I am picking up our little boy next Friday and I'm getting quite anxious (I seem to have read so many posts with people experiencing all sorts of new puppy problems and can't help feeling a tad panicky!!). Here are the things I'm worrying most about right now. I have four children at home. One is a teenager at college (he won't be around much to help with the puppy). I drive the other three (ages 14, 11 and 7) to school every morning (they go to school 10 miles from our home). I leave the house at 7.50. I arrive at my parking spot at 8.20. The oldest 2 go off to their school and my son sits in the car with me until HIS school opens, at 9am. Then I drive home and I'm usually back by 9.20 to 9.30. I'm planning to take the puppy with us each morning. But where on earth will he wee when he's only 8 weeks old? I understand I can't put him down anywhere that other dogs have been until after his 12 week injections. I have been puzzling over how to get around this and just can't think what to do! Any advice would be welcome. Also... I'm a single mum. I work from home - my computer is set up in my bedroom. I'm trying to figure out how I will cope during the day. The info on this site suggests I keep him on a hard surface for a good few weeks at least, so he doesn't pee on the carpet. The only room in the house with a hard surface is my kitchen. I can't set my computer up in there, but don't want to leave him in there on his own for ages either. And finally... I plan to crate train him and understand I should put the crate by my bed for the first few nights. I should also get up in the night to take him for a wee. But I'm so worried about lack of sleep - I sleep so little as it is - I have to get up early to work for a while first thing, then again after the kids are at school. Any tips for getting enough sleep? These probably sound like silly concerns but I so want to do the best for our puppy, whilst still doing everything else that needs doing (and I HAVE to work as I'm the sole provider for my children). I'm starting to get a little over-anxious about everything and it's keeping me awake at night! Thank you for reading.
I was a nervous wreck before we got Jessie! We got her at 9 weeks and she is now coming up for 14 weeks. For us the sleepless phase was pretty shortlived, so don't panic. I slept on a mattress next to the crate for the first week and by then she had settled and was sleeping through pretty well. Now at 13 weeks she goes through the night from 11,15ish - 6,30 (and I think would go longer, this is just when the kids are up) I lost sleep about the school run and what to do. In the end I decided to leave her in the crate. Our run is a bit shorter than yours as I can pop home between schools, so was leaving her for 30 mins initially, popping home and popping out again, but was soon able to leave her for the full hour. She has now built up to being left for couple of hours in the crate quite happily. Things were hard for the first couple of weeks and she is a total pickle, but things improve really quickly, unlike with kids! So please don't worry, it WILL come together! I didn't want to read and run, but I'll post more later!
The "Happy Puppy handbook" is essential reading. We are our second pup in 2 years. Bramble is 10 weeks old now and we collected her when she was 8 weeks old. In your situation, a crate would be a life safer! You might even find that the breeder already has the pup used to a crate which will be a help. In the 10 days we have had Bramble she is happy to spend 1.5hours now in there, it's her safe den. It is a small crate, she also has a play pen, and soon we will move her crate into the playpen. That is where her toys, chews live, and she is gradually getting used to the fact that the playpen is a really fun place to be! We have the playpen mainly to give a bit of rest for our two older dogs, although they are happy with her, I don't think a young puppy hurdling over them constantly is such a good idea! Having a playpen might be something to consider. So, in summary really focus on crate training, all sleeping and eating in there as soon as possible. I know it's tempting to have pup sleeping on your lap, but it will really help to pop her straight in the crate, especially in the early days, or pup will be constantly mithering for attention. With the school run I would be thinking of a small crate, maybe a cosy fabric one, and taking it with you, maybe having a spare crate in your kitchen/office might not be such a bad idea given that you work from home. With a small crate, the kids can be sat beside her in the car, and this will help to keep pup calm. In the first instance a few short trips to desensitise her to the car might help, when you are not under so much time pressure. After a few weeks she should be more than happy to be left in the crate with a stuffed kong to settle with while you are on the school run.
Hi and welcome to the forum. What's your little boy's name going to be? What colour is he? Don't worry about being panicky - we all feel the same before collecting our new puppy, even when we've done it before. You've had some good advice already. I can't help much on working arrangements as it's something I didn't have to worry about with Juno. Puppy doesn't have to be beside you n the bedroom for the first nights, it's just something some of us do as we find it helps the puppy to settle in, some of us use crates and playpen set ups with puppy pads at night (or while working) so no need to get up for the toileting trip, and I'm sure they will be along soon to help. For school trips I wouldn't worry too much about puppy weeing in the car. If he is in a crate he is unlikely to as it is his den. As Kate says you may want to get him used to going in the car before trying a school run, and of course you can always take him out of his crate to see the world while you wait for the school to open at 9:00 as it can provide some good socialisation for him. Best advice is to read the Happy Puppy Handbook, and keep it at hand for easy reference. You could even get your children to read it to help their understanding of having a young puppy in the house, particularly a bitey little pup. The other advice is to post any queries here on the forum. There's always plenty of advice or support
I work form home too, also a lot on the computer. I found I did not get nearly as much work done. Mind you, Oban was downstairs in the kitchen and I was up in my office. He was good down there but some days I was down every 15 or 20 minutes to take him out to pee and then we'd be out for maybe 10 minutes some of those times. Other times he was just so darn cute I stayed longer with him and played. You will just have to try puppy out in the car for that morning school run. I put ours in a cat carrier and they were often that long and never peed. I didn't do that every day though. If it turns out puppy has to be left at home then that's only a bit over an hour and a half. A rule of thumb for crating is one hour plus one hour for each month of age, giving you three hours as he'll be at least 8 weeks old. I actually did not crate, left the crate with the door open in our gated kitchen or a sturdy pen. But that would not be too long to try out. There might even be a benefit as one of the hazards of puppy being with you all the time is they never learn how to be alone. And the time will come when they have to be alone, good to train it early. Good luck, you will manage. It's good to be prepared, just try not to let worry overwhelm you. Remember to have FUN.
