What to do with German Shepherd while at work?

For those of you who work outside the home, what does your setup look like for your German Shepherd during the workday? Crate time, free roam, dog walker, daycare, split schedules? I’m trying to understand how people realistically balance work hours with a breed that needs structure, engagement, and routine. What did you start with, and did it change as your dog matured?

This is an interesting question and would also love to know. I work in vet med and my current employer allows me to bring Pj with me to work every day. I’m sure it won’t always be like this so I would also like to know what people do.

Lizwells said:

This is an interesting question and would also love to know. I work in vet med and my current employer allows me to bring Pj with me to work every day. I’m sure it won’t always be like this so I would also like to know what people do.

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I'm in a similar position! I bring my dog to the clinic most days, but on the long days when I can't, he stays in the master bedroom.
Before I leave, I always do a bit of play (fetch or flirt pole) followed by a puzzle feeder. Then, I leave him in his crate with the door open and a frozen Kong full of wet food. That keeps him occupied for a couple of hours before he eventually wanders out to stretch his legs.
I’ve found that using blackout curtains to keep the room dark really helps him settle and sleep most of the day. I also use a Furbo to check in for peace of mind. Since my partner gets home after about 5-6 hours, bathroom breaks have never been an issue.

Before my job moved to WFH, my girl stayed out in her fenced yard all day. She had a small sand pit to dig in and a bunch of toys. She mostly slept in her house or under the deck with an occasional patrol of the fence. And then we would have to do a lot of stuff when I got home. I was lucky that she could go into the office with me on occasion, so if it was too hot or cold for her to be outside all day, she'd go with me that day.

My dogs are seniors now and very used to their routine but we’ve worked full time since both of them were puppies. It starts with my husband and I having offset days off. So 4 out of 7 days per week, there is someone home with them. On the other 3 days, the dogs can be left home alone for up to 9 hours. Our setup has been pretty consistently this: older GSD (male, Crosby) has earned the right to free roam but he patrols windows a little too hard so we usually set up a baby gate to keep him in the back half of the apartment. He has access to both bedrooms, a dog bed and the hallway, but can’t see windows. Our female (Ludo) has never earned free roam privileges. She goes into a crate and she actually loves it in there. She goes into her crate even when we are home and just chills. We are lucky that they are both in their routine and pretty easygoing. As long as we walk them in the morning and in the evening they are good.

Kaia Murphy said:

For those of you who work outside the home, what does your setup look like for your German Shepherd during the workday? Crate time, free roam, dog walker, daycare, split schedules? I’m trying to understand how people realistically balance work hours with a breed that needs structure, engagement, and routine. What did you start with, and did it change as your dog matured?

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My dog is 1YO. He is not yet ready to be let loose in the house unattended. This is the first dog I've owned that hasn't been free in the house at a year of age. He's just not ready.

1) He's easily bored and I fear that he'll become destructive during the course of the work day. 2) We're a private household. We don't get many visitors. The only people who may come to the house when we're not home are my mother and my mother in-law.

He's not too familiar with my mom as she's not a regular guest and he would definitely bite someone coming into the house he's not familiar with - that's a 100% guarantee. She thinks he'll be fine, my mom has always been over confident.

He loves my in-law (he really is likes her to the point of obsession) but she's almost 80YO and I don't want him knocking her over and hurting her by mistake when he gets excited seeing her. But I do trust him with her.

My wife is a teacher, my son is a highschool student, and I work in heavy construction. We're all out of the house for a long stretch during the work day.

I built an indoor kennel in the basement of my home. It's 8' long x 4' wide and it's 6' tall. My dog stays in his kennel during the work day.

I'm up early in the morning and we eat together, go for a walk and go to the bathroom. He's kenneled when I leave for the day. I let him out when I get home.

Once we're home, I take him out for a strenuous play and/or training session and then we take a ride together and pick the kid up from school. Once we're home it's dinner time and we all settle in for the evening.

Weekends are for more fun stuff like hiking, advanced training and so on. And then of course there are plenty of days where we just hang out and do nothing.

Sounds like a lot, but it's reasonable. Plus, I enjoy it.

Omg the fear of knocking your 80 year old in law over from excitement is too real. They are not aware of their size at that time. My GS has parkoured off an elderly coworker during a zoomie episode. Sent her flying across the room in the chair she was sitting in. I felt so bad

Ours free roams, we got lots of GSD balls and toys and a cat. Our shepherd kinda roams the house and lays around like the cat does.

Believe it or not but they can be just like us if they get into the rhythm like people can. More active people more active shepherds

We throw the balls when we can but other times she keeps herself busy or loves on the cat and other dog we have.

My favorite thing to do is play like her in the backyard.... she gets so animated it's fun