I moved from a house with a yard and a doggy door to an apartment. I left my dog in the apartment for total of 8.5-9 hrs a day while I was at work. She never had an accident but after about 8 months of that I gave the dog to a relative who had a horse farm. I loved that dog so much but it wasn't fair to the dog and I couldn't afford a dog walker. No crate involved and it still wasn't right.

We have always had a midday dog walker. Twice a day when they were puppies. If the walker can’t come for whatever reason, we work from home. I can’t imagine leaving a dog in a crate for that long.

Anonymous wrote:We trained our dog to not need the crate.

Same, we only used crate first 2 months. She’s home alone when we’re working and is either on the couch or her bed. The longest she’s left alone like that is seven hours (and most days we have a dog walker or my husband comes home at lunch)

Anonymous wrote:Ideally you can train your dog to stay at home outside the crate.

+1

OP, do you have a spare room that the dog could be kept in while you're at work?

We used to leave the dog in the kitchen. Well he was never very destructive anyway. We also had a walker at midday. Now that we work from home, the dog sleeps on the sofa the whole day, expect for his walks.

He needs a bigger area than just his crate. You can get a big exercise pen or use baby gates.

If his only issue is chewing your rugs, then get rid of your rugs so your dog can be comfortable.

I am gone for 7-8 hours a day. I have never crated, but I do put a baby gate up in the bedroom where our dog normally sleeps with his favorite toys. I put dog relaxation music on, he gets a Greenie, and a Kong with frozen broccoli and sweet potato, and enjoys some peace and quiet, and he always seems very happy for us to leave because of the Greenie.

I start the morning with an immediate bathroom break, then a 20-40 minute walk after breakfast so he has a chance to potty twice. He then gets two walks when we return. He has never destroyed anything or had an accident.

My dog goes to day care. Even when I work inside of the home, which I'm doing now.
Animals need exercise, stimulation and socialization.

Ideally you can train your dog to stay at home outside the crate.

We trained our dog to not need the crate.

It is not fair to keep a dog in a crate 10 hours a day.

You need to re home your pet. Sorry. That much caging night and day is tantamount to neglect.

I think 5-6 hours is the absolute max for daytime crating for most dogs. If this were me, I would send my dog to doggie daycare 3 days a week and have a dogwalker come the other two days.

How long is it acceptable to crate the dog? We work 8 hours and have a 1 hour commute.


Is 10 hours in a crate too much? Is 8-9 hours?

We can hire a midday dog walker but our dog has a tendency to be destructive when bored (chews holes in our rugs) so he needs to be crated when the walker isn’t there.

Also, what do people do who work outside of the home and can’t afford a dog walker? I’m assuming the animal stays alone for 8-10 hours…