Chihuahua's Alone All Day

35265 Views 47 Replies 39 Participants Last post by Lil Cha Cha, Jul 24, 2009

Boogaloo

Discussion Starter · Apr 19, 2004

Hello!

I was curious how many people have Chihuahua's that they leave alone in the house all day. When we get a Chi, it will have to be alone while we are at work. I was curious how your Chi handles being alone...and do you let it roam the whole house, or do you confine it to one room?

Thanks for any info you can give me!

Anna

1 - 20 of 48 Posts

stelun

· #2 · Apr 19, 2004

Hello Anna!

I sometimes have to leave my two chis alone in the house. It's two of them so at least they keep each other company even if that that doesn't matter too much becouse they still cry when we leave...well....at least at first.

We keep our dogs in the kitchen.......a few hrs will be too long for them (expecially for the little one) to be without going to the bathroom and in most parts of the house we have carpet on the floor.

Pangos_Mum

· #3 · Apr 19, 2004

After crate training Pango (which is very important) he had no seperation anxieties what so ever. He didn't whine, bark, chew on anything that wasnt a chew toy, or go potty anywhere. He is allowed to roam the house because he gained our trust. If I do have to leave him I always pick up things off the floor that he might be tempted to chew, or potty on. I turn on the radio (he loves classical :roll: ) and fill his Kong with treats to keep him occupied. I leave and he just looks at me like go so I can play with my Kong. When I get back he is asleep on the couch under his covers.
It takes him a minute to wake up and realize I'm home.

joeyg

· #4 · Apr 19, 2004

My babies (2 chis, both about 18 mo old) love to be in their crate together during the day while my husband and I are at work. They actually know when we're leaving for work and go inside without having to tell them to. If we leave them for a short time, a couple of hours, they can run around the house and they're good boys. Leave a couple dentabones and we'll usually find them in the same spot we left them!

Anna

· #5 · Apr 19, 2004

I was told that leaving a Chi alone all day is not good b/c they get really lonely and need lots of attention. Though all the suggestions here indicate otherwise, so I'm guessing it's okay. Especially if you have two chi's. I only have one, but if I could afford it, I'd have plenty more...lol. I do have one cat though and well, she wants my attention for the most part.

Hey, your name is Anna too, go figure. It's a popular one, isn't it? Nice to meet you.

OzzyAndLilysMom

· #6 · Apr 19, 2004

Hi Guys

my little man has been left in the day while we are at work since he was 10 weeks old, I think if it something they are used to they show no signs of anxiety, he is left with the run of downstairs, plenty of toys and fresh water and food, I have never had problems and when I get back beverything is still in the place I left it so I just think he sleeps all day.

he then gets loads of fuss and a big walk which he loves :lol:

absolethe

· #7 · Apr 20, 2004

You'll note that many people have been saying "my two Chis."

My ONE chi does NOT like being left alone at all. At first he hated his cage, of course, but I fed him in it and accustomed him to it and now he's very good in it. But he has terrible separation anxiety. He associates the alarm clock with a cage day and cowers from us when we try to pick him up. Then he panics when I carry him to the cage in the morning, though when I put him in he sits down quietly and looks at me (he no longer has hysterics like he did at first). He still gets VERY worked up when we get home, and he doesn't like to go to sleep at night on cage days. I've had to compromise by bringing him to work once or twice a week for my own sanity.

Depending on what you do and the personality of your puppy, Chis can do well at home by themselves. But if a dog has separation anxiety, it can be difficult to deal with. The key is finding out what to do about your puppy's problems and then being consistent (which is funny coming from the most inconsistent person in world, me).

Every Chi I've been around did just fine if he had another dog (or even cat) for company. For example, my aunt's Chihuahua did well from day 1, because my aunt drops her off with my grandmother's Maltese. They sit on the back of the couch and bark at cars out the window all day (and occasionally tear up tissues), as far as I can tell. If a puppy wasn't so much responsibility, I might get another just to give Puck a playmate.

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KB

· #8 · Apr 21, 2004

Kemo is ok during the day....when I first got him he would pull the dish towel down and throw the paper bags all over but now he knows when I am leaving now and he goes to his bed (I keep him gated in the kitchen) and I come home to a neater kitchen. I always left newspaper out for him to go and he would but now he holds it all day about 7-7.5 hours. No more mess for mommie to clean up! I also leave the radio on for him. I have no idea now if he likes this but I figure the noise might keep him calmer...I put jazz on for him

When I come home though he freaks out and has SOMETIMES has submissive pee or hahahhaha I can't hold it any longer pee.......he acts like I have been gone for years.....some days it's all I can do to get him to calm down so I can get his leash on. Normally I could walk away to calm him but not when he has to go so bad.

absolethe

· #9 · Apr 22, 2004

Puck is like that too.

