Time management for life with puppy?

[Solo2]

Many of you must be expert at managing the demands of your puppy/ dog and your children/ work/ lives etc. Can you help me plan ahead about what changes I need to make once we get our puppy (golden retriever)? It won't sound 'puppy-friendly' just at present but I can and will adapt, as I've waited a lifetime to get a puppy.

This is my typical weekday at present. What will I need to change to ensure our puppy-to-be has the best start to family life I can give him?

As I run my own business, I can be flexible to a degree with hours of work, provided I spend at least 16 to 18 hrs a week on the part of my job that earns money.(I'm a single mum with 9 yr old twin boys)

Wake 5.30am. Cup of tea in bed.
Up 6.10am. DS2 up too. Rush round getting DCs stuff ready for school, shower etc. Feed cats/ clean litter tray.
6.45am wake DS1 and support both DCs to wash and dress and have b/kfast.
7.40am school run.
8.15am back home.
8.30am till 2.00pm (4 days/ week) earn money based on back-to-back meetings with 5 min breaks between. (NB Can be more flexible/ stagger meetings)
2.00pm to 2.45pm - banking/ shopping/ work emails/ calls.
2.45pm queue up in car for pick up DCs from school.
3.35pm pick up DCs, wait for them to go back in several times for 'forgotten stuff' and then get home around 4.15pm.
4.15pm till 5pm make supper, begin to support DCs to start homework.
5.00pm feed DCs and cats and support homework completion further.
6.00pm DCs watch 45 mins TV and I check emails/ go on MN/ do admin.
6.45pm help DCs get bathed/ ready for bed.
7.30pm 45 mins playing games like Monopoly/ Scrabble with DCs.
8.30pm DCs go to bed. I read.
9.30pm - I 'conk out asleep'!

I can take off some puppy-maternity leave for about 2 to 3 weeks, I think, for the initial time when we bring our puppy back home, so can be there for puppy 24/7 (as well as do things for DCs of course) in that time. But after that, I need to work.

Looking at your lives with a puppy and it's routines/ needs for training/ company etc, how will I need to change my life to accomodate our puppy's needs? Should I spread my earning hours across 5 days, for example, to allow me much more time between meetings? Will I need a puppy-carer from the start? Will our puppy quickly adapt to me being 'out of the room' for about an hour at a time but them coming back and how much time between hours will he need in order to feel loves and properly trained?

I'm fully prepared for someone to say - you can't work at all and have a puppy. But I'm also looking for creative ways to manage my need to work and give our puppy a great life too and willing and able to make changes (eg expect DCs to do more for themselves and also particpate in puppy care too/ getting up regularly in the nigth and up earlier to start the day myself etc).

To start with your pup probably won't last from 9.30pm until 5.30am without going for a wee - so if you are crate training you will need to take him/her outside at some point during the night.

my crated lab puppy slept soundly from 9pm till 6am without a wee the first night I had him at 8 wks. Was very surprised, have since found out that large breed puppies can go longer than smaller breeds. Used a baby monitor for the first few days as pup downstairs. Everyone laughed but it worked very well.

Agree with the advice to take a couple of weeks' leave if possible, or taper your work committments down.

Also get them used to being in the car with you (in a travel crate) as soon as possible - makes a world of difference if you don't have to worry about how long you're leaving them every time you want to go somewhere. Then once they've had their jabs it's dead easy to socialise them because they're already going to so many places. Even before they're ok to go on the ground you can carry them around town/school gates etc.

Having said that, can anyone help out with school runs? as that is the most likely problem I can see with trying to marshall 2 boys AND a dog in/out of car/house/crate...

My puppy is 9.5 weeks so it is all fresh! They sleep a lot (a LOT!) but they also pee a lot!

With my puppy (boxer) we are up about twice a night for the toilet. Last night though she slept 10:30pm-6am so I think we're getting through it!

Then she gets up, breakfast, out to the loo.
Then she comes with me to feed the horses( 5 min walk around my yard) then naps for a few hours. Up every 2 hours ish for 30 mins playing, then sleeps again!

Lunch, more wees, more naps... leg stretch... nap, wee, Dinner, sleep... etc etc!

What i'm trying to say is it is pretty constant. The great thing is that she will sleep a lot the first few weeks so you can get things done. But you will need to be flexible, I'd spread work over 5 days if possible and certainly take as much maternity leave as you can.

Good luck, have fun, and they grow SO fast :(

Thank you for the helpful comments. Yes, I am expecting to be up a lot in the night at first but was used to never getting more than 20 mins sleep at a time for the first 3 to 4 yrs of my DCs lives, so think I can cope!

