Working and dog by itself all day

Hmm, to be honest I'm not sure as to how long is too long to leave a dog alone. If it had a nice area with some toys, water, etc....I'm not sure. But I will suggest looking into doggy day care. It might be a really good solution for you. Some places are really steep price-wise, but other smaller, more family-run/private day cares charge less, especially if you buy packages rather than day by day.
Good luck []

I guess i should also mention that the dog was in a kennel as a breeder before this, so she was in the company of other dogs all day, but not that much with people. will the new "quiet" of the empty house hurt the dog?

doggy day-care is prob. not an option. We live in a very rural area, and the nearest city that might have such a service is nearly 2 hrs. away.

how about if you get one of the neighbours kid's to walk and play with her for a bit, while your mom is gone. i would say you will probably have some trouble getting the dog used to being alone, but it can be done. a lot of people work and have dogs. it is just important to excersise the dog before leaving to work (although i do realize that would mean getting up in the middle of the night in this case). this way the dog is tired and will sleep, while your mom is at work. and from my understanding, crating a dog might actually be better than letting in roam in the house. dogs aparently feel safer in the crate. plus being confined will probably also result in the dog sleeping a lot while in the crate, and therefore not missing your mom...
so yeah, it's your decision i think. good luck []

I think the dog will probably learn what the new routine is and fit in fairly easy. Corgis are amazingly adaptable. For a while, I was leaving for work at 5:30am and getting home around 3pm way too tired to walk her. She coped reasonably well with that considering she was used to regular walks and me being around a lot. She had a large backyard and another doggy pal, though. I think you can wean the dog off the crate if you trust it to be good in the house. My corgi is pretty good in the house unless she's been deprived of mental stimulation for a while. So if you give the dog things like Kongs and food hidden in wrapped up paper to occupy her, and then give her plenty of exercise when you're (your mum) is home, she'd probably do all right. 

[]   [sm=rotfl.gif]I hate to break it to you, but the majority of dog owners work for living.  So, normal 8 hour day (min) + lunch break + commute time works out to 10hrs +/- for most people. 
 
Its just a matter of building a routine that works for you and the dog. Its harder with puppies & young dogs but still doable. 
 
For example, I have a young (1 yr) english setter. 
 
That's a high energy dog, a very high energy dog.  Before the time changed and there was enough daylight, I'd simply take him to the leash free for an hour + after work. (pretty much every night)  He'd burn around & play, I'd get some exercise and life is good.  Now that the time has changed he goes to doggie daycare 1x/week in the middle of the week, the park on weekends and for walks/plays in the backyard for the balance. We do basic obedience work in there too, in setter-sized attention span bursts. [8D]
 
If my schedule is out of sorts, I'll actually take him to work with me now that the weather is cool.  He sleeps in the car, I take him for a walk on my lunch break then back for snoozing until I'm done.
 
The key is planning & adapting. The often touted "A dog cannot/should not be left alone for 8 hrs" is unrealistic for most & there are many VERY happy dogs with just such a life.  []

I agree.  It should be fine.  We got our Lucy a couple of years ago and we both work.  She's home from about 7:15 to 5:15.  We used to crate her, but now that we trust her she is free to roam.  We did that at about 1 and 1/2 years.  We kept the crate for awhile, but she eventually stopped using is for a den and so we got rid of it.  We are considering getting a second dog and we will go through the same process with this one. 

I've had no problems with that schedule with one or more dogs. Although a healthy adult dog can hold it that long, a doggie door may be nice--not essential, just nice.

Our dogs fairly often spend 10 hours in the house with no humans around. I wouldn't go any longer without expecting puddles on the floor, though, and certainly puppies need more frequent piddle breaks.

I don't think it would hurt her to be in a seperate room / area for that long --- but I do, personally, feel that that is too long to be crated.   
 
My 35 lb. dog can't go 7 hours w/o peeing inside.
 
Is it possible to put in a doggie door with an enclosed, fenced area for outside?   They even have doggie doors for sliding glass doors.
 
I think it would be alright to be without other dogs at first, but I think it would be better to consider getting another dog - later on.  Dogs are pack animals, and do prefer being around other dogs (that they like, of course). 

I didn't see this addressed yet (although I could have missed it somewhere), but can your mom go home at lunchtime to let the dog out?
 
I do feel that dogs are able to hold it for that long after being conditioned to it, however, I go home at lunch to let mine out because I know that I wouldn't want to have to hold it for that long if it were me. That's not always an option for everyone, and dogs are very adaptable, so it's certainly possible that the pooch could wait until your mom got home. But I second the idea of a neighbor or kid coming to let her out if the lunchtime thing isn't an option.

where do you live, missouri ? thats my best guess as your name is "ramsfan" [&:]
 
if you do, or if you live in similarly warm climate, it may be a better option to have an outdoor kennel tostay in while your mother is at work. that would solve the potty issue, and they dog may feel more comfortable as you mentioned it previously lived in a kennel situation.

Thanks for all of the great replies. I think I could ask my cousin who lives up the road to come at lunch and let the dog out (although she would prob. only do that and then leave, no play time) My mom really wants this dog so all of this info should help her decide i think. thanks again.

About an outdoor kennel. I was thinking about this and thought about our garage. It has quite a bit of room that we could put a sort of pen in for the dog, and then we could let her in the house when we get home. But i dont know if that would work in the summer because its pretty warm here (northern arkansas) in the summer, especially in the garage. My mom still says she will feel bad for the dog to be in a small room for that long. I dont know what else to tell her and I'm afraid she wont get the dog based solely on that.