Hey all, I have had an amazing set up this summer, with scaling my hours back to part time for 3 months so I could hang with Koda and when I did work (only 20 hours a week) my brothers were off school and were able to help watch her. However, financially this is not sustainable and my brothers are going back to school so they won't be able to watch her while I am at work. I guess my question is what to do with her during the day? I almost want to just leave her in her crate all day because that way I will have peace of mind knowing that she is safe and can't harm herself. However, I also feel like this is cruel because she can't hold her bladder for very long (only 5 months old) and she would be pent up in a small cage for most of the day. Ideally I would like to leave her in a sectioned off room during the day while I work but I don't even have any ideas or know where or how to begin training her to be left alone unsupervised in a room for 6 plus hours. On the same night it would drive me crazy worrying about her hurting herself or getting into trouble. If anyone has any ideas/advice or personal experience with leaving a puppy at home while they work I would really like to hear what you did and or recommend. Thanks!
Have you checked the forum to find other posts related to this subject? https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/leaving-your-puppy-home-alone.20552/#post-315398 Now a comment which isn't constructive for your case: Note to potential puppy owners who might read this: Before taking a puppy, try to have a plan that extends further than the tip of your own nose. Having a new puppy is fantastic and it enriches your life. But think carefully about who will care for your puppy when you're not around, not just for the first weeks/months, but in the longer term.
Me and my husband both work full time. His shifts have just recently changed which means unfortunately more time for my dog on his own. What we do is some days Stanley goes to daycare. On others OH goes to work at 7. I walk him before I leave for work at 8.45. Then someone (either relative or dog walker) comes in about 12 to walk him again for an hour or so. Then OH is home by approx 3.15. OH's other shift is nights. On this shift I walk Stanley on a morning, OH goes to bed at about 7.30. Then OH gets up about 2/2.30. Bit longer for Stanley to be chilling on his own but OH is in so if Stanley barks or whatever OH hears him and goes and sees him. And it's been known that Stanley spends the day in bed with OH anyway I should add - my dog is nearly 17 months and this has only been the past few weeks. Before that OH was around a lot more and this arrangement wouldn't have worked when he was younger. He also has free range of downstairs so he can sleep where he likes, I wouldn't leave him in his crate for long periods. Do you not have anyone who can pop in or get a dog walker? 6 hours for a 5 month puppy is a really long time.
When we first had Thor we had a dog walker but she was a constant let down and thanks to having a camera in our kitchen we found out she had been saying she had been when she hadnt. I was furious, more about the fact we thought Thor had been walked than the fact she had claimed money for it. So we soon stopped her coming after that. We are fairly lucky in that our kitchen allowed us to attach a dog pen to his crate which gave him more space for movement, toys, food and water bowl etc. That worked great until he was about 10 months and obviously bigger and the pen gave him less space. We then took the pen down so he now has free roam of the kitchen and short of some chewing of the dining room table a couple of times and my door mat he has been fine. We now just make sure we alter our shifts around him which is working fine, and my brother dog sits in school holidays. I know its not as easy for you if your on your own with him but is there any way you could do split shifts so you could come home for a while and then go back later in the day? I used to do this in the past and its a good option. Other than that you might just need to invest in getting a good (reliable and trustworthy) dog walker. There are plenty about at reasonable rates.
Do you have any neighbours you could trust to ask? Particularly older/retired people? I don't know how many times older people came up to me with Brogan and lamented that they didn't feel they could have a dog anymore due to their age yet missed the companionship. I know a few people who have solved a 'dog home alone' problem this way to the benefit of the dog and the human.
I work full time but I'm able to work quite flexibly, I am out for a while and then back home working for a while, then maybe out again a bit later. My pup didn't get left more than about two hours at a time when younger, and from 4 months she spent a bit of time at doggy daycare if I thought I might be out longer than I wanted. Initially when I left her at home alone she'd be in her crate but that went at 6 months and she had the kitchen to herself behind a baby gate with toys to occupy her, although I'm pretty sure she mostly sleeps. Now, at 11 months, she still has the occasional day in doggy daycare and also I have a dog walker who will come in at 10 ish, 2 ish or 4 ish depending on what I have booked into my day. She comes 2-3 times a week. I tend not to leave her for more than a couple of hours still, the longest has probably been 3.5 hours, just this week (I couldn't ask my dog walker coz pup's in season) and she seemed fine when I returned.
