To not take excited 4 year old to his first lesson

It's a puppy, it will be fine. Haven't you got a puppy cage?
He will likely sleep the hole time you're away.
You're making a food for your own back.

Do not let your son down. In my opinion that's ridiculous.

That's fine if it works for the dog, but for the first couple of weeks my puppy refused to go in her crate. We tried placing her in but she was distraught, climbing up the bars. I was worried she would break a leg. I've heard of distressed puppies fatally injuring themselves when left alone in crates, so you need to judge it on the individual dog. It took us weeks to get her to sleep in her crate, and a couple of months to leave her alone in it for any length of time longer than about 10 minutes. Equally my BIL's puppy came home at 8 weeks happy to chill in his crate so they're all different.

I agree with you about having pets with young children. Don't worry, I get shouted at alot on here when it's about dogs because I'm not a fan at all and it annoys me when people don't keep control of them when out and about. But apparently that makes me a big meanie pants🤣

That would be the time to prioritise the child over the puppy, obviously. A missed swimming lesson is in no way comparable to a child needing emergency medical care, is it? In an ideal world you'd be able to drop the puppy with someone or have someone come and get it, but in a toss up between letting a child suffer or leaving a puppy to suffer, I don't think many parents would or should choose the puppy. It would still be cruel to leave it but if the alternative is your child dying or suffering of course you leave it, and deal with the consequences later.

This sort of thing is the reason I personally am of the opinion that people with young kids shouldn't have young pets at all, young kids are too unpredictable and young pets need too much attention and care. But that's a view that tends to get me shouted at on here.

So what if OPs son had an accident that needed a&e. And had nobody to look after puppy. What would you do then? Genuinely interested in the answer

@ErrolTheDragon

oops, big OOPS.

sorry people

@JustSaltPlease

Don't leave your puppy by itself, apart from the fact it's cruel without any build up, you'll cause yourself a lot of problems with separation anxiety.

if you had a human baby what would you do?

you must have a neighbour or friend who would sit with the puppy for a couple of hours?

or use somewhere like Rover

if you're near me I'll come over (north Hampshire).

if you don't want to do any of those, then DS will have to wait until next week, maybe soften the blow by taking him swimming at the weekend (or somewhere else he enjoys)

you're going to need other people who you trust to puppy sit for you. It's not a 'few weeks' issue, it's long term.

I'd read the dates and at least the OPs updates before bothering to post... she found an excellent solution on Monday.

I'd leave a radio/Alexa/ app for calming puppy noises on for the puppy.

Just leave the puppy. It’ll be fine.🙂

I thought the OP meant a toy for the dog trainer.

The four year old got to go to another swimming session later - how is that having skewed values? 🙄

OP, download apps like Rover or borrow my doggy or Tailster. If he is fully vaccinated someone on there would have him for a few hours.

is he playing with kongs yet? If you leave him for a few hours in the kitchen, with a frozen kong or a a frozen licki mat I think he will be ok. Just remove stuff he will destroy or hurt himself! The moment you get home give him a reward (treat/toy)
don’t miss swimming, puppy will be ok. I have both a newborn and a lab (she is 8) so I get not wanting to leave your pet. When said newborn arrived my mum flew in from abroad to stay with our dog. She said as long as she stuck to the walking and feeding schedule our doggy entertained herself! And cuddles playtime etc were very much on the grandpooch’s terms!

Why would the pet sitter cancel every week? Also the dog will obviously age and adapt.

Surely you are going to have this same problem every week?

Jesus the replies on this thread are unhinged. For what it’s worth, I don’t think either option would’ve caused much damage but I’m glad you found a good solution. You’re certainly not a terrible mum (or dog owner) lol

I left both my dogs as puppies in their crates for short periods from the time we got them. Does he have a crate?

Yes you are, I’m afraid. Choosing an animal over a child and worrying about the dog’s distress more than your child’s is just skewed values.

Glad you found a solution! You were right not to leave the pup for 2 hours if he’s never been alone before, as puppies don’t understand that you’re not gone forever. 2 hours to a tiny puppy feels like years! Very good way to set yourself up for years of separation anxiety, so I’m glad you didn’t. You can explain things to a child of 4, but you can’t explain things to a puppy.

I couldn’t leave mine alone until he was about seven months old (granted I got him when he was five months) because he really struggled with toilet training and separation anxiety due to a horrible start in life. Your pup is very young, so he should crack it pretty quickly and this will soon become a problem of the past!

Ridiculous comments that you are ‘putting a dog ahead of your child’; anyone would think you were asking who you should take a bullet for 🤦🏼‍♀️

Kid before puppy!
Obviously.
I can't believe you're asking!

I would leave the puppy.

If you leave the puppy your kitchen could get wrecked.

This is showing what a fab owner you are - you've done research, you've contact a trainer to give your pup the best start, and you're considering your pups needs when you work. Plus you found a perfect solution when you needed to with the swimming. Glad you all had a great evening :)

Don't feel the need to defend yourself, a good dog trainer is a great asset. We did puppy lessons over Zoom (lockdown) and the trainer was fantastic, to the point we kept in touch for years. Although you can learn lots of the theory it's really useful to have an experienced professional to give you feedback, sometimes the most simple thing can change everything (e.g. where you're holding your treats, how to build up commands gradually, etc). I'm glad you had a good time at the pool and the park.

Well said.