Wanting a doodle, but in conflict

[Justin Horowitz]

My daughter and I realy want to get a goldendoodle. I am willing to commit to the doodle and I know my daughter will do her part, though she is with me part time. Ultimately the repsonsibility will be mine. I'm good with that!!!. My conflict and concern. I work full time at least 9 hours per day. If we got a pup it would be in the next month so my daughter can have time with the pup during her summer school break and I would take time off from work. My concern is the pup not having enough quality time with a human once school begins in Sept. I look at a pup like being a newborn baby and needs human contact. Am I being too sensitive? To me a dog is a family member. The doodle would be my second child.....

Justin

[Justin Horowitz]

I live about 20 minutes from Stone Ridge. Doggy daycare, it may be an option depending on $$$$.

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

Justin, I am right at the point that you express concern about. We have a 5 Month old Goldendoodle and have been able to spend 24/7 with him since we recieved him Feb 13th at 8 weeks. With a few exceptions of 2-3 hours in his playpen when we deliberatly had to make ourselves leave him so he can get comfortable with knowing we will return when he is left.
I now am back to work and working 12 hour shifts, (13 hours with travel time) and needed to have some way to leave him at home, but not for 13 hours. Weather 9 or 13 hours, it's still too long for a puppy. I found a lovely college girl that comes by on her way to school around 8-9am and again about 1-2 pm. Then I am home by 7pm. It's not perfect, but he has been fine with potty control, thus far and the sitter says he is laying down sleeping when she gets there. When I get home, we go to the beach for about an hour and he gets all the energy out that he needs to. Lots of dogs, lots or running and now even swimming!
I will now introduce Doggie Day Care next week and he can go 2 days a week for 5 hours a day.

In the first 3 months we have had him, he has been everywhere, met everyone, played with everydog, child or person he comes in contact with and is very socialized. And will love the day care time which will give him the doggie and human contact he misses on days we are away.
So I feel this is a happy medium for us. This might work for you and as was mentioned, you will be surprised how many sitters and dog-friendly people there are that will help you. I am in Fla. and we pay $10.00 per visit, as some days I need her to come twice and some days 3 times depending on husbands schedule too. But you'd be good with just twice I'd think. The day care is $15.00 for the 5 hour days and I have the sitter take him and pick him up as part of her visits. So, it's $35.00 on those days.
I also dont work more than 2 days a week, so needing it 5 days a week my be too cost prohibitive for both sitter and day care, but you will find the best solution for you and your pup.
You sound like me in that my doodle is a family member. But don't forget now, who the PACK LEADER is, okay???

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think that in addition to the issue of the length of time the dog is alone, it might be a good idea for you to join the "Puppy madness" group and read about the real day-to-day issues people are having with doodle puppies...housebreaking, crate-training, crying at night, teething and chewing, jumping & nipping, as well as the matting, grooming, removing hair from the ears, etc. These are the issues many new doodle owners have been frustrated over. A dog-walker is not going to cover those things, and they are all things that require some knowledge and some time. I am guessing that your OES was your parents' dog, and that you were not the primary caretaker? If so, it would be a great idea to prepare yourself for all these issues ahead of time. I'm sure a lot of others here would tell you they wish they had been aware of some of these things before they got their puppy, even those who are home most of the day.
I also think that Adina's idea of an adult dog might be a good one to consider. I got my guy when he was 14 months old, past the chewing, housebreaking, nipping stages. I could leave him alone with the run of the house from day one.
I don't mean to sound discouraging, but as a very experienced dog owner, I personally would not suggest a standard sized doodle puppy as a first dog, especially for someone who works full time. I know there are many people who will disagree, but I think a smaller, less high-maintenance dog would be easier. For what it's worth.

[Justin Horowitz]

Thank you all for thoughts. I can tell you all have been through this situation before. I appreciate the advise and your sharing your experiences.

[Leslie, Dexter & Kirby]

Hi-

We got Dexter as a 9 week puppy and both work 9 hrs a day. Until he was about 7 months old, we made daily trips home at lunch. In addition, one of us would go to work earlier and the other later so he wasn't home so long by himself. Once he hit 7 months, we realized he could hold it all day and we cut the trips out. Since then, we added Kirby to our house and now the doodles stay together while we're away and seem to have no issues at all. They're very happy to see us when we get home, but don't ever act stressed. I should note that our doodles greet us w/the same enthusiasm if we're gone for 1 or 9 hrs so I don't think they can tell time :) We do make a point to walk them every morning before work.

If you can commit to the time when your doodle is a puppy and realize a puppy can't hold it for 9 hrs, I see no reason you can't get a puppy. Hey, people have to work and I don't think that should keep you from a puppy. However if you don't think this will work for you, try to adopt an older dog. We got Kirby when he was 13 months old and it was so much easier (he could already hold it all day at that point).

Good luck :)

[Justin Horowitz]

Thanks for the information. Coming home at the lunch hour can only work 3 out of 5 business days. Can you direct me to any doodle rescue site?

[Adina P]

www.poomixrescue.com -- not a rescue organization but a listing of stuff found on petfinder.
www.petfinder.com -- look for "standard poodle" or "poodle" or just look through whatever is in driving distance from you.

The main doodle rescue organization with foster homes throughout the USA is IDOG: http://idog.biz/IDOGRRR.html

Also search craigslist and your local paper for rehomes.

Finally...BE SURE to place an application with IDOG and any other rescue groups BEFORE you even see a dog listed because usually once one is listed for the public it might already be on a waiting list for many applications. So make sure each potential rescue organization has YOUR application on file...just in case the right dog shows up.

[Wendy and Eddie]

I am a teacher and I got both my puppies, a year apart, in early June so I could spend the summer with them. Then when school started up again, I had a dog walker come three days a week, and I took them to doggie daycare two days a week. It was a challenge, because in Sept. I left school at 4 pm instead of staying to get everything done, so I would go in on Sat. mornings to catch up. My dogs are medium energy, and it worked out. It was a bit stressful, but definitely worth it! My dog walker is a retired teacher, but I see lots of ads on bulletin boards at Whole Foods and our local natural food store. I've even seen ads at the dog park. Good luck with your decision.

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

You can also try and contact Jacquie Yorke and Blake, they are members her on DK and also do Rescue for DRRC...Doodle rescue and resource collective. Jacquie is with Lynne Fowler, Lynne is Admin of DRRC, both are fantastic people to work with and locating doodles. You can check with petfinders.com. Hope this helps....Just a heads up with the doggy day care..most charge about 17.00 to 20.00 a day or more....pet sitter might cost you around 10.00 to 15.00 which would give you 1 to almost 2 days for the same price...check out the pet sitter.