I have a lovely 11 week old yellow lab puppy called Chester. I work from home and even once the pandemic is over I will still be working from home most of the week. Chester requires a lot of attention and will not play by himself. He also sleeps very little during the day. I walk him for 10 minutes in a morning before his breakfast, I give him half his breakfast, play with him and then put the other half in his treat ball so he has to play with the ball to release the food. Once he has done that he will sleep. I also give him a Kong in the morning or afternoon to keep him busy but it entertains him for 10 minutes max. The morning routine is fine it’s the rest of the day. I struggle to work because he requires so much attention. If I don’t give him attention he’ll bite me or the furniture, scratch the furniture, bark and cry. I wait for him to stop barking to give him attention but as soon as he scratches the furniture I make a noise that lets him know he shouldn’t be doing it which in the end is giving him attention. If I don’t do it he’s just going to ruin my sofa and carpets. When he is doing something wrong I don’t raise my voice but call him as he hides under the table but he ignores me. It’s like he knows what he’s doing is wrong but does it anyway. He has plenty of toys that he can play with but he chooses not to unless I’ll play with him or let him sit on my knee and play with them. I make sure to give him plenty of attention on my breaks but it doesn’t seem like it’s enough for him. I understand that puppies need lots of attention but this seems excessive to the point where my work is struggling and my manager is telling me I am not meeting my targets. Do you have any advice?
Following! Working from home with a pupper is hard work! My husband is here most of the time but we run a Motorhome business that he spends a lot of time on so can’t supervise pupper all the time. I have to keep reminding myself that these puppy days are short and surely he’ll soon be happy lying in my office lazily
It really is hard isn’t it? My boyfriend has a 9-5 office job so is hardly home during the day. Chester is a different dog when my boyfriend is home. He’ll happily play by himself if he needs to but when it’s just me and him he’s quite demanding of my time. I don’t dislike the puppy days but I am looking forward to when he doesn’t need as much attention.
The bigger issue will be when you occasionally go back into the office and he's left alone. Many young pups were adopted or purchased during the pandemic and the fear is that once owners return to work --and yes for many they will have to-- many will be put down due to behavior problems related to separation anxiety. Like a young child they need lots of attention, care, and love. I can be tough but hang in there.
I won’t be back full time so that isn’t a problem and when I do go back he’ll be with family or go to doggy daycare. We leave him alone about twice a week for a short amount or time so he is getting used to spending some time alone. I don’t know where you live but here we don’t put dogs down due to separation anxiety.
In the US about 4 million dogs are put down every year for a lot of reasons -- the I'm tired of being tied down because my dog needs to be walked every day, they're expensive, they bark too much, they won't cuddle with me, etc. Many don't realize the commitment it takes to have a dog for 10-12 years.
Hi there, my first time here but I thought I would offer some of our advice. Both my partner and I work from home as well and our little Lealu has caused us a few moments of mini-stress when we are on calls and stuff. As she's grown (she is 12 weeks today) here are some of my suggestions; - She likes to be in the same room as us - although we work seperately sometimes, she enjoys being around us, so we have made a spot for her in our study that is totally hers. She has a little bed / blanket there, some toys (of course these move around) and a zone - she prefers noise - and she will fall asleep to the noise as well. So if it's a non-call day for either of us and we tend to get stuck in work, I will turn the TV on so it sounds like someone is talking all the time. (we made the mistake of silence in the beginning (like with headphones) but that made her more agitated because no one was 'talking' to her - we stick to the same schedule for her meals, and we've broken them up as follows 7am, 11am, 3pm and 7pm. The routine helps both her and us. - we take her out to do her business regularly and now she will bark at the back door - no accidents in the house - in terms of exercise, our breeder recommended 1 min exercise per week of life, so we can only take her out now for 12mins at a go - which is really a quick walk if you think about it. Down the road and back. I do this on most days when we have a 15min gap - if I am able to take her for a walk, I will do this before we feed her so she's 'excited' and then when we come back she will eat and then pretty much fall asleep soon after - we've now started leaving our back door open - which leads to a little bit of sun and garden (this is a seperate section to where she goes to wee/poop so she sometimes now will go and play there) she goes wee there sometimes but we don't let her poop there. She's learning the difference now and will come back thorugh the house and go bark at the door that leads to her poop spot Of course not every day is the same and some days she takes a while to settle, but for the most part, we get a good chunk of about 2hours and then a small break and then a nap again going for 2 hours or so again. Good luck!
I work from home, snd I conduct training! So for me, quiet hours are a must. My first 2 weeks with Sophie were a nightmare. She needed constant attention and was into everything in my office. The game changer was last week (my third week with her - she’s now 10 weeks old) - I bought a sturdy metal ex pen. It’s in the living room and she’s in there while I work. I play Ruth her before she goes in for the morning, at 2 hour increments I give her a potty break snd we do 5-10 min of training, 10 minutes of playing and she goes back in. It’s been a life saver. She whines snd barks sometimes but it’s usually for 5-20 min snd then settles down, or it’s to alert me she needs to go potty. I’m hoping we settle into this route even better over the next couple weeks!
