Leaving puppy by himself while at work?
I know the title sounds controversial but i need help!
The last week of January i'll be bringing home an 8 week pembroke puppy. I'm excited but the problem is that i'm at work 3-4 days a week from 10am-6pm.
My father is at work also, so he won't be able to be there. I can't afford anyone to take care of him for 4 days (only 21) and i don't know anyone who is willing to check up on him. We are thinking of leaving him in the kitchen with the crate open and with food, water, and toys. My father had the idea of also giving him access to the living room and block the path to the rooms. I'm also aware of all the dangers that lie inside the apartment like wires and things like that. Just to remind you this apartment is semi-small.
Anyone with any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
The last week of January i'll be bringing home an 8 week pembroke puppy. I'm excited but the problem is that i'm at work 3-4 days a week from 10am-6pm.
My father is at work also, so he won't be able to be there. I can't afford anyone to take care of him for 4 days (only 21) and i don't know anyone who is willing to check up on him. We are thinking of leaving him in the kitchen with the crate open and with food, water, and toys. My father had the idea of also giving him access to the living room and block the path to the rooms. I'm also aware of all the dangers that lie inside the apartment like wires and things like that. Just to remind you this apartment is semi-small.
Anyone with any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jessica on
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Here's how we did it with Killian and at 8 months old he's 100% and been that way for just about a month:
When we first brought him home he had someone with him all day for the first three days. When we weren't watching him he was in his crate with all his toys to get him acclimated. We kept (and still keep) his crate in the bedroom, and we never had puppy separation anxiety.
Once Killian was spending days by himself M-F 9am to 5:30pm he spent the day in a gated hallway with his crate at one end and a reusable/washable pee pad at the other. He didn't have any water or food but had chews and toys to keep him happy. The hallway he was in was only about three feet wide and 6 or 7 feet long. It was a very small area and it kept his accidents to a minimum.
Before we left for work we played with him and walked him around the yard (leashed to get him used to it) and fed/watered him. The first person to get back would play "ignore the puppy" and get themselves settled in, then prepare the puppy food and let him out. He whined at first and would try to jump the gate but eventually he calmed down and realized he'd come out eventually he just needed to be patient. It also helps with keeping him from being barky/jumpy later - at least that was the thought. :D He still jumps a little... especially with strangers who think it's cute...
After his food and water out he went again - RIGHT AWAY.
It takes awhile - but whatever you decide to do - be consistent!! That is the biggest rule and it is the easiest to break. Once there is a routine going your pup will come a long way very quickly.
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Permalink Reply by Emiliano S. on
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Thanks, That's a really good idea and you're right about being consistent.
Wow, Monday through Friday??? This one is only 2-3 days, takes some stress off lol.
Thanks again.
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Ha! Yeah - I wish it had been only 2-3 per week. He might have gotten the point a little faster. :)
Also - if you have a hallway that works but no gates we had found some really cheap wooden gates at Target for, like $10 a piece. They survived his destructive phase early on and we still use them today to block off spots when we we aren't in the room (might be housebroken but we still don't trust him to leave the socks in the hamper where they belong) ;)
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Permalink Reply by Kari & Jackson on
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Craigslist is your best friend too for cheap pens, crates, even baby gates. Just make sure everything gets nice and clean before you use it :)
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Permalink Reply by Beauty and the Beast on
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This is funny, my puppy was the one ignoring me when I got home. I'd have to take his sleepy butt out of the crate and he couldn't care less :)
At about 5 months he started getting happy to see us come home and even jump, but this is under control.
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Permalink Reply by Alex on
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We got Kenji at 8 weeks too.
We picked him up on Sat morning and I took 2 days off from work so he had about 4 days to get adjusted to the new environment. I would highly recommend this. Try to get at least 3 days at the very minimal IMO.
From the get-go we had him get used to his playpen. We bought this from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/North-States-Superyard-Gate-Play/dp/B00020L78M. It's very durable and can easily be compacted just like the other playpens.
We also invested on a UGoDog. We decided on this method as Kenji's indoor potty system because newspaper is a bit messy to clean up and pee pads tends to add up in cost.
I leave for work at 6AM. My g/f leaves for work at 7AM. Kenji and I wake up at around 5:15AM every day, sometimes even on weekends. I take him outside and then back inside while I get ready. Once I am ready, I prepare his breakfast. I leave him in his playpen until my g/f wakes up. She plays with him for a bit and gives him one last chance to go potty. We also refill his water if needed. He stays in his playpen until I get home from work, around 4PM. That's when we take him out and he's pretty much with us until bed time. We start preparing for bed at around 9PM. Rinse and repeat. Of course he gets more time with us on the weekends.
We used UGoDog all the way until he turned close to 6 months. At around 6 months, we still leave him inside his playpen during the day but without the UGoDog. So far so good aside from a couple of hiccups due to his recovery from being neutered. We do leave a bowl with a bit of water just in the case that he gets thirsty during the day. We also leave chew toys for him to play with during the day. We do have a smaller crate inside the playpen in case he gets cold or whatever. At night, we crate him in our bedroom.
He does not have seperation anxiety or anything like that. We started him on the NILIF program from the get go and we highly recommend that method on top of whatever discipline method you had in mind.
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Permalink Reply by Hieu and Kimi on
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That is the pen we have too, I love it> I like how it can be adjusted. We pretty much use a schedule that is identical to yours and it has been working very well as well.
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