I bike to work and leave my dog at home. She's a 9 month old border collie mix. I leave my house a little after 8 and get home around 5. I have a sweet setup where I only have to be in the office for 8 hours total most days including lunches. My entire day is usually 9 hours or even a little less.
I just started leaving her all day starting at the beginning of March. When I started working full time she was only 5 months old, so I hired a dog walker for three months until I felt comfortable that she would be completely okay with 'holding it' all day. I used to kennel her all day and this week have just started leaving her out of her kennel in my room so she has more room to play and a comfier place to sleep while I'm gone. She does really well out of the kennel, the only side effect being that she likes to unmake the bed. Oh well!
Here are some things to consider:
- Can you and your wife stagger your working hours so your dog wouldn't have to be home for 10.5 hours? Maybe one of you can get to the office earlier than normal and one can go in later, that way pup isn't home for such a long stretch. Do you and your wife work together/carpool? Your post makes it seem like you do. If you're biking it'll be easier to stagger your hours if you currently carpool.
- Do you both take 1 hour lunch breaks? Is there some way to reduce this to half an hour and take some shorter breaks during the rest of the day for at least one of you?
- Are you being as efficient as possible at work, and if you are, can you leave early once all your work is done? Do you have any flexibility with working from home? When I started this job I talked to my supervisor about my dog being so young and we worked out that I could be in the office for 8 hours per day, but would work from home in the evenings if my work load required it. This has very rarely happened, so I get to have a short working day (since I still usually take a lunch and breaks) and my boss still knows that I can be available in the early evenings if required.
Since you're still coming home to let him/her out at lunch, I assume your dog is quite young. I've recently realized that my dog is really not that interested in peeing anymore. This sounds weird, but it's true. I used to take her out 4x per day (early morning walk, right before I left for work, evening walk, and before bed) and in the last couple weeks she clearly does not need the right before work or right before bed pee opportunities. She rarely takes them now, although I'll still be giving her the option for awhile. When I get home from work after 9 hours of being gone, my dog could care less about going outside right away. I take the time to change my clothes, drink some water, go to the bathroom, and play with her a bit before we leave for a walk. Even on the walk she doesn't pee right away which makes me think she'd be fine holding it for longer.
The only way you'll know for sure is if you try it. Do you kennel your dog? They pretty much do anything in their power to prevent peeing in the kennel. I doubt you'd have a problem, but you really won't know unless you give it a shot. I also set up a UStream channel and watched my dog in her kennel on a webcam. Surprise, surprise, she slept all day and spent the hour or so before I got home chewing on a rope.