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The doghouse

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Original poster

Would leaving a puppy alone for this length of time be ok?

59 replies

Duckegg271 · 09/09/2019 17:56

If we got puppy at 10 weeks, I had 5 weeks working from home and then returned to work for the following hours:

Tuesday 9-12 home for an hour at lunch then back to work 1-4

Wednesday 9-12

Friday 9-12

Would that be ok or too long left alone?

OP posts:

missbattenburg · 09/09/2019 18:17

That very much depends on the dog. Battendog would have had some kind of breakdown being left for that long at that age and I could well imagine it causing behavioural problems.

The issue will be by the time you know if your dog can cope with it, it's too late unless you have a solid back up plan such as family or friends who can take the dog while you are out, or a day care centre you have checked accepts (is set up for) puppies.

In which case, if you have a backup plan, I'd be tempted to use it as your primary plan.

Jouska · 09/09/2019 18:42

Tuesday is way too long to leave a 15 week old puppy.

Are you really leaving the 9-12 or is that the hours you work so travel on top of that?

It will screw up toilet training for sure.

Personally I would not be leaving a puppy that long on the other days either.

Putanotherwashon · 09/09/2019 18:50

We had planned to leave our puppy at 14 weeks from 8-2.30 with someone coming in twice a day to let her out.
However, our puppy has turned out to be a clingy puppy! We are having to pay for doggy daycare everyday which is costing £75 a week!!
As long as you’ve factored in financially for the possibility that your puppy might not want to be left. Then go for it x

pigsDOfly · 09/09/2019 18:54

No it wouldn't be okay.

As pp said how are you going to house train the puppy. At that age most puppies are still nowhere near trained.

Leaving, what is, a young baby alone for such long periods is cruel, will very likely going to cause him enormous distress and will probably result in you having a dog with potentially, life long separation anxiety.

What sort of breeder did you get the puppy from? A good breeder would not have sold you a puppy knowing you were planning to leave it alone like that.

You need to make better arrangements.

Boatsnack3 · 09/09/2019 18:59

Our puppy is now 9 months and he cant be left for any more than 3 hours. He ends up distressed, bored and barking.

I think it probably very much depends on the breed, temperament. You could try it but have a back up plan in case it doesn't work.

Original poster

Duckegg271 · 09/09/2019 18:59

Jouska you’re right it’s actually 8.45-12.10 and then 12.50-4.10

How do people do it? So many of my friends and family have dogs (from puppies) and work longer hours than that.

Are the short days ok?

There’s no doggy day care around here but I could organise a dog walker for the Tuesday afternoon. No family here either.

Such a shame to think we can’t get a pup.

OP posts:

Original poster

Duckegg271 · 09/09/2019 19:00

pigsDOfly we haven’t got a puppy. I’m asking the questions now to make sure we’re suitable/responsible owners.

OP posts:

HandsOffMyRights · 09/09/2019 19:02

Perhaps you could get an older dog then?

converseandjeans · 09/09/2019 19:04

I think that sounds fine - it's only one long day & you would be back in between. I think you would need to give it walk in that time to wear it out. It would likely sleep most of the afternoon.
What I wouldn't do it go straight from working from home and being there all the time to leaving it like that. So build up to it.
Could you get a dog walker just for the Tuesday?
Our dog never has more than 4 hours alone - we have dog walker 3 days and my FIL walks him the other days. He has morning and evening walk with us too. He seems happy and he has a good routine so knows what to expect.

SweetNorthernRose · 09/09/2019 19:08

The thing is you can't go straight from being around 24/7 to leaving a dog on its own for hours and expect it to just cope ok. Time left alone should be built up gradually. And even then every dog is different and some would cope better than others.
You say there aren't any day cares nearby but maybe there are dog walkers who also do day time home boarding?

Original poster

Duckegg271 · 09/09/2019 19:09

converseandjeans yes we could get a dog walker for the Tuesday afternoon.

I’d love an older dog but we’ve spent 2 years trying to find one with no success. I don’t know if anyone saw my pp about the dodgy ex breeding ‘rescue’ dog. Just the latest in a long line of disappointments.

Doesn’t sound like we’re suited to a puppy either.

Are people who don’t work/work from home the only ones who should really have them?

OP posts:

SpangledBoots · 09/09/2019 19:11

I'm planning to get a puppy next year. I work full time but split that between home and the office. I've been researching this for a long time - it sounds as though you are too.

I've lined up a highly recommended dog sitter to take puppy for the whole days I'm in the office (bit cheaper than day care and she mostly takes small breeds, only 1-2 dogs at a time) and have a back up doggy day care (with puppy room). Even with that I still feel like I need a third option so working on that now.

