Working dog that can be alone?

[Sonicdmb73]

They all crap. The bigger the dog.......

One of the guys at work puts his dog into 'doggy daycare'. A woman who has a smallholding, takes in dogs during the day and they just run around the field line loonies all day and have a great time.
He lookes out of the office winday when it rains and comments on how minging the dog will be. And the fun of having to hose him off when her gets home.

I can think of nothing worse for a working dog. All your training wasted by the dog self rewarding.
Pets fine, but I would want some control applied if someone else had my dogs through the day.

 

[User00033]

I was always told don’t get two pups from same litter as their “ allegiance” will always be to each other and not you ..... seen results of this with a colleague who couldn’t walk two of them together off lead .... just ignored him completely and bolted.

There's some merit in this. Two sibling dogs used to operating in tandem from birth can be more determined than the sum of their parts, for want of a better expression.

The two Staffords I have now were trained with the zap 'em collars when off the lead. So now, if they look like they are about to bugger off, they are warned, if they start to run after that they are warned again. That's the point at which they say to each other "oooo shite we're about to get mullared by that nasty invisible lightening bolt thing, quick, turnaround!".

The only problem I've had with siblings is heightened prey instinct. In both cases the bitches were seriously deadly on vermin and cats, and constantly on the lookout for action, whereas the dogs were/are quite lazy. But when the bitch shows interest, the dog perks up and follows. This means there's two on the case, and two needing control, whereas if I only had the dog, a lot of the time nothing would happen. It's great for the most part, and our gardens are largely pest and cat free as a result, but it can be a pain in the arse when in the field, as the bitch just never stops, she's constantly on the go.

I wouldn't trade the benefits of sibling dogs for this though. They truly are just "one dog" as we call the two we have now, they really look after each other and we've never had problems with leaving them alone. I think their overall health - physical and mental - is greatly enhanced by having a constant doggie companion.

 

[Pedro]

Going back to the original question: A Labrador is the most versatile. But you really do need to not leave any dog alone for any length of time until they are mature. Even then, with a hopefully well adjusted dog, keep those alone periods to a minimum. Labradors can survive without exercise if you are ill. They can survive without company if you go away for the day (bladder considerations taken into account) but if it's every day, then you have to really think about the dog's quality of life and the long term effects.

There are people who walk dogs for you (called "dog walkers" strangely enough) that you could employ. Maybe a relative or trusted neighbour could do this though. A retiree would be ideal. You are going to compromise in that the dog may well develop split loyalties, but any way you look at it, if you are away at work, there's going to have to be a compromise and saying that, I would ensure that the dog's quality of life comes before your desire to have a dog.

 

[sauer]

Husbandry conditions to be considered also

If have to be away periodically for long periods say 5 hrs beyond etc then really a kennel and run preferred

Far better (my own thoughts) for dogs mentality having own box / bed and a run to go to toilet with no repercussions ... the. You have sights smells noises that I think makes a difference .

Ours are 80/90% pets ... with us from 07:30 ish to 23:00 every day .. in house bit bed time or if we nipping Out or long day trip can’t take them they Are kenneled and or o have my folks round .


They go to kennel no problems at all .... one of my boys pals occasionally comes round to play ... but he is terrified off dogs .... they go to the kennel for couple hours ... get a pigs ear and they happy in there.

It’s miles better than shut in house .... just my thoughts

Paul

 

[willyroe]

Another dog tip for when you have a busy life is “surprising” the dog. I feed my dog (3yr old lab) at random times in a 4 hrs afternoon window. Same with walks, never set at the same time, sometimes short sometime long.

This way she doesn’t sit their looking at me (I want fed etc!).