The Time Has Come to Leave Franklin Alone :-(
UPDATE: So they changed my work schedule, good news I have 4 days off now, bad news I am scheduled from 6 am to 6:30 pm 3 days a week now. This means I will be gone from 5:30a-7p. Really scrambling now to figure out what to do. The big issue here is that Franklin WILL NOT go potty out on my patio without me sending him out there. That is where I need advice. He knows how to use a dog door, but just won't do it unless told to so. I need some ideas on how to get him to go out on the patio. I've been trying to sit out there with him for 1/2 hour to 1 hour a day and have added grass, put treats in the grass and added potty pads as a separate potty area, etc. Nothing seems to work. HELP!
So the dreaded time has come, I finally got a job that is going to require 10 hour workdays four days a week. It is 25 minutes from my house meaning poor Franklin is going to have to be home alone for 11 hours a day four days a week. I have been dreading this, but knew it was going to happen eventually. I am trying to find a dog walker to come in mid-day to walk him and have ordered a dog door so he can go outside onto the patio if needed and have ordered him a few more interactive toys (in addition to the billion he already has). I just hate the idea of him having to sit at home alone all day! I know I am probably going to take this harder than he does. For the 2 years I've had him I have never had to leave him alone longer than 4 or 5 hours at most. He used to go to work with me when I worked long hours and then with school I have breaks to come home and walk him. He won't go outside on his own right now to potty on the grass on the patio, any suggestions on teaching him to go out on his own? He will sit and hold it ALLLLLLL day and never even think to go outside without me sending him out there. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Markley on
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Get another corgi..:-)
Then they can play together while you're gone, and you get twice the love and fun when you get home!
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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ooooooooooh don't tempt me!! :-)
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Permalink Reply by Jane on
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Maybe you could take him to doggie daycare one day a week? Around here it's actually cheaper to take your dog to daycare all day than it is to have someone come walk your dog for 30 minutes, if you can believe that. If you worked say Mon-Thurs and took him to daycare on Monday, he'd probably be so pooped he'd sleep all day Tuesday. So he'd only be bored for like 2 days. :P I'm sure he'll be fine though!
And I like Jennifer's idea too hehe
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I wanted to take him to daycare but unfortunately my hours are really weird, I'm working at a 24 hour clinic so no normal 9-5's. My long days will be from 6am- 4pm which makes dropping him off in the morning impossible, my other long day runs until 11pm which means I won't be able to pick him up. I'll have to find somewhere that will pick him up for me!
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie on
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I also work long hours. I'm a teacher so we get up at 5, I leave the house at 6:30 and usually don't return home until 4 on most days - 5 or 6 if we have meetings.
The best solution I've ever found is finding a neighbor to pop over. I live in an older area and there are several folks around here that are retired or don't work long hours. I found one I trusted, made her some muffins, bought her some nice coffee, started shoveling her driveway for her, picked up some nice flowers for her garden and now we've got Aunt Vicky for the dogs.
She not only feeds them if I'm going to be late, but she'll even come over and check on them if bad weather is coming. They love her, trust her and honestly behave better for her than for me.
We also have a dog door so they can go out whenever they want...but what you'll find out is that they sleep all day while you're gone. Make sure to give them some goooooood walks and play time when you get home and everything will be fine.
A webcam never hurts either :)
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Permalink Reply by Don on
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Astro turf to the rescue, its an option to lay some out on the deck and make it a some what dog friendly deck/patio. I'd say time to look in to another pup to rescue. Yah 2 is twice the bill but also will keep each other company. You will find once they bond leaving them alone won't be an issue any longer ( I know this from personal experience) and you've the ease of transitive training, that is one dog will train the other ( good and unfortunetly bad as well..it works both ways).
Interactive toys and a doggy door...that's about it really.
Just as a note corgi's being of high intelegence if not kept occupied will make jobs for themselves, like remodling your home to their likings.
Sincerely,
Don and Crew
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Permalink Reply by Gromit, Sparkle, and Doug on
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Some years back now I was living alone and my old pal Watson had to spend 10-12 hours a day alone, 5 days a week. He did fine and in due course I adopted his sister so he had another dog in the house. I even set up a web came once so I could see how they spent their day. Dogs are very good at sleeping!
One of the best traits of Corgis is that they are adaptable. It would be best if you could gradually get Franklin used to longer and longer lengths of time alone. As long as his needs for food, water, relief, and a chew toy are met, he will probably adapt and just sleep away his day. It was rare that my two got into any mischief while I was gone. The important part will be what you guys do together when you're home. You'll be tired but he'll be ready for walkies and play.
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Permalink Reply by Kasey, Max, & Zoey on
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I would suggest a companion as well. My fiance and I work 10 hour swing shifts for four days a week so you can imagine how hard it was for us! He did fine on his own but you could tell he had missed you and was lonely at the end of the day. We ended up getting a cat to be a companion to him and things got a lot better. He was less clingy and him and the cat did a lot of playing. Even better when we dog sat another corgi for a week it was like we never left for work. They were so entertained by each other they hardly noticed we were gone. As far as the training goes, make sure he knows how to use the dog door(they catch on fast and even find it entertaining) and maybe use the scented piddle puppy pads. You can get them with scent in them that attracts the dog to it.
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I was thinking of buying the scent spray since I don't think the pads I bought are scented. My vet tech program has 12 dogs every year and at the end of the semester they are adopted out. I had planned to adopt one of the dogs next year so may have to wait to get a buddy. I have 2 cats already, but they don't really find Franks antics amusing....at least is another warm body in the house for him though. He knows how to come in a dog door already, he is just a bit slow on the going out part. I really need to find a way to get him outside when I'm not home to go potty. I've been trying to stay at school ALL day lately to get him used to being alone. He has done fine with the 7-8 hour days. I also found a pretty cool dog walking service that does runs and off leash swimming etc which will poop Frank out! I can only afford 1 day a week of that though so the other 3 days I'll have to try to find a regular dog walker or bribe my friends :-)
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Permalink Reply by Chris West on
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Here are some articles about teaching your dog to use a dog door:
http://www.collargirl.com/dog-door.html
http://www.pet-supplies-review.com/dog-door-training.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_2173451_train-dog-use-doggy-door.html
Please read this FAQ page before even considering another corgi!
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Permalink Reply by Roger/Laurie on
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I have two and I think they only play when we are home. When they are alone all they do is sleep. Maybe they change beds every 3 or 4 hours but sleeping is their favortie thing to do when left alone. That also mean they are ready to rock and roll when we get home.
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Permalink Reply by David DiPaola on
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I'm gone from 7am - 7pm Monday - Friday. My 11 month old pup does just fine. I started off by setting her up in the kitchen for about 5-6 hours, now she's graduated to my bedroom/deck. I have her set-up in my bedroom with a large playpen that opens to my deck so she can go in and out, but she is still confined. She loves hanging out on the deck watching the birds flyby, I also caught her napping out there one day :)
I don't have any potty pads set up on the deck as she waits till I get home to go to the restroom. She rarely has any accidents. She has plenty of toys and blankets to play with during the day and she looks forward to when I get home because I'll take her to the dog park for an hour to run around.
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