Raising up Puppy & working full time
Hi All. I'm considering getting a corgi puppy. However, I live in San Francisco in work full time. I leave the house around 7:00am and come home around 5:45ish. I work far from my house and do not have time during lunch to come home and let the dog out or play with it.
I do have a small yard and garage in which I could keep the puppy and the crate while I'm out for the day. Will it just be cruel to leave the dog alone for such long periods of time?
I don't mind getting up early in the morning to play with the puppy, take it for a walk/etc and will have time after work to do all this as well. I prefer not have a dog walker come to the house.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Cindi on
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As one who works long hours and has seven dogs, it's difficult. It will require a deep commitment on your part. One of the things that is helpful is bringing your dog to daycare or hiring a dog walker/companion while you are gone. We have an excellent place here that does daycare and it's mostly outside (except during inclement weather). The dogs get to run and play all day and have a ton of great workers to play with. They also board, which is handy. And we have a few good dog walking services. Check with some of your local trainers for recommendations. Ask for references. Visit unannounced a day or two. Check them out thoroughly!
And during your off-time you must commit to spending your time with your dog. Sign up for a dog training class together. It will help you bond with your puppy. It's not the ideal situation; I know. But if you're willing to do the work, the rewards are amazing!
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Permalink Reply by Edison on
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This sort of schedule (which is much like ours) is not a problem for an even-tempered adult dog. However, puppies need much more attention, training and surveillance, not to mention potty breaks. (The rule of thumb is that a dog can hold its bladder for as many hours as it is months old.) A daily visit by a dog walker might cover exercise and calls of nature, but is no substitute for the kind of bonding and training that puppies need to become well-adjusted in a human home.
Dogs are intrinsically social creatures, and though they can adapt to long days alone, leaving a puppy alone that long on a daily basis practically guarantees behavioral and training problems- they can become hyperactive, or destructive, or over-anxious. I know it's really hard to fit the average working schedule around a dog- there's no way we could have given Edison what he needed in his early months had our household not been unusually flexible; my husband and I were grad students with much scheduling freedom and we've a housemate who is happy to do the occasional puppy-uncle duties. We gradually extended how much time Edison stayed home alone, and by ten months we were able to resume our regular work schedules.
Under the circumstances, I'd recommend either finding a good doggy day care for those first months, waiting until your schedule or household gets a little more flexible or adopting a rescue who is known to be okay with being left alone for long stretches. Or you could adopt a kitten- cats are much less needy than dogs and can be quite as sweet and loveable.
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Permalink Reply by Carla on
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I would second Edison's suggestion about getting an older/adult dog. You may even be able to find an older puppy (in the 6-12 month period) that would better suit your schedule. Like Edison, I was a full-time graduate student when I got Casey at 10 weeks old. I was fortunate enough to be able to be home with her most days and when I did have to go, it was only for 4-5 hour periods a few times a week. This allowed me to take her out regularly, spend time with her doing training, play and exercise throughout the day and just generally make her life easier and more comfortable. Now, at 11 months, she does spend 2-3 days a week at home alone from 7-5pm while I work, but she's OK for that long at that age.
It would be difficult for the dog to go from spending time with its littermates to spending large amounts of time isolated, although I'm certain there are people who do that with success, because many people are dog owners and many people also work full-time. You'll have to figure out what works best for you and pup. As Cindi says, if you choose to get a pup, it would be a large commitment in the mornings and evenings because you would want to give it lots of exercise in the morning when you leave, and then when you come home it's going to have been spending the day doing little/nothing and waiting for you to come back.
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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When we first got our pups, both of us worked full time from 8 to 5, we lived 15 mins from work so we come home for lunch. What I can say is puppies needs structure, they learn what to expect at what time. A stable environment is very important.
