Leaving your Dog in the dark

I wanted to ask everyone a quick question. My boyfriend and I are moving in together, he just bought a house- we will be renting out the upstairs (in brooklyn houses have apartments on the bottom quite often) to his sister because her and her husband are having a baby. Then we will be living in the bottom apartment together with the backyard and it's a good size. The whole house is under construction sooo....

In the mean time (I hate my house..roomates!) I sleep at his apartment every night while he is at work. When I wake up, he is just coming home and goes to sleep when I leave to go to my apartment to get dressed for work. When I leave Maximus is usually up and says goodbye to me. However the lights are shut off because my boyfriend has to sleep... I feel horrbile leaving him in the dark for another 6-8 hours! I know it's only temporary (for the next 3 weeks or so) but is that cruel? I only work outside of my home 3 days a week, and he gets lots of exercise. I even leave on the monitor or tv to try and give him some light.

I just wanted to know if everyone thinks it is wrong for us to leave him in the dark. I figure he'd rather be with my bf in the dark 1/2 of the time until I get home than home alone (at my place). Yet I wonder.

is he crated? can he move around to other rooms where there is light? Are there not curtains or drapes you can open to allow light to come in?

It's a big studio, so no. He is never crated anymore. Once he was fully trained and trustworthy he was slowly given less constrictions in my house. So there he has the same privledges. He can play, eat, drink, whatever he wants- but it's pretty dark in the house. He can see, because I can see... but it's not light and happy! I open the drapes a little (so my bf doesn't wake up) but on a day like today (rainy) it doesn't do much.

That reminds me when Cheryl and I were dating, and she just got Daisy. I was house-sitting while she was visiting her parents, and we left Daisy in her run on nice days. She called to tell me I had to either leave work by 5, or pick her up and bring her to work with me. When I asked why, she said, "She's afraid of the dark!". Me:"She's a PITBULL! Whatever is scaring the pitbull, I'll be darned if I'M going to get in between them!". Sorry. I like that story...

Anyway, no it isn't cruel. I think most animals are pretty adaptive, and don't have the same "bogeyman" fears that we do. Besides, I know Daisy used to be apprehensive in the new house when we first moved in. She has the run of the house at night whether we are home or not, and now she seems to get around fine. We used to crate her at night too, and she was fine after a while. Until the cat knocked everything off the top while she was sleeping, and she broke her way out. Now we have a used, slightly bent crate for the garage sale, but that's another story...

so he does see daylight *S* then he'll be fine, god, don't you remember back when he was a pup and stayed up all hours of the night playing? *L* Imagine dogs in Alaska where there is 6 months of darkness.

Yeah, I guess you guys are right. I just felt bad and wanted a second opinion. And yes, I remember it very well... as I got him way too young (4 weeks) and slept 2 hours at a time, 4 hours a night if I was lucky... for two months. Which was until I felt he was old and healthy enough for me to ignore. He still wakes me up in the night playing by himself... as his sleeping schedule has been slightly off since this temporary change. Occasionally I'll get a ten pound super duper rope dropped on my head! Or even get woken up to let him back under the covers. He's a character.

Thanks for your opinions, you know how it is!

Shwinn- thats funny your girlfriend would make you go home for her, lol... that's something I would make my bf do!! :p

Don't forget too that twighlight is their noon. We start to lose color as it gets darker, but most dogs have never had it, so they aren't disadvantaged by the darkness as much. If you can see shadows and stuff, chances are he sees more. I wouldn't worry too much. "Normal" households have too much light. If yours doesn't have enough, it'll probably have the same effect as too much light-- year-round shedding. :D

Okay, well my boyfriend tends to sleep only 4 hours when I leave and then another 4 hours before work... very unhealthy I know, but thats the graveyard shift for ya.

Thanks for your opinions, I hope you understand that I just wasn't sure if it really bothered him and was mean on my part.