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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on April 15, 2011 at 12:53pm

Life happens and Ein will adjust. He is lucky that your mom can watch him several days and some of my dogs have been crated for 9 hours once a week with no problems. I would make sure either he has a big enough crate and toys  or you could try an exercise pen also. Many dogs do this everyday so both you and Ein are lucky for the little bit he has to be crated. I know that we sometimes (at least me) feel worse for the dog than they probably feel.

 

Congratulations!

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Permalink Reply by Jessica & Johann on April 15, 2011 at 12:59pm

Aww poor Ein.. But yes I am facing the same with my puppy right now.  I work split shifts at the moment (3-4 hours/shift)  so I am home from about 10:30am-2:30pm with Johann.  I am also getting a new job soon that is a normal workday of 8 hours.. I am thinking about putting him in the guest bathroom during the day with a baby gate so he can't get out.  He can still watch the cats walk around and see into the hall- I just don't want him to feel like he is contained in one room.  Anyways, I am going to try the puppy pee-pads when I start putting him in the bathroom.  If your job isn't too far from your home, you could possibly use your lunch break to go let Ein out (but quickly!) and then head back to work.  Another option would be to hire a pet sitter who would come to your place and check on Ein and let her out.  I don't know the average price for those services, but it can't be too expensive.  If you have a friend who stays at home during the day, maybe Ein could spend the day over there.. in the crate or out.  I know how hard it is to crate them even for a few hours, but for a whole day.. it's very nerveracking!  Hope you find a solution and congrats on the job

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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on April 15, 2011 at 1:01pm

Congrats Heather, make sure you take Ein out one last time before you leave for work, he''s old enough and will do just fine :)

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Permalink Reply by The Geek's Wife & her Corgi Ein on April 15, 2011 at 1:10pm

Thanks, I always make her go immediately before being crated. Sometimes I just get the obedient squat with nothing actually coming out. LOL Better to be safe than sorry.

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Permalink Reply by The Geek's Wife & her Corgi Ein on April 15, 2011 at 1:15pm

I've thought about using a baby gate to keep her in the bathroom (which is a little more room than her large crate), but with her being only 95% house trained it's guaranteed that's she'll mess if she's in there for 9 hours. I think if she's in her crate she'll at least try and hold it all day. If I end up having to crate her for the whole 9 hours and she just can't make it in her crate, then I might consider upgrading her to the bathroom. I just worry that it's not as safe as her crate, and she trained to be in her crate not gated in a bathroom. I fear she might be more upset in the bathroom than in her crate. We'll see what happens.

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Permalink Reply by Beth on April 15, 2011 at 1:26pm

We used an ex-pen.  That way if there was an emergency (upset tummy) he didn't have to lie on it but he was in a small enough area to do his best to hold it.

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Permalink Reply by Jane on April 15, 2011 at 1:52pm

I used an xpen in the kitchen if I knew I was going to be gone quite a while, that way he at least had a little room to move around and could look out the patio door. I left Luke penned for ~8 hours sometimes when he was her age and he never soiled his pen or crate. I think they just sleep mostly!

 

If you decide to do the daycare I would try to do the daycare one day, and then leave her home the following day. Henry was always so pooped out after daycare he would be sleepy even the next day. And around here is is actually cheaper to send your dog to daycare for a full day than it is to have someone come walk them at lunch time...go figure.

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Permalink Reply by The Geek's Wife & her Corgi Ein on April 15, 2011 at 2:24pm

Yeah, I haven't looked into having a dog walker come by, but that's what I was thinking about the daycare... Daycare the first full day, and home the 2nd. I know I'll be working some Saturdays and my husband has Sats off, so on those weeks I'm going to try and request Thurs or Friday as my day off for the week. They may not allow it though. We'll see. I'll figure it out.

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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on April 15, 2011 at 3:05pm

Is there a neighbor you can trust?  To check him out midday, at least the first few weeks?  Maybe someone you can trade favors with?

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Permalink Reply by The Geek's Wife & her Corgi Ein on April 15, 2011 at 2:30pm

Thanks for the responses everyone. It's comforting just to know I'm not alone in having to crate for so long. I wish I felt comfortable just leaving her to roam the house with our dachshund. It would ease my mind considerably. We'll get there eventually.

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Permalink Reply by The Geek's Wife & her Corgi Ein on April 15, 2011 at 2:32pm

I might consider locking her up in the kitchen where the doggy door is, cause our dachshund has a bladder of steel and could go that long without issue.

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Permalink Reply by Jen on April 15, 2011 at 5:14pm

Ginger has been crated since we got her at 10 and a half weeks while we're at work M-F.  For the first couple of months I would go home at lunch to let her out, but we would still have times when she would pee in her kennel because she couldn't hold it.  By the time she was 5 months old, it was never an issue.  She's generally in her kennel for 9-10 hours during the day and does just fine with it at almost 11 months old.  Granted, she does need to go outside quite a bit in the evenings, but she's healthy and happy.  I think Ein will be just fine.  I'm sure she can probably hold it longer than the 5-6 hours, but right now she has that option.

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