[bulldogjenny]

How many hours is it ok to leave your bull dog in the house alone?

6, 8, 10?

Also at what age will most bulldogs be ok to leave home while at work?

 

[RED]

0, zero, O, never ever ever, not unless you want your house to be torn to pieces and your ready to pay the vet bills for the intestine blockage. No really I do not suggest doing this unless you are real brave.

 

[Bruiser1523]

I agree with red

 

[4NGI3]

the first month we got Nelson when he was a pup, my bf and i made sure we got a mth off work. so we were at home with him every day pretty much for the first month.

then after that, i work 9hrs a day but don't start til about 12, so i'd be home with nelson until i left for work. then one of my friends who finishes work at 5 would come and pick nelson up and take him to her house and i'd pick nelson up after work. sort of a puppie-sitter arrangement. plus she had a puppy a little older that nelson could play with too.

when nelson was about 5mths the puppie sitter was no longer available and i couldn't bare to put nelson in a crate for a 9hr stretch so we left him outside and made sure there was nothing he coudl destroy outside. but he digs up the lawn, thats prolly the only bad thing from that. but better he dig up the lawn than ruin my furniture in the house. the lawn can be fixed cheaply, but the furniture is more expensive and sometimes cannot be fixed.

but if you go by the book then you're supposed to never ever leave them alone. but then what do u do if u have to work? i had no choice, but its worked out fine so far except for a few holes in the lawn here and there.

 

[Chynasmom]

Not that extreme

My dogs are home alone right now. Ozy (9m) is crated, Chyna (5.5y) is loose. A pet sitter will come in around 12:30-1 to take them outside to potty and play, then back they go until 5ish when my husband gets home. They're FINE.

That being said, they are only home alone Tuesdays and Thursdays (they're at doggy daycare MWF), so they're nicely tired from the days before, and if I couldn't get a sitter to come in at lunch I'd go home to let them out for a bit. Also, Chyna spent her "home" days crated until she was around 3 years old. I don't know if Ozy and Chyna will ever be loose together in the house. I'm inclined to say not. But Ozy's crate (once we take out the divider) is Great Dane sized, so I'm not going to work up a sweat worrying about him.

What book says never ever leave them alone? I've never heard that. I certainly wouldn't leave a dog loose in the house until at least 2.5 yrs - longer if they had destructive tendencies. But after 1.5 years I might consider gating them in a largely dog-proofed room.

I would NOT leave my dogs in my yard. But we live in a townhouse community, our back yard faces a road and walking trail, and we're not allowed to have fences over 4' high. There's just too much potential for excessive barking or someone coming in and bothering them. If we were out somewhere more rural and could have a more secure fencing setup, I might consider a doggy door.

 

[HausMommy]

Haus has been crated for up to 8 hours a day since we got him. When he was a small pup, my roommate would occasionally let him out. I've never had a problem leaving him in his crate. It's when I leave him out that I get this:

The only thing when crating, is that you need to make sure the dog gets enough exercise.

 

[RED]

Not to mention they sleep most of the day, in a crate atleast you know they are not safe and not eating stuff to cause a blockage. Leaving them in the backyard is not the best idea, having my dog stolen is not an option, they are fine in their crates.

 

[BanterBull]

It completely depends on the dog(s). I've always started with crate training, then tested them with short amounts of time home alone outside the crate, small increments at a time. Now, Mosley and Montana can be left at home without getting in to much of anything. We've had a small amount of chewing, but even that has stopped within the past year. They're not left alone TOGETHER in the house, but one upstairs and one downstairs. We've left them all three there alone together for short periods of time (30-60 min.) to go over to my sister's house, and they've been fine. But, usually it's how I previously described.

~S

 

[Tara<3Boss]

Boss wasn't left alone for longer than 2 hrs until about a month after we first got him. He had accidents for the first month. He's nine months old now, and is perfectly fine when left alone, as long as I give him something to do while I'm gone, like make sure there are chew toys available and a couple kongs stuffed with treats and kong stuffing. The vet told me that at about 4 months he should be able to hold it for 6-7 hrs and still he won't hold it any longer than that. But our family dog that just passed, would hold it for as long as we were gone, a couple times he was left for 9-10hrs and he'd still hold it until someone came home. I guess it really depends on the dog and whether or not the dog has some sort of separation anxiety or not.

