Options for occasional puppy care

[swimster01]

I have a business day trip coming up and have a puppy. I'm not sure whether to to opt for (1) someone coming to the house in the day to feed, take out etc maybe a couple of times or (2) doggy day care.

Does anyone have experience of what works best? Thanks

[Madhousemummy]

Hi swim what age is the puppy? How long is ur pup used to being left for?

[swimster01]

He is 12 weeks old. At the moment, he is on his own for up to 2hours in the day and 6 hours at night.

[arbrighton]

Is he fully vaccinated? If not daycare won't be an option.

Ours started at daycare at 16 weeks as I was away for a week and DH was at work all day. But, we did some preliminary visits and they are a homeboarding type place. She still goes there, now two days a week and always runs most of the way there (within walking distance). She loves them and they love her like their own.

If he's only being left for up to two hours, he's going to struggle and it wouldn't be fair, even with a couple of visits. Ideally, you need a friend to stay with the dog for the day and leave an hour or two before you are due home. I used to be the intermediate for a puppy when one of a couple went out before the other got home due to shifts. I'd play, let out and get pup off to sleep before leaving, gradually increasing time between my leaving and arrival of owner.

Said dog just has a dog walker at lunch now, but is 3

[swimster01]

I've made some calls since and daycare isn't an option as I only need very irregular care. He is only being left for up to 2 hours at the moment because I am here almost all of the time. I think he would be fine left for longer as it is only very occasional and I just don't have someone who can sit all day with him.

[VladimirsPooTin]

Leaving the puppy at this age is not a good idea. You need someone with him- doggy daycare is fab so it's a shame you can't use them but they can only accept dogs they've got to know.

[arbrighton]

My doggy daycare can and does do irregular care so there may be some others you can try.


It is unfair to leave the pup for longer, especially as he's probably getting towards chewing and it may set you up for separation anxiety problems especially if you are there most of the time

[swimster01]

It is only for 1 day!

[DailyMailDontStealMyThread]

I searched for home boarding and found a lovely lady who agreed to come to mine during the day every once in a while to sit with her. She needs a bit of notice so she can sort her own Ddogs out but it works really well.

I asked on our local FB page and went from there, can you try that?

[Wonderflonium]

Can you get a dog sitter to come and be with the pup for most of the day? That might work the best, instead of having someone just popping in.

[LizzieMacQueen]

In this case I would get two seperate dog walkers to visit for one hour apiece, one morning and one afternoon. I take it he won't be walking much so it's just for company and toilet visits.

[LizzieMacQueen]

In fact dog walkers around here are usually busiest at lunchtime so would value a client who wanted them at say 10.30 and 2pm.

[MooseyMouse]

We ended up with a kitten unexpectedly a week before we went on holiday. We hired a local teenager who usually did babysitting to look after the kitten at our house. It was cheap and easy.