# How long do you leave your poodles alone for and how old are they??



## Shereen

Im just curious really, I leave Jake for 4-5 hours by himself and he is 10 months old. :rolffleyes: Do you think this is okay? He is left in the kitchen with LOADS of toys and chewy sticks!! We have a child gate stopping him from getting out (although im sure one of these days he will manage to jump over it!!).


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## redcricket

Cricket is 3, and we have left her for quite a few hours on her own in the house. We started leaving her for short periods of time around 1-1.5 years, and gradually increased the time. (Before that she was crated while we were gone, and at night) She seems to be fine while we are gone, and doesn't get into any trouble! LOL! I think she goes onto her bed and sleeps. Clover on the other hand is only 10 weeks, so needless to say she is crated while we are gone, and we only leave her for about 2-3 hours before we have to come home and let her out. We are in the throes of housebreaking/crate-training!


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## AgilityIG

Vinnie stays at home in the mornings and is kenneled from 7:30 to 12:30 without any problems. He is almost 11 months old now and has been on this schedule for quite a while. I would not leave him loose in my house at this age! :biggrin:


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## Olie

3 of the 4 dogs are crated. They have been since pups. We leave ours 4-6 hours a day and thats because my daughter is back and forth with her job. If she was not they could be crated up to 8-9 hours with a possible break I don't live far from work and have a flex position where I work. The Poms have experienced this a few times, not often and they do fine.


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## Marian

Teddy is almost 8 months old and has only been left alone three times since I got him in August. LOL

The first time, I left him in the crate and he seemed fine when I got home 4 hours later. The last two times were about the same length, one time was closer to 5 hours, but I closed off the dining room and kitchen and let him stay loose so he could play or cuddle with the cat if he wanted to. I did not come home to find a disaster, which was nice.


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## Locket

Mitch is 2 1/2 years and Matrix is 6 1/2 years and both are trustworthy in the house. On weekdays they're typically left alone for four hours during the day while I'm in class, and on weekends I doubt they're left for more than two hours at a time.


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## Marian

I even took Teddy with me to my doctor appointment this morning (the nurses asked me to bring him!). We were there for about two hours and he just slept, either on my lap in the waiting room (or on his favorite--the boobie shelf) or on the floor in the exam room while the doctor was talking to me. He looked up once when I said, "Ow" (the doctor was checking a painful spot on my shoulder), but he went right back to his nap. There was one time when the nurse left the room and Teddy started to follow her. The doc was talking to me, so I didn't want to be rude. I just looked at Ted and snapped my fingers and he came over and sat next to me. That was cool!

He's just so amazingly well behaved for a puppy--and I take no credit for that, he's just naturally mellow. 

Sorry for going off-topic, I'm just so proud of him. I think he's going to make a wonderful therapy dog.


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## Winnow

maybe one hours a day, they are 2 and 3 years old.


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## blackcurls

I have left Willow and Caoimhe for nearly 8hours on their own. As we often have spoos to visit, they too get left if we are going to the city. The maximun number I have left together for over 3 hours is 5 spoos. The girls have access to the whole house and property. I have never had a destructive spoo, even visitors. They have their toys in a basket if they want to play or chew. They get their hour long trek before we do anything and in my experience, routine and consistency are paramount, along with lots of love and discipline


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## debjen

well until one of them starts earning money..*G*..I'm the soul breadwinner of the family so I'm gone between 8-9 hours at work but I am close enough that I can come home at lunch feed (they all eat 3 meals a day due to my oldest having bloated) and medicate (one with a dry eye) and potty..I generally spend between 30 and 40 minutes at home during lunch..tho it can ocassionally be 5 minutes when short handed at work..I think in the 12 years I have had dogs I haven't made it home at all during lunch twice..most evenings are spent with the dogs either at classes or just hanging out..the boys are 1, 3, 4 and almost 12 years


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## plumcrazy

Lucy is about 4 1/2 months old and we leave her alone with my two old dogs gated in the kitchen/dining room from about 7:45 AM until 12:15 PM when I come home for lunch (mine and theirs; and potty). Then they're alone again from about 1:20 PM until about 5:15 PM. I'm really ready to start letting her out into the house, but I know she's going to go through a teething phase pretty soon (found two teeth on the carpet this weekend!) and I want to make sure she's set up for success before letting her have the whole house. She does GREAT in the kitchen/dining area with her "sisters"!!


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## 814

The longest Zack is ever left alone is 6 hours. And that is maybe a Saturday here or there. Its rare though. And even then he isn't truely alone we have another dog too. He is 2 years old. I am at home most of the time so they is only left alone an hour or two a day usually


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## Ray'nBC

Amos is a 6 month old standard and is crated overnight for 9 hours. We go away skiing a few times a week for 5-6 hours. He has no problems with either duration - a yawn, a stretch and an easy amble over to the door to be let out.


