlock the front door and Maddie starts jumping about two feet off the ground Zoey is also excited but not like Maddie. I try to get to the gate fast because Maddie has a bad knee and I'm always afraid she is going to hurt herself. I let them out and they are very excited. I tell them how much I missed them and we go to the couch and I get lots of licks.Zoey looses interest in me and will grab a bone and start chewing. ( That is a new behavior for her.) And I have wondered if that is anxiety or not. Maddie will get her ball and have me start playing.Then we go out for a walk.
In the AM we get up go outside. Maddie will go back to bed while Zoey follows me everywhere.Sometimes Maddie will get up and have me play ball.I'm fast at getting ready because I like my sleep so it is only about a half hour awake and I'm off. I go to the bedroom and say mommie has to go to work come say bye bye. We have kisses and bellie rubs and I tell them to have a good day. They don't try to follow me and I leave them in the dark. I have no idea what they do while I'm gone. Some days I find a collection of things they have brought up to the bed. Lately they have been barking a lot more and Zoey is chewing up things more. I think my longer hours is affecting them some.

Tia · 12-20-2012, 05:40 PM

Thanks for everyone's thoughts. Doug is similar in that he is so independent and I think that's because we have been really influential in that because of our working schedules and not being able to be there all the time. When I leave I hide a few treats around the laundry and put his toys in a particular place so I can see what he has been up to when I have been gone.

I did think at one point he was having some anxiety as his bed would be completely in a different position. I have since learnt from watching him play that he tries to pull his blanket through the gaps of the crate and is so determine that he can pull the whole crate around.

When I leave and know ill be gone for more than a couple of hours I also give him this particular chew bone he just loves. He knows what it means sits patiently for it and when I give it to him jumps out his doggy door to go and enjoy.

When I get home he gets excited but I ignore for the first few minutes so he then calms down when I go over to unlock the gate I ask him to sit which he does (the one command that he has completely mastered all the rest he treats as optional at this point lol).

I've also noticed his excitement when I come home isn't nearly as excited as he gets when I have a visitor he hasn't met before so I do think he is fine on his own but I just wanted the reassurance it's ok to leave him as much as I hate it. I've also noticed on the weekends he sleeps loads during the day so I figure that's what he does when I'm gone.

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Tuss · 12-21-2012, 05:20 AM

I live alone and work full time, however, most days i can come home at lunch so 5 hours is about the max they are left alone. If I know i have a long day then i make sure they get a walk or hard play session in the morning, make sure they both pee and poo (sometimes they try and hold it). I tell Gemma to "go to her crate and she runs in, lays down and waits for her treat. I say "you guys be good" which means i'm leaving for awhile and they stretch out for a good nap. I've video'd them and they just sleep while i'm gone.

On my long days (12+ hours)they go to daycare, i don't want to have to worry about them.