Puppy schedule

Discussion in 'Labrador Puppies' started by Jeimer, Feb 6, 2017.

  1. Jeimer

    Jeimer Registered Users

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    Hello! My lil fella will be home Feb.12 and I'm concern about my schedule. I'm a graduating student so I have an On-the-job training (8:15a.m - 8p.m) then a dance practice (8pm-12a.m) but this is my plan every 6:30a.m after I woke up gonna feed my pup and go outside to his future potty spot then gonna teach him some basic training then what? Dunno what to do. Then during lunch break, I will go home to feed him and play then? then gonna go home again for 1 hour then gonna practice. Any suggestion? Pleaseeeee!
     
  2. snowbunny

    snowbunny Registered Users

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    So.... you're going to be away for 16 hours a day, bar a couple of pop-ins?!! And then sleeping?!?!? No, that is absolutely not OK. If that is the case, you either need to have someone almost full-time looking after your puppy for you during the day, or seriously rethink getting one. It's cruel. What's even the point in having a puppy if you're never there to spend time with him?
     
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  3. Karen

    Karen Registered Users

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    Oh goodness no, that's not going to work at all!!!! Think human toddler, a puppy is much the same. You CANNOT leave a puppy alone for more than a couple of hours at a time, and even that takes time to get the puppy used to it. Your puppy will need almost constant attention and company. If you can't offer him that, then you are facing an extremely unhappy dog with a lifetime of behavioral problems, and it would be far, far kinder to let someone who has the time to take this puppy into their life. Maybe at a later date, when your life is not so hectic, you will have the time to look after a puppy, but honestly, from your post it doesn't sound like that time is now.
     
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  4. drjs@5

    drjs@5 Registered Users

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    I agree with Snowbunny. Look into getting one help. Day care, puppy walkers, friends, family......
    Your puppy is going to really suffer in personality, training, socialisation etc etc if left alone for so long :(
     
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  5. Jeimer

    Jeimer Registered Users

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    This schedule is for a week only, Im getting near to my 350hours.
     
  6. Jeimer

    Jeimer Registered Users

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    Feb 13-17. After that I'm not busy anymore in day time.
     
  7. snowbunny

    snowbunny Registered Users

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    In that case, ask your breeder to hold onto the puppy for another week for you, and pick him up after you're done with the hectic schedule. Your puppy's first few weeks you should preferably be with him all the time, not none of it. He's just been ripped away from everything he knows. He'll be scared and lonely. It really is not fair at all to do that to him. If your breeder is a good one, they will absolutely keep him for another few days.
     
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  8. Karen

    Karen Registered Users

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    Absolutely second what Snowbunny says. To be brutally honest, I'm amazed your breeder is even considering letting you take the pup, with your bruising schedule! If your situation is changing in a few days, then your breeder should be happy to hold the pup a little longer.

    But I wonder if you have really thought this through. I'm sorry if it sounds like we are being totally negative- it's because we've all been through, or are going through, life with a puppy, and we know that it is completely full on, far more than you can imagine right now. Your puppy will be frantic when left alone - he will honestly be terrified and howl the place down, because he believes he will die if separated from his pack. That's just the beginning - puppies learn constantly, and he will not get the proper socialization he needs unless he has someone there who can take him out and introduce him to the world. In the evenings, you won't be able to put your puppy into a crate and go to dance rehearsal either - puppies are pretty wild in the evenings, and need to spend time learning how to relax. Toilet training will be difficult, if not impossible, if you are not there to take him outside every 20-30 minutes.

    And so it goes on. Once he becomes a teenager, the situation will only get worse - a dog that has not been properly socialized or trained becomes a real pain at this stage - strong physically, but without self-control. Dogs like this become destructive in the house, sometimes even aggressive, and run away when they can. Many, many dogs of around 6-9 months get re-homed or dumped in shelters, and it is genuinely hard to find a good home for them, because they are untrained, and if they are re-homed their life so far makes training exponentially more difficult for their new owner. It's a vicious cycle.

    All I'm trying to say is - think it through very carefully, please.
     
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  9. Naya

    Naya Registered Users

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    I agree with the above comments. The first few weeks are critical to be with the pup. I took 2 weeks off work, then done 10 hours then next week, then up to 18 hours the following week. Even now at age 3, I never leave my girl all day. I have a dog walker the 3 days that I work 5/6 hours so it breaks up the day for her. I held off getting a pup until I worked part-time to enable me to be home more. What will happen if you get a job? Or have other placements?
     
