# A puppy when you work full-time?



## barbiexo21 (Apr 2, 2009)

Hello everyone,

Im not a new dog owner as I currently have a female Corgi, but I got her when she was 6 so she was already trained and house broken and everything. Im hoping to get a puppy within the next few months but it will be my first time with a puppy. My main question is, how do you guys do it- with potty training and everything, when you work out of the home. I work 5 days a week so Im not sure how I would work it out with trying to raise a puppy. Any ideas would be great.

Thanks!


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

You'll need help or trips home during the day.

Puppies need to go outside frequently - especially if you ever hope to housetrain them. A 2-month-old pup needs to go about every two hours, for example.

Molly is the first pup I've had since I was a kid and she was about 14 weeks when we got her. I generally gravitate toward adult dogs for precisely the reason I mentioned.


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## Erick Aguilar (Jun 9, 2008)

Yeah.. if you work full time and YOU are the one meant to train the new puppy, it won't work at all.

How many hours are you away? is there someone else in the house who could train the pup, even if it's YOUR responsability? 
If you don't have someone else at home... what do you do to your corgi when you are away?

Have you started to think what breed of pup do you want, or if you are going to rescue?

If you work that much, 5 days a week, for say an 8 hour run, i'd pass on the pup.
Or you can wait and get the pup when you are on long vacations, have it trained in that time and have it ready to be able to be left home alone 4 hours, then you come home, feed, let him/her out of the crate, play a bit, go back to work, and them come home in the night to repeat the process.
That would be every single day, except weekends.


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## Binkalette (Dec 16, 2008)

What most people do is take the puppy to potty before they leave, and either come home half way through the day to let it out, or have someone (a family member, neighbor or friend) let them out, and then again when they come home.. It's not -ideal- to get a puppy when you work full time, but many many people do it successfully


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## KMaryP (Mar 14, 2009)

I discovered that I couldn't do it. I work from home, so I thought it would be a breeze to train my two. The problem is, I'm actually _working _ - I get too engrossed in what I'm doing to realize they're about to potty in their pen. I also found that I didn't have the time nor patience to work on their training in the evenings. That's when I wanted to snuggle and play with them! In short, training wasn't going well for me and it was all my fault.

My solution may seem extreme, but train and board was my only hope. I took them to a well respected trainer in my area where they'll stay for 2 weeks. He teaches housetraining, loose leash walking, sit, down, and a few other things. I miss them terribly, but I know it's best for all of us.

ETA: There are follow up training sessions that I have to participate in for 3 weeks after their boarding ends, plus "homework". I just didn't want to give the impression that there's no effort at all on the owner's part.


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## Westhighlander (Sep 28, 2007)

It can be done but it's not easy. You need to have a plan for the first few months until your dog gets into a set routine. Have a good plan of how you will deal with her having to pee/poop. Expect to get up early and spend every night training. I'm a survivor and it was well worth it. I'll do it again someday too.


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## Sammgirl (Feb 6, 2009)

I don't know what your situation is, but I'd like to throw in my two cents with this: 

First off, most people work full time. If you didn't work full time, you couldn't afford to live, right? That's the same boat I'm in. 

I don't know how people who don't work full time can afford dogs, but I also know that everyone's situation is different. 

Most people also don't get to work from home. If you do, you're very lucky and I'm jealous!! 

Anyway, where there's a will there's a way in regards to puppy raising. 

1) Hire a bonded dog walker
2) Doggy day care
3) Come home several times during the day
4) Have good friends come and check on the puppy

When I get a puppy, I'm going to utilize all of these options. 

However, I am also not doing this alone. I have a dedicated partner with a good, flexible job who will also be assisting in this endevor, plus we have good friends who live VERY close to us and who own their own business and work from home. 

PLUS, we currently have a dog right now who is older and very settled. So, it's not like the puppy will be in a one dog house hold. 

People may say it's not ideal, but I think it's a great way to socialize the dog while its younger. 

YOu'll also want to make sure that you get into a puppy preschool ASAP so that you bond with your puppy and learn how to train it from a very early age. 

I also suggest going as far as beginner obdedience and agility. 

If you are willing to be a very active puppy owner, y ou can make it work. But, you have to realize that your free time will be puppy-time.


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

Essentially, raising a puppy is a second, full-time job (that doesn't pay well, at least monetarily.)

Sure, it can be done, but it's a major commitment and, if it doesn't work out, you're not allowed to quit.


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## BigBlackDogGal (Mar 16, 2009)

If it's possible, I would recommend taking a few weeks of your vacation time when you bring the pup home. That way you can concentrate on getting the puppy settled in (and survive those first few sleepless nights with the crying). After that if you can make a stop home during the day or maybe hire a dog walker to come let the pup out you should be fine. I always feel guilty for leaving my dog home when I go to work all day, but I have yet to meet someone who is able to stay home 24 hours a day to entertain and care for their dog!


