Puppy alone??? What to do...

[Kevin]

My wife and I live in a large apartment with a giant porch. We both attend school 4 days a week and lately with our almost 4 month old Goldendoodle, we have taken our pup over to my mother's house during the day and tied her up to one of those really long leashes that stakes into the ground. My mother has a older dog that isn't the most interested in our puppy Navy but does play with her here and there and we visit our pup during class breaks.

Without going to much into our circumstance, we are thinking about moving our puppy back to our apartment during the day and wondering what your experiences are for leaving your dog in a place for an extended period of time. I would hate to crate her for long and do not feel that would be great, at times we are gone for hours.

Should we buy a little wire kennel thing so she can be in the kitchen? (something like this http://www.petco.com/product/122186/Precision-Pet-Eight-Panel-Silve... )

Should we baby gate the kitchen so she has the whole thing?

Put her on the porch where she can be outside and see whats going on? (also if she had an accident it would be outside atleast)

We have been in our apartment for 2 months and only one accident. She just sits at the door when she needs to go potty which is so great and we don't want to break that habit.

Just looking for advice and experiences from anyone. We take her walking/running and play with her every morning and night so hope this doesn't look like we neglect her. We just want our Navy to enjoy herself and not be cooped up in a crate all day.

[Sarah Bennett]

My pup is now 8 months old, but I left him alone a lot during the day from the get go, simply because I had no other choice.  I did a lot of the stake him outside and had the neighbors check on him/play with him, but living in Michigan the weather is just so unpredictable that I'm just not comfortable with that.  So I started to leave him crated for the time that I was at work, but I lived close enough that I could come home during my lunch and take him out, walk him, play with him, etc.  Now (and probably pretty consistently for the past two months), I gate him into the kitchen.  I started by spraying EVERYTHING with a bitter cherry spray.  He had never shown tendencies toward chewing on furniture/etc, but I didn't want to take the chance he would start.  For me, this has worked great.  He still stays in there during my work day.  It's big enough I don't feel like I'm cramping him, but small enough I don't worry about a lot of things getting "ruined".  For us, it's a pretty good set-up, but Salvador is not one who tries to get out of places and he's really good with physical boundaries.

[Ginny Nightingale]

I am glad you have had no negative experiences while leaving her outside on a long lead--IMHO, that pup is way too young to be outside unsupervised--she could eat a rock, for example! If you do not want to crate her, the pen is a good idea. I know someone who did that and it went well...she had given her pup the whole kitchen and the pup had chewed on a brand new kitchen cabinet--she was 4 1/2 months old and teething (as all pups do at that time). The pen kept her away from the cabinets, but gave her a bit of room to move around. 

Do not be surprised though if the pup has an accident if you are gone for more than 4 hours---it wold be hard for a baby to hold it that long. If you can't be back to let her out, then maybe you should use a puppy pad.  

[F, Calla & Luca]

Aside from the inherent danger of a pup outside alone, there are people who will take a puppy from the yard or porch for who knows what purpose. Navy is much better off inside and I would not leave a puppy of her age out alone even inside. A big crate is a good way to keep her save, give her some room to move around and generally a good idea.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree completely. 

[Camilla and Darwin]

Yes I agree. A crate is a much better idea than being alone outside, absolutely.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Of the options given, it seems the crate is the best choice for a puppy so young. I have never crated mine, but many many members have and do and have had very good experiences and seem to feel that their dogs love having their own designated space. It seems much safer than the other options to me. Both for your apartment, possessions and for keeping your pup safe.

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

Each pup is different but at 4 months she's too young to be left in a gated room.  Agree that you could get her a large crate or a pen and ask someone to take her out for a walk mid-day if you can't get home. Too many dangers to leave a pup oustide unsupervised.