Work from Home

[Kristen and Piper]

Hi Everyone! I work from home and while I absolutely love having Piper with me everyday sometimes it is quite difficult when I am on a phone call and she wants to play.  I have Kongs for her but I wanted to see if y'all had other ideas.  She has TONS of toys and bones (she is currently chewing a bone quietly right now :) but a lot of times she wants my attention and unfortunately I cannot always give it to her.  I then have to make a comment to the customer apologizing for the barking in the background.  When she wants to play she wants to play :) 

Just wanted to see if y'all had any ideas of things to keep her entertained.  I wish we had a Doggy Daycare around here so she could have some all day play time during the week but we live in the country so we don't have that.  

Thanks so much!

[Kaitlin and Ludo]

Hi!  I also work from home.  How old is Piper? And are you on the phone often?  If I have to make a work phone call, I would just put Ludo in his cage.  Of course, if you're on calls all day long this doesn't work too well.  I take Ludo on a roughly 30 minute walk in the morning and he's usually zonked all day after that so I make sure I am getting as much work done as possible while he's sleeping, but since I make my own hours, I know that's not really possible for everyone. That might be the best solution for you though-- make sure she's extremely well-exercised before your work hours.  He'll let me know when he's starting to get wound up and we'll play a little bit, go for another walk, or I'll ride my bike and he'll run alongside me.  I think there is a saying that a tired dog is a good dog :p  Hope that helps!!

[Kristen and Piper]

Thanks Kaitlin!  Unfortunately I work for an online company so my hours are either 9-5 or 7-3.  I do take her on a walk in the morning and then rough house with her (unfortunately the only play she really likes started by my husband, lol) until it is time for me to start work.  Since sales and support is what I do when the phone rings I have to answer it, so I don't know when the calls are coming in.  

We live in South Texas so it is still hot here (ugh!) but I have started trying to take her on walks at lunch as well, to tire her out some more.  She is 7 months old, so still has a lot of energy.  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Even when you are not working, you should never allow a dog to demand that you play with her. Like everything else in her life, you are in charge of deciding when playtime happens. If a dog demands something from you, whether it's to play with her, pet her, give her a treat, or whatever, and she gets what she wants even occasionally, she has now learned that barking, nudging you, etc. will get her what she wants and she will continue those behaviors. You are going to have to teach her that barking will not result in anything good, ever. When there is never a payoff for a particular behavior, the behavior will stop. 

I'll give you an example: My Jack is ball obsessed, and when he was younger, he would have played fetch indoors or out every waking moment. He would bring you a ball constantly, dropping it in your lap, pushing it at you, etc., no matter what you were doing, and he would continue to do this until you gave in and threw the ball. He did this with guests, too. It was beyond annoying, and having a slimy, drool-y ball dropped in your lap constantly was just not acceptable. 

So I started a new routine. When we were outdoors, I would sit in a certain chair with a towel in my lap (for the drool, lol) and invite him to bring me a ball. I tried to do this once a day, every day, in good weather. When we were indoors, I sat in a certain chair with a towel in my lap and invited him to bring me a ball. I tried to do this every evening at about the same time. And I never, ever threw a ball for him any other time. When he brought me a ball on his own, I ignored him. 

It didn't take long for him to learn that there was no point in bringing me a ball unless I was sitting down with a towel in my lap and invited him to bring me a ball, because I was never going to respond any other time. I was the one who decided when we would play fetch, not him. The behavior stopped. I can sit and watch TV, or work on the computer, without being bothered. 
I hope this helps. :) 

[Kristen and Piper]

Hi Karen! Yes it does help.  That ball idea was genius!

I do try to ignore her when she is behaving inappropriately and barking at me but unfortunately, if I am on the phone I have to get her to stop barking as the customer does not want to hear that. :) But if I am in the middle of something without someone on the phone she gets sent to her bed if she starts giving me undesirable behavior.

My main issue is having some things to keep her occupied so she does not interrupt me.  She is getting better as she gets older, gets sent to her bed, and gets ignored but sometimes I'd like to just have something for her to do so we don't get to the issue of her barking at me while on the phone, haha. 

But your tips definitely do help and thank you so much for the example! I am going to do that with her toys. I give her a walk every morning and then play with her some, start work and then take her out again and play a little bit and then do it again in the afternoon.  Trying to keep a schedule for her but we are still learning. :) 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You'll get there! Keeping to a schedule is the right idea, and helps so much. 

[Kristen and Piper]

I hope so! The walks in the morning do help and now that it is getting cooler we have been taking afternoon ones and she loves those.  So she has those to look forward to.  I think it is great working from home so she isn't by herself all the time but then sometimes I think it would be easier if we both had our space haha :) Of course right now she is sleeping nicely by my side :) 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

While she is still a puppy, and you are establishing good behavior, you might crate her for a period of time each day (your busiest phone times) as you would do if you worked outside of the home.  I don't know what your job is, but I might get annoyed if I was the customer and didn't feel like I had your full attention.

[Anita Lee]

I was going to recommend crating her as if you were working from home, too. This is helpful not only for your immediate problem but also proofs her against separation anxiety for when you do need to leave the house. It's awesome you work from home (I'm jealous!) but that may also lead her to have expectations about never being alone.

[Kristen and Piper]

Thanks y'all! I may have to try doing that for short periods of time (well not too short but no too long :) to give us both a time apart. Thankfully she's not a huge pest and I can normally quiet her after one interruption so the customer doesn't notice. Thank goodness for the mute button so she can go to her bed!

And yes the separation anxiety is starting to show up since she is always with me. When we do leave she gets very bored. So I think crating her for periods throughout the day will help with that.

[Stacy]

Katie is the worst when I'm on the phone. I don't have any great helpful tips, sorry. She could ignore me all day long, and then I get on the phone and she needs 110% of my attention. She might be a little spoiled. 

Have you tried a frozen kong with treats? Or any of the other puzzle/treat type toys? You say she has lots of toys. I think you are her best toy! My trainer for Katie was a big fan of "place" And it worked really well. I'm bad about reinforcing it enough, but if you're consistent and keep on it I think Piper will figure out the routine.

[Kristen and Piper]

Stacy, this is totally Piper! She could be perfectly content but when she notices the phone it's on. Thankfully I have a headset at work so she doesn't notice it as much as she does the cell or the home phone. She does have kongs. I keep them in the freezer for longer entertainment :) Can I ask what you mean about place?

[Kris and Sawyer]

I work from home as well. I made sure I "claimed" my work area as off limits. When he was younger, we had a baby gate up and he could see me but not get to me. He got used to that quickly. Now he's 3 and no more baby gate, but he knows when Mommy is working and just lays down on the couch or in the hall, but never near my office. Work time for mom is not play time. Try not to give in to that. Be consistent! Hope that helps.