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Leaving puppy during the day

3K views 15 replies 10 participants last post by  BensLife 
#1 ·
I'm sorry if this question has been asked 1000 times, I tried to search for a thread with a similar situation and was unsuccessful.
I'm getting my first GSD puppy this June from a breeder. I've been around puppies before and had new puppies at home, but this will be my first large breed dog. I currently have a small shepherd mix that is about 8 months old right now. I work as a paramedic and right now I'm on 24/48 schedules and my mother gets my current dog during my day at work. Next week I'll be switching to 12 hour shifts a few days a week. I'm looking for advice on what to do when the new puppy comes home. My current dog is crate trained but goes outside for the few hours she is out before my mother comes over. She enjoys being outside and will probably be left outside while I work on my 12 hour shifts. She has shelter, food, water and toys. The yard is fenced with a privacy fenced and the bottom of the fence is dog proofed. The gate is secured with a sturdy lock and I live in a gated subdivision. Would the new puppy be ok being left out with my current dog while I'm at work? I know crating him for 12 hours isn't going to be an option and I would rather not lock him in the house and have him learn the habit of pottying inside. I had considered buying a chain-link dog run if needed for the new puppy, but would rather not do that if he will be ok being allowed loose in the yard. With my schedule I have several days a week that I am off and have a pretty good routine of spending those days with my current dog and intend to continue that when adding the puppy. Just looking for some advice, thanks!
 
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#2 ·
I personally would not leave a young puppy in the yard like that. My last puppy was a digger, and would put anything in his mouth and swallow it - dirt, sticks, rocks, etc... It could be extremely dangerous and even fatal for a young pup to occupy himself like that while unattended. Dogs explore with their mouths, and there's a lot of stuff to get into outside, and too much can happen in a 12-hour window. Who will be feeding the puppy while you're gone?


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#3 ·
You're in a tough situation.. You have an 8 month old dog and now a puppy that's going to come home in June! I wouldn't recommend leaving a dog out in the yard like that for so long. Like the previous comment said, anything can happen in a 12 hour span. Also, I don't know if putting your other dog with your puppy would be a good idea. Your puppy will find that being with your other dog will be more fun then being with you, maybe after your puppy knows that you're the pack leader and that you're more fun to be around, he would be more engaged with you rather than being engaged with your other dog when you come home. That's just my thoughts from what I learned.


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#4 ·
I am also in agreement with the above posts.

I would never leave a puppy unattended with an adult dog until I was pretty darn sure they would be ok together. Accidents happen, big dogs can inadvertantly hurt puppies/smaller dogs.

Not a good situation in my opinion
 
#6 ·
I know the situation isn't ideal, but I'm committed to making it work.
I really don't feel like crating the puppy for the entire time is a good solution, but I keep seeing people say they crate their puppies upwards of 14 hours and just clean the mess. It seems like this would really set the puppy back in house training. With my current dog she was house trained in two weeks, but I never let her have an accident in the crate and was very consistent in working with her when I was home.
I considered locking the puppy in a large bathroom, but don't really want him learning that it's ok to potty in part of the house. But, this seems better than the crate alone.
The outdoor kennel I had considered is chain link with a roof on it and would be inside my privacy-fenced yard. Would this be the better of my limited options?
 
#7 ·
You have to keep in mind that this is a puppy. The best way to train your puppy to not pee in the house is to crate it when you can't look after it. When you're walking around the house have the puppy leashed onto your hip so you can watch it's every move. I wouldn't recommend you locking it up in the bathroom because your puppy can start chewing on the cabinets or get to dangerous chemicals you keep in storage. Also, you can just get a crate with dividers so you can crate the puppy after it eats and then take it out so house training will become easier. I don't think that keeping an 8 to 10 week puppy outside is a good idea, but that's just my opinion.
 
#8 ·
Is there any way to have somebody come in the middle of the day and let the puppy out to use the bathroom and run around for a bit? I have hired a high school girl in the past that came around 2:30pm each day and played for an hour with the puppy. She was very responsible and I didn't have to pay her much because she loved doing it.

Also, my dog is almost 2 and I would be terrified of the trouble he would get into if he wasn't confined while I was at work. I know some dogs can handle being out of the crate, but mine definitely isn't at that point yet. Mine would drive the neighbors nuts barking at squirrels and things if he was out all day.
 
#9 ·
You're committed to making it work, but I don't hear anything about what's actually right for this puppy. You are planning on leaving a BABY alone for 12 hours. It will not have any bladder control, so having someone come halfway through a 12-hour day is not doing any good either. If outside, what's stopping your baby puppy from eating rocks, dirt, grass, feces, sticks, leaves, insects, etc. which could kill it?

I think a pup that age should be supervised almost constantly. After a few weeks, you could probably leave it alone for an hour or two and go from there. But at 8 weeks, if you can't be there, no situation is good for your puppy. Not crating, not leaving in the yard. That's my opinion on this whole thing.

So what is your plan?


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#13 ·
I am a big supporter of dogs being outside instead of being locked in a crate inside all day. However, I think that an 8 week old pup outside unattended is risky.
I would recommend a large area inside the house to keep the pup in while you are gone. Put down paper or pee pads in an area where you want your pup to potty. Then when you are home, use the same paper or pee pads and take the the pup outside and have the pup go potty outside on the paper / pee pads. This way, the pup will learn that the paper/pee pad is the right spot to potty. You can then transition the paper/pee pads outside when you are doing housebreaking exercises.
 
#14 ·
DPC and Daisyline, those are the two solutions I'm most leaning towards. I didn't really know which would be tolerated better, the outdoor dog run or being kept inside and isolated to one area. I have a pretty open floor plan with tile floors throughout so I'm not terribly worried about mess. If I elected to go for the dog run the pup would be out in the TX heat this summer but have shade and water.
My mother currently watches my dog when I work 24 hour shifts, and I have a feeling she will end up taking the puppy to her house at least initially, but I don't want to rely on that possibly happening.
 
#15 ·
Glad to see you're committed to make it work. I assume that means in the best interest of the pups, within reason. If so, can you hire a person to come fill in for you and do what the pups need during your 12 hour shifts? That person would keep them crated for no more than a couple of hours at a time, and take them out for potty, play, exercise, etc. about 6 times during that shift, every day you have that shift.

Don't leave them outside together by themselves at this age. You need to carefully introduce the new pup to the older one, they need to bond with you and accept each other, etc. There is a lot of interaction that needs to take place between them with no conflict before they can be trusted alone with each other. You may be setting up an aggression situation that will be hard to undo once it gets started.


Otherwise, I'd recommend reconsidering taking on the new pup at this time.
 
#16 ·
I agree with billsharp, maybe rethink getting a puppy at this time because you're going to be gone for most of the day and having your mother look after the puppy isn't a good idea either because the puppy will know your mom as the handler and not look at you as his handler. I know you want to make this work but you also have to think about how the puppy will be when you're gone for almost half the day or even the whole day. There are some things you need to reconsider before the puppy comes because some of your ideas may work but may not be in the best interest of the puppy.


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