Another funny thing he does is... he doesn't eat while I'm gone. So the first thing he does when I open the door is jump on me then grab a mouthful of food and continue to jump on me, spilling kibble everywhere.

KB

· #10 · Apr 22, 2004

absolethe said:
Puck is like that too.

Another funny thing he does is... he doesn't eat while I'm gone. So the first thing he does when I open the door is jump on me then grab a mouthful of food and continue to jump on me, spilling kibble everywhere.

Yeah I have heard alot of other dogs that won't eat unless someone is home. Kemo has on ocassion eaten when I am gone.......Puck is so cute, I like the name too.

Boogaloo

Discussion Starter · #11 · Apr 22, 2004

I'm glad to hear that some Chi's handle being alone OK. Once we get one, it will be alone about 7 hours Monday - Friday. I'm sure I will go visit during my lunch hour sometimes, though, so that should help! Thanks for the sharing your experinces everyone.

Anna

grniz

· #12 · Apr 23, 2004

Hi I leave my 3 older dogs out and kennel Gizmo during the day. I work close enough to home so I go home every day at lunch to let him out and play and eat and potty. My dogs though are paper trained because we can't leave them outside for long becasue of the eagles here in Alaska are really bad and will pick them up and eat them. My older boys though so have a bit of seperation anxiety they have chewed up many things in the house it is usually when I am gone on the weekends and they aren't used to the schedule changing. I also bring one of them to work with me occasionaly. They are small enough my boss doesn't mind.

cdenise1122

· #13 · Apr 28, 2004

Alone during the day

Peanut is left alone during the day. I have a big bedroom and she just roams around, but I recently had to keep her confined to this little hallway. But she does really well on her own. I leave the light on for her, and half the time she is only in there for half a day because my friend will keep her out until he goes to work. But she normally just sleeps all day, but of course the moment I am home she is out until the next day. That is why thought I got her a friend... Prudy. They can keep each other company. Celeste

Lady Cy

· #14 · May 4, 2004

Before I took in my Buffy ( she used to br my mothers but now she's MINE ALL MINE) I'left my Spike all alone with only my Shadar Shadarim (1/2 siamese, 1/2 champion fence climber). He seemed okay then. But after I got my baby girl, my little boy has learned new talents. I've been a fan of blues music for a while now. My Buffy has taught me (every time I leave the house)

that NO ONE can sing the blues like a chihuahua. The fact that Spike sings the male part of the duet (when he never did before) tells me that the old saying is true. Misery really does love company.
Does anyone else have a Chi who can sing the blues like Bessie Smith, T-Bone Walker or Muddy Waters. Anyway I would guess that your little one would like some company to sing with. I've never met a Chi who didn't like to sing.

niecole

· #15 · May 17, 2004

Bailey is 8 months old and she doesn't mind being home while we are at work. She does not cry. We have a x-pin that we keep her in where she can sleep and play and potty in. :wink:

Wendy

· #16 · Dec 22, 2005

Hi, :wave:

Everyone has such good advice on this site, you all know more than a lot of pros!! It does depend mostly on the personality of the pup, whether he gets seperation anxiety or not. Mine little man is left for 8 hours every day of the week, at the start he'd leave me a very unpleasant "surprise" right in front of the door, but now he's fine maybe because i spend every minute with him after work every day (and he is potty trained). I guess you have to kind make it up to them, they don't hold a grudge for long though! Little sweethearts.

Tucker-N-Jasper

· #17 · Dec 22, 2005

Tucker has been left alone since 2 wks after I got him. I stayed home with him for 2wks, then took him on a trip wiht me then came home and went back to my regular schedule. He was 4mos by that time. I have found that he does fine if he's partitioned off to the dining area/kitchen. If I give him run of hte house he's more anxious and will bark at every noise (according to neighbors). It works for me to gate him off, its a fairly large area and he shows no signs of resentment. He does know when its a "cage day" as someone coined it, and he will go on over to his bed and lay down when he sees me putting on my shoes. He does get very excited when one of us comes home but hey, I'm happy to see him too. I usuallly spend a few minutes playing fetch and if its still light out I take him for a quick walk, that helps with the extra energy.

TareG

· #18 · Dec 22, 2005

Halle is crate trained and stays alone for up to 5 hours a day and does fine. SHe cries at first when I leave, but settles down soon enough and takes a real long nap, lol. Now she loves her crate and will sleep in it even when she doesn't need to. And it has helped a lot with housebreaking, too.

bullsgal12

· #19 · Dec 22, 2005

We have to confine Gidget to the laundry room when we're at work during the day. She has plenty of toys and water and a pee pad to use. I do wonder what she does during the day though when we're not at home. Once we come home, she is let out and she has the run of the house.

bullsgal12

· #20 · Dec 22, 2005

As much as we love Gidget, it wouldn't suprise us if we get another Chi in the future but that'll be down the future. Right now we're getting adjusted to just having a dog in the house, much less a chihuahua.

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