Leaving 9 week old pup

[Headinthedrawer]

Quick question.I need to leave the house for 1.5hrs a week twice a week and have a 9 week old pup.Would you hire a dog sitter or use the crate?She already happily goes to her crate on her own accord and sleeps in it at night 11pm-5am only crying for the first 15 minutes and hasn't solied it.Happy to get a dogsitter as don't want to put her off her crate or leave her too long in the day but need honest advice from those who have had puppies already.Thank you.

Only 9 weeks?
Someone to sit with her :)

Thank you!

I'd think she'd be ok for 1.5 hours especially if she is already going through most of the night in it?

I'm no expert though

11pm-5am only crying for the first 15 minutes to me that suggests she is not entirely comfortable with being left alone in her crate yet. On that basis I would say someone to dog sit for now. Then once she no longer cries when left at night start leaving the house for a few minutes a day, getting a little longer each day.

I think at only 9 weeks you need a dog sitter. That is still very young and I wouldn't have left my dog at that age for an hour or longer

Thanks all.My instincts told me that but was getting conflicting advice.I will book a sitter...would probably end up not wanting to go if I didn't and would be worried about ruining her crate training.

Sitter! My pup is 18wks now...I thought I'd NEVER be able to leave her. Just to reassure you that she's totally fine for a couple of hours now - I have a monitor, so know for sure that she licks her Kong & then goes to sleep. Good luck 😊 X

Thanks perfectly chaotic.She sleeps most of the afternoon-did a 20 min dash to get some milk today and she didn't stir.I imagine that will change soon though.

I agree with everyone who's saying get a sitter...
BUT I also think you should continue to nip out for 20 - 30 mins on a regular basis. I didn't do that and I wish I had as it would've given me the confidence that the dog is fine on his own (cause he is). I have a friend who had a dog with serious separation anxiety and I was so frightened that our dog would be like that I never left him alone and in retrospect I should've done it a bit earlier...
I still get nervous leaving him for more than an hour (even though when I get back he's usually exactly where I left him legs in the air asleep!)

I'm in the minority as I've always started as I mean to go on with mine and would happily have left them in the crate for an hour or so.

I build it up, leaving them for half an hour or an hour crated while I'm at home with a stuffed Kong and some chew toys and none of them have ever been remotely bothered.

I think it's really important for them to learn to be left, dogs with separation issues are a nightmare.

Excellent advice above re popping out too imo. Am no expert, but from day one mine was in kitchen with baby gate. I did/do loads of popping in/out of the room with no fuss whatsoever - also have children & fairly busy house so folks in & out of the house all the time. She still sometimes gets upset by being left downstairs if we're all upstairs but fine if she's in the house alone - she dislikes not being involved 😂 Build up your confidence with lots of little trips out. Settle her with a Kong or similar...you'll be fine x

I have always left puppies for that amount of time. But I have never crated them. Seems bizarre to me to hire a sitter for a dog for 90 minutes. But ...

Never crated during the day but left pup for 20 minutes within a day or two and then built it up to 2 hours quite quickly. Never had any separation anxety. Leave them a frozen kong and they won't even notice

Only crying for the first 15 minutes. That's not good. Not at all. Your dog isn't happy in the crate. You need to be with your pup and slowly build confidence. Crate training is not about shoving them in a crate and shutting the door and leaving them to cry.
You need to start with the door open and offer treats in there until pup goes in of own accord.
Not all puppies are the same. Nobody can tell you how your pup would be. Mine would've been hysterical at that age. We've had separation issues.

1.5 hours twice a week is absolutely fine. I'm sure they will just curl up and go to sleep. We'd leave ours with a Kong.

At night she slept with a wrapped up warm heat pad, a ticking clock and her teddy that we'd rubbed all over her mummy.

She's now 8 and has never shown even a second of separation anxiety. We scrapped the crate at around 3 years old when we moved house and she had her own utility room.

I am sure she will be fine for 90 mins or so....put her on the coach with fav cuddly toy....maybe an old cardi of yours or ther piece of clothing....get her a crazy kong toy to keep her busy....make sure she has been out to do her business...I am sure she will cuddle up and have a nap....put the radio or tv on low possibly. Good luck

Tire her out first and leave once she's asleep. She will probably still be asleep once you get back. 1.5 hours is the maximum amount of time I'd leave her at 9 weeks.

As I said conflicting advice!The night after I wrote this she went to bed at night and didn't cry out once...not even when I went down at 7am.She sat there looking at me wagging her tail.It was like that last night too so she is happy in her crate.I've been popping her in it and doing stuff upstairs.Feel pretty happy to go out for a run for 1/2 an hour and build it up.Lot's of good advice here-thanks all.I suppose all dogs are different and you have to trust your instincts/follow their lead.

User thank you...she likes audio books 😁

That's the thing. They are all completely different. I think you just have to take things at your pup's speed. Good luck.