Is kennel all day fair to my basenji?
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I'm really sorry you are in this situation and I understand your guilty feeling.. I do not agree with what is said above about dogs sleeping all day and not caring about how much their humans are there with them as long as they are loved… (sorry..) If I were you I would think hard about keeping him or not. If you know your situation will not change and you can find someone who can offer him more, I think you are doing what is best for the dog by giving him a new home.
If you believe this situation will only be temporarily or if you can't find that better home, then you can try to make things a bit better for Tucker by giving him more quality time in the morning. I believe 20 min is too little time to get the energy out of a 2 year old pup. After an 8 hour sleep during the night and before 11 hours of laying in a kennel/x-pen during the day a dog needs a lot more than 20 min.. If you could get up earlier, you could try to walk/cycle Tucker for like about 45-60 min? I think loosing some of his energy will also help with him being less destructive when loose in the house.
Mabye you can try to find a nice neighbour/family member/etc who could walk Tucker during the day? Even if it was only one day per week, that's better than none :) Also, if the daycare is too expensive for the entire week, maybe you can only bring him one or two days per week?
Just thinking out loud here :) I hope I don't sound harsh.. And I hope you find some ways to make it a better situation for Tucker and yourself.
