Hi. I've had my black lab puppy Sophie for 3 weeks now and she's just 10 weeks old today! I work from home right now until October (She'll be going to puppy day care on the days I work). I wanted to establish a schedule right away to get her used to being in her playpen while I work during the day. She is getting more bitey and hyper and I'm concerned I'm not interacting with her enough. Here's our schedule: 6:00 am - morning pee, breakfast, another morning pee 6:30 am - 7:30 am - play/bonding time/training session 7:30 - 10:30 am - she is in her playpen and playing on her own or napping 10:30 am - mid morning pee, 5 minute training session, 10 minutes of play time 10:45 am - 12:30 am - in playpen playing/napping 12:00 - 1:00 - lunch time pee, then she goes with me in the car for lunch/socialization trip 1:00 - 3:00 - playpen time 3:00 pm - afternoon pee, 5 minute training session, 10 minutes playtime 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm - playpen time - playing or napping 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm pre dinner pee, playtime/training time with me/dinner time, post dinner potty trip 6:00 - 7:00 pm - in playpen while we cook/eat 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm - playtime with me, training time, indoor walk, potty trip 8:00 pm - 8:30 pm - crazy time/zoomies so I try to keep her in playpen with a stuffed kong 8:30 pm - 9:30 pm - pre bed time relaxing time together with bone 9:30 pm - final pre-bed time potty break/walk 9:45 pm - settle in for night time sleep We sleep from 10 pm - 6:00 pm but I take her out half way through the night. I feel guilty putting her in the playpen this much right now, but I am spending about 5-6 hours with her daily interacting/playing/training. Until we get biting and chewing furniture under control, this has to be the schedule. If I had my way, she would be able to just be loose in my home office room with me while I work but it's not horrible (we tried it one week and it was a nightmare). I'd like to eventually phase out her pen time little by little and allow her more time out once I can get her to behave. Is the time she's spending in the playpen making her more aggressive? I fear I'm not interacting with her enough. However, I know there's people who work all day and leave their puppies crated while they work all day except for potty breaks when a dog walker comes. I'm a first time puppy owner and am trying to do my best to be good to my dog, but I'm worrying her increased biting and craziness is because of her pen time. Help and advice would be appreciated!
