people with dogs (and/or puppies)

if both you and DH/SO work during the day... what did/do you do with your dog/pup?!

right now, DH brings our new puppy to work (he owns his own business) and his secretary looks after him while DH is out on a service call.... but we are wondering if it is okay to leave the pup at home on the rare days that his secretary is not in the office

Re: people with dogs (and/or puppies)

we have been leaving our dog home since she was a puppy.. we both work during the day and she was crated... then finally she was able to have full reign of the downstairs when she got a little bigger.

Re: people with dogs (and/or puppies)

Re: people with dogs (and/or puppies)

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Re: people with dogs (and/or puppies)

the first month or two I was going to school so I was home a lot. After that I worked full time and so does DH so she's home alone. We left her in a pen while we were gone and finally moved her into the kitchen. She's still there. We gave her full run of the house for one day and she ate the entire back off one of my boots and now she's back to the kitchen.

Re: people with dogs (and/or puppies)

Misty was in a crate until she was a little over 2 years old.
She usually didn't go to the bathroom in the crate unless we were gone for an extremely long time (10 hours or so).

She now has full roam of the house and we do have a wee-wee pad by the back door which she uses when she absolutely can't hold it.

As far as the cat, I would definitely crate in the beginning. You don't want to come home to your dogs eye being scratched...and trust me, the cat is way more dangerous to the dog than the dog to the cat.

Re: people with dogs (and/or puppies)

Posted by Gertyrae

and trust me, the cat is way more dangerous to the dog than the dog to the cat.

Re: people with dogs (and/or puppies)

We bought a gate and blocked off the kitchen to keep them in there, and moved the area rug so they'd be on tile just in case there were accidents. We also got a doggy door that fits into a sliding glass door, so they could have access to the (fenced) yard for playtime or potty breaks, since we work far enough away that we can't stop home mid-day to take them out. As they got older, we took the gate away and put the rug back down. We still keep all the doors closed around the house, but they have the run of the main floor while we're gone.

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Well, since I have been home for the past 4 months - I am with them constantly and this does worry me if I ever do get a job again..

When I was working - I worked 15 minutes from home - which enabled me to come home at lunch - check up on them - let them out and play..

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DH and I each try to work from home 1x per week (more now that we have a new puppy). On days that we can't, Teemu goes to doggie day care. Before I discovered doggie day care, I did look into having a dog walker come in 1x per day, but I live in Yaphank and was out of range for all the ones I researched.

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Katie has always stayed home by herself. Up until about 6 months she was crated and I came home at lunch. Then she was gated in the kitchen until about 1 1/2 years. Now she has full roam of the house.
She is alone from 8:30 to 5:30 most days. She has always gotten a treat when we leave so she sees it as a "good" thing.

ETA: When I get home from work now she does not want to go out right away. She wants her dinner first.

Message edited 3/3/2009 4:43:41 PM.

Re: people with dogs (and/or puppies)

Re: people with dogs (and/or puppies)

Brody was crated until around 2 years old. I work closeby so I come home for lunch. DH also usually gets home in late afternoon. He stays loose in the house now with bathroom and bedroom dooras closed.

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I've read that depending on the size of the dog, it's physically impossible for very young puppies to hold it in for more than one hour per month of age. So if your puppy is only 2 months, and you leave him longer than 2 hours, expect accidents and make arrangements, especially while training him.

If I had a puppy that young, I would make arrangements for them. Regardless if the puppy was crated or penned in a room, I'd make sure to have either a dog walker visit, or I would come home to take care of it. Our dog was 9 months when we got him and we've never left him crated and alone the whole day. We've had dog walkers, doggie day care, I went home during my lunch hour, took him to work, and now my husband works from home. We un-crated him at 13 months old and he was just fine.

I know that this may not be feasible for your situation, or you may feel differently than I do. But we've always felt that dogs this age should get that extra care and consideration because it avoids problems later and well, they deserve it.

I don't know where you are but I know two dog walkers that may be able to help - FM me if you want their information.

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When Daisy was a puppy, we came home at lunch to take her out and feed her. When she was around 7-8 months, we left her alone gated in the kitchen for the day (8:30am-4:45pm) and when we come home from work, we walk and play with her.

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We close the bathroom and bedroom doors and the dogs mostly stay in the livingroom and kitchen.. we have an apartment o there's not too much space they can get into..

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as with my first puppy, I am crating this one as well. I would not feel bad at all crating them during the day . imo the more roamthey have as puppies the more they will get into .. i feel bad leaving , but he is very comofttable in his cage ,,,, not once, ( knock on wood ) has he soiled yet .. thank god,,,

Re: people with dogs (and/or puppies)

Posted by greenfreak


I don't know where you are but I know two dog walkers that may be able to help - FM me if you want their information.

Re: people with dogs (and/or puppies)

I am the first person to understand how hard it is to leave them in a cage :( We got our pup over the summer and she was wee wee pad trained in ONE day! We do not have a fence up in our yard yet, so we haven't worked on training her to go in the backyard. I started with a gate to give her access to the hallway, office and bathroom. Within a couple of days we noticed some chewing in the bathroom and locked it off. Fast forward a month and we noticed some mouldings being chewed....we then put her in a metal playpen sort of a thing. I felt SO bad doing this, but had a wee wee pad, her food and water, her bed and toys in it so I was OK with it. This worked for MONTHS and I was starting to think it was time to let her out (she was about 8 months at this point).

SO, I went out one Saturday and when I came home 3 hours later, there she was greeting me at the door! She apparenlty JUMPED OVER the pen wall and was having a good ole' time! Mind you she stopped teething a while ago and was fixed at 6 months. She chewed the bottom of our entertainment center, our tv stand and some moulding!!!!! She has NEVER ONCE chewed ANYTHING but a toy in front of us...go figure!

Moral: She is now caged for over 2 months...gives me her sad eyes when I leave in the am and then is ecstatic when I get home at 3ish. I feel so bad and think of her a million times a day, bus as my hubby says, "She's a dog and they like their cages...let her be a dog" lol

I have read this is the best way....I hope "they" are right!

Re: people with dogs (and/or puppies)

Mav as a puppy (under 1 year)
was crated from a couple of hours at a time. DH is 5 mins from work so he would come home to give lil puppy peeps outside and I would be home by 3pm and he was out with me til nighttime.

You do what you can we lucked out with DH working so close to home

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we leave her home

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Our pup goes in the kitchen. I leave at 7:30am and DH is home a few hours after that, so it's not that long.

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We live in an apartment in my parents house so they watch him if they are home which is most of the time. If they are unable to watch him for a couple of hours then he goes in his crate.

Message edited 3/10/2009 4:51:12 PM.