Puppies , play pens and work

Hi,

I've joined this site for some advice.

I got a cavachon puppy on Sunday who's only 7 weeks old, I got her a play pen which she goes into to eat however she just won't stay in it to play. Her bed area joins on to the side so I was planning in keeping her in that while I was at work but struggling to keep her calm whilst I'm even in the house and leave her for a few minutes after her food.

I'm a staff nurse and work 8 hour shifts and my boyfriend is a teacher so I need to get her used to it before I go back to work on the 14th.

Basically I worried she will start to hate me for keeping her in it and will become very lonely and dislike us, my mum is also a nurse and has had dogs for years and they seem to be fine but they have had company in each other.

Any advice welcome

Thank you

sorry about this, but; at seven weeks old she is too tiny to have left her mum already, she needs her mum, or you around to keep her company, or she will cry, seven week old pups aren't really capable of entertaining themselves or playing on their own, they would be playing with littermates still and exploring the world.

Its normal for puppies to cry when seperated from their folk, but she will get used to it as she grows up, if you introduce her to being left, incrementally. There is some good advice on here regarding crate training and leaving puppies, and seperation anxiety.

In two weeks she will still only be nine weeks old, 8 hours or more is going to be too long to leave her or an adult dog, unless i've misunderstood you and someone is going to be popping in every couple of hours to look after her? She won't hate you, as you are her provider and dogs are remarkably loyal, (and hate isn't really a dog thing ) but she will be lonely, if she's going to be left all day, not to mention difficult to toilet train.

Wishing you all the best with her, sorry if i've come across as rude or anything.

She will actually b ten weeks when I get back to work, my mum and dad had puppies and full time jobs working shifts so its not uncommon for dogs to b left for a while themselves. She has a massive pen and bed area so it's not like she's cooped up all day. I can't help but have to work shifts and I no many people who I work with who have pets left alone all day so that bit I'm not concerned about she will get used to that its getting her to no that's where to play and sleep

ok, i would keep her in the pen a lot then. If that is what you are going to be doing with her in a couple of weeks. So that this becomes her space and she isn't expecting to be following you. I'd climb in there and play with her, and jump out when she falls asleep, or for just a few minutes at a time, gradually increasing the time you are away. Ignoring her if she whines, and not making too much fuss either on leaving or returning.

I know some people leave their dogs all day, but actually, this a pretty cruel thing to do, especially to a tiny puppy, i tried to phrase it nicely as i didn't want to upset you, and i gave you good reasons as to why a 7 week pup might be anxious if left. You are right 10 weeks it is, this is the age a reputable breeder would let a small breed pup go, yours is prematurely in your care, and she will take time to be able to entertain herself.

Am I right in thinking you are going to leave a 10 week old puppy for 8 hours or will someone be popping in and out to see her or do your work patterns give her just few hours alone.

Jenny

Firstly I would say that I would always encourage anyone to get a dog no matter what their circumstances, as long as they are fully prepared to make the compromises required and have a plan in place to see to the welfare of the dog. Expecting a 10 week old dog to spend 8 hours alone does not sound like prudent planning.

Its not really a case of her being cooped up and having nowhere to play but the fact that she will be alone that will distress her. Apart from the need to eat and to toilet the biggest problem you will face is boredom and I have yet to meet the pup that I would be happy to leave unsupervised in a pen full of toys. Dogs chew, pups especially, and no toy is indestructible. I have had my fingers down a dogs throat and I can tell you it is not a pleasant experience.

Of course you have to work and if people couldn't do a full time job and own a dog at the same time then there would be a lot more dogs in rescues, but you really should of considered this when getting a puppy. I really cannot understand why people are so intent on getting their pups as soon as possible, or why so many breeders are willing to let them go before they are ready. The first three months of a pups life are when they learn valuable lessons that stay with them for the rest of their lives, such as bite inhibition and how to play with other dogs, and they don't learn these things from people.

Moving forward you should treat your pup like a human baby, because its needs are pretty much the same. It needs you to be with it, playing, teaching and interacting. You can use this time to gradually introduce a routine to get her used to being alone and to settle at certain times, but bearing in mind that even at 12 - 14 weeks she will need to toilet every 3 hours and be fed at least every 4 hours I think that 8 hours alone is asking a lot.

Is there anyone you could ask to pop in on her, or could you and your partner work staggered shifts for a while?

Ok thanks for the comments I'm leaving this forum load of crap ur all cristising a 22 year old for having a puppy whilst work .... U may as well say anyone who's a nurse can't get puppies, I'm not cruel to my dog and my mum is NOT cruel to hers either we love and spoil our dogs so no one have me good advice !!!

I have moved down to England with just my boyfriend to accompany me, all my family and friends and his live in Scotland I can't expect anyone to come in, I've come to the conclusion I new to give her away to my mum or someone else because I'm being told (criticised) for not having a plan for it but in fact I do but who cares and it was not my choice to have her at 7 weeks her breeder told me to collect her.

As I said before this does not help me at all

Hello Alyson, I am really sorry you are upset.

I think perhaps you have taken the advice given in a different way to how it was intended. I think the posters are just trying to help you find a way forward rather than attacking you.

I would also recommend that you have someone come in at least once during the day to take your puppy out and have a play with her, she will also need feeding etc....

If you don't do this you may end up with anti social behaviours later on that you will not be able to fix easily.

I hope you do stay around as despite your first impressions, we are a friendly and knowledgable forum.

I am Anna - welcome to Dog Forum!

