Puppy advice

[Bex19999]

Hi

I have been researching getting a puppy for a long time .. I work from home 5 days a week due to Covid however I did work from home a few days a week before Covid .. my job is flexible and my company have said even when things are more ‘normal’ they plan on adopting this way of
Working for the foreseeable.

I live alone so all the responsibility will be on me however have a neighbour/friend who could Pop in if needs be.

Even though I work from home I do however have a social life and I am worried that working from home all week the puppy would get separation a anxiety it I was to go out for a few hours.

I am aware new puppies shouldn’t be left alone for more than 2 hours etc and wouldn’t plan on leaving it alone whilst it is very young.. I am more concerned for when it’s a bit older . I am indoors basically all week for work but I do go for dinner/ drinks with friends on the odd evening / weekend ( before lock down). Is this okay ?

Also regarding crate training I’ve read conflicting advice .. is it better to gate off a safe area in my home for the pup and put a bed puppy pads etc or is it best to crate train?

I’ve never owned a dog before

Thanks

I think you CAN toilet train using the pad method, it's just you then almost have to go back to scratch re-training them to go outdoors - most dogs don't transfer what they've learnt about the pads onto outdoors so you are back to watching them like a hawk, putting them outside every 20 mins etc etc, almost having to do the whole process twice which is a ball ache particularly if you are back at work by that point, but not impossible. Would you definitely not consider a rescue, as that would certainly be easier from the toilet training point of view if nothing else?

@Twizbe I’m in no position to move right now. I live in london and I simply cannot afford to move I have only been in this flat 3 years. If needs be I would wait till I wanted to move before considering a puppy.

@SimonJT how did you manage to Transition from pads to going outdoors ?

I think you could make it work in a flat with a shared garden but it's going to be much harder and obviously your neighbours might complain.

My puppy had lots of stomach issues which meant many many nights where he had to go and poo every hour and I just don't know how I would have coped had I not had my own lit and fully enclosed garden.

@BiteyShark the garden is fully enclosed and it also is well lit.. it’s not a communal garden that can be accessed by anyone else other than ppl who live in the block. Tbh it’s rarely used by anyone even in the summer as ppl prefer the main park area.

I can imagine though it would be 100x easier with my own garden

If you have no yard at all I would seriously consider not getting a puppy. If you do get one I would look in to breeds that are easy to toilet train and happy to lounge around a lot, whippet, Mini poodle maybe?

The puppy pads are simply there to make any accidents easy to clean up rather than to encourage the dog to toilet in the crate (same reason as to why I would suggest a plastic basket - Basket can be washed and helps to keep the bedding clean/dry).

An alternative which you may consider seeing as you have no yard is a 'fake grass toilet' for dogs. Plenty of apartment dwelling people use them for their animals, personally though I think they are pretty smelly.

Consistency is the key to any approach you take, whether you choose to teach your dog to wait until it's outside or use a fake grass toilet, at the start you will need to constantly watch pup for toileting signs and also consistently take it to the spot you want it to toilet in.

[quote Bex19999]@Twizbe I’m in no position to move right now. I live in london and I simply cannot afford to move I have only been in this flat 3 years. If needs be I would wait till I wanted to move before considering a puppy.

@SimonJT how did you manage to Transition from pads to going outdoors ?[/quote]
They were taught as different compands, as we’re really inventive when using the pad we used “paddy”, not toileting outside we used “wee wee”. We also have one of those bells on a string hanging by the door and taught him to paw that to ask to go out.