Personally I would never leave an adult dog for more than 3 -4 hours in a crate, 3 hours for an 8 week puppy is far too long and far too long to expect them to hold their bladder
I never woke my pup in the night to wee! I waited for him to wake me up, in the beggining this was about 6.30am but within a matter of about 3 weeks, he was sleeping through to 8am.
Thank you so much to each of you for taking the time to respond. You have helped me a great deal and it's nice to know I have somewhere to turn when I'm feeling a bit panicky! Thank you too for the welcome - MaccieD his name will be Nugget and he's yellow, but quite a reddish yellow (if you know what I mean!). Luckily I live close to the breeder so I'm going to visit him again on Monday.
@Calbury What a lovely name for your boy. By your description of his colour it sounds as if he is what we call Fox Red. It would be great if you couod take some photos of Nugget and share them with us - we LOVE puppy photos . Enjoy reading the Handbook
Welcome to the forum! Feeling anxious is normal and I don't think anyone is immune to this, even if you've had puppies before. But rest assured that things will be fine. You won't break your puppy. If you have to trial a couple of options (eg crate in car versus leaving pup at home on school runs) to find what works that'll be just fine. There is always plenty of help here too. You're not alone!
I raise Guide Dog puppies, so I have one a year. I can't lose sleep at my age (old) so I don't crate the pups, I have a puppy pen with a bed at one end and a puppy pad at the other. It doesn't make any difference to their day time toilet training. I do teach them to accept a crate in case of vets etc - but not for overnight. I have a box by my bed to use at night times for the first few nights 'just in case' of shouters but - so far - they have settled well Here is our arrangement - (Tatze (pet dog 2 years old) decided to share with Twiglet on this occasion lol) .
Welcome to the forum from Hattie 8 years and rescue boy Charlie 5 years. I remember getting Hattie home and thinking "oh good grief what have I done" I soon got over it, she is the best friend I could ever have wished for, always by my side whatever happens Good luck with your puppy - Nugget xxx Helen
Hello there! I did the same as Mags - I crate trained my dog later, took a long time over it, and did it properly. At first he was in a pen, with space to move away from his bed if he absolutely needed a pee in an emergency. I didn't get up at night, either. Although OH went to bed at midnight, and I got up at 5am. That said, I would sleep with a pup the first few nights, until he got adjusted to his new home and being alone. I don't think I'd take him out in the middle of the night to pee though! I struggle to see how a crate works for really tiny pups. My dog's bladder capacity was about 20 minutes when he first came home! With the best will in the world, crating him in between wees was asking for trouble - and there is just no way you even want to risk having them wee on bedding or in a crate. I faced the same dilemma as you, I had to nip out, pick up people at the airport etc. or get to Waitrose. For the first few days, me and OH juggled so the pup had company, but we started working on him being alone right away. It was very, very important to us to have a dog ok with being left (we both work, and although our dog is well cared for while we are working, he does have to spend a few hours alone on a regular basis). So, I'd try get your pup ok with being alone asap, use kongs, and then leave him in a pen when you take the kids to school. Try get a puppy sitter/neighbour/friend to help with the first few days to give you a little longer to do the 'being alone' training. In terms of working in a room with carpet - lino is the thing. Go down to your nearest Carpet Right (or whatever) and buy a couple of metres of lino. Put this over the carpet, and stand a puppy pen on it. It's best if the edges are outside the pen (edges tend to be asking to be chewed).
Thank you so much - I can't tell you how grateful I am for all this fantastic advice. I have decided on the playpen/puppy pad route for night times (so happy to hear that it shouldn't affect daytime potty training, which was my big worry) - and will also do the lino/playpen thing in the bedroom - such a brilliant solution Now I'm trying to find a suitable playpen - just wondering what you all think of this one? http://www.croftonline.co.uk/42-ins-high-octopen-for-puppies-choice-of-colour.html It doesn't look as strong as yours @Boogie , but I can't find one that does. Do you think this one will just get knocked over?
This is mine - it has done lots of puppies now as it does the rounds of puppy walkers! http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009NEPQM6?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage I don't think you would need two 'tho - if the puppy is a shouter a box by your bed for a few nights should do fine I let mine shout for 20 minutes to see if they settle (so far they have!) A ticking clock, radio and nightlight all help. Also, fill the bed with teddies, so that they feel like littermates. . .
@Calbury It's good to see you feeling more positive already and that you have decide on your plan of action.
Thank you! For some reason I couldn't find it, and I was looking on Amazon too! The lino/playpen idea was so I could work in my bedroom/office and still keep the puppy near I don't think my budget will stretch to 2, but it looks as if it wouldn't be too difficult to disassemble then reassemble as needed. I'll remember those tips for helping him feel settled at night - thanks.
