Puppy Questions

[Debbie Schneider]

Hi - my little Australian labradoodle will be 15 weeks in 4 days and I have having some issues with having a puppy and working outside the home.  We own our own glass business and I do the bookwork and I have to go to our office from noon to five Mon-Fri.  We have had our puppy for almost 5 weeks now and I purchased a larger all open crate that sits on my desk all the time.  I try and play with my doodle lots in the mornings to tire him out and then I bring him to work with me.  I put him in his crate and he usually sleeps well until about 2:30 or so and then he wakes up.  At that time sometimes I am alone in our shop so I can have to open the front door and take him out to a gravelly area just outside our door so he can pee.  Sometimes when I am out there waiting for him to pee the phone will ring so I have to pick him up and run back in to grab the phone and then try again or a customer can also come in just when he wakes up and I am helping a customer he will then start to whine very loudly - so I close my office room door - and it helps so we don't hear the whining as loud.  Sometimes I am lucky and one of our workmen are in the shop when he wakes up so I can take him for a quick 5 min. walk - there is no grass in our area and it is a very busy street so he doesn't do well on those 5 min. walks and sometimes will not even go pee.  I bring along a kong filled with his food and some treats mixed in so that will keep him busy for half an hour or so after he goes out and sometimes he will go back to sleep until about 4 and sometimes he is just restless and will whine.  Now that it is very hot outside - it is even harder to take him for his 2:30 pee as the cement is so so hot.  I was wondering if it would be okay to leave him in an enclosed area in my kitchen (I have lots of those wire type fence things to make an area in my kitchen) and leave him alone for 5 hours.  I worry because I am trying to be so good with the housetraining - always watching him when I am home and for the most part he is doing quite well (or I guess I am doing quite well in getting him outside to potty enough times that he doesn't really get the chance to mess in the house) anyways I have left him for 3 hours and he didn't make a mess in his enclosed area in the house but I wonder if 5 hours is too long.  It is really hard for me to work properly with him beside me on my desk - it did work well for the first couple of weeks but now it is not working well at all.  What do you think and have any other of you had to do this as well - I am most worried about his housetraining - I don't want him to go potty during that 5 hours every day and then start to think it is now okay to go in the house - he will see that nothing happens when he goes in the house as I would not be able to get mad at him once I got home.  Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated - this is my hardest area of owning my dog - I am about 4 years away from retirement and maybe should have waited until I was retired to get a puppy but hoping I can make it work still.  Thanks

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

i Debbie ~ Yes, it is difficult when you get a puppy and are still working - even for 5 hrs.  But many others are doing it here and I hope someone will chime in.  I am retired, so I am not much help. Just wanted to tell you how cute your new little guy is.  I see you are new to DK and when you get a chance be sure to check out the groups section on the main page and join as many as you like.  Many new puppy owners join the puppy madness group, the grooming group and food group.  I would also you take the time to check out the dog training site of Doggy Dan.  He did a webinar on Doodle Kisses a month or so and although my doodles are mature (2 and 4), I have joined his site to make some tweaks in our training.  If all new puppy owners joined his site when they first get their puppy, there would fewer people with problem dogs later on.  It will show the 5 simple rules to being the pack leader and you will have fewer problems in bringing up a good canine good citizen.  Looking forward to seeing lots of photos of your little guy on Doodle Kisses and welcome.

http://doggydan.com/free-dog-training-online/   Right now he is offering 3 days free and it is worth the time believe me.

[Debbie Schneider]

Thank you for the information on the Doggy Dan - I have checked it out and hopefully can still make changes - as I haven't been doing the 5 simple rules - we have had Maxwell for almost 5 weeks now - and for the most part he is great it is just when I go to work that we both really struggle. 

 

Debbie

[Julie, Eloise & Beasley]

Debbie - my puppy is 11 weeks old, and she's gone 5 hours in her crate without an accident while I'm at work.  The rule of thumb I've seen (for how many hours they can hold it) is the puppy's age in months +1, so for a 3 mo old it would be 3 + 1 = 4 hrs.  It's a little longer than ideal for mine to go 5 hrs...but it's not every day and, on the days I go to the office, it's been 4-5 hrs if I come home for lunch & let her out during the day.  That said, mine is a standard size doodle, so I'm not sure if your guy being smaller makes a difference. 

Does your puppy make it through the night without going potty?  That also may indicate if he could hold it for a little longer.  I do use a crate with the divider, so I feel like that helps with her being accident-free.  I'm not sure if it would have the same effect if he's in an enclosed area that gives him more room to potty and not have to be "in" it.  (Though, my 2 yr old doodle sometimes had wet on the towel in her crate when I'd come home for the first couple weeks, which would have been when she was 8-10 wks old.  I never left her longer than 4 hrs, so my puppy now must have more "capacity."  And the 2 yr old ended up being housetrained just fine.)  The good news is that every day they grow so it won't be much longer before he's able to go longer anyway. :)  Your little guy is a cutie - congrats!!

