If you’re like me, then you hate leaving your pup home alone, even if it’s just for a few hours. Unfortunately, it’s something we can’t avoid.
Still, as responsible owners, it’s important to consider how this affects them and how long is too long.
This article explains everything owners should know and provides valuable tips to keep your corgi happy when alone.
Why Corgis Don’t Like Being Alone
A common trait in herding dogs is that they are highly social breeds and develop strong bonds with their owners.
This makes them pretty intolerable of alone time!
Corgis, still to this day, crave having a close relationship and frequent interaction with their owners and family. Due to this, they don’t cope very well when left alone even for just a short amount of time.
There can be a range of serious side effects from frequently spending too much time home alone, which I will run through in the sections to come.
How Long Corgi Be Left Alone?
In general, Corgis should not be left alone for more than 4-5 hours. Puppies and seniors or those with health issues may not even handle 4-5 hours. And never leave a corgi home alone all day.
- Ideally, owners should try to find out their own corgi’s tolerance. This way, you will know how long she can remain alone without needing company or someone to visit her.
The very best way to do this is to use a pet cam the next time you go out. You can start by going out for 30 minutes and check her on the camera to see how she’s doing.
You should be watching out for signs including agitation, irritability, barking, and destructive behavior…
- Conversely, you can look for signs of comfort… Is she calmly lying down? Her body language and her actions will show you whether she is ok or stressed.
You can continue to increase the time by 30 minutes (on different days) and keep checking back in on the camera to see how she’s holding up.
You will eventually start to notice a pattern of where her tolerance ends. For most corgis, this is around 4 hours.
6 Ways To Keep Your Corgi Happy When Home Alone
There are some other ways that you can keep your corgi happier and more chilled out for when you leave her home alone. Let’s run through them.
1. Always exercise your corgi before leaving
This one is really important! Exercising your corgi before you leave will help keep her calmer, for longer.
Corgis may be small, but they can be hyper little beasts with tonnes of energy. Expel as much of this energy as you can before you leave, and she’ll be more likely to sleep while you are gone.
Leaving your corgi with full energy would be like leaving a kid with candy before bedtime. It’s not going to work.
2. Provide interactive puzzle toys
Providing interactive puzzle toys is another great way to entertain her and reduce boredom for a significant amount of time.
One of the key issues with being left alone is boredom and frustration. When your corgi hasn’t got anything to do, it increases the chances of destructive behavior and stress.
A good interactive puzzle toy or slow feeder type of toy will keep her mind working and this will keep her happy. Not to mention, mental stimulation uses A LOT of energy.
⭐ My favorite pick: Star Mark Bob-A-Lot (Amazon – 10,000 + Reviews)
3. Leave the television or radio turned on
It really does work. Leaving the TV or radio on will help drown out external noises like traffic, people, and other animals.
When dogs are left in silence, they are more likely to hear many noises outside that can unsettle them and keep them on high alert. This can be very stressful and even frightening for them.
If you want to go above and beyond, you can do this… Get yourself a cheap audio tape recorder if you haven’t already got one, record yourself having a random conversation (with yourself), and leave this playing on a loop while you are out.
This is almost as good as you not leaving the house in the first place. After a while of this, it’s been known that the vast majority of dogs end up thinking you are still in the house, even though they can’t see you. Yep, this one is powerful.
4. Leave your corgi an unwashed t-shirt
Assuming your corgi is moderately well behaved and doesn’t rip her toys or soft materials to shreds, pop an un-washed t-shirt of yours in her crate before you leave.
A corgis sense of smell can be anywhere between 10,000 to 100,000 times greater than ours. Pretty insane, right?
It’s such a powerful sense that simply giving her a clothing item with your scent on it, will help her remain calmer for longer.
If you were to implement this tip, along with the last one (a recording of your voice playing out loud) It means she’ll be able to smell you AND hear you. She’ll think you never left.
