I need some advice from other doodle lovers.

[Kelli, Fenway, & Dustin Pedroia]

As some of you may know I posted several months ago about trying to convince my husband to add doodle number two. Well he quickly relented and we got put on the list for a litter due the begining of March. We picked this litter because I'm a speech language pathologist in the school system and the puppy would be coming to live with us at the begining of May (closer to the time I will be out of school for the summer and better able to meet all of the potty training needs). I have a friend that is still in undergrad that would be out of school in May and was going to help us out for that month. We had it all figured out. I would be able to take the puppy out first thing in the morning when I get up at 6, then my husband could take care of the time between then and when he leaves and then take it out right before he leaves. He was also going to come home for lunch and then my friend was going to come over in the afternoon to help out. As I said it was all figured out.
Well I got a call from the breeder yesterday. She said that our Mama had had a pregnancy test at the begining of the February and that it had been positive, but now she was no longer pregnant. This was the second time this has happened so they decided to spay her and let a family adopt her (this would have been her first litter of puppies). The breeder said that she would refund us our money or we could get one of the puppies from one of the other two litters that she has right now. The catch is that those puppies will be going home at the end of March and the other litter will be going home the first weekend in April! She said if she had any other puppies that wouldn't be going home that weekend that she would be willing to keep the puppy longer for us so that it would be closer to our previous time, but that she didn't want to keep only one puppy, because at that point the Mama dog does not want anything to do with her puppies because they are supposed to be weaned and without another puppy she didn't feel like that would be fair (she also mentioned there would only be other adult dogs at that point since she didn't have any other litters and that wasn't ideal either).
Now I know that not all of you out there with puppies have a super flexible schedule and so I want to know how all of you dealt with the first weeks of having a puppy home. Without our extra help, the puppy will have to go for four hours without a potty break. I know this is too long for a puppy that young to go. I guess I should mention that we will be crate training too just in case that plays a role in the advice you all would give.
What should I do? Do you think the puppy would be ok if we just used a wee pad? I just don't know when we'll get another chance to get a puppy and I want to get one while our other doodle is still young. I also want to get one while my husband still has the flexibility to come home at lunch and help out. The longer we wait the less flexible his schedule is (he's an attorney). Any help would be appreciated.

[Mary Beth Sancomb-Moran]

We got Casey when he was 8 weeks old, and he was able to go 4 hours without a potty break. (I'm not sure if he could have gone much longer, though.) Both my husband and I work and came home for lunch every day, so he went out before we left, at noon, again at dinner, and then whenever he needed to after that.

Definitely use a crate - the puppy will feel protected in his "den" and will tend to not soil his space.

[Leslie and Halas]

I work close to home, and my mom also helped me out with Halas. I'd spend a lot of time playing with him in the morning before leaving for work (around 8:00am). Mom would come over at around 10:00 for a potty break. I'd go home for an hour at lunch. Mom would come over again mid-afternoon. I'd get home a little after 5:00. So he only had about 2 or 3 hours at a time that he had to hold it at first. So I think if you could get someone to stop by your house mid-morning, in addition to the rest of the schedule that you already had planned, you'd probably be ok. And as time goes on, your puppy will be able to hold it a little longer, so you may only need the mid-morning visit for a month or so. I crated Halas, and that worked well for us. He never had an accident in his crate. At about 11 months old, I started giving him the run of the house, and so far so good.

[GBK]

For both of our dogs we put an open crate in the kitchen and gated it off. We put a wee pad close to the gate furthest from their crate. It was 6 hours betwee the time I left and my husband came home and they both did fine. Buddy was bigger and held it from a really early age, and Kona learned to use the pad till we got home. They got lot's of attention and excercise before I left, and after hubby came home. It was not possible for either one of us to come home at lunch, and this worked just fine. Neither one was totally confined to the crate while we were gone, just confined to the kitchen.

If someone is able to come home at lunchtime now, I would go for it.

[Lindsey, Lee, Whopper and Simba]

When we got Whopper, she was 10 1/2 weeks. My husband was last to leave at 8:15 and took her out right before leaving, a dog walker came for $10 dollars a visit around 12:30-1, and I got home and let her out around 5:30. She actually did surprisingly well except for the fact that she never really took to her crate. Most days I came home she was sound asleep. We did however take her out when we first woke up, then I took her out after feeding, and then my husband took her out right before leaving with playing in between so we had very busy mornings trying to tire her out and drain her system. I think you should get the puppy while you have the opportunity. You will be able to work it out and may have to clean up a few initial messes but your puppy will soon adjust to the schedule and have the ability to hold it.

[Kelli, Fenway, & Dustin Pedroia]

Thank y'all so much for your input and help! We really want to go ahead and get a puppy, so I think we're going to go for it and use some of the things y'all have suggested. I really think if we could train him to go on the wee pad when we're not there then it would be ok. I just want to do what's best for the puppy. Thanks to all of you!

[Cam & Oski]

When we brought Oski home he was 8 weeks old & we also crate trained him. We both worked long hours but luckily we worked out a few options. I would let him out in the wee hours as I have to be at work at 7AM, then Jason would let him out again before he went to work. Our neighbor (this was when we lived in Seattle) would pop by for a potty break in the early afternoon/lunch time (she worked from home). We had a dog walking service that would come & walk/play with him for 30 min & cost $19 in the late afternoon around 4-5PM. Either Jason or I would take him for a walk/potty break when we got home around 7-8PM. Oski for the most part was able to hold it 4h even at 8 weeks.

Sounds like you've already decided that this is something you can do (of course you can!) & where there's a will, there's a way. Good luck & don't forget to post puppy pix! :)

[Adina P]

I would opt for the later puppy only because I know how hard you are working training Fenway...the further you get the EASIER it will be to finish and to manage two pooches. Good luck and let us know more about the puppy when it is decided =)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I would go for it but like Adina advised, I would take the later pup. I would also let the breeder keep it as long as she can so that you can be closest to your target date and also give Fenway the longest time with your current schedule.

[Kelli, Fenway, & Dustin Pedroia]

Well I talked to the breeder and she has agreed to let us get a puppy in the later litter and she's also going to keep it a week later because she has another buyer from this litter that has asked to get their puppy later. So that means we'll only get our puppy 12 days earlier than we'd planned. I feel pretty good about this and feel like Fenway will be in a good place training wise by then too. We'll be getting the puppy the weekend of the 12th of April. That gives me a month and a half with Fenway to get her closer to that good training place!