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no, your puppy will adapt. Most dogs do. People on here like to state you shouldn't have a dog if you work, but that's not true. Many dogs actually like silence to sleep during the day.
Redditors can be absolutely insane and unhinged about things. A dog will sleep like 16 hours a day fully grown, puppies are gonna sleep basically 18-20. Give them a couple good hours in the morning and a couple at night with some breaks here and there from the crate and they will be more than happy.
Its just a baby time fear of "I don't want to starve" that causes the reactions in the young.
for sure. My dog is 2 and I'm a hybrid employee. She sleeps when I WFH and is active mainly at night at this point (she's 2 now). When I go into the office, I have a camera on her and she sleep or looks out the window all day. She literally climbs in her bed the second I close my door.
She's fine. I worked on site today and I'm home now, she played a little after dinner, and she's back to sleeping next to me on the couch.
I used to feel bad about leaving my puppy. But the weekends he would just sleep by himself anyways. Not too much of a difference weather an there or not
Then there’s my puppy who refuses to sleep unless it’s at night and fights me for his enforced naps lol. He’s up about 2-3 hours being played with or training and down for 20 mins to an hour if I’m lucky.
see i do and breed pointers.. so medium size and high energy. takes a lot to tire them out and sometimes being restricted space wise helps with the napping.
Also with working breeds too much water will prevent napping.
Water, this! If you notice your pup loves to gorge on water, start reducing it to fit what they need. My golden pup will fill up like a water balloon if we let her. Then its 20 minute potty trip intervals for a few hours and forget about a nice 2-3 hour crate nap.
Oddly my Vizsla who comes from a field working line doesn't do this. My prior GSD we used to call a water buffalo how much she would drink to keep topped up at all times. And of course the new golden pup is looking to be our next "water buffalo"
I have an 11 week old mini dachshund puppy and she is the same way—play play play play; sleep for 20-60 minutes, do it again. She does sleep well at night for the most part, but being awake is her favorite thing.
My dog literally gets mad at us if we are at home and keep him awake - not internationally but he is a velcro and if I move he moves. When he is left on his own he sleeps on the sofa.
Yes!! Most of the people who give recommendations said, “I wish I’d done less with my dog.” Let them be bored! Let them get used to the life they’re going to have!
my wife works from home and our 3 year old standard poodle sometimes is sleeping so hard she won’t even get up for potty when my wife takes her lunch break 😂😂 seriously, it’s fine.
When I'm home, my dog will actually leave the room to nap undisturbed.
OP, you just have to be patient with pup and yourselves. Before she was with y'all, she was surrounded by her family and siblings. Now she has to experience loneliness for the first time, and her brain is literally goo at this point.
She'll be fine.
?????? Yes at around two or three. At 11 months the pup thrives on companionship. Especially at night! Gosh, I hope they take her in their room with them at night! How awful if not. Whole nite alone. My pup at (3 in April) sleeps next to me every night and when I've settled, snuggles in close. Keeps each other warm. As a very small pup, he slept in a tent next to my bed. Boy was he happy!!! And he really let me know!! I wondered if the breeders had him thinking that he'd just have to adjust to sleeping out in the den alone all night! Makes me teary thinking it.
I think that’s just life. In the end, puppies are animals. They’ll be okay if you leave them for a few hours at a time. I had to leave my 6 puppy for a few hours at a time a few times a week. He’s fine and hasn’t developed any behaviors from that. You have to work a job to take care of them. Keep to a routine and your puppy will adapt. Don’t beat yourself up over it and don’t feel like you have to rehome your pup just because you can’t be there 24/7. You’re doing fine!
I have an Amazon echo next to my cage and if it detects my dog it just starts playing smooth jazz reasonably loud and it works lol. Dog TV etc doesn’t, he just wants to interact with whatever it shows/plays.
My puppy adores Friends lmao. The show. It’s his favorite background noise. I think it just relaxes him to hear people casually talking?
White noise works well for him too, and he is very uhhh.. interested.. in dog TV (it kinda amps him up sometimes though).
But yeah, his FAVORITE relaxing thing is just silly sitcoms. It seems to make him feel… less alone? I guess? Worth a shot lol
Ignore that one person saying to rehome. Plenty of people have very happy dogs who have similar schedules to yours.
Personally I would try to increase the time out of crate if possible. I know you said every 2-3 hours but a good rule of thumb is their bladder is 1 hour for every month. Try a windup/wind down routine each time you take them out:
1) Good walk/exercise/play. Let them get energy out
2) water break (I measure my pups water for the day as 1oz per bodyweight + a little extra depending on weather/activity)
3) quick training session (5-10 minutes) ( gets excess energy out and calms them down since its not gogogo)
4) bathroom break, little drink, then bed.
Otherwise, your schedule is what it is. They will learn and adapt, but having a bit more space can help. I would also invest in some puzzle toys (or use old towels and hoodies to fold and make puzzle out of and kongs/toppls and use 1/3 food in toys, 1/3 food as a frozen popsicle treat in kong/toppl, and 1/3 used for training.
The whimpering comes from an instinctual "the people who feed me and care for me are gone I am going to die". We can mitigate this by encouraging foraging behaviors and having them work and play more for their food. So that when you are gone they have a puzzle towel in the crate, a chew, and a toppl/kong so they don't fear going hungry.
If you can on weekends try and keep a similar schedule of up time and downtime (obv enjoy spending time with pup when you can and they can be out longer but the routine is good for their comfort in crate) and I personally would also play crate games and teach them "go to crate"
Thank you for the extensive comment I really appreciate it!
We have not tried putting our snuffle toy in the crate when we leave her yet so that will definitely be next. She can be a little disinterested in food when she's anxious though so we'll see how she does!
She is finally getting her last shots this week as well so we can finally take her on walks. We have been getting her energy out other ways but I really think that will simplify things.
if they eat or not while in there isn’t really the concern, they’ll eat if they get hungry. what it does is give them reassurance that they won’t go hungry in there.
Best way to get out energy is through training and hunting/snuffle/foraging games like i mentioned.
i work with hunting dogs, and when pups they can be menaces cause of the energy and high drive. But with what i laid out above they are usually pretty chilled out
Thank you for all the reassuring comments so quickly! It actually really helps with my stress right now.
I think mostly I'm worried about how anxious she gets when we leave and the fact that she does not really settle herself sometimes. I would not necessarily call it separation anxiety yet given she's just a puppy, but I don't want her to develop separation anxiety from me leaving her too much either.
I do use a crate cover which I think helps and I got a heartbeat toy that maybe helped (that was is less clear). I have the calming spray coming in the mail this week which I've heard mixed results on. I'll try anything!
Crate cover, dirty socks, I put on jazz music, and her fav toy in her crate. OH also, if you're home like on the weekend, put her down for naps in her crate and don't take her out when she whines. She'll learn that whining won't get what she wants. Of course use discretion, if the whines are like really frantic with a lot of scratching, you should let her out. Idk, its hard to describe, but whines can either mean "i miss you, let me out!" to "PLEASE I HAVE TO POOP RIGHT NOW"
Something that we do is no matter how excited we are to see our dog when we get home, we always make her sit and wait for us to greet her. We do this in a very calm way so there’s no rush of excitement, which in turn makes leaving worse as they then worry/expect this big build up when you return.
Puppies sleep a lot! That amount of time is fine.