  10. xxryu139xx

    xxryu139xx Registered Users

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    kudos, to the above tips. When I first got my pup, everyone here recommended that I break up his day. Same similar story. My pup would be left alone from 7 to 3 pm during the weekdays. Got us a dog sitter to break up his day and it helped greatly.
     
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  11. Jeimer

    Jeimer Registered Users

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    Thank you for all tips! I know I have a hectic schedule for now that's why I'm thinking ahead cuz I don't want my pup to be sad. I'm just here because I love my future pup , I know you're all giving me tips and a big thank you for that! But guys please dont be mean to me. Asking me what's even the point for getting a pup. Just sayin. But thank you! Gonna ask my sister's caretaker to watch over my dog til I get home :)
     
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  12. snowbunny

    snowbunny Registered Users

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    We're not being "mean". For a start, we're not children in a schoolyard. What we are doing is advocating for a puppy that doesn't have a say in where he is being sent and what is happening to him. You made it sound as if you were going to be out all day, every day. I stand by my words - someone doing that should absolutely, pure and simple, not have a puppy. Or even an adult dog. It is cruelty and I won't sugar-coat that.

    Karen is right, this puppy being left alone will be terrified. Even if you are ok with that, what you won't be okay with is the inevitable behavioural issues that will happen because of it.

    If you can get someone in to live with the puppy for that first period, great. Just understand that it is a full-time job at that age. Just popping in a couple of times in the day is not ok. He needs to be taken outside every fifteen to twenty minutes to go to the toilet. He needs feeding four times a day, at evenly spaced intervals. If he throws his water around, as mine does, he needs to be given access to fresh regularly. If, like mine, he messes his area then sits or rolls in it, he needs cleaning immediately. And, more than all this, he needs to be made to feel safe and part of a new family, or he'll feel abandoned. Your puppy doesn't care that you love him, if you're not there.
    I'll repeat, for absolute clarity - it is cruel to leave an infant puppy alone for anything more than a couple of minutes in those early days. That's not me being "mean", it's a fact. If you worry about meanness, consider how mean this is being to a poor puppy who feels abandoned, vulnerable and terrified.

    I work from home and I am still not back to anything like full capacity, with a puppy that is confident and 15 weeks old. That's the reality. She still needs taking out to toilet regularly and she still needs lots of company throughout the day.
    It is possible to work full-time and have a puppy, but at the very least, you should be taking the first two weeks off work (and any other commitments) to spend with your new puppy, then arranging daycare - a lot of daycare - for when you're back to work. It sounds like your sister's carer already has a full-time job. Will they have the time or the inclination to look after a new puppy, who will be as demanding as a human baby would be, with added biting?
    I still strongly advise waiting to pick your puppy up from the breeder until you are able to care for it. This is not a doll that will patiently wait, unaffected, for you to come home and play with it.

    Again, I am not being mean - it's not how we work on this forum - but you need to put your excitement aside and consider - really consider - what is best for this baby. Is that being taken away from everything and everyone he knows, to be left alone for hours at a time, or is it better for you to wait a few more days until you can be there to offer him the comfort and care that he needs?
     
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  13. Samantha Jones

    Samantha Jones Registered Users

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    I agree with everything @snowbunny has said. I waited 30 years to get a puppy due to my lifestyle - I now have a happy, healthy, well adjusted 11 month old dog.

    My boy was never left alone until he was 4 months old and then we trained being left alone gradually - and by gradually i mean starting out with a couple of seconds, building to minutes, building to 15 minutes, building to 20 minutes....you get the idea, at 8 weeks old we have to do so much for our puppies - being taken outside to go to the toilet, to teach them the behaviours we would like to see in our adult dogs, to watch they do not hurt themselves or eat anything they shouldn't. It is a full time job not just for a day or two but for life.

    The comments above are not 'mean' they are showing a genuine concern, both for you and your new puppy. We have all been where you are - excited to be getting a new puppy - but with experience we know what comes with that responsibility. Labradors especially are very friendly dogs and crave human interaction and to deprive an 8 week old pup of that all day is cruel and not the environment any dog should be put into. If your life is changing in a week and you will have the time to train your puppy and spend time with him/her and have someone with it 24/7 why not wait an extra few days?

    You only need to read through this forum to see threads on puppy blues to realise how hard those first few weeks/months can be. I am sure that you only want the best for your new puppy, so please, make sure you are ready for all the work and the tears and the cleaning and the availability to spend 1 on 1 time with the puppy.
     