 

[Bogie]

It completely depends on the dog(s). I've always started with crate training, then tested them with short amounts of time home alone outside the crate, small increments at a time. Now, Mosley and Montana can be left at home without getting in to much of anything. We've had a small amount of chewing, but even that has stopped within the past year. They're not left alone TOGETHER in the house, but one upstairs and one downstairs. We've left them all three there alone together for short periods of time (30-60 min.) to go over to my sister's house, and they've been fine. But, usually it's how I previously described.

~S

+1

 

[ares]

woow now that i've read all your posts i felt really sorry for my puppies.
we didnot plan to get ares so when he came to us me and my husband had to go to work everyday for really long hours.
(from 8:30 to 19:00) because it was chrismass time..
The first day ares came home neither me nor my husband could get a day off work so we left ares in a room and sheena (rottie) in the other room.
My husband went home around 12:00 for feeding and potty and heard our neighbors complaining about sheena, they told him that sheena didnt even stopped crying for 1 min.
when he got into the house he realised that it wasnt sheena it was ares
he kept crying until he was put in the same room with sheena
we cleared the room, put some newspapers, put their bowl of water and a toy that sheena loved playing with and a blanket.
(poor ares is always cold he never sleeps without his blanket)
the next day they were fine
sometimes little accidents happened like they turned the bowl upside down wondering what was beneath it and left without water for all afternoon, ares accidentally pooped over the place etc. :wink:
we dont have puppy sitters here in turkey and we really work for long hours so your dogs are really really lucky

 

[BanterBull]

woow now that i've read all your posts i felt really sorry for my puppies.
we didnot plan to get ares so when he came to us me and my husband had to go to work everyday for really long hours.
(from 8:30 to 19:00) because it was chrismass time..
The first day ares came home neither me nor my husband could get a day off work so we left ares in a room and sheena (rottie) in the other room.
My husband went home around 12:00 for feeding and potty and heard our neighbors complaining about sheena, they told him that sheena didnt even stopped crying for 1 min.
when he got into the house he realised that it wasnt sheena it was ares
he kept crying until he was put in the same room with sheena
we cleared the room, put some newspapers, put their bowl of water and a toy that sheena loved playing with and a blanket.
(poor ares is always cold he never sleeps without his blanket)
the next day they were fine
sometimes little accidents happened like they turned the bowl upside down wondering what was beneath it and left without water for all afternoon, ares accidentally pooped over the place etc. :wink:
we dont have puppy sitters here in turkey and we really work for long hours so your dogs are really really lucky

I dont' want to make you feel bad, so I have to clarify this. I didn't completely answer your question. Regarding long periods of time left alone: Ours have been home alone for UP TO 12 hours without any problems. Now, that is extenuating (sp?) circumstances and very rare, but we HAVE done it and they were fine.

~S

 

[Kate]

Kate is home in a her crate for no more then about 8 hours Monday through Friday... Some days are shorter, Monday and Wednsay. But I try not to make it more then 8 hours.... but definitly crate because shes ate some bad stuff and got sick. If shes really tired out and i will only be gone a short time, I'll close off rooms and leave her out

 

[Lylasmum]

Lyla is OK

We are lucky when it comes to Lyla. I crate trained her, but after a few months, we started leaving her for very short periods of time. (going to grab a coffee, or to corner store) We gradually would leave for an hour and went from there. Each time we came back, it was pretty obvious she had been lying down...or sleeping.
Fortunately, she is never left alone for any long periods of time. I work evenings, my husband days, so it's just a few hours.
But...we always make sure the doors to the kids rooms are shut, because if there is one thing she LOVES to chew on, it's a Barbie....

 

[Medic Batista]

Had a similiar conodrum

I work 14 - 20 hours 3 days a week my wife works m-f 8 to about 5 gets home at 545. First we tried the let puther in the kitchen idea, believe it was haus and boss who reinforced what my puppy did(although looks like haus had more fun) I replaced two kitchen cabinets and a linoleum floor. I went back to the crate, i walk mine at 545 every morning and then on the days I work my wife walks her as soon as she is in the door, and then a few hours after that and then I when I get home.

so two days a week she is in the crate for about 10 - 11 hours but the other days i think she may spend5 - 6 hours total asnd thats at night sleeping.

 

[carson]

Petey has his own room rather than a crate, so he can run around, look out at the squirrels, have his water, toys, bed and not much else. Haus' picture of the hole in the drywall kinda scares me because Petey is always getting into things and is quite a chewer. Doesn't help that I've been laid up with a broken leg for a few weeks and have 6 more to go, so he's not getting the exercise he should!
If your dog is chewer, beware. There are plenty of posts that will show you examples of what can happen if they're left the run of the house while no one is home!