Hello All! My fiancee and I have added a new little addition to our newly forming family. He is a black lab and is now around 14 weeks. The past 7 weeks or so have definitely been a learning experience but we both absolutely adore our little Kaldr. We have started doing some mild obedience lessons with him. Sit, stay, come and high five and he will be attending puppy classes next week (trainer dependent). I wanted to come on here and get some advice with nap schedules, crating and also treat advice. A typical week entails my fiance and I both working about 7-5 each day. One of us always comes tolet him out during our lunch and give him food and a little walk. If we can't we have a few back ups that will come and let him out around lunch time in a worse case scenario. Until now he has had his crate and a small play pen in the kitchen in our apartment. He doesn't have any accidents while we are gone and always waits until he is outside to go potty during lunch. However, he is now capable of hopping in the pen and putting his paws stove height and I don't want to risk him getting into something and getting hurt. Would he be okay to be in his crate while we are at work? This week has been different schedule wise and has shown me a few more issues I am having. Since I am on vacation all week I have been home instead of work. When we are home for an entire day, how should we go about crating and nap schedules? I don't want to crate him all day long when I am home, but I also can't always watch him for 16 hours a day. Are there any guidelines on how much he can or should be in his crate? I know labs are very social and I want to give him the best possible quality of life. For exercise, about how much do pups usually need? I usually try to walk him about a half mile to a mile a day (not including potty break walks), and inside we practice his commands and throw a tennis ball around for him to retrieve and occasionally bring back lol. I read that too much exercise and not enough sleeping will result in him being very anxious and stressed out so I want to make sure I give him a good ratio. Finally I gave him a bone a few weeks ago. It was cheaper and not the best quality but it was all I could find at the time. It gave him a week or two of enjoyment before I had to toss it because it was cracking and I didn't want him to get an obstruction. Can anyone recommend a chew toy he would love equally as much that is healthy for him that will also last? He has a nylabone but isn't always interested in it and the small digestible chews I have found at pet health stores he devours in less than an hour. I really appreciate any help and I will hopefully have some pictures of him up really soon. Thanks everyone!
Hi there and welcome to the forum. Labradors (well all dogs) are very sociable and like company, particularly their humans. 7am to 5pm is a long time to be left, even with a lunchtime visit. Do you have access to dog walkers or daycare as an option? A pen set up rather than full crating is definitely the preferred option, but the room needs puppy-proofed for safety. Regarding chew togs, have you tried a stuffed and frozen kong? Best option, safest too. jac
I agree with Jac - 10 hours is far to long for a young puppy to be left alone with only one toilet break during the day. It-so not just the length of time it is also the lack of social interaction your pup is experiencing. Why would you want to crate your pup when you're at home all day? A crate can be used to encourage a pup to snooze when they are becoming over excited and bitey - it's a pups safe place where he can rest and not be bothered. Many of us just have our pups with us and we play and interact with them, have short training sessions with them, take them outside for toilet breaks and allow the pup to settle and have a snooze when they are ready. At 14 weeks if age walks are not about distance covered - they should be training exercises to get your pup walking nicely on a loose lead, paying attention to you and learning to ignore distractions. Outings at this young age are a continuation of puppy socialisation not exercise.
Hi and welcome from me and my boy Bailey. Ahhhh 14 weeks old, exploring the big wide world - an exciting time for you all 7am to 5pm is an awfully long time for a baby to be on his own, even with a lunchtime visit - there is an article on the main website that deals with working full time and bringing up a puppy. But a pen is definitely better than a crate. When you are home all day of course nobody can watch a puppy all the time, that is when you pop them into their crate and/or pen. Puppies sleep a lot....really a lot, I remember being surprised at the amount of time Bailey spent asleep when that age. when I was home all day with him we played, did basic training, went out on socialisation sessions, and I had to be his clock and recognise when he was getting tired (usually the crocopup appeared) so he was popped into his crate for a rest - he was usually asleep within seconds of the door closing! If you are worried about him jumping up at your cooker is there another area you can put the pen setup? Looking forward to seeing your pictures
We had our puppy play pen set up in the laundry with kong/foodball and blankets and toys. If you are worried about the cooker would suggest just finding another room especially since he seems to be going well with the toilet training. They sleep most of the day anyway so as long as you are ready to head out on a walk or playtime when you get home they should get into a routine. As for walking in Australia the vaccinations here generally end at 16 weeks plus 2 weeks to kick in properly so our puppies arent recommended to go out walking til 18 weeks if on that vaccination schedule as the risk of parvo is too great. However we did have the vet puppy pre school then the obedience club puppy pre school before she was cleared to be walked and go outside to puppy classes. When we did go walking I just increased gradually and you knew she had enough as she'd start panting a little & we usually stopped a few times and ran through the odd obedience exercise along the way too.
I should have been more thorough in my post. My fiancees sister does come 3-4 times a week and plays with the pup during lunch time anywhere from 1.5-2 hours. My fiancee also gets home anywhere from 330-430 while I will be getting home about 5. So the time does vary but on the days he does need to be left alone for an extended period I will look into a puppy day care. My fiancee and I will also be keeping the kitchen tidier so that he can't get into anything. Good news he starts classes this Tuesday or his AKC star puppy certification!
