Can I rehome a dog if I have a full time job?
• Dogs are very much companion animals and do tend to suffer if left alone for extended periods of time. As a general rule of thumb, an adult, mature dog over five years old should not be left for more than four to six hours on a regular basis. A dog younger than this can generally be left a couple of hours but puppies shouldn’t really be left at all when they are very young, and the time they spend alone should be very gradually built up. One of the most common reasons dogs are brought in to Battersea Dogs & Cats Home are due to separation problems. It is also one of the most common problems we are contacted about on the Behaviour Advice line. As dogs can become very stressed or bored when left alone, they tend to bark, mess or become destructive and this can be a very complicated and time-consuming problem to work through, especially if you aren’t around to work through it. As a rescue centre, we very rarely have a dog that will be able to be left for more than four hours and on the