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## poodleholic (Mar 15, 2007)

I live alone and work full time. I brought my puppy to work with me. If this isn't possible, then think in terms of who could come to your home to take your puppy out to potty, and spend a little time. Puppies and adult dogs sleep a LOT. A puppy, of course, will need to eliminate more frequently than an adult, and needs contact as well. Once my puppy was housetrained, and older, she was able to go longer, comfortably, between potty times. I sometimes left her with my daughter, and when that wasn't feasable, I had a trusted dog walker come in.


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## im_nice1 (Mar 12, 2009)

hi, i can only talk from personal experience! My husband and I recently acquired a 4 month old puppy and would not have been able to manage if i were not at home all day. (as things are we still find it difficult to handle the puppy). On the other hand, I have 2 single friends who got small puppies and by coming home during their lunch break and taking them to obedience classes etc they raised wonderful dogs (one of them also found his future wife at the dog park )

so I guess, its tough to raise a puppy while working fulltime but not unmanageable!


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## jskd82 (Apr 2, 2009)

I'm kind of in the same boat here. We just adopted a puppy from our humane society and will be picking her up on Saturday. Problem is I work full time, 13 hour shifts three times a week. Yeah I do get 4 days off but during that three days that I work it will be difficult. My job is about a 50 minute drive away from home, so coming home is not an option I will be crating her and maybe I will be able to take her with me to work as that will probably be my only option.


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## JColt (Jan 11, 2009)

Well what I do is this. I puppy proofed the kitchen. I put her crate in there but leave door open and put a good gate in entry way. I used child locks on bottom cabinets. Not ideal but much better than crating 13 hours! Put down puppy pad or newspaper. Will take you longer to house break but it worked well with last 2 dogs. By the time they were 8 or 9 months old they could last before I came home and let them out. Leave a radio on also.


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## Mdawn (Mar 3, 2007)

When I brought Uallis home, when he was 10 wks, I was a college student AND I worked. Also, my boyfriend was a college student AND he worked as well. We managed it. It may be difficult, but its definitely doable. 

We would try to get someone to come to our house to let Uallis out in the middle of the day. If it wasn't possible for someone to come, then either bf or I would come home briefly to let him out. *There was no way that we could have managed it without a crate. The crate is a lifesaver in so many areas of puppy raising. *

Also, its getting close to when school is going to be let out for summer. So there are many teenagers that can be "employed" to come and let the dog out for a little extra spending money. Got any nieces, nephews, cousins, that are maybe old enough to be trusted to come and let the pup out for some cash?  Even maybe asking some neighbors that are stay at home or work from home to help. Also, planning to take a few days off when you get your pup can be helpful, so this could be a good time to use some vacation, personal days as well to get your pup settled in and adjusted as well as giving you some time to get him into a routine, which will make it easier to predict when he's going to need to be let out. For example, Uallis was on a feeding schedule, he ate at the same times everyday; so I had a pretty good idea when he'd need to go out during the day and I'd try my best to get someone here to let him out around those times, or come home to do it. 

When they are very young puppies, it is stressful and difficult to manage but don't let it throw you off the idea of getting a puppy. It really is doable. Also, it doesn't last long and before you know it, they will be able to hold it for the entire work day. It wasn't all that long before Uallis could hold it throughout the night in his crate and it wasn't that long until he could hold it while I was gone even though when I was home and he was out of his crate, he'd still need to go out pretty frequently because he was a lot more active then with running around and playing with me; which stimulated his need to go out more.

Also, looking to getting an older puppy whose control is a little more developed could be another alternative.


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## Beki659 (Sep 6, 2008)

Is adopting another older dog out of the question? Because, as we all know, there are a lot of dogs that need to be adopted. I know that a puppy seems like a lot of fun, but this may not be the best time in your life for you to get one.

Also, you might consider going to a rescue and finding an older puppy who is mostly ready to go with the potty training, and might be able to hold it for longer.


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## Chris101 (Apr 6, 2009)

I thought I'd jump in here to tell you about an incredible kennel/boarding camp in my area called Dogs at Camp Cookstown. It's a 45 acre property and my dogs have tons of place to run around when we send them there. Check them out and you'll see what I mean. Very high class place! They also have day camp where they will pick up and drop off - makes things a lot easier and you know your dog is well taken care of


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## scott.teece (Apr 8, 2009)

Hi there, I am right in the middle of this experience myself. We just brought home a 3 1/2 month old puppy on Thursday. I consider myself very lucky because she has not woken up during the night once and has only had two accidents, which were on the first day. But I did take off Friday and spent 3 days with her, getting her used to the house and our routine. Fortunately, she also spends time in her crate by her own choice.

I'm basically a rookie myself, but unless you can come home yourself, I would DEFINITELY recommend adopting a dog at the humane society. Puppies are cute and all, but most of the time you can acquire a dog without too many issues who is already housetrained and will sleep soundly.

Right now my routine, is walking her in the morning, feeding her, coming back in the afternoon for lunch and another walk and some food. Then in the evening my wife takes her on a walk/run. Even with all that, she has energy to spend, but she has been sleeping through the night so I'll take it.


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