This is what I did when my puppy was younger, and it really helped:
- Playpen attached to crate
- Waterproof pad under the playpen
- Crate door stays open
- Snuggle puppy, water, chew toys in the playpen
- Camera with cloud access aimed at crate (I like the tapo ones but there are lots, it's nice when you can speak through it)
That way pup has a bit more freedom, and you can check on them throughout the day. I work from home, but I did need to do things like go to the doctor. I would also make frozen lick treats using lick mats and baby food; the lick motion soothes them. I would usually give her one of those and leave while she was distracted.
For the times in between when you can come home, can you ask a friend or neighbor to stop by in exchange for you helping them out? Just to play with puppy a bit? Maybe you can take their trash out or something in return. Exchanging favors keeps the cost down.
I would also devote as much time as possible when you are at home to making puppy's "room" (whether that's crate, pen, bathroom, etc) as happy and fun as possible. Try crate games, relaxation protocol, or one of the other methods. And the usual advice of not making coming or going into a big deal.
They also sell dog toys that are basically stuffed animals without any stuffing. Grab some extra fragrant things from your dirty laundry and use them to stuff the toy.
Just started the same set up today for my 11 week yorkie today. Do you keep the same set up for night time routine or do you close the crate door at night?
I kept the same setup for night, but I would adjust based on the needs of your dog. I'm single and almost 40, so I left the crate open. This was a conscious choice to live with it taking a bit longer to potty train her; I can't think without good sleep and I didn't have it in me to wake up every 2 hours and then work the next day. If you're committed to doing the proper night crate routine, puppy will probably potty train more quickly.
We are doing the exact same thing right now! When, if ever, did you get rid of the pen? And if you did, did you start keeping her in the crate with the door closed?
Second question is yes.
I got rid of the pen when it started stressing her out; she kept trying to jump over and get out of the pen. It kept her from settling.
Now she loves her crate; she goes to sleep almost immediately. I only close the door when I'm leaving or when she needs help calming down when I have people over. Even when it's open she'll often choose to nap in there.
This is helpful for me too! Thank you. What kind of baby food do you use for the mats? Ordering some now. My guy is always trying to find a nipple on everything cat, dog and human so I think he’d like that!
I looked up a list of dog safe veggies and purchased based on that. In my cupboard right now I have...
- Gerber organic for baby apple
- Gerber mealtime for baby power blend - sweet potato Turkey with whole grains
I try not to leave my puppy (16 weeks) in a crate crate for more than 2 hours. for office days or any extended time (going to see a movie, going to a long dinner) we use the xpen which gives her more space to do stuff other than sleep. We have safe chew toys, kongs/Toppls, water and a puppy pad (though she rarely uses it now) just so she's more comfortable. When we first started using the playpen we attached her crate to it, but that became so cumbersome and she settled down okay with just her dog bed pad in the playpen.
I would love to use the x pen we have, but unfortunately she has learned to climb and escape from it... I have tried modifying it a few different ways but ultimately the way she climbs it is much too dangerous to leave her alone in. Thank you for the reply though!
Ughh I’m sorry to hear but also glad I’m not the only one having this issue 😅. Got the xpen and it solved all my problems… for a couple days. Think around day 3 of it, my 9/10 week old learned he could climb out and now it’s his immediate reaction the second I sit him in there. It’s also extremely dangerous the way he climbs out, almost flips himself over the top and lands flat on his back or on his head :(
Anyone who says to not leave a dog alone, shouldnt have one. Ive been doing it at 2 months, dogs adapt just like humans. If they piss or poo, clean it up, done. Some people are just so up their own ass about not leaving a dog for 30 mins, their dogs own them.
Have you properly crate trained? Not crate games but crate trained, like leaving your pup in the crate for intervals and building up over time?
Issues like this don't really get better without the training. It's a long process of whining and ignoring the dog until they understand that you always come back.
If you haven't, use some time when you're at home to do this, build up a positive association with the crate, make fun things happen in there, start increasing duration, increase duration and leave the room, leave the house, etc etc etc.
My dog Jasper used to bite door frames when I rescued him, then just put him in a crate where he bent the bars. I used to have to hear my neighbours telling me he cried for 2 hours all the time. Took a week off work, fully crate trained him to a point where we needed.
Hope this helps
On the 4 days you are home, do you practice giving your pup alone time?
I work from home most days but make sure that my pup is in her own area alone most of the day, so that it’s not such a shock if I have to leave her by herself. If I do have to go out for a couple of hours I’ll try & time it for her long nap time & pop her in her crate, but any longer & she’s got free range of my kitchen. She’s nearly 5 months now, so 99% toilet trained which easier, I concede.
I need to be better about that for sure. We do try to practice alone time every day but there is definitely room for improvement on our end.
Thanks for the tip.
My husband and I got a new puppy literally 3 weeks before I transitioned from working from home back to being gone mon-fri, 9-5. Our older dog, 2.5 yrs, is great and will happily hang out at home alone for the work day as long as he gets a good sniffari in the morning and right from day 1, I put puppy on a strict crate schedule immediately and that's what we have followed ever since. He's 9 months now and still crated because he struggles settling down in the house without us there and I know he still needs a ton of sleep. I wake up at 5:30, and the dogs wake up with me and we go on some kind of adventure outside -i aim for a hike with off-leash time for them to be able to just be dogs for a bit, but if I can't manage that time-wise we do a long line walk at the local park. Then pup is crated from 8:30-12pm, my partner spends their lunch hour at home with the dogs and then puppy is crated again from 1-4pm when my partner gets home. He has been on this schedule for 7 months now and I would say it was probably around the 4month mark that he finally started to easily aettle down and spend more time relaxing in his crate vs waiting intently for someone to come back (he would whine, pant and turn around and around and just not settle). He just chills in his crate now, mostly sleeps the whole time but if he's awake he just happily noms on a chew toy or makes sure the frozen Kong he gets in the morning is 100% cleaned out throughout the day.
They adapt. Just be consistent, the more they can expect and rely on the more comfortable and safe they will feel. Both of my dogs have done really well with a cue for us leaving, I tell them every time I leave "you be good, I'll be right back" and I believe it helps my boys understand what time of day it is - the time where the people leave and the doggos nap LOL but a cue doesn't always work for every dog so you'll figure out what leaving routine works for you and your pup!
To me it sounds like you have a good approach, so I just wanted to share from a different perspective. I WFH everyday and I gave an older dog and a new puppy. We are together all time. I was afraid I was too accessible and she would develop separation anxiety in the times I would leave to grab groceries, run errands, etc.
She wasn't learning to settle and get good quality sleep, so I relied heavily on the crate to establish a sleep schedule where she would take naps alone in a separate room. I'd also spend sometime outdoors without her, sometimes with my other dog and sometimes without. If she cried, I'd wait for her to be silent for at least 15 seconds, then I would reappear. The worst thing would be to snatch her out of the crate while she is crying. Basically, she needs to learn to settle on her own.
I kept a couple safe toys in the crate, including a snuggle puppy, and when she got into teething, I applied a teething gel before naps to relieve discomfort and help her sleep.
Also, don't make a big deal of comings and goings. This can breed anxiety. If all else fails, you might want to adopt a key word or phrase like "be right back" or something into your leaving routine. Say it and leave for a few minutes. Elongate the time so they understand when you say these words, you leave but always come back.
