Suitable dog for an apartment/ home alone - beagle

[Saz9238]

Join our free community today.

Connect with other like-minded dog lovers!

Login or Register

Hi all,

My boyfriend and I have been considering getting a dog for a long time however we are debating whether we can offer the dog a suitable home. We live in an apartment and both work. This would mean the dog may be home alone for up to 6 hrs. We would love a beagle. We often go hiking at the weekends and think a beagle is a good mix of being a medium sized dog but also energetic enough to go hiking in the mountains.

Has anyone got any experience with leaving beagles home alone in an apartment?

Your advice would be appreciated!

 

[MzGray]

I think it depends on the energy level and not really the size of the dog. A friend of mine has a Great Dane in a small 1 bedroom apartment, but it is perfect for them because the Dane just sleeps during the day. They go on daily 20-40 minute walks and to the park on the weekends and this is sufficient exercise for their dog (not overweight).

 

[Raven oaktree]

Hi, and welcome to the forum. Some dogs are more than happy to left while others are not. If you decide to get a pup i would consider getting a dog walker to come in a break the day up and check on he dog, i would also consider crate training. If you choose to rescue a dog i wouldnt go with anything particular in mind for breed, age , sex etc, but more a list of how you want the dog to fit in with your life style, talk to the rescue center and let them show you who they think will be best for your life . good luck and dont forget the pictures

We have an old mixed breed dog who up until very recently could walk for miles and miles but was very happy to be left, if needed. He comes to work with me hough because he is such a good boy. I also have a pup who can not, and has not ever been able to be left for longer than 3 hours. she is very high energy and needs a lot of imput. she dosent come to work with me because i cant rust her with all the animals so i have a dog walker that comes in , walks her, feeds her and checks she is ok before popping her back in her crate till my hubby comes home, this works for us but without a dog walker i would have had to have given up work because she just cant be left

 

[eingana]

The big issue here is that if you get a puppy you can't be sure whether yours will be one of the turbocharged beagle pups that studies escapology in their spare time, and no matter how well you plan everything, if you have a dog that grows up to have separation anxiety or to take your flat to pieces while you're out then that can all fall to pieces.

It's also really not a good plan to have a puppy and try to toilet train it around work. The pup needs to get the message on what to do while people are around, and 6 hours is too long for a pup even when it is toilet trained due to their really short attention spans. A pup will get into all sorts of mischief if left for that length of time and they would never be left for any great length of time if they were in the wild. As pack animals and still being looked after by their mum, they would have 24/7 reassurance and without that their spirit suffers.

I have friends who until a couple of months ago had a really smashing beagle (old age finally got to him) and for most of his life they went fell running or some other equally adventurous and energetic thing on weekends and then he slept until Thursday, ready to start all over again on Saturday. He was happy, they were happy, but they worked really hard to teach him how to behave for the first couple of years of his life and he was one of very few beagles I know who could be let off a lead and would stay with his humans without being sidetracked by a really interesting smell that he just HAD to follow.

Were you aware that losing your beagle is so common that there's a standard procedure for getting them back? Unless you're really sure that you can get them back, other beagles spend their whole lives on a long line or a lead, just to reduce the chances of following a rabbit scent off into the mountains every time they're not tied to their humans.

I'd agree with Raven Oaktree that if you're thinking of leaving a dog for 6 hours regularly and there's really no way that you could get back to walk the dog in the middle of the day then you really could do with budgeting for a walker. It's one thing if your work pattern changes when you already have a dog into a routine than taking a dog on in the knowledge that it will be left alone all day.

What you need to know is that beagles are inveterate food thieves (they are so in love with smells that they will try to eat a lot of things that we don't think are food, like soap) and they are amazingly three-dimensional in their habits, for dogs. We get used to cats being up on tables and work surfaces, but your average beagle will be up there in the blink of an eye. They can also climb using their claws, so chicken wire, chain link and similar types of fencing don't actually make a space secure- they provide a beagle with a means of escape

I hope that you find the right dog to fit into your life

 

[6th Sense]

I'd agree that 6 hours alone is too long every day, especially for a younger dog. Apartments are not ideal either, dogs need to feel the grass under their feet several times a day IMO. And will you have the time/energy to walk it before and after work every day? Puppies need plenty of exercise and stimulation.