Hey Guys,
I'm not sure if a few of you remember me, but I started a discussion back in March before we got Yogi, worried that my job wouldn't make me a fit mom for Yogi. I am and was at the time a fulltime consultant and my husband as well had a demanding job. We always wanted a dog and we always put the longing aside because of our work lives. But we decided to go for it this year and make it work no matter what. I was discouraged by some breeders who thought I should work part time or blatantly told me I shouldn’t have a puppy. At that time I was working 40-45 hr weeks and my husband the same. Occasionally my hours went as much as 50.
Well here we are months later. Yogi is healthy, fit and very social. He’s currently in his third level of puppy school, headed towards canine good citizen. He was fully potty trained at 14wks and has been accident free. He’s an overall average loving puppy.
I've learned so much and I'd like to share to all the new puppy owners who may have jobs that demand 8 or more hours. Keep in mind that although Yogi is raised by both my husband and I, all what we’ve done can he handled by one parent.
Here’s what I’ve learned-
Potty training:
- Initially we set up a 2’ high metal play pen in out tiled kitchen. We first made it in a 4’ by 4’ square. By accident we had 2 crates. A large 36” and a small one (maybe 15” not sure). The small crate was a perfect size for a puppy and fit perfectly in the pen. We basically placed the small crate in the pen. Attached the open door to the pen and placed his bedding in. We then laid puppy pads in a corner of the pen away from his crate. Initially he never chew the pad, but we taped it down so that may be why. I took time in the morning to tape that thing down but it helped. When we were home we kept a pad in the room we were in, however we made it our business to bring him out on the hour even in rain. I took 4 days when he got home and for the next 2 weeks my husband came home at lunch just to make sure he was okay. Each week we did something new with his pen/crate area. We first started by making the pen smaller, then we gradually moved some of the pad out the pen and made it smaller. Then we noticed that at nite he would start chewing the pad and peed a small amount. The pad became his toy so it was out at nite, and he held at nite from them. Keep in mind he ate twice a day, never was left with water during the day and basically drank with his meal. Water was taken away from 7pm. This was all around his 14wk bday and once he started holding at nite he did so during the day. Towards the end the pad was gone completely, so was the pen and small crate replaced with big crate. Transition from pen/crate to just big crate was not as crazy as we thought it would be. He loved his big crate.

Accidents:
- May sound creepy but whenever he had an accident we’d clean up the area but made sure to place his food bowl during feeding in the area where he went. He seemed to make a connection quite quickly. He would still eat but never peed in that area again.

Socialization:
- Once the vet cleared him of going places we started taking him around. Pet stores are a great place for socialization. We had lots of ppl come over and we got him a few friends who he saw on weekends. During the week, we’d play out in the yard for at least 2 hrs. While we were at work we left the tv on or left the radio on talk radio, but stopped that after a while. But there was always toys and a kong. But we soon learned that he slept all day. We just waited patiently for him to be old enough to go to day camp a few days a week. We signed up for puppy classes on his 10wk bday. He had a hard time initially since all he wanted to do was play, but when he started getting him on serious play dates on the weekends he slowly started paying attention in class.

Behavior:
- He was a chief at nipping. He nipped my husband more though. We tried a lot of stuff but he just grew out of it eventually. During teething it’s a lot more, we gave him natural hides to chew on and he found something to do with his teeth. He never really chewed on stuff. He wasn’t into furniture or molding. He did love shoes, but by taking the shoe away and giving a toy kinda helped that prob. He still likes shoes but he has a fetish for shoes and feet. He just sniffs and licks now. Around 4months he started running from us as a game. Time outs (not crate), ignoring him and giving him the back solved that prob. His current issues jumping and barking and we’re working on that a lot.  I recommend training 120%. It helps so much. Also, he started eating his poo in the first weeks while we were at work. We added pineapple in his food and it stopped. Pineapple in poo makes it really gross lol.

Food:
- We feed Canidae. We tried Orijen and Evo each for a week but it made Yogi way too active. Considering he stays in his crate most of that day, all that energy wasn’t being released enough. We went back to Canidae and won’t switch to their grain free until end of the year when its out and Yogi goes to camp at least twice a week. We don’t treat much, only for training a new skill initially. After that its either no treat just a big “good boy” or a hug. For snacks we give him tomato, apples and any other fruit I may have in excess. We put parsley in his food and his breath has improved. We fed him 1.5 cups in two portions a day for the first 6months. Now he’s down to 1 cup a day plus an apple. We have a tree so we have plenty. If we have left over chicken or beef we give him some with his food too.


The main thing is keeping on schedule, from waking up, walks, potty time, feeding, getting home, etc. They live off schedules and when it’s interrupted they will act out.

Hopefully this helps someone. Don’t feel too worried if you are where I was 6months ago. Time goes by quickly and in no time your little puppy will be an independent puppy. 

Good luck to all new parents.