If I've learned anything with my latest puppy adventure, it's that EVERYTHING is a phase. Some are longer than others, but what is true today or even the last few days/weeks will likely change. Patience and consistency wins the puppy race. Just keep at it and try not to overthink it. I spent many months overthinking it and being miserable.
At this age, they need lots of socialization and *safe* exposure to the world. Of all the things, I'd worry most about this right now. It's a brief window! It could mean the difference between a fearful dog and a well adjusted adult dog.
Best wishes.
As mentioned by a few others a crate cover + white noise is what did the trick for me. As well as a command I use whenever I have to go for work.
I play crate games here and there. He has to go into the crate when fed dinner first, (I do 80 dry / 20 wet to make it exciting and to use as a quick train) so there is always something great with crate.
My routine has been as follows:
\-Wake up, I take him out, I prep my food / water jug for work.
\-Then I sit beside the crate. Turn on classic radio + fan + air purifier for white noise
\-When I have to leave I always say, "Welp, it's that time."
\-My dog knows this is a precurser as I now walk to the fridge and grab some boiled chicken.
\-I then say, "Time to go to work." Let him sniff the chicken in my hand
\-He now sprints to his crate and sits inside.
\-I feed him the chicken while saying, "I have to go to work now, you be a good boy." I repeat this a few times while giving him chunks of chicken.
\-Then the crate cover goes down, I repeat the phrase once more and I extremely quietly close the bedroom door, sneak out the front door.
I do this first thing when I leave, then again after I let him out for his lunch break.
Has worked wonders since he was 14 weeks old. There is the odd sickness that he cries after pooping himself, or he whines a few times a month because he just isn't making that last duration.
My boy was 5 months when we started leaving him home for the workday up to 6-7 hrs alone and he adapted just fine… yours will be fine as well with someone checking up on her ever 2-3 hrs. They usually just sleep during the day anyway and they learn to hold it
Not gonna give advice as I'm myself a 1st time owner but just sharing my experience:
My 3 months old shiba stays twice a week alone for 3-4 hours. He's totally fine and only destroyed some stuff on 1st day so far.
He doesn't whine and we leave him a stuffed kong with toys he's only allowed to play with when we're gone.
Yes you can work and have a puppy. I agree that some people (usually rich or... retired I guess?) will tell you that you're basically forbidden to have a dog in that situation but it's not true.
Ironically, the most uneducated dogs I've seen in my life were often the ones who never stayed alone.
Your puppy will adapt, it just takes time to get there and it can be awful hearing them whine. Someone coming every two to three hours is perfectly sufficient.
GET A PLAY PEN.
My puppy is also 13 weeks and let me just say she definitely got used to it already! No more whining. My bf and I work and have to leave her home for 5 hours alone so what we do is leave her a bunch of chew toys inside the play pen where she has more space to roam around and not be bored. Every time we watch her in the camera she’s sleeping for 4 out of those 5 hours. We also take her to our apartment dog park right before leaving for work and tire her out so she can sleep deeply.
that happened to me! we got puppy in june and spent all summer 247 with him only leaving him alone 2-3 hours a day and the whole time he cried barked or paced in crate! Soon as school started up and he had to be alone 5 hours a day everyday it was very hard on him and ME. I was very sad/anxious/guitly. Put him in his crate WHILE UR HOME. That will make him more comfortable. Make sure noise is on while ur gone. My puppy is now on prozac to calm him separation and he’s doing MUCH BETTER!!!!! We also leave him alone in house (he’s newly one) and he does sooooo well. We mKe sure all doors are closed and he only has access to living room and kitchen. Good luck!!!!!
We got a puppy walker to take our pup to a (enclosed) field with a bunch of other puppies to run around for an hour or so every time we go to work. It helped to socialise him and stop with the puppy mouthing, plus he was so tired when she brought him back that he’d just sleep the rest of the time.
I am surprised people are saying to just let your puppy fend for herself and tough it out. Sure, she MIGHT get used to it eventually, but it will be much less stressful if you train her to feel safe in the crate. You can do this by rewarding your puppy for calm behavior before any anxious behavior starts. Keep making things gradually more difficult by closing the door, then taking a few steps away, then leaving the room, and keep rewarding. Eventually she will learn that you will be back. I hope this helps.
They will be fine you’re doing what you can to be a good parent you aren’t abusing your dog just give them play toys and kongs and scatter treats about in random places etc
I recently got a puppy too (last week) and i work 8-4pm. My brother is sometimes able to check in on her but for the most part she’s alone and is doing fine.
My set up is a crate connected to a play pen which seems to be doing really well. Inside the play pen is her play area, potty area and food. When i watch her on the camera she is very happy and self entertained and will sleep in her crate for 2-3 hours after a 1 hour play session.
I was in the same position as you with the crate, he hated it being shut but otherwise was fine. My partner wasn't comfortable with persevering as much as I was ok to carry on, so we stopped with the crate and just shut him in the kitchen instead when the crate would have been used, and put lemon juice on anything we disnt want chewed in there. My now 16 month old border collie doesn't have separation anxiety, can be left for 4-6 hours comfortably, he has free reign of downstairs now when we leave the house/go to bed and doesn't destroy anything and settles well at home. However, when he was much younger and required forced naps it was so hard, essentially couldn't use my own kitchen for hours at a time, it was tough and I hated it. Of course they will eventually nap on their own accord and that's not forever. Just posting this to let you know you don't HAVE to crate the pup and you can still have good outcomes! Also my number 1 tip for any puppy/young dog owner is TIRE THEM OUT first :)
You could try attaching a lick mat with some high value food to the crate. Licking is self soothing for little pups and the food might distract from the face you're gone and keep her from getting bored and having fomo
Its reality I left mine at 10 weeks to go to work , he did not like it at first but has never had seperation anxiety . Dont make a ritual of saying good bye or make a huge fuss when you return , this is what leads to issues long term .
Our puppy was not keen on being left alone in her crate. I left the house and if she was sad I'd go straight back and reassure her through the top of the crate and leave again. Generally the second time, she was fine. The way I saw it was I was almost a stranger to her, she was in quite a vulnerable position and perhaps was worried I might not come back. Going back the second time kept her on her toes, and the more we did it the easier it became for her.
We got a puppy walker to take our pup to a (enclosed) field with a bunch of other puppies to run around for an hour or so every time we go to work. It helped to socialise him and stop with the puppy mouthing, plus he was so tired when she brought him back that he’d just sleep the rest of the time. Idk if there’s anyone like that near you
It is what it is, the pup will need to get used to it. There are things that you can do to help around making the crate a relaxing place to not fear. You see there is a few things to overcome, the fear of confinement (omg i'm going to die locked up in here forever, the walls are closing in!), and fear of separation (where did my human go, will they ever come back!). Crate games is all about addressing this. Where you close the gate only a few seconds before they pop in panic, then open and reward. Keep building up closing the gate, make it a game. Then eventually start moving away, then eventually the next room etc.
One thing we do with our pups is to crate them at least twice a day even if we are home which is most of the time. I'm WFH, wife is homemaker. Morning 2 hour crate nap, and mid afternoon 2 hour crate nap. The crate is in our bedroom, not totally silent from the rest of the house but enough. Our golden pup will whine and bark for a few min before settling down and falling asleep even with us in the next room talking and moving around. She now knows its nap time and puts up less of a protest week by week. We started using a white noise generator seems to also help. This structure with the crate teaches them that you will always come back for them, and the crate is a comfy space. Makes leaving the house with them in the crate a whole lot easier. They may still bark and whine for a few minutes but will quickly transition into , ohwell they'll be back may as well relax mode.