Be prepare to lose your night life, at least for the first 9 months, you'll be teaching the pup to potty train every 2 hours and progress to 8+ hrs (crate train). You'll learn to say no to friends because you need to get home for the pup. Be prepare to lose a strap off your jimmy choos, a button off your remote and baseboard during his teething stage. Be prepare to pick up his poop and clean up his vomit, pee and poop for the next 12-15 years, any accidents is never the dog's fault, its yours :)
However, you'll gain a devoted friend for life, someone to come home to, someone to listen to your rant at work, lick your face as long as you allow him to.
If i was in your situation, I would do a test run by dog sitting your friend's dogs for a weekend, you'll get to experience what its like, your friend get to go on a vacation. (win win). You can always enlist help, one of the best thing about San Fran is dog friendly, you get to spoil your pup in every way you can imagine. Hotels, spas, day care, dog walkers... the options are limitless. Try and take the first - two weeks off for the pup, establish a good schedule, that will give him a good start, after that you can consider hiring someone to release him during lunch, as the months goes by, it'll get easier.
If you adopt an adult, it is much less work. San Fran have a very large population of corgi (at least 300 in the bay area), go to the meetups and talk to the owners face to face, you'll gain much knowledge and tips in the area. Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Sky and Lyla on
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I agree with what it seems most everyone else has said. Having a dog can be done working full time (I work 8-4 and have 4 dogs at my house right now), but it is not often the best option for raising a puppy. I did raise 3 puppies while working full time, but two of them were older puppies (about 4 months) and with all 3 I lived close enough to work and had flexible jobs were I could go let them out 1-2 times during the work day. On days I couldn't make it home at lunch, I had a dog walker or a doggy daycare. Adult dogs can be left for 8 hours (although I would never leave one longer than that on a regular basis, it's just not fair), but puppies can not. If you cannot make it home during the day and are dead set against having a dog walker, then I would say no, a puppy is not for you. An young or retired adult from a breeder or a rescue may be a wonderful option for you though.
Also, the other thing to remember is when you are gone all day, you have to give that dog attention in the evenings whether you feel like it or not. Sometimes that's really hard because there are days you just want to be lazy and go home and sleep or watch TV. You can't. Remember, your dog has been home alone all day and only has this time with you, you can't take it away from him.
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This is a great point and it really involves reflecting on your own personality and habits. Some people really like to go out after work, be active and such, and so would probably not find it that hard to spend a good deal of time exercising and training a puppy at the end of the workday. Other people (myself included) much prefer to come home after a day of work and spend time on the internet or watching some tv to unwind. I think if I worked full-time during Casey's first 6-8 months with us, going out in the mornings and at night would have felt more often like a chore than a pleasure.
With my flexibility, I could skip a morning walk if I didn't want to go, with the knowledge that we could easily go in a few hours, or we could go to the dog park instead, or take a longer walk if I felt like it, or take a different route, or whatever. I choose when to go and where we went and what we did, and it didn't seem like something I "had" to do, it was something I wanted to do (obviously routine is important, but there's something to be said for spontaneous mid-afternoon walks on beautiful days, or random snowball chasing in the backyard). Again, this is only my personal experience and perhaps you wouldn't feel that way at all. But it really is a big commitment to the puppy, whose life will basically revolve around you and nothing else. I read a great quote somewhere that said something along the lines of "you have work, friends, entertainment, hobbies, etc. and the dog has nothing but you."
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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If you can arrange for someone to give puppy potty breaks, it can be done. As others have so correctly said, it's a ton of work and it's not for everyone.
We work full time, but I was able to come home every day at work til Jack was nearly a year old. If you are working full time and raising a pup, your schedule might look something like ours did. We both worked, more or less, 8 to 5.
Alarm at 5:30 am. Husband gets up, takes puppy for potty, gives puppy breakfast, plays for a few minutes while I get dressed and brush teeth, etc. I then come down, puppy play, puppy potty, puppy play and training time while husband showers. Husband comes down, plays with puppy while I shower, I come back and last potty break before work. 7:45 am, pup in his round pen with fresh newspapers for accidents, us out the door to work. (As you can see we've already put two hours into puppy time and we're not even really starting our day yet).
