How long can a puppy be left alone?

[Jenn Suchniak]

Okay, I am looking for some advice here! :) As a disclaimer, yes, i knew what we were getting into, no I don't want to ditch the pup, and yes, i understand he is a part of the family, and will need lots of care and attention, just like the 4 kiddos. :)

We are a big outdorsy family, always on the go, BUT most we do a dog will fit great in with. The issue is a puppy .... not so much! :) My husband was promoted at work this week. He's in the military, and this is unlike any promotion he's recieved before. There is a greuling 6 week induction (similar to pledging a frat). We had a family function to attend this afternoon. I waivered back and forth on bringing the puppy, but decided to keep him home until his next round of vax's. The total time gone was 3 hours.

We ran him hard outside this morning, made sure he used the potty often, hoping he'd sleep most of the time (he was crated), and poss. have a pee accident before we got home. Well, he pooped. In his crate. And it was EVERYWHERE. oh man, we walked in and the smell! it was on the walls, the crate, the dog (of course), the carpet. I'm having a hard time here. I know it was probably a smidge too long. I know he probably didn't want to poop in the crate, but I am wondering (especially with moving with dh gone in two weeks), how will i get ANYthing done?!

My husband was actually able to help get him and the crate washed before he had to head back to his work stuff, but .... now what? What is a reasonable time to leave him? He's 8.5 weeks old now. Still a baby! We just moved here, so I don't really know anyone to help out (but I may have found someone today while at DH's work function).

The house still smells. I've washed the carpet twice, and the crate is still outside. I sprayed it down with Nature's Miracle after washing it. It's out in the sun, and then I'm going to spray it down one mroe time before I bring it in.

I feel so bad for him. We should have just brought him. But with the guardia, I just didn't want him out with so many people already.

As I glance back over this, It's very much a vent, and I'm sorry! This promotion and moving business is just really stressful, so I think when I walked in to a house of poo, it just seemed like way too much to deal with all of the sudden. :/

I will say, we've left him alone twice this week (to sign the papers for our new house, and to take the kids for haircuts) for about 90 minutes each time and he did marvelous. So maybe that is my answer for now .... not much more than an hour? What do people that work do when they first get a puppy?!

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

My honest opinion...I'm going to give it anyway. For the first two weeks I was home and Riley was brought outside every 20 minutes to half an hour during the day. The fact that your puppy has  Giardia makes it even more difficult as every poop has to be cleared and the area thoroughly cleaned with bleach, otherwise you have the possibility of re-infection.  An 8.5 week old puppy just can't hold it for very long.   What you put in now when your puppy is very young will reap huge rewards later on.   I'm not sure what the solution to this will be but you definitely need others on board here to advise.  Congratulations on your Dh's promotion BTW and of course on your new puppy.

[Jenn Suchniak]

Thanks!

We do usually take him out often, every 20-30 minutes or so. I think we knew it would be a lot, but weren't really thinking about this business with his work. He just called me & I think we found a puppy sitter (his co-workers 16yo daughter), so I will be able to help get a few things done this week, which is mostly what I was worried about..

I knew that we'd need to be home a lot, I just didn't realize that my husband would get promoted, and then POOF, need to be gone for 6 weeks. I figured on his days off I could run a few errands. But now it's just me and the kids until mid-Sept.... so it's just hard to get anything done now.

[Moe]

When we got our puppy at 8 weeks I was completely overwhelmed. I had read tons of books and felt that I was prepared, I was not. That first 3-4 weeks was grueling. Every day I thought to myself, this was a huge mistake and I may have to give her up tomorrow. Luckily, every day it got a little easier and I made it through. We now have a wonderful 9 mo old puppy. When she was 8 weeks I brought her everywhere, she was really tiny, 3.5 lbs so I carried her in a large pocket book. We had an exercise pen that we used those first few weeks. It was rectangular and about 6x4. We kept her crate with the door open in the pen and put a pee pad in there if we were going to be gone more than 1/2 an hour. It worked for us. Good luck and know that it gets easier.

