Puppy with 2 working adults?
I was thinking of getting a cage with a divider so the puppy can grow into it as an adult but am wondering if it'd make more sense to just let the puppy have the whole cage and put a pee pad or something in one corner and a bed in the other corner. All this said, our work is fairly flexible about working from home so it's not going to be an every day thing but i dont think we'll be able to work from home every day by any means. Thoughts?  |
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| A family I know,who worked full time, tried crating their puppy for 8 hours a day. Of course this did not work,they would come home to a mess everyday and would have to bathe the puppy everyday.The puppy would also be so full of energy that he was misbehaving when let out of the crate. What did work was leaving a crate with the door open in a closed off part of their home,such as the kitchen.Pee pads were left down and his crate was his sleeping quarters,a safe haven. My 2 cents from a family who went through this with their puppy. Robin |
| I could see that working. Also trying to see if we can be flexible with work and try to get home for lunch at least. |
| A couple of suggestions::: The crate sizing is a great idea. Is it possible (do you work within a near enough distance) that one of you can take your lunch hour and go home?? Do you have friends and /or relatives that can help??? (It takes a village to raise a puppy too!!!  )Here is what I did... When Heart came to me in August of 2007. I took a week off to bond with her and to try to get her on a loose schedule. I DO work close to home, so I rearranged my lunch break and took 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon to go home and let her out. When that wasn't possible, I made sure one of my adult children came over midmorning and midafternoon. I also had a friend that could do it if no one else was available. AND I was willing to hire a dogsitter to come in that same times if needed. Since you have a flexible working schedule it may be alot easier than you think to get this puppy on the road to pottytraining. Also, you may want to talk to your breeder about your plans for when you puppy comes to you. I know my breeder began potty training Heart's litter so, when she arrived Heart knew what she had to do....Good Luck~~~ Keep us posted~~~~   |
| Good suggestions and I've found a lot of positive experiences with people in our same situation online. Also found a very reputable dog walker in our area and she isn't very expensive in my opinion so we may just have her come over and take the pup out for the first few months. Anyway, any other suggestions or first hand experiences would be much appreciated  |
| Definitely use the dog walker if you can. That's what we did with one of ours and the other ones we were able to come home at lunch. If you can, I'd also suggest trying to take a few days off when the puppy first comes home. It helps everyone adjust (also, you'll appreciate being able to get some rest)! They catch on fast if they're kept to a good routine. With our last puppy, we only ended up coming home for about a month at lunch, gradually increased the time by about an hour until we stopped coming home at all-- and it wasn't very long. I would recommend NOT opening up the whole crate and putting a pee pad in it for a couple of reasons. First, the idea behind crate training is that you do want them to learn to hold it in there. If you put a pad in there and encourage peeing, it'll be hard to break. Try to keep the divider at just enough room for the puppy to stretch out and turn around and you can gradually increase it. They generally won't want to pee where they sleep so it'll help in the whole house training process. Also, bored puppies chew and you definitely don't want to leave a puppy alone with something that could potentially swallow (and they will!). That used or unused pad will become a delicious treat if you leave it in there and no one's watching. Gross! Good luck! |
I echo the suggestion of a dog walker. We used one for both our pups and it was well worth it. You know your pup will get fed if necessary, and taken out to do potty business, and maybe work off a little of that puppy energy. My dog walker texts me after every visit with a potty report  , so I know she's been to our house, and that Oscar has done his business, and gotten his meds.Laurie and Oscar |
| Thanks for all your input. The only thing I'm "Worried" about is letting some stranger into my house and have a key and all that. I wish we knew the neighbors better or had a trusted friend close but sadly, we do not. Just makes me nervous. |
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