[Debbie Schneider]

Hi and thank you for your reply - I think because my doodle is a micro-mini he will not be able to hold it as long but that being said he does have his last potty at 11:00 when we go to bed and he lasts until 6:00 am - but I know that it is completely different at night.  I do have a neighbor that I may be able to ask to come and take him out about the half way point of the 5 to 5 1/2 hours I am gone and I may just ask her if she would do that for the next 2 to 3 months and than maybe leave him in his crate instead of the enclosed area with more space.  Did you leave your doodle water and food in the crate?  I was wondering about that as well.  Maxwell is great at going pee almost on demand on his regular spot on the grass at home - it is just his poop is very irregular - I never seem to know when he will go other than first thing in the morning and most nights before we go to bed - during the day it is very irregular.  I do thank you again for your advice and I do know that before long this will not be an issue any more and I will be able to leave him while going to work for the 5 - 5 1/2 hours.  I had a bichon poodle before Maxwell that lived to 14 years and he could go for as long as 8 hours sometimes but he was already 5 or 6 years by that time.  The housetraining part is by far the most difficult that is for sure - hopefully it will pass soon.

 

Thanks Debbie

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I noticed that your puppy is a "micro-mini". Toy breeds of any age usually can't hold it anywhere near as long as their larger counterparts and generally have to go more frequently. I mention this only because what worked for someone with a Standard or even miniature sized doodle puppy might not apply to one as small as yours. 

[Julie, Eloise & Beasley]

Thanks, Karen. Good point, I knew he was smaller but I hadn't seen the "micro-mini" part, so I'm sure my girl has far more room in there. :)

[Debbie Schneider]

Thank you - I think you are probably right  - him not being able to hold it as long as a standard or even mini.  He is able to go for 7 hours during the night (in his crate) but I do know that the night is entirely different than the day.  I know I will look back at this and most likely forget how hard it was - but while I am going through it - it is very difficult.  He is continually whining at my work and disrupting things - I will try in a week or so to see if I can leave him at home and see if I can get a neighbor to come in once to let him out.  I have to try something different as this is really not working well.

 

Thanks again

Debbie

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

Having someone come in mid point sounds like a good idea to me. My concern is the whining when you leave him even for a few minutes. One of my doodles did this his first 18 months and it did escalate into full blown separation anxiety. Maybe doggie dan has some info on his sight regarding how to lengthen time away without having the whining or them being stressed. Good luck with it all and yes, you probably will look back on this in a few months and it will just be a distant memory.

[Debbie Schneider]

Thank you - I have asked an elderly neighbor lady who is also a dog owner and she said she would be more than happy to come and let Maxwell out mid afternoon - so we are going to give that a try starting Monday - I may still try and take him to work with me a couple of days a week still - as I would love to get him used to coming with me - if he is good and quiet he can always come with me - (just wish he could understand that - as I would love to have him with me everyday).  So not going to completely give up on him coming with me.  I have left Maxwell up to 3 hours alone at home on the weekends when I go into town, etc.  and he seemed to do fine - he whined when I left but when I came home he was laying on his bed and quiet.  No accidents either - but because it is the weekend I can plan around his going potty as to when I leave him so that works out great.  Definitely work in progress but I think it will all be good in a few months - hopefully anyways lol!  Thanks for your reply.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Is your business in a warehouse type of building?  If so, could you get some sod, like people in apartments do, and put it in a corner surrounded by an ex-pen so that your pup can do his business?

[Debbie Schneider]

That is an idea too!  No our business is not in a warehouse but just on a busy street frontage - where it is mostly all concrete around and lots of traffic.  Will maybe give the sod a try if all else fails - I did find an elderly neighbor lady who is also a dog owner that is very happy to come and take Maxwell out for a potty break mid afternoon so we may start that on Monday.  Thanks for your reply.

[Ginny Nightingale]

The idea of having someone come in is very good--also they sell crates that have a door to a potty area that you put puppy pads in or a large pen with a puppy pad---that might be good for your situation if you can not get someone in every day--but I really don't know if that will work--and also, I would leave him with water but not food...last suggestion is that they seek trays that have fake or even real grass in them that people in cities use on their balconies for a puppy potty when they are too young to go on the street--this might work at your office if it is near to the doorway (outside) --see link.

http://www.amazon.com/PetZoom-Deluxe-3-Piece-Relief-System/dp/B007X...