Noon: I come home from work, puppy potty, puppy has lunch while I clean up papers, try to put down fresh papers while puppy invents new games with said papers. Puppy play while I try to eat a sandwich, puppy potty again, puppy back in pen and 12:45 I head back to work, having stolen bites of sandwich between leaping puppy games.
5:15: Home from work. Puppy potty, take papers up out of pen and don't put fresh ones down, puppy play, puppy walk, puppy supper, puppy pool time/yard time/ training time. Puppy potty, puppy in pen for half hour while we get supper ready. Young puppy naps, once puppy gets older puppy spends this entire time barking while we ignore puppy's bold behavior. Our supper over, puppy potty, puppy play. If it's hot, I am in basement playing with puppy while world goes on without me. If it's not too hot, I am trapped in kitchen with nipping, biting, rough-and-tumble puppy, remembering that there used to be some tv programs I might have liked once upon a time. Puppy potty, puppy play/training. 10pm-ish, last potty before bed, puppy in crate, us off to bed.
Weekends: Up at 6am (husband and I each take one weekend day to get up with pup). Puppy potty, puppy breakfast, puppy play, puppy potty, puppy walk, puppy training, puppy potty. Pup in pen while we shower. Puppy potty/puppy play. Maybe we go out for lunch, then we toss puppy in car and visit a park. We made a big deal of trying to take puppy somewhere new every weekend. Tire puppy out, take puppy home, puppy in round pen while we run errands. Come home, puppy potty, puppy supper, puppy play time/training time etc, til time for bed. Sundays we would go to my mom's for dinner and go grocery shopping.
Notice the total lack of "People engaging in hobbies or visits with friends." Friends might drop by, but keep in mind a Corgi is a fairly high-energy exuberant dog as a youngster, and not everyone appreciates the hijinks of a Corgi teenager!
Until Jack was approaching two, we really could not sit down and relax in the evening at all because he would just bring us toys to play constantly. From my way of looking at it, if a young animal will be locked in a pen or crate for 16-18 hours of every day/night due to my lifestyle, I really owe that young animal the bulk of the remaining 6 hours or so of my time. Sam is correct that you will lose your social life for the first year or so. I honestly loved it, but when it came time to get a second dog we chose to go with an adult, which only cost me about 2 to 4 weeks of giving up everything.
I don't mean to sound discouraging because if you love training dogs, the whole experience is completely wonderful and worth it. But there are many other people who really like dogs but find a puppy does not fit their lifestyle, and there are plenty of adult dogs looking for good homes too.
Good luck with your decision!
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Permalink Reply by Monica, Orion, and Laika on
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I would suggest rescuing an adult dog that is already potty trained, etc. I feel like you being away so long would be really hard on a developing puppy. If you do get a dog there are day care places you can take the dog at least once a week. I used to work at Camp Bow Wow, which is a chain and they may have one in your area. There are big play pens that have both an indoor and outdoor area and the dogs are divided by size and get to run free with each other. They get one nap in the afternoon and a snack if you want. I was a "camp counselor" and watched the dogs in the play areas to make sure they were all getting along and most of the dogs there simply had a blast. Its a great social place where dogs can interact with each other and is well monitored. There's also cameras so you can get online and check on the play area your dog is in :) They do a little test to make sure your dog can socialize well with others before he/she is allowed to come too so its very safe. If there isn't a Camp Bow Wow there's probably another day care service that exists there. Anyways, I really think you should consider an adult rescue dog. You not only would be saving a life, but then you would probably not have to crate them all day so they could at least roam the house
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Permalink Reply by Susan S. on
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I live in San Francisco and my schedule is similar to yours (I do work at home 1 day per week, so it's only like that 4 days). I was fortunate in that my boyfriend was able to take a month off work (before he started a new job), so someone was home with Søren most of the time in that first month. Søren goes to puppy daycare on the four days that I'm at work. I have to say it's a lifesaver. He's tired and ready to cuddle when I'm home from work, and a quick walk in the evening is usually enough to get him ready for bed. In the two weeks before Søren went to puppy daycare, he was a terror in the evenings because he was so bored, even though I made time in my schedule to come home at lunch. Puppy daycare is not cheap, but it helps him with socialization and they reinforce all his training during play times.
