How long can a dog stay alone

Most dog owners work outside the home, which means dogs are left alone, sometimes for long periods of time. Is it harmful for a dog to be left alone and how long can a dog be left alone without damage to the psyche?

Photo: pixabay.com

How long can a dog be left alone?

Experts from the University of Edinburgh, who research animal welfare issues (The Jeanne Marchig International Center for Animal Welfare Education), say that dogs with a normal nervous system can safely be left alone at home for up to six hours. As a rule, they sleep at this time and sometimes, it seems, they are even glad that they are left alone – they can finally have a proper rest!  

Photo: flickr.com

Here comes the loneliness that lasts more than six hours, can already negatively affect the psychological well-being, and hence the behavior of the dog. Nevertheless, these are pack animals that experience considerable discomfort, being isolated for a long time. Therefore, for example, in more “dog-oriented” countries, owners are strongly advised to hire a dog-sitter (“dog sitter”) for a pet if the dog is left alone for a longer period.

However, “dog nannies” for the post-Soviet space are more exotic than the norm. Does this mean that all dog owners urgently need to switch to working from home? Does not mean. 

It is great if you have the opportunity to provide the dog with company or not leave it for a long time. But, in principle, a dog can stay alone for longer than six hours, if, of course, you provide him with the necessary conditions, including making sure that the pet does not suffer from boredom during the absence of the owner.

I will make a reservation, however, that a dog cannot be left alone. more than 12 hours (we are talking about an adult dog). This is a matter of physiology – to force even an adult dog to endure more than 12 hours is simply cruel. 

Photo: publicdomainpictures.net

What to do so that the dog does not get bored alone at home?

So that the dog does not get bored when left alone at home, and she does not develop behavioral problems, it is necessary to provide her with the following conditions:

1. Analyze whether the five freedoms of the dog are respected. If the dog as a whole is not too happy, and you still leave him alone for a long time, problems cannot be avoided.
2. Provide an optimal level of predictability and variety to avoid both overexcitation and boredom.
3. Communicate more with the dog: play, train, teach tricks, do shaping. The intellectual load tires the dog (in a good way), and he will not be so bored when left alone.
4. Get “slow feeders” – special labyrinth bowls, food from which dogs are forced to “extract”. This increases the time of eating food and provides an intellectual load.
5. Offer your dog safe search games to play alone.
6. Leave the dog “long-playing” treats – for example, deer antlers or special hollow toys with frozen cottage cheese or pate inside, which the dog is forced to lick out through a small hole.

Photo: pixabay.com

However, there are dogs that cannot stand loneliness: they howl, leave puddles and piles, smash the apartment … This may be due to separation anxiety, or may be the result of unintentional training, when the owners, unwillingly, reinforced such behavior (for example, returned home, when the dog began to howl, or too emotionally said goodbye to the pet).

If the dog cannot be left alone, the cause must be identified and dealt with. A competent specialist can help both identify the cause and develop a corrective program for your particular dog.