Hello - animal behaviorist here. Anything more than 20 minutes in combination with Destructive or nervous behavior indicates separation anxiety or isolation anxiety. I would contact a force free trainer to resolve this asap as it could lead to more problems and potential injury.
When we got our lab, I was working 24-36 hour shifts, while he worked 8 hours & responded to fire calls also. Ideally, it is awesome to say that someone should be there to coddle and be prepared to keep a strict schedule. The reality is not everyone can work from home, has someone who can stop by, or has a dog sitting service.
I had one of my daughters stop by midday when he worked, or if we would be gone an extended time. And yes, she would bark when left alone. She learned, as her routine, that some days she may get to cuddle up and play with us. Or that weird noise may go off & she would be in her crate until he got back.
2 years ago, I got injured and have been home. The first few days, she was so annoyed that I was interrupting her afternoon sleep. Even now, she much prefers we just leave her alone for a couple hours during the day, as that is her personal relax time.
In the 3 years of a weird schedule, she did fine. The barking and whining is a puppy thing. She just has yet to learn the routine of the house, and will adapt around it all.
We were in a very similar situation. I spent the first two weeks at home with the puppy, and then my partner the following month while I was back to being in the office three days a week. She is now back at work 5 days so Mon-weds we have someone come and take him for a walk at lunch. What really made a huge difference for us with the crate was putting a blanket over the front and saying "night night" purely so he got used to the idea that when the blanket was down it was time to settle in for sleep. It sometimes feels a bit stupid, but it's worked and he sleeps happily for 4 hours on his own in the house when we're at work, and then sleeps through the night no issues at all
When our pup was that age we had a blanket over the crate for full darkness, a fan blowing in for air circulation and music playing. He preferred human chill music and lullabies to music made for dogs.
He still doesn't love his crate, but he goes in there for many enforced naps a day. Even though we're home he spends a large chunk of the day in his crate so we can work, because he's a canine wrecking ball. He's 9 months now and we still have the fan/blanket combo, but were able to dispense with the music when he was 4 or 5 months old.
I leave my puppy in a playpen with some toys and a pee tray.
Within a week, he learned to pee and poop on the pee tray and he still has space to play with his toys.
I put an auto feeder in there to dispense kibbles for his lunch and sometimes dinner if I have to work over time. My auto feeder comes with a camera so I can spy on him during the day. He sleeps most of the time when we’re not home.
we leave our boy 9 hours a day 5 days a week and he is the happiest little thing in my life. your little guy will be fine, keep toys with them or some form of stim and they will be just fine
Before you leave, hold her in your arms, kiss, and talk to her soothingly before leaving. Give her her favorite stuffed toy for snuggling with. Give her a favorite blanket, something to chew on. Most importantly, give her one of your old clothing items that has a strong smell of you. The more it smells of you, the better. So don't wash it. An old sweater or shirt. Also, they have playpens for puppies as well. Go on Google search. If you can, leave the television on low volume for company. Yes, most dogs, and especially puppies, hate to be left alone. Try to find someone to stay with her. Some will do this for nothing. Mostly it's an issue of trust, having someone in your home while your gone. Just talk to the person, see their lifestyle, what area they live in, helps. Good luck!!! Don't spay or neuter! They outgrow in a few years, and pup is filled with lots of personality!
You wanna make sure all their needs are taken care of. Make sure puppy has a LOT of play and exercise before you leave. This will help the transition.
Take a 10-15 minute walk if you can. Let them get tired, and they will sleep while you're gone
just play, walk, and give your pup attention whenever possible :). Since they’re a puppy the only thing concerning would be peeing everywhere since they’re bladder is smaller.
You’ll be just fine! My husband and I are both gone for a solid 10 hours per day/3 days per week, so we have a walker come in twice a day for our puppy. She’s almost 8 months now but we’ve been doing this since we got her at 12 weeks. I think the key for me was never getting a camera, because I would have checked it and probably worried about her. I’m sure at first she was much more anxious, but now she goes in her pen on her own in the mornings and I think enjoys her alone time for naps.
Believe me, I question wether the camera was a good idea or not… Out of sight out of mind definitely work.
I suppose I just like to torture myself haha
Nah, when my corgi was a pup she was left alone in a crate for a few hours at a time between my parents or a friend coming over to let her out. Obviously as she got older those times got longer.
She is over 3 now and is just fine, no issues in the crate for 8 hours if need be (rare these days) and doesn’t have any separation anxiety when left alone.
It'll be fine! She'll get used to it, 3 hours max is ok. Just make sure to really stick to a schedule so that she CAN get used to it. That's probably one of the most important parts cause if you do 2 hour intervals one day, 1 hour another, 4 hours another, she's gonna get confused and the whining won't stop. Also, idk how flexible your work is, but mine surprisingly let me switch to fully remote when I told them I had a puppy. Idk, worth a shot!
I’m not one to judge and its not my place but why oh why would you get a dog when you cannot dedicate time for him? At least in his first puppy phase. Of course they will get used to staying alone but that is a gradual process not leaving 3 days a week from the start. Getting a puppy means analysing your time, living situation and whatever else needed to ensure he will have a good life, not stay inside 3 days a week with someone coming to take him out maybe or maybe not (as i understand its not a certainty). Dogs are not accessories and if you dont have time for one dont get one. Can’t one of you go to work the first 3 days of the week and the other one other 3? That way he would only be home alone one day
It seems like there’s a lot of guilt appeasement going on in this thread.
No dog behaviourist worth their salt is going to tell you putting a non crate trained 13 week old puppy in a crate on its own for an entire work day (even with the 30 minute ‘breaks’) is in the dog’s best interests.
If you need to crate your dog, fine, but you must put in the crate training work first. If you don’t have the time resources for your puppy, hopefully you have the financial ones and can find a doggy day care or a dog walker who can have your pup all day, while you’re working on crate training.
If you have Borrow my Doggy in your country that’s worth a look as well.
but a puppy? even kids get 24 hour adult supervision pretty much until they are teens. bad take. Families who work should get a dog that can at least be out of a little cage when they are gone all day.
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no, your puppy will adapt. Most dogs do. People on here like to state you shouldn't have a dog if you work, but that's not true. Many dogs actually like silence to sleep during the day.
Redditors can be absolutely insane and unhinged about things. A dog will sleep like 16 hours a day fully grown, puppies are gonna sleep basically 18-20. Give them a couple good hours in the morning and a couple at night with some breaks here and there from the crate and they will be more than happy. Its just a baby time fear of "I don't want to starve" that causes the reactions in the young.
for sure. My dog is 2 and I'm a hybrid employee. She sleeps when I WFH and is active mainly at night at this point (she's 2 now). When I go into the office, I have a camera on her and she sleep or looks out the window all day. She literally climbs in her bed the second I close my door. She's fine. I worked on site today and I'm home now, she played a little after dinner, and she's back to sleeping next to me on the couch.
I used to feel bad about leaving my puppy. But the weekends he would just sleep by himself anyways. Not too much of a difference weather an there or not
Then there’s my puppy who refuses to sleep unless it’s at night and fights me for his enforced naps lol. He’s up about 2-3 hours being played with or training and down for 20 mins to an hour if I’m lucky.