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## bigpoodleperson

Riley is 7 years old. He can be left alone for most of the day and be perfectly fine. I usually come home at lunch to let him out. Sometimes 6 hour stretches or longer. Just depends on the day. He is completely trustworthy in the house alone, and has been for years (i think i stopped crating him about 2-3 years old).


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## flyingduster

Riki, 11 year old terrier, is left alone crated from around 7:30am until I get home, which can be after 5pm, ie near on 10 hours at times! More normally 6-8 hours though. She used to have free reign of the house, but we'd often lock her in a bedroom or something to keep away from the cat food and kitchen benches etc (which she'd occasionally get into, and other times not!) but hubby doesn't like dogs in the bed, so she got crate trained about 2 years ago. I should note that she will get up with me in the morning and hoon about, toilet etc, and then while I'm often still eating breakfast or checking emails etc, she'll put herself into her crate, so by the time I'm all dressed and ready to walk out the door, I pop into the spare room and push the door of the crate closed, say bye, and leave her to it (if she's tucked herself into her blanket then she won't even poke her nose out to look, though she'll wag her tail in a 'bye mum!' though! haha)

Paris comes to work with me, so doesn't get left as much, but I HAVE made a point of occasionally leaving her at home for the whole day, so she is fine to be left for 6-8 hours in her crate as well (and she'll get left at home for a few hours or so in weekends when we go into town or something). She will also spend 4 hours alone in the car at a time too, plus the hour of traveling to get there (so 5 hours in the car)


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## poodleholic

Mine are alone for a maximum of 9 hours during the week while I'm at work. I work midnight - 8:00am, so they'd be sleeping anyway. 

For the first 6 months of her life (from 9 wks), Maddy was with me 24/7. After that, I took her to work with me at least 3x/wk., yet she was never alone when home, because my daughter lived with me, and we worked different shifts. When Beau joined the family, I brought him to work, too. He and Maddy are 8, going on 9 yrs. old. Lucia came to work with me every night until I felt ok about leaving her for 8-9 hours. She is now 17 months old, and although she doesn't need to be crated to keep her out've trouble, I do crate her when I'm at work for my peace of mind. Neither Maddy or Beau are crated, however, they choose to sleep in their crates when I'm not home (otherwise, they all sleep with me)! On the days I drop Injunctions off at the court house, I get home an hour or so earlier.


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## *tina*

My dog gets left maybe an hour or two at a time. Up until a few weeks ago, she had free reign of the house while we were gone, but she is going through some incontinence issues, so we've been putting her back in her crate when we are gone. She is not a poodle though. The most she gets left is probably 4-5 hours on the weekends when we go to the beach or shopping or whatever we do on weekends. I'm sure our poodle will be about the same, but he might not be afraid of the ocean like Midge.


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## frostfirestandards

My guys are all between 15 months and 4 years. about 3 days a week they are home from 8 ish in the morning til about 530 at night. the other days im home, and on weekends we usually are only gone for a couple hours at a stretch. 
I rotate dogs that I take to work with me, so no one feels left out. 

When they were all little babies though I was home all the time with them, or if I was out, my MIL let them out midday.


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## bigpoodleperson

I just wanted to add that i too make a point of leaving a dog by itself sometimes. I would Love to have my dogs with me all the time. I think its easier on the dog to learn to be comfortalbe with being alone too. I feel that never leaving a dog alone just asks for S.A. There will be a point where your dog Must be left alone and has to cope (unless your like the lady i know who hires a babysitter for her dogs if she has to run errands for a couple hours...:doh.


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## roxy25

depending on the day sometimes enzo is left alone for 8 hrs and on accidentally for 12 :fish: And really its not left alone because someone is home by 5:30 pm but my family don't play with him hahah so he might as well be alone. he is 15 months old.

I would love to see pictures of him outside in the sun. Its really hard to tell how dark he is in a low lit living room.


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## trj602

Peyton is 6 months and Jagger is 8 months. They are left for 5.5 hours 3 days per week with full access to the yard via dog door and access to a very large area inside enclosed by an outdoor kennel that I have inside. All other days, there is someone home and they have full access to the house.


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## jak

We usually have left the house by 8 am, and get back by 5 30 pm, sometimes later. Saffy is left in our kitchen/lounge area as she has never been destructive, and doesn't bother with food at all. The other dogs are left in our internal courtyard with free rain onto about 1 acre+.

The reason I don't let Saffy out all day is because, the dogs have been known to escape on occasion, and come back from the bush extremely dirty, plus the fact that I don't like the thought of her out and about under no control!

Generally though, someone might come home at lunch, and my stepfather is usually home by 4 pm ish.

Sometimes I might take Saff to my grand parents house and leave her there for the day as someone is usually there every hour or so, and she has the company of my grandparents spoo, Lukas.

Saff generally will be fine wherever I leave her, as long as it is secure though, and I'm sure she'd be fine if we left her for 10 hours or so.


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