[Jenn Suchniak]

Thank you. Honestly, I think I'm just at that overwhelming point. Yesterday I felt good. No accidents in the house, we were in sync all day, but today .... not so much! Oh, I can't wait until the day we have a nice, well adjusted DOG! lol

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

having a puppy was hard. I read so many books and was as prepared as i could be. DH had dogs growing up and assumed it would be easy (his mom did all the work with the family dogs). We were both home all the time those first few months, but it was still tough taking cooper outside every 20 mins and cleaning up accidents.

I would limit the time your pup is alone for the first few weeks. If he is 8 1/2 weeks then he has (or should) only have been away from his doggy Mom and litter mates for 1/2 a week so everything is still very new to him. He will potty if hes left even for a short time. Can you attach a pen to his crate for when you are gone so he doesnt potty in his crate? we used this for cooper til she was around 1 1/2 years old.

with gradia, i definately wouldnt take him with you til hes better, and had all his shots.

[Moe]

This is exactly what I did too.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I think that as soon as you get the guardia under control you should be able to take him with you on some of your errands.  He is still really small so you can put him in one of those puppy carriers (purses) or you could get one of those slings that goes across your front and over your shoulder to carry him around in.  Obviously he isn't going to the grocery, but there are many places where it should be ok.  I read elsewhere where you were thinking of getting a second crate.  I personally would get an x-pen for downstairs and put the crate upstairs for night time and when you leave him home alone.  The x-pen will give him a little more room and you can just toss him in it when you can't keep a close eye on him.  It folds up easily to go outside or to someone else's home if you are going visiting.  Obviously you have to be careful until the guardia is gone and the puppy shots are finished but it really does come in handy.  My girls are 4 years old and we are actually using our x-pen from when they were puppies now to contain one of them after surgery so they come in handy for a long time.  You can actually see the x-pen above in Kaytlins post.  Also, be sure that when he is in his crate that you are using the divider that makes it with just enough room for him to turn around.  That is supposed to help keep him from pottying in the crate!  (Again Guardia might make that a little different).

[Jenn Suchniak]

thank you both! i think the pen is a good thought. dh was just saying something about those this afternoon. his suggestion was to put the crate on one side of the kitchen blocking the way, and use the baby gate on the other. that way it will give him some room. this will not work in the house we're moving into, though, so i think the xpen would be a good compromise.

his crate has one of those dividers in it, so he has a pretty small area when he's in there now. but i know, if he's gotta go - he's gotta go. this is the first time he's gone potty in it. last night he even made it all night without going outside (from 11pm-5am).

i really, really, want to make it clear i KNOW dogs are a lot of work, and we're in it for the long haul with his best intentions at heart. really! i am just trying to make this next 3 weeks livable! if DH was able to be around, there really would be no question, we'd go out in shifts for errands, and that would be that. but this was sort of unplanned for, and it's just making things really dificult.! :)

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

dont worry Jenn, we arent judging you and you seem to be well prepared and realistic :)

[Jenn Suchniak]

thanks. i just don't want to sound like one of those people that just goes to a pet store, comes home with a puppy and then says "why is this dog doing making my life so hard!?" lol! we've waited 10 years to be done with babies and make sure we were really ready. but, i guess like having a baby, there is never really a perfect time. LOL! in a few months we weilllook back at this period of life, and laugh (i hope!) .... but right now? i'm exausted!

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Ohh, tell me about it. LOL. Things will get better. And DK is here to help. Is Appa on Giardia medications as well? Giardia is not fun, our big guy Monty has had it 3 times just this year. And I have no idea where he contracted it. It must be super hard on your little guy. Make sure you disinfect the crate and everything else. I think Karen told me to use 1 unit of bleach and 9 units of water.

[Jenn Suchniak]

i just bought bleach! it's a shame, i had to toss his dog bed. :( was super bummed, but ordered a new one, and will just use it as a lesson learned. there was just no way that big thing was going to be able to get cleaned well enough. :/