Have a chat with owners of the breed in your local area - check Facebook groups, they're invaluable.

pigsDOfly · 09/09/2019 19:12

Sorry OP. Yes, I can now see the 'if' at the front of your post.

Well the fact that you're asking the question before getting the puppy would indicate that you would be a responsible owner.

You'd need to look at doggy day care of some kind I'm afraid for the reasons I gave in my pp. You'd need to check out if they take puppies that young before hand though.

Once again, sorry for misreading your post first time round.

Original poster

Duckegg271 · 09/09/2019 19:21

I’ve got a lot more thinking/research to do.

Thought I’d cracked it with sorting that 5 weeks working from home.

Maybe we’ll leave it as something to look forward to in our retirement 😄

DS is 10, an only child and would really love a dog (we all would,I’m not just doing it for him).

I just can’t figure it out! And if I didn’t work we wouldn’t be able to afford to buy the puppy, feed it, take it to the vets etc etc 🤦🏼‍♀️

OP posts:

thebakerwithboobs · 09/09/2019 19:22

On a Tuesday your pup will eat your house.

M1ntch0cch1p · 09/09/2019 19:28

My puppy will be 6 months old this weekend. We got him at 10 weeks, I was home with him for 1 week then had to go back to work. For the first 2 weeks (he was 12 weeks at this point) I worked 3 hour blocks 3 times a week and from then on (15 weeks) I had to work my normal hours ... which is just over 4 hours 3 times a week. He was absolutely fine, no problem with toilet training. We crate trained him from day one and he is honestly fine. He has the radio on whilst I'm out. I agree that the whole day thing would be too much, but if you could cover that then you would be doing similar hours to mine. Saying all this, having a puppy is soooo much more work than I ever realised (we have had a cat for 16 years!!). However, we love him to bits and wouldn't be without him. Hope that helps

Original poster

Duckegg271 · 09/09/2019 19:32

thebakerwithboobs 😆

OP posts:

BiteyShark · 09/09/2019 19:33

I had this idea that we could get dog walkers in to let our puppy out a couple of times a day (I work full time). However, as soon as he arrived I realised that wouldn't work despite everyone I knew saying their dog/puppy was ok with that arrangement. We ended up paying for daycare which was the right thing for our dog.

Original poster

Duckegg271 · 09/09/2019 19:34

M1ntch0cch1p thankyou, what breed is he?

I think it’s do-able but I need some kind of back up plan cause I’m not the type of person who could concentrate in work knowing that I had a miserable/distressed/anxious pup at home.

OP posts:

Original poster

Duckegg271 · 09/09/2019 19:36

I’m wondering if I could find daycare for just the Tuesday. Even if it means a trip to another town (we’re pretty rural) DH could drive the puppy while I get ready for work and then I could pick it up afterwards.

OP posts:

CaledonianSleeper · 09/09/2019 19:37

Have you investigated doggy day care in your area? Surely that’s the answer. Check they are licensed by local council (it has recently become more stringent). Since he was a puppy our dog has been picked up and dropped home two days a week and spends the day with other dogs and in the day carer’s home. He loves it. It’s £22 but I guess cost varies by area.

LittleLongDog · 09/09/2019 19:41

There’s no doggy day care around here
Are you 100% sure? All sorts of doggy day care and dog walkers are revealing themselves to me since we got a pup. At first it seemed like there weren’t many at all. Oddly, I found a lot on Insta.

M1ntch0cch1p · 09/09/2019 19:44

He's a Border Collie / Kelpie X so a lively breed!!

Original poster

Duckegg271 · 09/09/2019 19:48

LittleLongDog no I’m not 100% sure. I’ll have another good look.

So if I could arrange daycare for Tuesday would the rest of the week be ok?

So 3.5 hours twice a week? That must be ok surely?

If I really focused 100% on toilet training in those first 5 weeks. I’m guessing it’d set us back.

OP posts:

M1ntch0cch1p · 09/09/2019 20:03

Well, I did it and it has worked fine for me! I appreciate that everyone has a different story to tell though ... One thing that really helped us with toilet training was writing down everything he did for a few days eg. 7am - breakfast, 7.15 am - play in garden, 7.30 am - poo etc - that helped us to see the pattern in when he was likely to poo / wee. He didn't poo inside once! He now goes from about 9.30 pm - 7.30 / 8 am without needing the loo (& has been like that for quite a long time now). Honestly, I could write a book on all the things I have learnt in the last 6 months!! A puppy is like a newborn mixed with toddler all at the same time!

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