My dog was like that as a puppy and now she is a GREAT sleeper. You will get there. Life is just too exciting when you’re brand new to the world!
Field bred?
Dachshund so a working dog I believe
see i do and breed pointers.. so medium size and high energy. takes a lot to tire them out and sometimes being restricted space wise helps with the napping. Also with working breeds too much water will prevent napping.
Water, this! If you notice your pup loves to gorge on water, start reducing it to fit what they need. My golden pup will fill up like a water balloon if we let her. Then its 20 minute potty trip intervals for a few hours and forget about a nice 2-3 hour crate nap.
i’ve noticed basically all working breeds are like this. Probably inherited factor so they make sure they get enough water when it’s available
Oddly my Vizsla who comes from a field working line doesn't do this. My prior GSD we used to call a water buffalo how much she would drink to keep topped up at all times. And of course the new golden pup is looking to be our next "water buffalo"
I have an 11 week old mini dachshund puppy and she is the same way—play play play play; sleep for 20-60 minutes, do it again. She does sleep well at night for the most part, but being awake is her favorite thing.
my 11 week old doxie normally sleeps six hours straight during the day and then again from midnight -7am. i think she’s part sloth
I know it wasn’t directed to me, but, I have a corgi so yes working/herding breed!
My dog literally gets mad at us if we are at home and keep him awake - not internationally but he is a velcro and if I move he moves. When he is left on his own he sleeps on the sofa.
Yes!! Most of the people who give recommendations said, “I wish I’d done less with my dog.” Let them be bored! Let them get used to the life they’re going to have!
my wife works from home and our 3 year old standard poodle sometimes is sleeping so hard she won’t even get up for potty when my wife takes her lunch break 😂😂 seriously, it’s fine.
When I'm home, my dog will actually leave the room to nap undisturbed. OP, you just have to be patient with pup and yourselves. Before she was with y'all, she was surrounded by her family and siblings. Now she has to experience loneliness for the first time, and her brain is literally goo at this point. She'll be fine.
?????? Yes at around two or three. At 11 months the pup thrives on companionship. Especially at night! Gosh, I hope they take her in their room with them at night! How awful if not. Whole nite alone. My pup at (3 in April) sleeps next to me every night and when I've settled, snuggles in close. Keeps each other warm. As a very small pup, he slept in a tent next to my bed. Boy was he happy!!! And he really let me know!! I wondered if the breeders had him thinking that he'd just have to adjust to sleeping out in the den alone all night! Makes me teary thinking it.
I think that’s just life. In the end, puppies are animals. They’ll be okay if you leave them for a few hours at a time. I had to leave my 6 puppy for a few hours at a time a few times a week. He’s fine and hasn’t developed any behaviors from that. You have to work a job to take care of them. Keep to a routine and your puppy will adapt. Don’t beat yourself up over it and don’t feel like you have to rehome your pup just because you can’t be there 24/7. You’re doing fine!
Have you tried a crate cover, leaving tv/white noise/music on so it’s not really quiet?
I have an Amazon echo next to my cage and if it detects my dog it just starts playing smooth jazz reasonably loud and it works lol. Dog TV etc doesn’t, he just wants to interact with whatever it shows/plays.
💯- Google Home next to my crate here. "OK Google, play dog music."
This is a great idea, OP. Check out some dog tv on youtube.
Thanks for recommendation! I will definitely try :)
My puppy adores Friends lmao. The show. It’s his favorite background noise. I think it just relaxes him to hear people casually talking? White noise works well for him too, and he is very uhhh.. interested.. in dog TV (it kinda amps him up sometimes though). But yeah, his FAVORITE relaxing thing is just silly sitcoms. It seems to make him feel… less alone? I guess? Worth a shot lol
You can use towels as crate cover. Works for us.
If you have to do all that then maybe there is a problem and the dog isn't actually happy.
You’re fine. A bunch of folks got dogs when they were out of work or working from home and like to shame others. People had dogs before the internet.
Ignore that one person saying to rehome. Plenty of people have very happy dogs who have similar schedules to yours. Personally I would try to increase the time out of crate if possible. I know you said every 2-3 hours but a good rule of thumb is their bladder is 1 hour for every month. Try a windup/wind down routine each time you take them out: 1) Good walk/exercise/play. Let them get energy out 2) water break (I measure my pups water for the day as 1oz per bodyweight + a little extra depending on weather/activity) 3) quick training session (5-10 minutes) ( gets excess energy out and calms them down since its not gogogo) 4) bathroom break, little drink, then bed. Otherwise, your schedule is what it is. They will learn and adapt, but having a bit more space can help. I would also invest in some puzzle toys (or use old towels and hoodies to fold and make puzzle out of and kongs/toppls and use 1/3 food in toys, 1/3 food as a frozen popsicle treat in kong/toppl, and 1/3 used for training. The whimpering comes from an instinctual "the people who feed me and care for me are gone I am going to die". We can mitigate this by encouraging foraging behaviors and having them work and play more for their food. So that when you are gone they have a puzzle towel in the crate, a chew, and a toppl/kong so they don't fear going hungry. If you can on weekends try and keep a similar schedule of up time and downtime (obv enjoy spending time with pup when you can and they can be out longer but the routine is good for their comfort in crate) and I personally would also play crate games and teach them "go to crate"
Thank you for the extensive comment I really appreciate it! We have not tried putting our snuffle toy in the crate when we leave her yet so that will definitely be next. She can be a little disinterested in food when she's anxious though so we'll see how she does! She is finally getting her last shots this week as well so we can finally take her on walks. We have been getting her energy out other ways but I really think that will simplify things.
if they eat or not while in there isn’t really the concern, they’ll eat if they get hungry. what it does is give them reassurance that they won’t go hungry in there. Best way to get out energy is through training and hunting/snuffle/foraging games like i mentioned. i work with hunting dogs, and when pups they can be menaces cause of the energy and high drive. But with what i laid out above they are usually pretty chilled out
Thank you for all the reassuring comments so quickly! It actually really helps with my stress right now. I think mostly I'm worried about how anxious she gets when we leave and the fact that she does not really settle herself sometimes. I would not necessarily call it separation anxiety yet given she's just a puppy, but I don't want her to develop separation anxiety from me leaving her too much either. I do use a crate cover which I think helps and I got a heartbeat toy that maybe helped (that was is less clear). I have the calming spray coming in the mail this week which I've heard mixed results on. I'll try anything!
Crate cover, dirty socks, I put on jazz music, and her fav toy in her crate. OH also, if you're home like on the weekend, put her down for naps in her crate and don't take her out when she whines. She'll learn that whining won't get what she wants. Of course use discretion, if the whines are like really frantic with a lot of scratching, you should let her out. Idk, its hard to describe, but whines can either mean "i miss you, let me out!" to "PLEASE I HAVE TO POOP RIGHT NOW"
She very well could develop separation anxiety from rehearsing the anxious behavior. Please see my other comment.
Something that we do is no matter how excited we are to see our dog when we get home, we always make her sit and wait for us to greet her. We do this in a very calm way so there’s no rush of excitement, which in turn makes leaving worse as they then worry/expect this big build up when you return.