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  14. JenBainbridge

    JenBainbridge Registered Users

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    You can't do that to a little baby, you really can't :(

    The poor thing is going to be taken away from everything it's ever known and left by itself. It won't be sad - it will be absolutely terrified.

    Even if it was just for the first week - what are you going to have to do after that? Your puppy still won't be able to be left while you go to dance class. What about when you need to get another job?

    What if you get a puppy like Stanley who made his thoughts perfectly clear on being left by screaming the house down? I've never heard a noise like it - and I'd literally nipped to the toilet! That lasted about 2 months of him barking everytime you weren't in the room.

    What about through the night? You'll need to get up to let him go to the toilet? He'll probably be awake by 5am - 6.30 would be a miracle.

    I went to work yesterday devastated that my dog was going to be alone for 7 hours - with a 2 hour visit in the middle. I still felt it was far too long for him to be left and he would get lonely and bored. And Stanleys 10 months old now and knows his surroundings.

    I believe true love is when you put someone else's needs before yours unquestionably. So if you really do love your pup - you might want to think about letting him go somewhere who are in a position to look after a him.
     
  15. Kelsey Danielle

    Kelsey Danielle Registered Users

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    My little man is left for 3.5 hours in the morning, and another 3.5 hours in the afternoon 5 days a week (I don't work weekends). I come home in the middle of the day to feed him and get him out for a walk and a play. And then 3 days a week, I have someone come in in the afternoon and walk him again. And I still feel like he's left too long :( I'm currently looking in to daycare for the other two days a week. He's never left for more than 3.5 hours at a time though, and once we're home for the evening we're home. If one of us has to run out, the other one stays with Titan and our girls. If by chance, we do have a date night or go to a movie or to dinner, Titan goes to either my parent's house or my brothers house. It really truly is like having a 3rd child (I have two girls!) what with needing daycare, and babysitters.

    To get a baby and leave him for 16 hours is not a good idea, as many people have already stated. Getting a puppy is exciting, and I didn't want to wait to get mine either but we did. I waited almost 5 years before I felt we were ready to get one.

    The first few weeks with your puppy are stressful, for both of you. I cried a lot times in those days. You don't get much sleep, you're constantly on "puppy" time, and constantly needing to cater to him (it's much like having a newborn, which I didn't expect at alllll). Popping in here and there won't work, you need to dedicate almost all of your time to the puppy. Think about that sweet baby and make sure you are doing what is right for him, and if that means waiting than wait.
     
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  16. pippa@labforumHQ

    pippa@labforumHQ Administrator

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    Hi there, and welcome to the forum. You must be looking forward enormously to your new puppy arriving.

    It sounds as though you are not really quite sure what a puppy needs from you in the first few days and weeks of his life. I've put some links below that you might like to read and there is a lot more information on the main website.

    Reading through this conversation, I do have some concerns. It will be a very upsetting thing to consider, but it does sound as though now might not be quite the right time for you to get a puppy. Having this suggested to you so close to the arrival of your puppy will be very disappointing, but as someone who has raised a lot of puppies, I am urging you to think hard about what has been said. Puppies need a great deal of attention, so if you want to raise a puppy while working or studying you need to prepare carefully.

    for more information on this topicThe Forum RecommendsRaising a puppy while you work


    It can be done, but you'll need help. That's why many people wait until they retire, or are at home with small children, before getting a dog

    Other Threads You May Find Helpful The Forum Recommends What to expect of a new puppy


    One thing I noticed in your other thread is that you have been given lots of advice to get a crate for your puppy. This is great advice, usually, but it's important to emphasise that crate training for tiny puppies means that you need to be there. You can't leave a new puppy in a crate for very long, other than during the night. It's a potty training aid, not a place to keep a young dog.

    You also mentioned your puppy knowing where to go to pee and poop. As others have said, he simply won't have any idea to begin with. He'll pee and poop everywhere, on your bed, under your bed, just everywhere, unless you or someone else is there to show him where to go, every time he needs to go, which could be every half an hour.

    So you really do need to take this into account. It can be quite hard, those early weeks.

    If you decide to keep your puppy, you should be able to get a copy of the Happy Puppy Handbook in the Philippines - using the Amazon International site if you can't, write to me pippa@pippamattinson.com with your address, I may have a copy I can mail to you.

    Let us know what you decide to do and how you get on.
     

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