I can and will take 'maternity leave' but it'll be the going back to work part that I'll need advice with. I can't make our puppy sleep when I'm in a meeting and wake when I can go to him but might he get used to playing alone in his crate for one hour, if it's then followed by 30 mins or so play and fun and toileting etc?

The breeder (highly recommended, so i don't have big doubts about her at all) will house the litter in her specially converted stable block, once they leave their mum. One litter we saw were all together in a confined area/ stable with sawdust on the floor. But this means the our puppy won't be used to going out to toilet or to much time in a home. I know the breeder does let the puppies in her home twice a day but more of their time is spent as a litter together in the stable.

Can anyone else give me a break-down of their typical day with their newish puppy, so I can see exactly how to adapt mine to fit for the puppy's maximum benefit?

Can you ask the breeder to get the puppies into her house more often before you have her. The more at home she is with domestic noise, washing machines, loo flushing etc the better also the different floor surfaces can freak out a puppy. Also if she has the puppy in he house more she will begin toilet training. If the puppy has been reared in a stable with sawdust it will make toilet training much harder for you.

You should not be up in the night with a goldie too much many can go through the night if crated from a very young age some from 8 weeks.

You can direct the puppies sleep to make them sleep more in meetings etc. Inbetween meetings have several minutes of play and then back to crate to sleep it will not work every time but will a bit.

I think your day is pretty full so you will find it hard but to start with. ALthough it is lots of little sessions throughout the day.

Initially the dog will be feed four times a day, will need to go out to week nearly every hour or when he wakes up which will not coincide with ends of meeting unfortunately!

Several short training/play sessions a day and lots of out and about socialising. Yes even before the injections so carry the dog around to get used to traffic etc.

Plan an evening out a week for puppy classes and I would start looking for one of these now and be prepared to travel for the right one. Positive reward based and using clicker

Thanks minimu1. I can certainly ask the breeder. If we lived nearer to he, i'd want to visit out puppy to be before he's ready to leave home and try out some training with him. but we live a 6 to 7 hr car drive away. Puppy isn't yet in existence as the breeder is about to mate her female - any time now - so once again, I'm jumping the gun. but I just want to be as prepared as possible.

I've already identified a good local puppy class based at our vets and also a trainer for some one-to-one sessions who will also give us a pre-puppy session (we had arranged this but had to cancel due to illness), This trainer does clicker training, which is what i want to do with our puppy.

Whilst puppy hasn't even yet been bred, I'm already thinking about when he might be there and when ready to come to us. If my timing is right, we may have a 15 week to 18 week old puppy on our UK cottage holiday (near sea/ beach) this year. Is that going to be feasible? Will he be a complete nightmare, after only about 7 weeks home with us, suddenly taken to a seaside holiday cottage? Will he wreck the cottage and poo everywhere????

I may be thinking far too far ahead but if we need to cancel the holiday, the sooner I know, the better - of can we transition puppy into a diffierent home for one week and keep training and enjoying life with him and all it's challenges whilst away?

Sorry this is veering away from my original question about time management in ordinary everyday life.

I would think he would be ok re house training - It will be really good for him to learn in a different environment. Do crate train him though and then wherever his crate is he will be happy. It may not be that relaxing for you though.

The problem I can see is exercise. He will still be on limited exercise so if you are planning days out and about that will be too much for him but it will be great for him to be trained in new environments and see new things. Can be worked around but you may not have time to laze around with your book

Our new collie puppy is 11 weeks old. I find that my puppy is very active for 30 mins to an hour and then she will sleep for 1-2 hours before she wakes up for another round of fun and games. I try and tire her out with tuggy,etc before the school run. I then pop her into her crate with her special crate "chew". I am able to take the kids to school and fit in an occasional run before she wakes up. I do quite a lot of mental stuff with her which really tires her out. As well as clicker training, I feed her via kong lollies, hide food in boxes,etc.

As for socialisation, I live in London so it is very important that she get used to being in close proximity with traffic, dogs and people of all shapes, colours and sizes, sirens etc. Much to DH's horror, I bought a puppy pram . It is fantastic! I have another dog to walk and it means that she can come with me wherever I go. I have taken her to pick up DC at school with a bag full of treats so she now thinks children are a very good thing indeed! It has a cover so I have even been able to smuggle her into Sainsburys! So far, she is completely indifferent to moving cars and well-behaved with other dogs. I may look like a complete loon but at least my puppy is happy