Hello

Could you advertise for a dogsitter/dog lover to come in for an hour or two. Google local dog care. I'm pretty lucky because I'm a stay at home Mum although I am also a volunteer and do a course one day a week (9am to 2.30pm). On that day my Frenchie Winston (we got him at 12 weeks a few weeks ago) goes to my kids lollipop lady (she breeds labradors) and she charges me £10 per day. My Jack x 6 months old is happy enough in her very large crate with lollipop lady popping in at lunchtime with Winston to say hi toilet her and give her lunch (charges another £5) . When leaving them overnight Dixie goes to another a dogsitter who has 2 dogs of his own (he also charges £10 per day) and Winston will be off on his first overnight say tomorrow again with lollipop lady. I found these two people on recommendation, chats with lollipop lady, local internet forum a refferal and luckily enough very very reasonable because they do it for the love of dogs Both dogs love it. You have her now so it's a case of trying to get her into routine over next few weeks and seeking out paid help. Can anyone at work recommend someone? Try googling local forums or facebook forums for recomendations

Ok! This is a difficult and emotional subject as you can see above.

Most dog owners need to work. I know I certainly do. Sadly, it's a fact that a dog needs to be left alone for some period at some point in its life. The period in which is seen as 'acceptable' depends on the age of the dog, how long a dog is left, where the dog is left etc.

Generally, the rule is the older the dog the longer you can leave it. But this does have exceptions as dogs have different personalities.

I have always wanted a puppy to bring up on my own. However, I took the decision that I didn't have enough time initially to bring up a puppy and decided that we would look at a puppy again if/when we start a family when there will be someone around most of the day.

So we decided to go for an older dog, a dog that has been through the puppy years and is also happy to sleep away the days. This suited our situation as there isn't always someone around to give the attention that perhaps a puppy might need.

As it happens my partner has been ill and been at home most days for a while now so we probably could have had a puppy however, we didn't know that.

When my partner returns to work and on the odd days she works and I work, we will arrange for a dog walker to come in to break the day up for our dog. I just don't like the idea of my Oreo locked up for 8 hours straight. Not because it's nasty for her (because she sleeps most of the day anyway) but because she needs to use the loo.

With a puppy it's more difficult as you need to spend time with it to bring it up and teach it things. If you're not there the puppy will learn to entertain itself, maybe chewing the walls or furniture etc. Not to mention the risk of choking etc.

In short, I do believe that there is a dog for almost every situation (assuming that you are willing to make adjustments like arrange a dog walker etc) however, I don't believe there is a puppy for every situation and it's up to the owner to step back and make an honest decision as to whether you can give a puppy enough time during the day.

Just my two pence worth.

My wife is also a nurse who works 60+ hours a week and I work shifts over all 7 days a week. We have children aged 13 and 8 and it is a constant struggle to keep everything together. Sometimes the dog has to be left alone but as far as possible, we plan around it, just like we do for days out and holidays etc. Like I said at the very start of my previous post, I would almost always say that anyone should get a dog whether they work or not, because life goes on and dogs, children, hobbies etc have to be integrated within our other commitments.

The important thing is that you are realistic in your expectations, I do not know you, have never met you and probably never will, so there is no reason for me to lie to you or to judge you in any way. All I can offer is the truth, so here it is. Leaving a 10 week old puppy alone for 8 hours is possible, but is as risky as leaving a 5 year old child. I have seen what happens to a puppy after they chew up and eat something they were not supposed to and I wouldn't wish that on anyone. You will come home every day to a very unpleasant mess and an even more unpleasant smell. Your dog may become destructive and/or a nuiscence barker, you may recieve complaints from the neighbours which could escalate to problems with the local authority. Your dog could develop other undesirable behaviours later in life as a result of stress. None of which you can ever chastise the dog for no matter how frustrated you may become.

On the other hand you can find a way to make it work for you, and I genuinely hope you do, but you won't do it by getting upset when people give you honest answers to questions you yourself have asked.

Hi, you have had some great advice and people have aired their thoughts as to your situation, we care about the animals welfare and as experienced owners we can see the pit falls that your situation can cause.

The truth is that you will struggle with your pup, house training will take longer, it will need feeding 4 times a day until its at least 4 months old, then 3 times then twice a day , so who can do this for you ?? a small pup can't go that long without food,leaving food down for it to graze on isn't an option , what if he choked !!

I have fostered for a rescue in Wales and we have strict criteria about puppy's and home circumstances of potential adopters for good reason, i am not saying you shoul'nt have a pup but you need to get in place a reasonable care strategy, we are not saying you're a bad owner but you may need to be realistic and think about how your pup will feel being on it's own all day, will you have time then to play with it, walk it when it's old enough, take it to training classes for training and socialising to it grows up to be well adjusted and not a frightened little thing .

Not everyone has the perfect time to get a pup, and if were honest sometimes its for selfish reasons that we chose pups over older dogs but you now have this little pup who is relying on you to do the right thing by it.

We do care and that's why people say what they say and that's the problem, if we didn't care we would say its ok, that its cool to have a pup at 7 weeks, that leaving it for 8 hours is fine.

lots of us see the flip side when dogs end up thrown away because it all becomes too much for the owner, im not saying this will happen to you but please don't get cross or feel slighted by others responses when the animals welfare is at heart.

I wish you luck , i hope you solve you're issue with the puppy pen just don't expect miracles .

Hi I have a 6mth old JRT. I work 16 hours a week. Its not ideal, toilet training has been a struggle, but we are getting there. I know that its taking this long because I havent been there and consistent. I love her to bits and wouldnt be without her.