Puppy after the first 2 weeks

[Alongroadtoeverywhere]

So I've read the survival thread and lots of people talk about taking 2 weeks off work when you get a puppy, which I can do, but what then? I work part time and on the days that I work, my mil is around for school drop off/pick ups and can pop in every couple of hours but will need to run her own errands in that time.
I've not brought a puppy but we've been talking about it for a couple of years so I thought I should think seriously about logistics.

I actually had around 4 1/2 weeks off before going back to work. After that he went to doggy day care run by a dog walker on my office days who continued to toilet train and do general training with him. I was very lucky that she was happy to take him at 13 weeks old as some have a minimum age of 16 weeks.

Despite what you read puppies can take weeks/months to fully toilet train so leaving them for any length could result in accidents and make it a bit longer to fully toilet train as every accident is a missed opportunity. In addition you need to get them used to being alone and two weeks may not be enough time depending on the puppy.

Saying that your puppy may be happy snoozing for hours and picks up toilet training very quickly. The problem is you don't know how they will be until you have them.

Can you look into doggie day care?

To echo what BIteyshark has said: I've been lucky to have a few months off work which is the only reason I felt able to have a puppy instead of an adult dog. He is now 16 months old and tbh has only just started to be ok when I leave the house. And that's with someone else there with him. If left alone he makes it about 10 mins before starting to show signs of distress. He's also not fully house trained, and that's with 3 adults looking out for him every min of the day.

To be sure, if I had more pressures I would have had to work on leaving him alone earlier than now but it's not unusual for dogs to take a few months to be ok being left. Basically, so long as they are still young enough not to be able to protect and look after themselves their instincts tell them they are in REAL trouble whenever they are alone and they start to cry and call for help. It can be very distressing to you and the puppy if he doesn't settle to being alone quickly.

You may well get lucky and have a puppy that just snoozes the time away but there is greater chance of him becoming very upset at being left so young and your toilet training being considerably delayed by the dog being able to have accidents in the house when no one is looking. You'd also have to think about where the puppy would be whilst no one is there? In his crate is safest - to puppy and the house - but he cannot spend hours alone in a crate without it being upsetting and unfair on him. If you have a spare room that you can remove anything from he could hurt himself with or you wouldn't want damaged by digging, chewing, peeing etc then that could also work. Although I hate them, using a pee pad might be useful to help at least contain the pee to a certain area while you are out.

Worth also preparing your MIL that popping in every couple of hours is something required for quite a few months. Not sure how she is fixed to do that?

Day care might be best, if you can find one? Alternatively, people who board dogs in their home might also be prepared to take him during the days for a few months.

I was lucky that my parents are retired and live nearby. They spent loads of time with my puppy! They still come over a couple of days a week and I use daycare on the other days. He needs more training with onlead walking right now but eventually I may also look into a dog walker too.

There have also been a few days I've taken off for looking after him after a minor injury and illness and also after he got neutered.

In short, make sure you have plenty of leave and money saved up and friends and family make life easier too.

Yes as blue mentioned you may need to keep leave free or have back up plans in place if your puppy is ill. I have just spent the best part of three weeks working at home because he was in and out of vets and too ill to go to day care.

I'm lucky that Elfpup is a chilled little chap - we practised "being left alone" by my partner getting up, feeding and toileting him then shutting him in the kitchen when he went to work whilst I stayed warm and cosy in bed. Obviously he didn't know that!

Initially we had 2-3 minutes - no more -of whining and when I sneaked down for a look he'd just put himself back to bed and gone to sleep. Next day there wasn't even a token protest - he went straight back to bed and was fast asleep when I checked on him quietly 10 minutes later.

He was about 10 weeks old when we started this and I can now leave him if I have to without worrying about him. The max has been about 3 hours so far and he is now 17 weeks.

Pick your breed carefully - some are far more prone to SA than others. A friend of mine has a lurcher and he's dreadful. If he's left alone for even a minute he will howl and he will only stay happily with family members or people he knows well.

Daycare is definetly an opition. I have a friend who trains puppies so I will ask her. It looks so easy when you see people with beautifully trained dogs and I'm under no illusions of how hard a puppy is, I've seen friends attemp and fail at basic training but I don't understand how people find the time!

I had 6 months off ( realise this isn't generally an option)

We have a Dalmatian (18 months) who absolutely loves doggie daycare! He goes twice a week and I find it a complete life-saver. Not only does it allow me to concentrate on work, and not worry about him in the house alone, playing with other dogs all day really tires him out. Sometimes he's too tired for his evening walk after daycare!

Depending on what breed you get, you may want to consider a crate. My first impression of a crate was that it looked a little cruel, but actually, Rolo loves his crate and recognises it as his 'safe space'. Nowadays, we tend to leave it open all of the time and it's his napping/sleeping space.

In the early days when he was very destructive, we'd put him in his crate to sleep and for short periods if we popped out. There are tonnes of things online about how to train your pup with a crate :)

OP I am shattered most of the time looking after our dog around full time work due to the fact that training, walking, general care takes a lot of my time. It's only now at just over 1 year old is it getting better. It's the little things like remembering to clean his teeth every night, comb him, train him, keep him occupied etc that I find hard work. However, I love the little monster and would not be without him.

We have a lab pup, she’s 12 weeks, been with us since she was 8 weeks. I work 2 days a week and took 2 weeks off work and dh took 1.5 weeks, then my teen ds had an inset day at school so in total we were at home everyday for her first 3 weeks.
Until she can actually start going for proper walks (when she’s old enough and at the moment she won’t be fully vaccinated anyway until 16 weeks) we have a puppy sitter who comes in twice during the days when I’m at work. I leave very early for work but DH is at home to do the school run so doesn’t go to work until after 9. We make sure she has a good run round and play in the morning so she’s nice and tired when he leaves, he puts her in the crate. The first visit is at 10.45 and she stays until 11.30, plays with her and takes her out for wees and poops. The second visit is at 1pm and she stays for another 45 minutes during which she gives her her lunch. Then it’s back in the crate until eldest ds gets home at 3.20.
She really isn’t left alone that long and puppy sitter assured me she’s always sound asleep and perfectly happy when she arrives.
On my days off she takes herself into the crate to sleep and often naps for two hours at a time or more.
Once she is bigger she will either go with the puppy sitter on dog walks or we will call snider doggy day care if necessary. She is showing absolutely no signs of being distressed at being left in her own at the moment.