Question for those of you with dogs

[Dave]

Ok, we've got a little king charles, she's 2 years old now.... however, both myself and Jen are working full time, which means the dog is out the back, from around 8 in the morning till 6 in the evenings!! Does anyone think this is unfair on the dog, especially coming into winter, she has a kennel and plenty of food, but is it unfair to leave the dog on it's own for that lenght of time plus with the weather turning soon enough.... Do other people have dogs and both people work? Is getting a second dog an idea so they have each other as company?

Reason I'm asking is Jen has suggested we consider giving our dog away, this is not something I want to do, I'm a dog for life type person, but I do see her side of the argument.........

[optical illusion]

People fuss too much about their dogs, they are dogs, not kids. They live outside.

Leaving her outside with a warm kennel, food and water is fine. Plenty of pigs ears, bones and toys to keep her occupied, and check with the neighbours that she isn't barking all day. Let her in when you come home, with lots of hugs.

My 4 dogs live outside 365 days of the year (and have since they were old enough) and with two of them healthy at age 13, they haven't much to complain about.

Getting another dog won't do any harm, they can sleep and play together and the day won't seem too long for them then.

[gfalls]

If she's been used to being indoors, she'll not be too happy outside permanantly. She will adjust though. You'll know if she's not, because she'll become worried (go off her food, shivering and the like) Best to wait and see. If push comes to shove, she could always come and live here in the country. Another little dog and a few cats for her to play with as well...

[Myfeckin FTO]

A King Charles isn't really an outside dog though IMO - esp on their own.
The best thing you can do is to get a second dog to keep her company if leaving her alone for a period of time.
If leaving outside - (as per Lauras suggestion) then a good quality kennel and plenty of water and toys. Give them a pigs ear/Bonio/Markie etc when you leave so that you leaving is a positive experience rather than a negative.

When we leave the house our two Rotties and King Charles (and most of the time the cat as well) go to the shed (with a snack) under the house - theres plenty of water,dry dog food and toys (balls mostly). They are great company for each other - and you don't feel bad going away for the day.

[Bernard]

Our fella's on his own while we're at work.
He doesn't know any better and seems fine, we let him in when we get back and he heads straight for his frisbee.

[optical illusion]

Bud is unreal Berno, he gets pleasure out of chasing his own tail, or rocks

[Dave]

We have left her out before when we were both working full time, but Jen went down to a 3 day week so it wasn't too bad, now she's back full time and the question arose again... The dog would be in the house pretty much all the time when we're there and out when we're not. Neighbour has complained before saying she was barking all day, but I know this isn't the case.... I just think it's unfair because she'd be lonely and bored, we have a good quality kennel and more toys than I care to think about strewn around the garden (I usually mow over half of them!), it's a tough choice, sometimes I think she'd be better off with a family where she'd get attention all the time and that I'm being selfish keeping her, I suggested a second dog, but that didn't seem to go down well!