Our family recently adopted a lab puppy (8 weeks at the time) now 12 weeks and up until now he has been doing great while we are at work in a pen in our living room with a crate. We have neighbors coming over twice a day and we come home for lunch so he is never home for more than 2 to 3 hours at time and he stays with a stay at home mom friend two days a week. We plan to have him start doggie daycare at 16 weeks for a few days week but are trying to decide where to put him when at home. I still plan to come home for lunches to get him out for potty and exercise but not sure if he will outgrow the pen. My husband wants to get a large kennel for our garage but I feel he is comfortable in the house since that is where he has been since we got him. We can't let him roam free downstairs (puppy chewing, etc.) - for those of you with puppies and older dogs which option (garage in larger kennel or smaller pen inside) do you think would be best ? Thanks!
Re: Best place for puppy when at work Hi there,welcome to the forum,I've got a 13 month old yellow boy Dexter. Sounds like you've been really thorough with your planning and care of your puppy,what's his name? In answer to your question,Dexter is our first dog and the 4 legged love of our life so I am answering emotionally when I say NOT THE GARAGE!he he he!take no notice of me,it's got to be a solution that works for you and your family .if you have the space in the house and can organize a secure area for your pup that's going to cpntinue to work for sure.If you decide on kenneling your puppy outside you would need to get him used to his new environment gradually and think about the temperature of the garage will he be warm/cool enough Best wishes Angela
Re: Best place for puppy when at work Thank you Angela! His name is Chewy (Chewbacca - named after our 4 year old). Where does your 13 month old lab hang out when you are gone?
Re: Best place for puppy when at work Ah that's cute and original.....but I hope he doesn't live up to his name ;D We've got a utility room off the kitchen that's got a child gate across it ,so he can be contained and still see into the main house .His crate is in there too although we are finding that he doesn't use it at all now,and there's very few times we ever crate him.he slept in there and was locked in probably up until 10/11 months He's not allowed upstairs so in the early days he was put behind the gate even if we were home and went upstairs to do anything then he couldn't follow us up or enjoy any spontaneous chewing opportunities in the main body of the house Now he's older he just settles down on his lounge bed and snoozes until we come down.
Re: Best place for puppy when at work Well sort of original - he certainly lives up to his name as I am sure all puppy Labs do Thanks for sharing Angela - It sounds like your pup is happy in that space. I think I will try the pen for as long as we can; I really don't like the garage idea either and is my feeling (just a gut feeling) that he would be happier inside (in a smaller pen) where he feels safe vs. a larger space away from familiar smells.
Re: Best place for puppy when at work I think it's right that they get comfortable in certain places - but there is probably no reason why this couldn't be the garage if it's comfy, warm, and dry. But only putting him in the garage when you leave isn't probably a good thing. If you feed him, play with him etc in the garage and it becomes a place with happy associations it could be fine. I still use a pen system for Charlie - I just got a taller and heavier pen when he grew.
Re: Best place for puppy when at work We baby gated our kitchen once riley stopped being crated. Does your garage have much light? I'd be happy with popping riley in the garage except for the fact it's so dark....
Re: Best place for puppy when at work We started with the crate, then left the door to the crate open, but kitchen doors closed, then gradually opened more doors over quite a few months and eventually "got the run of the house". No baby gates here, but we have windows in our doors. At one point Lilly had 3 different downstairs beds, but when we realised she spent most of her day lying on our (downstairs) bed, we actually removed her crate/bed - that was only earlier this year when she was about to turn 3. She is pretty placid in the house, and not on the whole a chewer, at least after those initial puppy days ;D
Re: Best place for puppy when at work Thanks everyone! It seems that staying in the house is the option we will pursue - at what age did you stop worrying about your Labs eating your furniture?
Re: Best place for puppy when at work I vote for the house. If that's a familiar environment then that is best. Chewing furniture.....maybe about 10-11 months...? I only say that as we had a spectacular arm-chair gutting episode at 10 months and nothing after that ;D But our first Lab never chewed a single thing.
