My lab is 16 weeks and I have 2 young kids and I work from home. There are good days and really hard ones. He’s toilet trained… apart from the odd present in the morning. What is hard is that he can’t be in my office without eating all the books and barking. If I crate him there he barks. I’ve tried toys and kongs. So, I end up putting him in the house with chews, kongs etc where he’s happy but if he’s not crated he eats Everything: skirtings, walls, bookcase etc. I go inside with dread. I don’t leave him for too long and take him out, play with him, do training exercises etc. But, I do have to earn a living. I’d love to have him with me but I can’t work with him barking beside me. In the evening he’s also often crated too as he goes crazy in the tv room… eating everything or biting us. So, I don’t relax and just keep taking him out and playing with him out of worry for him being too long in his crate and don’t spend tine with my family. I don’t enjoy the tine with him then… I don’t know what else I should do to get more balance… I’m finding it do stressful.
I know exactly how you feel- or at least my poor husband does. He works from home and balances crazy puppy with trying to work. He has ended up working in the dining room on a lap top instead of the study. Our pup is only 14 weeks, so too young to go for an early morning walk, but we try to tire him out in the backyard with fetch before I leave for the day. The game changer for us was giving him access to the garden, leaving the door open, and letting him come and go as he pleases. We use baby gates and close bedroom doors to make sure he isn't wandering through the rest of the house. He likes the garden, he can chew the trees, dig, chase ants, and generally do as he pleases. I figure it's like my kids: they go crazy if they don't get outside, too. Every hour he gets bitey and cranky, and into his crate/playpen enclosure he goes for a nap. Of an evening, after dinner, he basically naps in his playpen or crate then until morning. If he's up he is overtired and bites everything in sight. Anyway, I know exactly how you feel. It took us a month of experimenting and pulling our hair out to get to this stage! Good luck! X
We have an 18 week old lab which is doing the same thing, biting etc. People tell us between 4 and 6 months are the worse because of teething, I go out to work and leave ours for about 5 hours she is not crated (my Husband wont have her crated) but has the run of the kitchen so far she has not chewed anything in there and seems quite happy to be left. She has plenty of toys to chew and i leave the radio on for her not sure if it helps. Hoping someone can give us suggestions as I feel your pain.
It’s good to know others are struggling too! I have to crate Bingley as otherwise he eats everything! We have bookcases and this week he’s munched his way through all the paperbacks on the lower shelves. This morning I found him with ‘A guide to criminal masterminds’ in his crate. (I can’t lock it at night as he needs to wee on a puddle pad some nights)… I’m finding that he’s settling better in the huge crate in my office though. It has lots of toys and he’s with me. He can’t just wander about as he eats my cable and all my books… I wish I could leave him in the garden alone but he’s a digger and a stone eater so I do have to supervise a bit. but, some days are definitely easier… I love it when he settles and we can just be together while I write. th Thanks so much for your replies.
So I work from home also right now (until October) and my puppy Sophie is 10 weeks. I got her at 7 weeks. I tried keeping her in my home office with the door closed but all she did was chew on my desk, my lamp, the carpet, going after hidden electrical cords, or biting me. I am technology trainer so I obviously can't deal with that trying to teach virtual classes. I was losing my mind and at my wits end with stress. I then purchased a puppy pen that is pretty sturdy and it's in my living room, where she can see me part of the time (depending on what end she's at). I treat her for being in there, and I give her a 10-15 minute morning and afternoon potty break and short play/training break. It too ka week but for the most part she quietly amuses herself in there. The first week all she did was whine and jump and bark but it's much better. I reward her for being quiet and I've started giving her a frozen stuffed Kong after the morning break and an interactive treat toy in the afternoon break. The pen was a bit expensive ($200) but honestly I had to do something to be able to work. I am now slowly working up to closing my door for small periods so she gets used to not being able to see me. I also feed her meals in there so get her to associate positive things with it. I have to say getting a puppy while working from home was one of my biggest fears/concerns but that's going better than the biting/chewing. I feel like that's a never ending battle that's not getting much better. I do have some guilt about her being in the playpen so much but then again I have friends who raised puppies and worked and left them all day in a crate so I feel like my setup is better for her and not too horrible. She has learned to preoccupy herself with toys and naps there regularly too. I would suggest try different things and see where you have success. I had to try 3 different pen styles (I had a plastic one and she hated it), and locations to get success. Hope it gets better for you!