I echo what people said about the puppy cutting into your free time and social life. That being said, I wasn't doing anything that great before we got him. So I think taking walks and playing with Søren is better than vegging on the couch, watching tv, and browsing facebook. But, I do spend a fair amount of time doing Søren's laundry and cleaning up puke!
I don't know if it would be possible for me to do this without puppy daycare. And, I do intend to get a dog walker when he's too old for puppy daycare. It's a financial commitment that I considered before getting a puppy, because I just didn't want to get a puppy and then leave him bored and under-exercised. I think that's a recipe for destroyed stuff and a neurotic dog.
But, even with all of the hassle, I'm SO glad I got Søren. He's the best puppy - even when's he barfy or unrolling the toilet paper. I feel happy every time I see him wag his stump and his corgi grin.
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Permalink Reply by Susan Stanton on
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I waited a long time to get pups because of work (and living alone) -- but now that I have them, I can understand the desire to overcome any obstacle to have a dog, as I could not live without them. My saving grace was that when I got Bertie, I was a teacher. So although during the school year I was gone from 6:30 AM to 4 or 5 PM, I had my summer free. So I got Bertie in July, thinking I had 2 months to housebreak him and leave him home alone for gradually increasing periods. The housebreaking went fine -- but the home alone? I could NOT bear to go out without him. I even liked watching him sleep, with his little black nose and back legs sticking out. I was living in a Manhattan apartment then, and so when school started, he was about 4 months old, pretty well potty trained. I hired a dog walker to come in around 11 and give him a good stroll around the neighborhood (up to then, he wasn't allowed to do that, as he hadn't had all his shots!) and then the doormen, bless them, for $5 a visit, would zip up and take him out for a quick pee around 3 or so. (And one of them like Bertie so much, he'd hang around for a while, watching CHiPS reruns and playing!) Those two visits made all the difference to his little puppy day. The rest of the time, he mostly slept or ripped his pee pad to shreds (I actually think he resented the implication that he needed one, ahahahhahaaha).
So I guess I'm saying, it can be done -- but all the suggestions made are excellent. Older dog with some training, walkers, day care, something, at least until he's a little older and able to snooze away the day waiting for you to come home.
OR, ludicrous though it may sound -- I also changed careers. I now work from home and edit things, and my pups and I are together 24/7. Too much of a good thing?? NEVER!
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Permalink Reply by Renee Kovacs on
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I wish we could get an actual dog to respond here ...=) I went dog-less for many years, because I worked full-time and didn't feel it was fair to bring a dog into that kind of life. Absolutely, I felt a huge empty place in my life, not having a dog.
I didn't do it until I had quit working full-time, so I guess my opinion follows my own choice - I wouldn't do that to a dog. I do think we rationalize a bit by saying "I deserve a dog", that many dogs have far worse situations to contend with, etc. But if we could get a dog's perspective, I wonder what they might say?
My neighbors have found a great solution to this same situation - they have a friend's dog that comes for sleep-overs. They take it for walks, buy it stuff, enjoy it tremendously, and it's a win/win thing.
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I can understand where Renee is coming from. I avoided getting a dog for nearly a decade for the same reason - I worked full time and didn't want to get a dog and then subject him to my busy schedule. But, my boyfriend pointed out that my schedule was unlikely to be significantly different for a very long time. So, if I really wanted a dog, it was only a matter of doing whatever it takes to make it work.
Dog owners in San Francisco are actually really lucky. This city loves dogs - more dogs than kids here! And, there are so many options for doggy activities and socialization, lots of dog parks, great vets, and organic dog food makers. And, you can take your dog nearly everywhere. Your dog will be welcome in most public places as long as he's well-behaved. And, there are a ton of good daycare and dog walker options.
Søren loves daycare! He launches himself at the door when it's time to go... Then he launches himself at me when he comes home. It's great!
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