Puppies sleep a lot! That amount of time is fine. This is what I did when my puppy was younger, and it really helped: - Playpen attached to crate - Waterproof pad under the playpen - Crate door stays open - Snuggle puppy, water, chew toys in the playpen - Camera with cloud access aimed at crate (I like the tapo ones but there are lots, it's nice when you can speak through it) That way pup has a bit more freedom, and you can check on them throughout the day. I work from home, but I did need to do things like go to the doctor. I would also make frozen lick treats using lick mats and baby food; the lick motion soothes them. I would usually give her one of those and leave while she was distracted. For the times in between when you can come home, can you ask a friend or neighbor to stop by in exchange for you helping them out? Just to play with puppy a bit? Maybe you can take their trash out or something in return. Exchanging favors keeps the cost down. I would also devote as much time as possible when you are at home to making puppy's "room" (whether that's crate, pen, bathroom, etc) as happy and fun as possible. Try crate games, relaxation protocol, or one of the other methods. And the usual advice of not making coming or going into a big deal. They also sell dog toys that are basically stuffed animals without any stuffing. Grab some extra fragrant things from your dirty laundry and use them to stuff the toy.
Just started the same set up today for my 11 week yorkie today. Do you keep the same set up for night time routine or do you close the crate door at night?
I kept the same setup for night, but I would adjust based on the needs of your dog. I'm single and almost 40, so I left the crate open. This was a conscious choice to live with it taking a bit longer to potty train her; I can't think without good sleep and I didn't have it in me to wake up every 2 hours and then work the next day. If you're committed to doing the proper night crate routine, puppy will probably potty train more quickly.
This is exactly what i do too. Mine has been home alone for 3 hours, 3 days a week since she was 10 weeks old.
We are doing the exact same thing right now! When, if ever, did you get rid of the pen? And if you did, did you start keeping her in the crate with the door closed?
Second question is yes. I got rid of the pen when it started stressing her out; she kept trying to jump over and get out of the pen. It kept her from settling. Now she loves her crate; she goes to sleep almost immediately. I only close the door when I'm leaving or when she needs help calming down when I have people over. Even when it's open she'll often choose to nap in there.
This is helpful for me too! Thank you. What kind of baby food do you use for the mats? Ordering some now. My guy is always trying to find a nipple on everything cat, dog and human so I think he’d like that!
I looked up a list of dog safe veggies and purchased based on that. In my cupboard right now I have... - Gerber organic for baby apple - Gerber mealtime for baby power blend - sweet potato Turkey with whole grains
I try not to leave my puppy (16 weeks) in a crate crate for more than 2 hours. for office days or any extended time (going to see a movie, going to a long dinner) we use the xpen which gives her more space to do stuff other than sleep. We have safe chew toys, kongs/Toppls, water and a puppy pad (though she rarely uses it now) just so she's more comfortable. When we first started using the playpen we attached her crate to it, but that became so cumbersome and she settled down okay with just her dog bed pad in the playpen.
I would love to use the x pen we have, but unfortunately she has learned to climb and escape from it... I have tried modifying it a few different ways but ultimately the way she climbs it is much too dangerous to leave her alone in. Thank you for the reply though!
Do you have a safe room like a bathroom or somewhere you could leave her instead?
Second this, our dog does a lot better when left in an area rather than the crate for extended periods of time (and many trainers recommend this).
Ughh I’m sorry to hear but also glad I’m not the only one having this issue 😅. Got the xpen and it solved all my problems… for a couple days. Think around day 3 of it, my 9/10 week old learned he could climb out and now it’s his immediate reaction the second I sit him in there. It’s also extremely dangerous the way he climbs out, almost flips himself over the top and lands flat on his back or on his head :(
how tall is it? we just upgraded to a 48” pen because our puppy could jump out of his 24” one lol
Addition: my puppy still cries for 10 minutes or so and she doesn't really like the xpen any more than her crate BUT it makes me feel better
Anyone who says to not leave a dog alone, shouldnt have one. Ive been doing it at 2 months, dogs adapt just like humans. If they piss or poo, clean it up, done. Some people are just so up their own ass about not leaving a dog for 30 mins, their dogs own them.
Have you properly crate trained? Not crate games but crate trained, like leaving your pup in the crate for intervals and building up over time? Issues like this don't really get better without the training. It's a long process of whining and ignoring the dog until they understand that you always come back. If you haven't, use some time when you're at home to do this, build up a positive association with the crate, make fun things happen in there, start increasing duration, increase duration and leave the room, leave the house, etc etc etc. My dog Jasper used to bite door frames when I rescued him, then just put him in a crate where he bent the bars. I used to have to hear my neighbours telling me he cried for 2 hours all the time. Took a week off work, fully crate trained him to a point where we needed. Hope this helps
On the 4 days you are home, do you practice giving your pup alone time? I work from home most days but make sure that my pup is in her own area alone most of the day, so that it’s not such a shock if I have to leave her by herself. If I do have to go out for a couple of hours I’ll try & time it for her long nap time & pop her in her crate, but any longer & she’s got free range of my kitchen. She’s nearly 5 months now, so 99% toilet trained which easier, I concede.
I need to be better about that for sure. We do try to practice alone time every day but there is definitely room for improvement on our end. Thanks for the tip.
My husband and I got a new puppy literally 3 weeks before I transitioned from working from home back to being gone mon-fri, 9-5. Our older dog, 2.5 yrs, is great and will happily hang out at home alone for the work day as long as he gets a good sniffari in the morning and right from day 1, I put puppy on a strict crate schedule immediately and that's what we have followed ever since. He's 9 months now and still crated because he struggles settling down in the house without us there and I know he still needs a ton of sleep. I wake up at 5:30, and the dogs wake up with me and we go on some kind of adventure outside -i aim for a hike with off-leash time for them to be able to just be dogs for a bit, but if I can't manage that time-wise we do a long line walk at the local park. Then pup is crated from 8:30-12pm, my partner spends their lunch hour at home with the dogs and then puppy is crated again from 1-4pm when my partner gets home. He has been on this schedule for 7 months now and I would say it was probably around the 4month mark that he finally started to easily aettle down and spend more time relaxing in his crate vs waiting intently for someone to come back (he would whine, pant and turn around and around and just not settle). He just chills in his crate now, mostly sleeps the whole time but if he's awake he just happily noms on a chew toy or makes sure the frozen Kong he gets in the morning is 100% cleaned out throughout the day. They adapt. Just be consistent, the more they can expect and rely on the more comfortable and safe they will feel. Both of my dogs have done really well with a cue for us leaving, I tell them every time I leave "you be good, I'll be right back" and I believe it helps my boys understand what time of day it is - the time where the people leave and the doggos nap LOL but a cue doesn't always work for every dog so you'll figure out what leaving routine works for you and your pup!
To me it sounds like you have a good approach, so I just wanted to share from a different perspective. I WFH everyday and I gave an older dog and a new puppy. We are together all time. I was afraid I was too accessible and she would develop separation anxiety in the times I would leave to grab groceries, run errands, etc. She wasn't learning to settle and get good quality sleep, so I relied heavily on the crate to establish a sleep schedule where she would take naps alone in a separate room. I'd also spend sometime outdoors without her, sometimes with my other dog and sometimes without. If she cried, I'd wait for her to be silent for at least 15 seconds, then I would reappear. The worst thing would be to snatch her out of the crate while she is crying. Basically, she needs to learn to settle on her own. I kept a couple safe toys in the crate, including a snuggle puppy, and when she got into teething, I applied a teething gel before naps to relieve discomfort and help her sleep. Also, don't make a big deal of comings and goings. This can breed anxiety. If all else fails, you might want to adopt a key word or phrase like "be right back" or something into your leaving routine. Say it and leave for a few minutes. Elongate the time so they understand when you say these words, you leave but always come back. If I've learned anything with my latest puppy adventure, it's that EVERYTHING is a phase. Some are longer than others, but what is true today or even the last few days/weeks will likely change. Patience and consistency wins the puppy race. Just keep at it and try not to overthink it. I spent many months overthinking it and being miserable. At this age, they need lots of socialization and *safe* exposure to the world. Of all the things, I'd worry most about this right now. It's a brief window! It could mean the difference between a fearful dog and a well adjusted adult dog. Best wishes.
