Does anyone with a puppy work full-time?

[Melody & Bruin]

We will be getting our puppy in 2 weeks.  I am taking one week off when he comes home, then my husband will be at home with him until Sept 12.  I do plan on puppy day care maybe one day per week after vaccinations.  We both work 45 minutes away, so coming home for lunch is not an option.  My daughter may be able to stop by one day per week.  Hubby should be changing his hours, but not until January.  Should I hire someone to come to the house two days per week to let him out and walk him?  Curious about what the full-time employed puppy parents do....thanks

[Kerri B. & Zoey]

Sounds like you have a good initial plan in place.  I work full time & it's just me and Zoey.  This first week I took off to work on potty training, bonding & getting her acclimated. I go back to work tomorrow :(, but am fortunate enough that my parents can look after her during the day, she will only spend about an hour (30 min in the morning & 30 min. in the evening) alone.  I plan (after she is fully vaccinated) to try to do puppy daycare at least once a week for socialization and maybe take her to the office a couple times too, we'll see, but my mom loves having her around since the rest of her grandkids live halfway across the country.  I would say if you can afford to have someone come in & do walks/playtime in the middle of the day, go for it.  Would think this would certainly help expend some of Bruins' energy and any separation anxiety.  Good luck!

[Melody & Bruin]

You are so lucky to have your parents close by and young enough to take care of a puppy.  My parents are way too old to handle a puppy, but they would love having a dog around.

 

My son in law is a stay at home Dad...you've got me thinking now!!!!  They might be interested in a little extra $$$$$ - thanks for turning on the lightbulb - ha!  What better way to socialize my little guy with the grandbabies!!!  Thanks Kerri

[Ronna, Murphy & Wilson]

Congrats on your new puppy!  Our Wilson just came home today.  My DH and I both work full time.  Here is our puppy plan, we did pretty much the same thing with our first doodle, Murphy.  With Murphy i took a week off but decided not to with Wilson because when I was home with Murphy I couldn't bring myself to crate him and it just made it worse when I did go back to work.  so...with Wilson,  I will be off tomorrow and working half days the rest of this week.  Tues-Friday I leave at 6:45 in the morning, my Dh leaves at 8:30.  Puppy sitter comes at 10:30 and I will be home at 12.  Following week..I leave 6:45, Dh leaves 8:30, I come home at 11:30 to potty and feed lunch then back to work.  Puppy sitter comes at 2:30 and Dh home hopefully by 4:30 and I will be home at 5.  Will continue this schedule for week 3 and 4.  Week five we willl eliminate one daytime potty break and I will alternate with puppy sitter. We will continue this schedule as long as needed.  I think Murphy was 8 or 9 months old before I stopped coming at lunch everyday.  I obviously don't work as far away as you do.  I say Yes for sure you should hire someone to give your new baby a potty and exercise break.  good luck and congrats!

[Melody & Bruin]

Congrats on your new addition.  That is a great idea about working half days for a while.  I may be able to swing that.  We will not want to crate our guy either while we are home, didn't think of the disaster that could follow!  Thanks for sharing your plan.

 

I remember with our last pup, the plan was to gate her in the kitchen when I left for work.  While in the garage I heard some strange noises in the house....had to go back in and look, well good thing I did, she climbed over the gate!  So there I was at 8:00 in the morning, calling work to let them know I was going to be ALOT late, and then I was off to PetSmart (in a suit and high heels) with her in tow to get a crate. Fortunately, she loved her crate so it worked out well.  We had one of our kids home then who was a senior in high school so she was home by 11:00 and Molly only had to be crated a couple of hours. 

[Dori & Rua]

Melody, I think you will find many FT puppy parents.  Both my DH and I work.  I just took a long weekend when she came home so we had to start her on a routine right away.  When we left for work, Rua went into her crate and my DH would come home around 11 (15 minute drive each way) and I came home around 3 (17 minute drive each way).  We did this for a month.  She never had an accident in the crate.  They say a puppy can hold it 1 hour for each month they are plus 1 hour.  So a 2 month old puppy can hold it 3 hours.  We then graduated to just at lunch time.  Once she was had her rabbies done, I brought her to daycare.  She now goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I personally couldn't let Rua spend the whole day in her crate, not even now and she just turned 1.  My DH comes home for lunch M-W-F and if he can't, I do.

[Melody & Bruin]

The last time I had a puppy in the house, we had at least one of our kids at home.  Thanks for the words of encouragement.  This may be my opportunity to go part-time...hmmmmmm???

[shelly]

I got Tori on Memorial Day weekend, and although it was a longer than usual weekend (5 days that year - I am a teacher).  It was still only a few days.  It's good that you will be off a week during the puppy's initial time in your home.  I was lucky.  My in-laws live in an apartment in our house, and despite their protests THEN... they did take her out for potty breaks during the day.  If you can and feel comfortable, perhaps getting a puppy sitter or perhaps someone who lives close to let him out for you during the day.  If not, what about using an es-pen?  You could lay paper down for potty breaks if needed... the only thing I would worry about is re-training NOT to go on the paper and the puppy stepping in his poop while romping around in the pen.  I know it's hard.  But they do train pretty quickly.  Just be consistent while you are home.  Good luck and congratulations!

[Heather Martinez]

My husband and I both work. We had 3 days after we got Teddy before we had to go back to work. Then the first day he was home I came home and checked on him at lunch, and after that he was on his own all day. When we got Teddy I changed my schedule a bit so I leave at 8:30 am and come home around 5:30 - 6 pm depending on traffic. My husband gets home between 4:30 - 5:30 so that minimizes the amount of time he's alone. Teddy has always been fine. I worried so much at first! I was so anxious coming home waiting to hear him bark! But now I know he is fine :) Since we were gone for more than 4 hours, we kept Teddy in a pen with puppy pads at first, until he learned to hold it all day. At 4 months he could hold it and never had an accident in the pen or needed the pads after that. At first I only left kong balls and kongs in the pen when Teddy was alone, but slowly started allowing more toys such as Nylabones and stufffed animals as he got older.

[Melody & Bruin]

Heather, thanks so much for sharing.  I am feeling much better after reading these posts. 

[Melody & Bruin]

Thanks!

[Clint]

I work full time, 30 minutes away from home, and I will be getting my puppy this Sunday.  I plan on getting up early and taking car of the dog...including playing and crating the puppy until I get home (about 8 hours).  My mother has a job that requires her to travel around our county a lot so she will be able to stop by mid day some days to let the dog out.  Once I can trust the dog a little more I will baby gate him into the kitchen and as I can trust him more and more he will be able to have access to more of the house while I am gone.

 

My girlfriend, who lives separately from me, works 12 hours a day 3 days a week.  She has been able to just crate her dog while she is not at home and has had great success with her dog.  The first month the dog was home, she had a few accidents in her crate, but now she can last the entire 12 hours with no problems.  She got the dog at 8 weeks and she is now 6 months old.

[Melody & Bruin]

Clint, congrats!  Let me know how it goes with your pup when you go back to work (and when you bring him/her home!)Thanks