Time alone

[mebesa]

Hi, I am planning to get a doodle for my family. The thing is, there is someone at home most of the time during the week. But most weekends we go out for aprox. 5 hr. each day.
It is possible for a doodle to stay home and not become bored (destructive) for that amount of time?

Also where do you recommed we let her sleep?

Thank you so much... we want to know as much as possible before we get him/her

I think it would be fine to leave her for 5 hours. I would get a crate and put crate train until you know if your doodle is destructive or not. I had Maya sleep in her crate until she was potty trained and now she's claimed her side of the bed.

[MichelleB]

I also use a crate, it seems to work out great for Brodie.
Brodie can not be left uncrated yet, he is a very curious boy who loves to
chew just about anything except his toys

[KingstonTodd]

We usually crate our doods for 4-6 h every weekday. As long as they get attention and exercise first it should not be a problem. I am home all day for the last few weeks writing part of my doctorate and have kept the morning routine the same for the dogs. they sleep all day even with me here so i dont feel bad crating. You could always build an outdoor dog run for nice days and let the doodle have some outside time too.

[lmtoth2]

If you get them in a schedule they'll be fine Dex has been alone 9 hrs a day (Mon to Fri) since he arrived. He adapted...now we have 2 and they are also fine. Our house is quite loud w/doodles running amok for a few hrs when we get home, but otherwise it's fine.

Just be prepared to give your doodle some extra exercise on those days

Oh one more thing - if you get a young puppy, he/she will probably not be able to go 5 hrs w/o needing to pee until he/she is closer to 5-6 months old.

[MaxandMe]

a crate is best as you know your doodle is safe and they usually sleep alot if you're gone.

once home bring your doodle out for a good run and once inside lots of hugs and small game of fetch

[blueteal]

Definately a crate until they can be trusted to
roam free......................

[L's Mom]

Ours are left in crates on some days for up to 8 hours. They do just fine, but we make sure to do plenty of excercise both in the morning and in the evening. Even when the days we are home with them, with a good hard work out in the morning, they sleep most of the day... but if you get a puppy, won't be able to stay without potty for so long...

[sdrudge]

Ditto with everyone. A crate and a schedule will make it easy for you and them.

[MaxandMe]

Originally Posted by sdrudge

Ditto with everyone. A crate and a schedule will make it easy for you and them.

DITTO here too

[lmtoth2]

Ours are left in crates on some days for up to 8 hours. They do just fine, but we make sure to do plenty of excercise both in the morning and in the evening. Even when the days we are home with them, with a good hard work out in the morning, they sleep most of the day... but if you get a puppy, won't be able to stay without potty for so long...

again a big ditto. I felt sad leaving Kirby in the crate 9 hrs a day, but then we taped him one day and I saw he slept the whole time. We have since been able to eliminate the crate, but we found ours did just fine.

[deepnite10]

Originally Posted by MichelleB

Brodie can not be left uncrated yet, he is a very curious boy who loves to
chew just about anything except his toys

my recommendation to the wife was to place all the shoes in the middle of the room..then put Toby s chew toys were we normally keep shoes.

the crate solution is the best answer..i used the direction s from the Iams website to crate train Toby..not easy..but, after 3 days i was able to point to the crate and he d just make himself at home..

[dgeggis]

Remy is 9 weeks old and we leave him in his crate during the day.
He goes in at roughly 8am and gets let our for lunch at noon, back in at 1 and then out at 3:30 for play/potty and then back in until 6 pm.

The morning stretch has been a little long, evidenced by the wet spot in the crate but he's getting it.
He is also crated all night (10pm - 5am) and has been doing pretty well with that. W got up at 3am to do a potty run becaus ethe cats woke us all up.

[Jac]

Everyone has given you great advice and I echo what they have said.
Although I prefer that doodles are not left alone longer than 5 hours, maximum, at a time...especially routinely, I understand that sometimes that is a necessity. For those who do need to leave the doodle that long (as you read in these posts) it is critical that the dog be exercised and given a LOT of love and attention. These dogs are social and need company, love, playtime and socialization.
Doggie Daycare is an excellent option.
My concern is that you also mentioned in another post that you had a bad knee and may have trouble exercising a puppy...I might suggest that you get an older dog, one at least 2 years old, because they are more mellow (they still do the zoomies sometimes, but not like puppies).
I think that the combination of long crate time and little or no exercise is bad for a doodle. You may want to look into a different, less active, less socially dependent breed.
Here is a nice article regarding crating rules and potty training:
http://www.inch.com/~dogs/cratetraining.html