Those of you with full-time jobs out of the home - how do you do it?

[servintheking]

I personally work from home and I cannot imagine how I would do it if I had a full-time job eight hours a day plus commute. What do you do with the puppy if you don’t have anybody else to watch them? You can’t possibly leave them in a crate 10 hours a day. How do U do potty training? Even if you take a week off once you get the puppy that’s way not enough time for any training whatsoever.
I’m just curious how other people do it because even working from home I’m sometimes more than overwhelmed. Like when I have meetings and he cries. And that’s just one example.

 

[wildstriker]

@servintheking I work full time in the office and am gone 10-11 hours per day. Now that they’re out of the puppy stage, both of my dogs have free roam privileges of the apartment when I’m gone. They quite literally sleep 95% of the day and play 5% of the day.

When they were puppies, I paid for a dog walker to come by 2x per day for 15-20 min potty and play breaks. The rest of the time they slept in their crate.

IMO it’s a lot less stressful and easier for puppies to get used to being home alone and doing nothing from day 1 on so they don’t develop any codependencies and separation anxiety. It also made implementing structure and forced naps easy so the puppy is getting the 16-18 hours of rest they need.

 

[mazince47]

@wildstriker Hi @wildstriker , you've done well raising them. Could you spare me your two cents? I'll be in a similar situation soon. I recently got a puppy (Italian greyhound) which I have been facing quite a lot of struggles to raise. He is 3 months old now and ive had him for a month. He doesn't seem to adjust well to my lifestyle (I live in an apartment) even when I am home at the moment most of the times. However, my new job requires me to work full-time in the office and I will be away for 10-12 hours a day and I don't know how it is going to impact his mental health since he kind of have confinement anxiety and had hurt itself a couple of times. He also doesn't sleep much (10-12 hours top). I am thinking of returning him to the breeder as I am not confident that I can bring him up healthily.

 

[procakes223]

@mazince47 Sounds like he may have the beginning of separation anxiety. If that’s the case and you’re gone 10-11 hours you will likely never be able to overcome that - I’d recommend contacting the breeder. Kudos for you realizing you might not have the time for this. It’s heartbreaking.

 

[simplyjoy89]

@mazince47 If you will be away possibly 12 hours a day you really should consider returning your pup. Thats too long stuck in a crate. Either that or you will need a dog sitter or walker to pop in twice a day. Where will he go toilet? Who will feed him? You will get home and not long after he will be back in the crate for bed time after being in bed time all day

 

[kisekwa]

@mazince47 Our late dog had confinement anxiety. We worked full time outside of the home back when we got her. If we used a crate, she would SCREAM almost all day. We put her in the bathroom with a water bowl, indestructible toys, and a pee pad, and she was fine. Maybe try just a slightly larger enclosure, like a human playpen (if your pup is not a chewer).

 

[sppenserion]

@mazince47 Im surprised you got a new pup while finishing a job and entering the unknown of a new one. I woukd say apartments are fine for small dogs but probably not greyhounds

 

[kisekwa]

@sppenserion An Italian greyhound is a small dog. The males top out at about 14lbs.

 

[sylntklrz]

@mazince47 This breaks my heart. Imagine spending 10-12 hours a day in a cage

 

[leosmith678]

@wildstriker This is the way! Did this with my pup, though I was gone less hours and only needed a sitter once daily. It was very hard, but doable given I put A LOT of effort into giving her training and outside time before and after going to work.

On the downside, we didn’t get as much bonding or enrichment time initially. And she was crated quite a bit when she was a tiny puppy and earning house privileges. On the plus side, she loves her crate and is awesome going inside when asked. No anxiety or codependency issues. And the structure and routine made bathroom training very easy, just so long as she wasn’t left alone longer than she could hold it.

 

[peegee73]

@wildstriker Do you not just find your dogs then need your attention all evening and you don’t ever get to have an evening anymore? Like if they’re sleeping 18hr a day and say you do an hour walk in the morning and get home at 7 and they’ve been asleep all day then your dogs are going to be awake until midnight wanting physical and mental stimulation? Ok that 5% play might bring that down a little bit but if they’re at 16h then still no.

My puppy is still only 9m, and I’m at home pretty much all day every day so our situations are very different. But I’m finding after he’s had his morning walk/enrichment things that he will settle himself down well and sleep for a long time now. But the longer he sleeps for the more he needs in the evening - which makes sense because if he’s going to be awake for 6hr in the day then the more he’s asleep for in the day the more those hours pile up in the evening. I think I also have a separate problem that he’s actually not getting enough sleep generally, for a few reasons that are quite hard for me to solve and so then tends to end up fairly wild at about 10pm which is a problem I’m trying to resolve.

But what are your dogs doing in the evening after you get home if they’ve had a boring sleepy day? At the moment my puppy will either settle himself down and fall asleep or needs actively entertaining generally - he’ll sit calmly and watch me do stuff up until a point. And he’s not really a cuddler so he won’t just spend time cuddling whilst I watch TV or something - if he jumps up on the sofa next to me it’s because he’s going to go to sleep.

Our dogs, in general, DO kind of rely on us for all their enrichment and mental and physical needs though - the mental one being the particularly important one I think. If I’m not there giving his brain ways to work then it’s not like he can just watch a movie or something to relieve boredom and he’ll just go and find ways to entertain himself and they’re unlikely to be what I want him to be doing to my stuff. That idea in general - that our dogs our trapped in our four walls and at the mercy of what outlets we give them is something I’m struggling with reconciling with the idea that I’m sure most people aren’t spending those 6 hours fully devoted to their dogs!

 

[tonyfran]

@peegee73 I keep pups toys away and pull one out and make a fuss for good behavior and each toy gives about 10 minutes of playing being occupied. Puzzles with hidden treats are another great way to challenge them and take a while to solve.

 

[williamson]

@wildstriker When did you start giving them free roam? I've tried for short periods and she keeps ripping up carpet or trying to eat things. She's nine months now, does fine in the crate but I'd like to be able to leave her out while I run errands.

 

[no1believe]

@servintheking I’m fortunate that I’m a teacher and we got our puppy the first day of summer. When I went back to school he was 4 months old and we left him have the kitchen to roam and then eventually opened it up to the living room. My friend comes by once a day to let him out.

 

[adel122]

@no1believe This will be me as well! My puppy comes the day after I get out of school for the summer. I plan to spend the whole summer training so that when I go back in September, she will be okay in a contained area. I also luckily work 5 minutes from home, so I can come home at lunch or during prep if I need to. Planning to use daycare on longer days as well.

 

[harryh]

@no1believe That’s what I’m doing too! Last day of school is May 31, I am picking up 8-week old puppy on June 3rd. Two months to get him acclimated and trained.