5. Make her crate comfortable and den-like
Dogs are considered to be what’s known as “denning” animals. This means that in the wild, they often seek to make a den in order to rest, feel safe, eat, and protect themselves.
When your corgi is alone, she’s going to want to feel safe and secure, even more so than normal. So now is a great time for her to retreat to her open crate.
To make her crate even more comfortable and safe-feeling, you can try putting in a soft blanket, your old t-shirt, and a toy of hers (be careful with choking hazards).
In the meantime, you can start spending more time with her around her crate when you are at home. The more comfortable she is with her crate, the more powerful it will prove as a way to keep her happy when home alone.
6. Get a pet camera
If you like gadgets, this should be your next purchase. And if you don’t like gadgets, this should still be your next purchase 🙂
Having a pet cam set up will allow you to instantly see your corgi from your smartphone from wherever you are. Within seconds, you can see whether she’s resting, playing, or looking bored and frustrated.
Although this doesn’t mean you can instantly leave your work whenever you like, it will allow you to call a friend or family if you really need to, plus you will also learn more about how long she can spend alone without freaking out.
For the benefit they provide, these cameras are unbelievably affordable. ⭐ Here’s my top value pick: Pet Cube Two Way Audio (this one is two-way audio so you can speak to your corgi through your phone).
Why Corgis Shouldn’t Spend Too Much Time Alone
By now, for those of you who have made it this far, you may be wondering why you need to go to such lengths when it comes to leaving your corgi home alone.
This section is going to explain why it’s so crucial to limit the time your corgi spends alone.
Likely outcomes for dogs who spend too much time home alone:
● Stress (which leads to an array of health issues)
● Depression
● Separation anxiety
● Isolation distress
● Destructive behavior
● Increased disobedience
● Increased aloofness (and even aggression)
● Bored, frustrated, and understimulated
As you can see, this is a pretty serious list. These are all bad outcomes, and they are very likely outcomes, to say the least.
A dog who spends too much time alone can eventually become depressed and even experience total temperament changes where they become almost like a different dog.
Probably one of the hardest conditions to overcome once developed is separation anxiety. Separation anxiety is where a dog can’t go for any length of time without their owner or a particular person.
This is detrimental to both the dog’s life and the owner’s life. It’s a serious condition that some experts claim can never be cured completely. And it can all start by spending too much time alone.
I don’t mean to sound overly dramatic, but prevention is certainly better than cure when it comes to these issues. It’s without a doubt, in your best interest to reduce the amount of time your corgi has to spend alone.
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What To Do When You Work Long Hours
The biggest problem here is having to go to work. Tell me about it…
It’s highly unlikely for most of us to be able to get a substantial enough break to warrant returning home throughout the day for lunch, but if you can, do it! That will break up the time your corgi spends alone perfectly.
The two best solutions to keep your corgi happy when alone:
● Ask friends and family.
This is the first option to try, but it may not suit everyone. If you need to leave the house for 8 or 9 hours a day to go to work, your corgi must have someone to check up on her, refresh water, let her out and keep her company. If friends or family are not an option, try the next one.
● Hire a dog sitter.
This is your next best option. There are so many companies out there doing a fantastic job with this. You can easily hire a professional dog sitter or dog walker who you pay to go to your house and look after your dog. A simple Google search will bring up many options in your area. You can see reviews and even interview potential candidates first if you like.
Sure, this one will cost you money, but you really have no other choice. A dog cannot spend an entire workday home alone. Especially not this breed.
This is original content produced and published by The Puppy Mag | www.thepuppymag.com
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Last Thoughts
Corgis are not a breed that copes well when left home alone. They are a highly social breed and crave human interaction.
When it comes to how long is too long, the answer is that it depends. All corgis are different and one corgi’s tolerance could vary greatly from another. It’s worth spending the time to observe your corgi in order to figure out her own tolerance.
If you work long hours, the best thing you can do is hire someone, ask friends or your family, to spend some time keeping her company while you are out. This will dramatically improve her life, and prevent a wide range of negative health and behavioral problems from potentially occurring.
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