New Puppy + 8 hour work day (border collie, labrador, retriever, poop)

[foreverlaur]

I currently have a 6 year old labrador retriever who I got when he was almost 2 years old. We're thinking about getting a 12 week old puppy. My husband is gone 830am - 630pm Mon-Fri. I leave around 7:15am for work and get home around 4:45pm from work, but I only work 3 days a week. Will a young puppy be OK being left at home 3 days a week for this amount of time? The puppy would get plenty of training, love, attention, and socialization otherwise. I'm not able to come home for lunch and we don't have anyone else to help us out. I haven't found a doggie daycare that I feel comfortable with and doesn't keep the dogs crated most of the day.

[cjmeck]

I personally wouldn't do it, and no, that's too long to expect a puppy that age to hold its bladder. I'd get a pet sitter to stop by once during the day for a potty break. In my area, it would be like $10-15 per visit, not too bad. I'd keep that up until 6 months of age or so, but that's just me.

[Dashdog]

I think many people will tell you it will be difficult or do not do it but I work 3 12 hr night shifts per week and live alone and have managed to raise two of the 6 dogs I have owned over the years from 12 weeks old. So yeah they were alone with another dog for 12 hrs 3X a week. I took a couple weeks off when I first got them and both house trained to a pet door that goes out on a fenced patio within days. They never had run of of my house until they were older so I dog proofed the downstairs rooms so they could be down stairs with the dog door to the patio if they did need to pee or poop when I was not home. When I was home they slept in a crate by my bed until I felt they were old enough to take the door off the crate. Having an older dog really helped as they were not lonely and never sat and cried when I was not around like some dogs left alone do. The first was a very difficult puppy but she ended up becoming my once in a life time dog and by far was the smartest dog I have ever met as she was a border collie X cattle dog mix and yes it was her intelligence that made her difficult. The other was the easiest puppy ever and she will be 4 this year. so despite what many will say it can be done and your dogs can be well mannered well behaved dogs that are a joy to own and have suffered no damage because you had to work.

[maggiekate]

I would say no and love the dog you have

[beckycat]

I think if you can have a pet sitter come by mid day on those 3 days, the puppy will do fine. Is there a neighbor possibly? You can also check with your vet. When I worked in the animal hospital, we offered a day rate of $10 for boarding. When they are that small, they just can't hold their bladder that long. Are you crate training? Make sure the crate is just big enough for the puppy. You don't want the crate too big or the puppy will use the one side for sleeping and the other for the bathroom.

Good luck with your new pup!

[Scooby Snacks]

Doggie door is a great invention. I have a giant one for my two Great Dane girls. I don't know how I managed before I got it. I was playing doggie doorman all day long and finally got tired of it. Now they can do it themselves. You can put in the doggie door (you can also put them in through sliding glass doors or in windows) and use a baby gate to partition the puppy off from the rest of the house if you don't want him to have the run of the whole house while you're away. We made a homemade doggie door and because we have giant dogs and it had to be so big, that saved us over $500.

[kaelti12]

Have you considered getting a older puppy? Maybe around 6-8 months? It would be much comfortable for an older puppy, to learn to hold it for 8hrs.
A 12 week puppy is literally not capable of holding it for that long. (The general rule is one hour for every month they are old is how long they can hold it until about 8 months old, when they can make it through the night).

If you must get such a young one, then I would suggest a dog walking service.

You could dog door out to a enclosed kennel in your yard(never let them be unattended in the full yard, way to many things can happen) I wouldn't dog door out to just a patio though, you want the dog to learn go outside your home, not on your porch/patio...since those potty messes only get bigger lol
Unless you could dog door out to a patio and build a grass potty box(think a very low, large flower bed with sod and proper drainage) I know people that do that for there dogs because they live in high-rise condos and couldn't always make it down 20 floors to visit the grass before the dog had an accident.

[Regina14]

In my experience, 12-week old puppies should not be left alone for 8 hours. Get a professional dog walker or a reliable friend/local student to come in 4 hours after you leave and take the puppy outside. In your place, I'd have a dog walker come in twice during those 8 hours, at least until the puppy is 5-6 months, then cut it down to 1 visit, and gradually cut out the visits.

Eight hours is a long time for a growing puppy to spend by itself. Where will the puppy be kept? If not in a crate, how will you prevent the puppy from trashing your furniture or otherwise getting into mischief?

Most people I have known who work during the day and have a puppy make sure that the puppy is walked once or twice in their absence. I have a friend with a 7-year-old dog who still has someone walk her while she (the owner) works if she herself can't get back during lunch hour to take her out.

The dog owners I've mentioned live in apartments, without fenced yards and doggie doors; but I wouldn't leave a young puppy alone to go out in even a fenced yard on his own - he could be stolen, he could dig under the fence; possibly be visited by coyotes.

Good luck.

[arjo]

Eight hours is too long. When we took Leia home at ~11 weeks me and the SO had a similar setup: one of us worked 5 days/week, the other only worked 3. On the 3 days that we both worked, we kept her in her crate and had a dog sitter come mid-day to feed her, play with her, and take her outside to eliminate.

Technically, puppies need to go out more frequently than every 4 hours (and she soiled her crate fairly often) but Leia turned out fine. FWIW, we both had a week off after we got her, so we went hard on the crate and potty training to get her on the right track before leaving her alone.

[bassetluv]

For a young puppy, they simply cannot be forced to 'hold it' for 7-8 hours at a time when they are young...their bladders simply aren't large enough. If you could find a neighbour who would be willing to stop in once a day for several weeks to take the puppy outside, then you could make it work. I got my present dog when he was 9 weeks old, and I was working outside the home every day, gone around 9 hrs at a time at first. For the first couple of weeks I was at home, but when I went back to work I wound up rushing home every day at lunchtime to let him out of his crate, have pee time and a bit of play time, before going back to work. It was exhausting for me, but it worked. He also had the company of my older dog as well, so he wasn't left to feel completely alone.

However, if you or your husband cannot make it home mid-day, you might be able to find a neighbour (older neighbour, or perhaps a teen) who would be willing to go and let the pup out for you. If you do go this route, just make sure the person can be trusted, and walk them through the process so they don't inadvertently create an anxious pup (make sure they know the rules about no excitement/attention when pup is coming out of, is in, and is exiting the crate).