Hi there i have a bouncing 10week old baby boy called Peter he is a lab retriever and such a big bundle of craziness, my problem if any one can help is i have to get back to work but the thought of leaving him is breaking my heart i think i have spoiled him with love wayyyyy to much as he wont leave my side even when lots of people are around and iv got in to such a state that i think no one can look after him aswell as me. Any advise would be great before i lose my partner...he is sooo cute
Hi Angela - its quite a wrench, isn't it? What are your plans for return to work? Is your partner at home, are you planning daycare, dog walkers or split shifts? Are you crate training? Sorry about all the questions LOL. Its just like leaving your baby
I sometimes think its worse than leaving a baby ha ha, peter is crate trained and sleeps all night in it from 8_9pm till 7am in the morning, my partner doesnt leave till 4.30pm for his work so the longest he will be left is 4hrs, but he sleeps so well in his crate at night i realy dont want him on it duren the day aswel, but i know no matter how hard iv tried to puppyfi the house there is always a danger somewere so i dont want him roaming about free either..omg this is my first puppy and i feel so lost as to what to do, i can honestly say i wasnt properly prepared for him and thats me being totaly honest
Hi Angela and welcome I think that no matter how well prepared you actually are you always feel a bit unprepared! It's great that you have got him used to a crate for the night times and that he is sleeping well in it. How long have you got before you need to go back to work and start leaving him during the day? It is best to start getting him used to being left on his own in his crate during the day for short periods, just starting with 5-10 seconds while you go into another room, and gradually building it up to you going further and further away and for longer periods of time. Always leave him with something tasty to eat or chew on (like a Kong) so something nice happens when you go out of sight. If you gradually get him used to it he will learn that being left alone for a little while is nothing to be worried about, as nothing bad happens and you always come back It might be a little stressful for you but it is the kind way to do it so he learns to be calm about it.
I always used to leave Lilly with a stuffed kong when it was work time. She knew when we were getting ready to leave and would take herself off into her crate to wait for it
Hello there - I don't think I've said welcome yet, so welcome. I agree kongs are great. My dog, Charlie - he is 2 now - gets a pile of kongs when I leave him (I'm quite an expert at making low cal kongs, but also save his food to use in kongs on work days). And he too runs to his pen for his kongs when I'm leaving. I think it makes a big difference that something really nice happens when you leave. Plus, I think his kongs last him an hour or more, so it's less time for him to be bored on his own, and he is very likely to snooze the time away after a big kong chew session. He gets a walk before I go, and he is really fine on his own. I try not to leave him longer than 4 hours - any longer and I arrange my dog walker to come and give him a walk and leave him with more kongs and this has worked really well too. I got him used to being on his own slowly - I'd leave the house for a minute at first. Barely long enough for him to even start his kong, and gradually built that up. When he was a small baby and I had to go back to work, I had a puppy care service that came in and played with him, took him out for a wee and a poo etc. and I built it up to 4 hours alone.
Hi there Hello Welcome! I had a month off with Bella but returned to work when she was 12 weeks. She slept in her crate at night but during the day she was in the kitchen in a pen type arrangement ( Pen opened out to divide kitchen in two so she couldn't access the cupboards!!) she's still there now. I left her with lots of stuffed Kongs and I had puppy sitter in after 2-3 hours to let her out to wee, play with her, feed her etc before I returned and she adapted brilliantly. I built it up at first re the above advice, as to start with me just going to the toilet created distress - so make sure you do that. Also I invested in a web cam, to check on her, best thing ever Good luck
Thank you so much everyone for your replies, i feel so mich better about it now, iv ordered peter a puppy pen so he can move about freely when i go back to work, will start slowly leaving him over the next few days. Dont know who is going to suffer from seperation more me or him ha ha thanks so much
Yeah, wouldn't it be great if we could just spend all day with our dogs Whoever invented this silly work concept was just not thinking.....
Hi there and welcome to the forum, from Poppy and me! Planning is the key to working and having your pup happy; have a backup so that if your partner has to be at work earlier and Peter is going to be alone for longer than a maximum of four hours, that a dog walker or neighbour will come in to take him out for a walk or play with him in the garden. It'll take a little bit of getting used to for all of you; but it is perfectly possible to work and have a happy, well-adjusted dog - especially with a caring owner like you who is planning ahead and thinking of the best ways to organize things. There are plenty of us here on the forum who combine part- or even full-time work with having one or more dogs, so we are very happy to help with any questions or advice.
Hi there Angela,nice to meet you on the Forum ,you've had some brilliant advice from some very experienced members already so I just wanted to pass by and say hi and welcome. We have Dexter he's a yellow boy and nearly 3 .... We waited 10 years to get him,plenty of preparation time you would think and we still had wobbles . Best wishes from another Angela x
Ha ha thanks all, Peter is an awfuly sick wee puppy I think thats why i worry so much, he is not well again as i speak sitting next to me all wrapped up in acosy blanket..he has a heart murmer and a hernia and severe colic, been at the vet yesterday again as he was realy sleepy and bumping into things, they did blood test and they seemed fine..they are abit concerned that his eyes were unresponsive and his co-ordination on his left side isnt working properly, he has been sicky since we got him. But I Love him enuff to nurse him every min of every day, just have to pray and hope he is just fine
Oh goodness,that's really rough.Do you know about the health of any of his litter mates?poor little love,no wonder you are protective of him x
Gosh, that's a worry. So sorry to hear of his problems. I hope the treatments are effective and he picks up.
Hi . I have a webcam so I can check on Harley whilst I'm at work - really helped settle my mind being able to watch her. Poor noy being so poorly. Hope the vets are able to make him better soon
Aw, poor wee man. It sounds like he couldn't be more loved, though, so I'm sure you'll work through the tough times together.