It would definitely be cruel to leave Koda in her crate for six plus hours a day. 2-3 hours is the maximum, I think. I would say at the very least you need to get a dogwalker (or friend or neighbor) to come and take her out for a walk at lunchtime.
It would be. I'm afraid you do need to look at other arrangements whilst you are working. At her age the maximum I would leave her is 2 hours and then not frequently.
We both went back to work full time days when Quinn was 6 months (prior to this OH was evenings/weekends and I worked weekdays). We hired a dog walking company that started the first few weeks with a puppy visit in the morning and an afternoon off leash group walk, so she was alone for a couple hours in the morning, and again in the afternoon for short while, with OH getting home by 3ish and was crated. Luckily for us, OH was only on days for a couple of months, and our routine is now pretty set, with only 3 days a week maximum we are both gone during the day. The other 4 days a week are our days off. It varies, and our longest day she is home alone our routine is morning walk, I leave at 8am, dog walker comes mid day for an hour on leash walk, one of us comes home after work and she gets a short walk, then long walk after dinner. Other days, OH has a split shift and is home with her for several hours during the day, which is a great set up. She is 20 months now, and has been de-crated since she was a year. We do a lot of juggling, and had friends watch her some evenings, OH's teenage daughter stay with us etc. Whatever we can figure out basically! I try my best to minimize her alone time and on the days she is home alone, ensure plenty of mental/physical exercise to make up for it. Most people I know use a combo of daycare/dogwalker when the dog is home alone for full work days 5 days a week.
Can you take her to work with you? I agree it would be cruel to leave her alone all day, even worse stuck in a crate. Dogs are social beings and need company. Good for you coming here to get advice. Hopefully you now have some good ideas. If money is a concern, perhaps you can find a student you trust who will take her out during the day and charge less than a professional dog walker.
Our dog walker started this week for our Cody. We have had him 5 months now. Until now we had been walking him in the AM, leaving him approx. 7.45am then popping home for 30mins-1hr at lunch and then back about 4.30. Partner & I alternated walks and lunches. However work commitments have changed which means we cannot get home at lunch time frequently/reliably. As such dog walker is now 5 days a week after the Bank holiday. Whether we are home, working from home or not. He had his 1st day yesterday and loved it. Its worth considering. obviously need to check insurance etc. Cody isn't crate trained and he has the ground floor of our house (lounge/kitchen/diner) but we wouldn't leave him beyond lunchtime without some form of interaction/wee break
Thanks for all the replies i really appreciate it. I have quite a few family members that live with in 10 minutes and would be able to walk the dog for an hour or so while I am at work. They planned on coming by twice while I'm at work to let her out and play with her for 30 minutes. I also have a few friends in that have expressed that they would be glad to help and a roommate moving in soon that can help. The problems is that I feel guilty about utilizing them because while they are glad and excited to help I don't want to put any burden on them. I will probably start looking for a paid dog walker to have as a back up. While I have no problem with this and can easily make sure Koda is let out and played with twice a day unless I win the lotto, work from home or marry up I'm going to have to be working full time for the foreseeable future. I guess my question was frantic because my mind was racing all over the place. But what I am more curious about is how to to train koda to have free roam of even just a room. And what age i can realistically expect her to not be a danger to herself if I leave her alone in the house for a few hours. ( I would still utilize the above options to let her out but that way she wouldn't be confined to a small crate while waiting for her breaks.
Please take this from someone (me) who also has a serious problem asking others for help: get over it. Really - if they didn't want to help, they wouldn't offer. If someone doesn't like coming over once they start, you'll know about it soon enough. They are adults and it sounds like they freely offered. Accept the help, at least until you have another solution you're happier with. Since my dog passed, I've done quite a bit of dog-sitting for a few of my friends. I really like doing it and it works great for everyone. If I didn't want to do it, I wouldn't offer. I don't feel put upon or burdened - I'm happy to have some doggie company at a time in my life when I unfortunately don't have my own dog. I hope it all works out great for you and you discover after a while that you've built up a little community of humans that love your dog - that's always a good thing!