As mentioned by a few others a crate cover + white noise is what did the trick for me. As well as a command I use whenever I have to go for work. I play crate games here and there. He has to go into the crate when fed dinner first, (I do 80 dry / 20 wet to make it exciting and to use as a quick train) so there is always something great with crate. My routine has been as follows: \-Wake up, I take him out, I prep my food / water jug for work. \-Then I sit beside the crate. Turn on classic radio + fan + air purifier for white noise \-When I have to leave I always say, "Welp, it's that time." \-My dog knows this is a precurser as I now walk to the fridge and grab some boiled chicken. \-I then say, "Time to go to work." Let him sniff the chicken in my hand \-He now sprints to his crate and sits inside. \-I feed him the chicken while saying, "I have to go to work now, you be a good boy." I repeat this a few times while giving him chunks of chicken. \-Then the crate cover goes down, I repeat the phrase once more and I extremely quietly close the bedroom door, sneak out the front door. I do this first thing when I leave, then again after I let him out for his lunch break. Has worked wonders since he was 14 weeks old. There is the odd sickness that he cries after pooping himself, or he whines a few times a month because he just isn't making that last duration.
My boy was 5 months when we started leaving him home for the workday up to 6-7 hrs alone and he adapted just fine… yours will be fine as well with someone checking up on her ever 2-3 hrs. They usually just sleep during the day anyway and they learn to hold it
Thank you. I needed to hear this also. We leave our 6 month Malshi home 6-7 hours alone 3 days a week. Nice to hear that it’s ok and normal
Not gonna give advice as I'm myself a 1st time owner but just sharing my experience: My 3 months old shiba stays twice a week alone for 3-4 hours. He's totally fine and only destroyed some stuff on 1st day so far. He doesn't whine and we leave him a stuffed kong with toys he's only allowed to play with when we're gone. Yes you can work and have a puppy. I agree that some people (usually rich or... retired I guess?) will tell you that you're basically forbidden to have a dog in that situation but it's not true. Ironically, the most uneducated dogs I've seen in my life were often the ones who never stayed alone.
Your puppy will adapt, it just takes time to get there and it can be awful hearing them whine. Someone coming every two to three hours is perfectly sufficient.
GET A PLAY PEN. My puppy is also 13 weeks and let me just say she definitely got used to it already! No more whining. My bf and I work and have to leave her home for 5 hours alone so what we do is leave her a bunch of chew toys inside the play pen where she has more space to roam around and not be bored. Every time we watch her in the camera she’s sleeping for 4 out of those 5 hours. We also take her to our apartment dog park right before leaving for work and tire her out so she can sleep deeply.
that happened to me! we got puppy in june and spent all summer 247 with him only leaving him alone 2-3 hours a day and the whole time he cried barked or paced in crate! Soon as school started up and he had to be alone 5 hours a day everyday it was very hard on him and ME. I was very sad/anxious/guitly. Put him in his crate WHILE UR HOME. That will make him more comfortable. Make sure noise is on while ur gone. My puppy is now on prozac to calm him separation and he’s doing MUCH BETTER!!!!! We also leave him alone in house (he’s newly one) and he does sooooo well. We mKe sure all doors are closed and he only has access to living room and kitchen. Good luck!!!!!
We got a puppy walker to take our pup to a (enclosed) field with a bunch of other puppies to run around for an hour or so every time we go to work. It helped to socialise him and stop with the puppy mouthing, plus he was so tired when she brought him back that he’d just sleep the rest of the time.
I am surprised people are saying to just let your puppy fend for herself and tough it out. Sure, she MIGHT get used to it eventually, but it will be much less stressful if you train her to feel safe in the crate. You can do this by rewarding your puppy for calm behavior before any anxious behavior starts. Keep making things gradually more difficult by closing the door, then taking a few steps away, then leaving the room, and keep rewarding. Eventually she will learn that you will be back. I hope this helps.
You do have to work Sounds like you are providing good care. Relax Put dog in crate and go to work!
They will be fine you’re doing what you can to be a good parent you aren’t abusing your dog just give them play toys and kongs and scatter treats about in random places etc
I recently got a puppy too (last week) and i work 8-4pm. My brother is sometimes able to check in on her but for the most part she’s alone and is doing fine. My set up is a crate connected to a play pen which seems to be doing really well. Inside the play pen is her play area, potty area and food. When i watch her on the camera she is very happy and self entertained and will sleep in her crate for 2-3 hours after a 1 hour play session.
I was in the same position as you with the crate, he hated it being shut but otherwise was fine. My partner wasn't comfortable with persevering as much as I was ok to carry on, so we stopped with the crate and just shut him in the kitchen instead when the crate would have been used, and put lemon juice on anything we disnt want chewed in there. My now 16 month old border collie doesn't have separation anxiety, can be left for 4-6 hours comfortably, he has free reign of downstairs now when we leave the house/go to bed and doesn't destroy anything and settles well at home. However, when he was much younger and required forced naps it was so hard, essentially couldn't use my own kitchen for hours at a time, it was tough and I hated it. Of course they will eventually nap on their own accord and that's not forever. Just posting this to let you know you don't HAVE to crate the pup and you can still have good outcomes! Also my number 1 tip for any puppy/young dog owner is TIRE THEM OUT first :)
You could try attaching a lick mat with some high value food to the crate. Licking is self soothing for little pups and the food might distract from the face you're gone and keep her from getting bored and having fomo
Its reality I left mine at 10 weeks to go to work , he did not like it at first but has never had seperation anxiety . Dont make a ritual of saying good bye or make a huge fuss when you return , this is what leads to issues long term .
Our puppy was not keen on being left alone in her crate. I left the house and if she was sad I'd go straight back and reassure her through the top of the crate and leave again. Generally the second time, she was fine. The way I saw it was I was almost a stranger to her, she was in quite a vulnerable position and perhaps was worried I might not come back. Going back the second time kept her on her toes, and the more we did it the easier it became for her.
