The Canine Ledger

How Long Can a Dog Be Left Alone?

Advice online ranges from 4 to 10 hours, with no study behind any of it. What the one small experiment found, and the one government guideline we read.

Written by thecanineledger

The best-known experiment on time alone filmed 12 dogs left at home for half an hour, two hours and four hours. Its authors concluded that it “does confirm that dogs are affected by the duration of time at home alone” (Rehn and Keeling, Applied Animal Behaviour Science 2011, abstract).

While that tells us time alone matters, it doesn’t tell us how much is too much. Advice online ranges from four hours to ten, and we couldn’t trace any of those limits to a study. This page sets out what the research shows, and the one official guideline we read.

1. The 12-dog experiment

What the researchers did. “Twelve privately owned dogs, with no history of separation related behaviour problems, were video-recorded on three different occasions when left alone in their home environment.” Each dog was left for half an hour, two hours and four hours.

While the owners were away. “There were no differences in behaviour between treatments at equivalent time intervals until the owner returned”.

When the owners came back. After longer absences, the dogs greeted their owners more intensely, and were more active and attentive. The authors saw this “already after 2 h of separation.”

What it can’t tell us. The authors couldn’t say whether the dogs knew how long they had been alone. The study had 12 dogs, none with separation problems, and no absence longer than four hours. It didn’t test a working day.

Our note: We read only the abstract, on the university’s research page.

2. Where the hour limits come from

A charity recommendation. A 2024 UK study notes that “It is recommended that owners do not leave their dogs > 4 h”, citing a Dogs Trust advice page (Dale et al., Animal Welfare 2024). We read that page as it stood in January 2021, when the study’s authors accessed it (Dogs Trust, archived 2021). Dogs Trust said it did not recommend leaving a dog alone “for longer than four hours at a time”. It also said most dogs need the toilet at least every four hours. It’s a charity’s advice, and the page cites no study for either figure. Dogs Trust has since rewritten the page, and the current version gives no hour limit.

Sweden’s official guidance. Sweden’s Board of Agriculture (Jordbruksverket) inspects how dogs are kept. Its 2024 guidance for inspectors says the agency has recommended, as general advice, that dogs be taken out “minst var sjätte timme dagtid”, which means at least every six hours in the daytime (Jordbruksverket, 2024, in Swedish). It adds that a puppy must go out more often than an adult dog.

What that guidance is. It’s general advice about how often a dog needs to go out, not a study of time alone. It applies in Sweden. We haven’t checked the rules in other countries.

Our note: The Swedish guidance is about taking a dog outside, not strictly about time alone. We didn’t find limits set elsewhere.

“8 to 10 hours.” We found no source for this figure.

3. Puppies and separation problems

What one UK study found. The Generation Pup study followed 145 puppies to six months old. “Dogs were less likely to develop SRBs if owners reported that, at ≤ 16 weeks old, puppies were restricted to crates/rooms overnight and had ≥ 9 h of sleep per night.” SRBs are separation-related behaviours.

Owner responses mattered. Puppies whose owners fussed over them on return, in response to bad behaviour, “were six times more likely to display SRBs.”

A caution from the authors. “These recommendations derive from correlational longitudinal study results”. They don’t prove cause and effect. The study was funded in part by Dogs Trust.

Our note: The study’s findings on crates and sleep are associations in 145 puppies.

4. What to think about

  • Your dog, not a rule. Age, health, and whether your dog copes alone all matter more than a number.
  • Toilet needs. Puppies, older dogs, and dogs with some health problems need to go out more often.
  • Signs of a problem. Barking, howling, destruction, or toileting only when alone can be signs of separation distress. A vet can help.
  • Breaking up long days. A walker, a neighbour, or a day-care may help if your dog is alone for long periods.

Our note: These points are ours, not from a study.

→ Separation Anxiety: Training, Medication, and What the Trials Show · → The Everyday Care Most Dogs Need, and the Rules of Thumb Nobody Can Source

5. What we could not verify

Commonly saidWhat we found
“Adults can be left 8–10 hours”No source found.
“Never more than 4 hours”A charity recommendation, from a Dogs Trust advice page cited in a 2024 study. The page cited no study, and Dogs Trust has since dropped the figure.
“Dogs don’t notice how long you’re gone”Not exactly. In one 12-dog study, dogs greeted owners more intensely after 2 hours than after 30 minutes.
“There’s a law on how long”In Sweden, general advice says dogs should go out at least every six hours in the day. We didn’t check other countries.
“An hour per month of age for puppies”No study found. It appears on commercial pet-care sites.

Sources

Always confirm with your vet before acting on anything on this page.