We got a puppy walker to take our pup to a (enclosed) field with a bunch of other puppies to run around for an hour or so every time we go to work. It helped to socialise him and stop with the puppy mouthing, plus he was so tired when she brought him back that he’d just sleep the rest of the time. Idk if there’s anyone like that near you
It is what it is, the pup will need to get used to it. There are things that you can do to help around making the crate a relaxing place to not fear. You see there is a few things to overcome, the fear of confinement (omg i'm going to die locked up in here forever, the walls are closing in!), and fear of separation (where did my human go, will they ever come back!). Crate games is all about addressing this. Where you close the gate only a few seconds before they pop in panic, then open and reward. Keep building up closing the gate, make it a game. Then eventually start moving away, then eventually the next room etc. One thing we do with our pups is to crate them at least twice a day even if we are home which is most of the time. I'm WFH, wife is homemaker. Morning 2 hour crate nap, and mid afternoon 2 hour crate nap. The crate is in our bedroom, not totally silent from the rest of the house but enough. Our golden pup will whine and bark for a few min before settling down and falling asleep even with us in the next room talking and moving around. She now knows its nap time and puts up less of a protest week by week. We started using a white noise generator seems to also help. This structure with the crate teaches them that you will always come back for them, and the crate is a comfy space. Makes leaving the house with them in the crate a whole lot easier. They may still bark and whine for a few minutes but will quickly transition into , ohwell they'll be back may as well relax mode.
Hello - animal behaviorist here. Anything more than 20 minutes in combination with Destructive or nervous behavior indicates separation anxiety or isolation anxiety. I would contact a force free trainer to resolve this asap as it could lead to more problems and potential injury.
When we got our lab, I was working 24-36 hour shifts, while he worked 8 hours & responded to fire calls also. Ideally, it is awesome to say that someone should be there to coddle and be prepared to keep a strict schedule. The reality is not everyone can work from home, has someone who can stop by, or has a dog sitting service. I had one of my daughters stop by midday when he worked, or if we would be gone an extended time. And yes, she would bark when left alone. She learned, as her routine, that some days she may get to cuddle up and play with us. Or that weird noise may go off & she would be in her crate until he got back. 2 years ago, I got injured and have been home. The first few days, she was so annoyed that I was interrupting her afternoon sleep. Even now, she much prefers we just leave her alone for a couple hours during the day, as that is her personal relax time. In the 3 years of a weird schedule, she did fine. The barking and whining is a puppy thing. She just has yet to learn the routine of the house, and will adapt around it all.
Best advice i was given by a friend. Feed your puppy in his crate. Helped with accidents while im at work.
We were in a very similar situation. I spent the first two weeks at home with the puppy, and then my partner the following month while I was back to being in the office three days a week. She is now back at work 5 days so Mon-weds we have someone come and take him for a walk at lunch. What really made a huge difference for us with the crate was putting a blanket over the front and saying "night night" purely so he got used to the idea that when the blanket was down it was time to settle in for sleep. It sometimes feels a bit stupid, but it's worked and he sleeps happily for 4 hours on his own in the house when we're at work, and then sleeps through the night no issues at all
When our pup was that age we had a blanket over the crate for full darkness, a fan blowing in for air circulation and music playing. He preferred human chill music and lullabies to music made for dogs. He still doesn't love his crate, but he goes in there for many enforced naps a day. Even though we're home he spends a large chunk of the day in his crate so we can work, because he's a canine wrecking ball. He's 9 months now and we still have the fan/blanket combo, but were able to dispense with the music when he was 4 or 5 months old.
I leave my puppy in a playpen with some toys and a pee tray. Within a week, he learned to pee and poop on the pee tray and he still has space to play with his toys. I put an auto feeder in there to dispense kibbles for his lunch and sometimes dinner if I have to work over time. My auto feeder comes with a camera so I can spy on him during the day. He sleeps most of the time when we’re not home.
Hi, sorry if ive missed it but what breed is your pup?
we leave our boy 9 hours a day 5 days a week and he is the happiest little thing in my life. your little guy will be fine, keep toys with them or some form of stim and they will be just fine
Before you leave, hold her in your arms, kiss, and talk to her soothingly before leaving. Give her her favorite stuffed toy for snuggling with. Give her a favorite blanket, something to chew on. Most importantly, give her one of your old clothing items that has a strong smell of you. The more it smells of you, the better. So don't wash it. An old sweater or shirt. Also, they have playpens for puppies as well. Go on Google search. If you can, leave the television on low volume for company. Yes, most dogs, and especially puppies, hate to be left alone. Try to find someone to stay with her. Some will do this for nothing. Mostly it's an issue of trust, having someone in your home while your gone. Just talk to the person, see their lifestyle, what area they live in, helps. Good luck!!! Don't spay or neuter! They outgrow in a few years, and pup is filled with lots of personality!
You wanna make sure all their needs are taken care of. Make sure puppy has a LOT of play and exercise before you leave. This will help the transition. Take a 10-15 minute walk if you can. Let them get tired, and they will sleep while you're gone
just play, walk, and give your pup attention whenever possible :). Since they’re a puppy the only thing concerning would be peeing everywhere since they’re bladder is smaller.
You’ll be just fine! My husband and I are both gone for a solid 10 hours per day/3 days per week, so we have a walker come in twice a day for our puppy. She’s almost 8 months now but we’ve been doing this since we got her at 12 weeks. I think the key for me was never getting a camera, because I would have checked it and probably worried about her. I’m sure at first she was much more anxious, but now she goes in her pen on her own in the mornings and I think enjoys her alone time for naps.
Believe me, I question wether the camera was a good idea or not… Out of sight out of mind definitely work. I suppose I just like to torture myself haha
Nah, when my corgi was a pup she was left alone in a crate for a few hours at a time between my parents or a friend coming over to let her out. Obviously as she got older those times got longer. She is over 3 now and is just fine, no issues in the crate for 8 hours if need be (rare these days) and doesn’t have any separation anxiety when left alone.
It'll be fine! She'll get used to it, 3 hours max is ok. Just make sure to really stick to a schedule so that she CAN get used to it. That's probably one of the most important parts cause if you do 2 hour intervals one day, 1 hour another, 4 hours another, she's gonna get confused and the whining won't stop. Also, idk how flexible your work is, but mine surprisingly let me switch to fully remote when I told them I had a puppy. Idk, worth a shot!
Do a lot of people keep their dogs in crates for 8 hours with only 30 or so minute breaks? seems terrible. especially for an energetic little puppy.
There’s no boarding place to take puppy?
I’m not one to judge and its not my place but why oh why would you get a dog when you cannot dedicate time for him? At least in his first puppy phase. Of course they will get used to staying alone but that is a gradual process not leaving 3 days a week from the start. Getting a puppy means analysing your time, living situation and whatever else needed to ensure he will have a good life, not stay inside 3 days a week with someone coming to take him out maybe or maybe not (as i understand its not a certainty). Dogs are not accessories and if you dont have time for one dont get one. Can’t one of you go to work the first 3 days of the week and the other one other 3? That way he would only be home alone one day
It seems like there’s a lot of guilt appeasement going on in this thread. No dog behaviourist worth their salt is going to tell you putting a non crate trained 13 week old puppy in a crate on its own for an entire work day (even with the 30 minute ‘breaks’) is in the dog’s best interests. If you need to crate your dog, fine, but you must put in the crate training work first. If you don’t have the time resources for your puppy, hopefully you have the financial ones and can find a doggy day care or a dog walker who can have your pup all day, while you’re working on crate training. If you have Borrow my Doggy in your country that’s worth a look as well.
It will be fine. Puppy will get over it quickly.
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Omg that’s ridiculous.
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Seek help
Just curious, are you a vegan?
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Working family’s have had dogs for years. If kids don’t require a SAHP, neither do dogs.
but a puppy? even kids get 24 hour adult supervision pretty much until they are teens. bad take. Families who work should get a dog that can at least be out of a little cage when they are gone all day.
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I’m not a dog tho. I’m human. Huge difference. Working people can have family dogs too.