# Feeling guilty for leaving puppy alone...



## tess and toby (Oct 12, 2012)

My boyfriend and I recently got a 4 month old Pitbull/Dachshund mix. We keep him crated when we aren't home, and usually it's only for a few hours tops. There's one day a week where we both work a full day (him from 6am-6pm and me from 8-5). I'm able to go home during my lunch and let him outside and give him a little attention, but it's only for about 15 minutes before I have to get back to work. I feel so guilty leaving him there alone for the whole day  I'd like to look into doggie daycare eventually, but he still needs his last round of shots so that's not quite an option yet. Plus, doggie day care is expensive! Basically, is a puppy alright to spend one day home alone in his crate with a potty break?


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

tess and toby said:


> My boyfriend and I recently got a 4 month old Pitbull/Dachshund mix. We keep him crated when we aren't home, and usually it's only for a few hours tops. There's one day a week where we both work a full day (him from 6am-6pm and me from 8-5). I'm able to go home during my lunch and let him outside and give him a little attention, but it's only for about 15 minutes before I have to get back to work. I feel so guilty leaving him there alone for the whole day  I'd like to look into doggie daycare eventually, but he still needs his last round of shots so that's not quite an option yet. Plus, doggie day care is expensive! Basically, is a puppy alright to spend one day home alone in his crate with a potty break?


Pup will survive fine, now we got to get rid of your guilt, that's a more personal problem. Hopefully you will survive too. Pup is safe in crate and so is your home.


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

I know how you feel. But, wvasko is right, the puppy is safe and so is your home. There is so much, even when we think our home is fairly puppy proof, that our puppies can get into. So, when you're not there to keep him safe, the crate is there to keep him safe. 

Besides, puppies sleep A LOT! In fact, adult dogs mostly just sleep when their people aren't there to interact with them. So, if your little guy is going to sleep anyway, it might as well be in the crate where he's safe.


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## Dray0n (Oct 7, 2012)

I am in a similar situation but between the wife and I we are able to come home within 3 hours of his last interaction to let him out to do his business.

He was very upset the first few days but has gotten used to it. He sleeps a ton as his body is growing.


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## luv2byte (Oct 21, 2009)

Hubby was curious as to what our pets do during the day so we got an Internet cam. Our pets are not crated. Skyler didn't move from his window perch, not once. Chloe only moved from one end of loveseat to the other. No playing, no chewing, nothing, just mellow & sleeping the whole time.

Your 15min allows for time to potty & stretch. Your pup will be fine. As for daycare, ours is $20 per dog per day. Worth it. Ours go 1-3 days a week, they LOVE daycare.

We are at my brither's today, here is a pic from the home cam...exactly where they usually are.


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

My dog sleeps about 20 hours per day during the work week. I train him in 10 min. intervals. More intervals when I have more time.


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## RitaNg123 (Sep 27, 2012)

I've read that puppies need around 19 hours of sleep in a day, which is reassuring. I often feel like I am abandoning my puppy when I go to work, and feel bad for her. I sometimes think that the reason she sleeps so much, is only because she has nothing better to do when I am away. 

With that said, I know she needs her rest. On the weekends she is rarely confined other than when she sleeps at night. I feel bad about her being gated all week, so the weekends, I try to make up for it by having her out and about all the time. But even still, we will play for 3-4 hours and then she is exhausted and will pass out anywhere she finds a cold surface. Somehow I feel less guilty if she is tired and sleeps in random places, vs. sleeping in the gated washroom because she has no choice. 

I really need to get a grip. When I nap (which is rare since getting her), I will bring her kennel upstairs and put her in there so that she can be close to me. Who knows, maybe she'd prefer to be in her gated area downstairs with room to move around in, but I have this idea in my head that she would rather be close to me, in a smaller space, than in the washroom by herself. I also let her come into the washroom when I take a bath vs. confining her. I can't tell if I am creating a clingy monster, or if this is good bonding for us. Yesterday I went to the mall for 1.5-2 hrs and it was the first time I had "me" time since getting her. It was fantastic and I shopped up a storm! Aaaandddd, I got to see that there are people who are way worse than me. For the first time in my life, I saw a little dog in an enclosed stroller in the mall. I did a triple take and thought, "omg, wtf???" and then began to feel a lot better about myself. LOL


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## Hambonez (Mar 17, 2012)

I'm sure he's fine, but I know the feeling. I feel guilty when I leave my dog for too long, though I'm sure he's just sleeping the entire time. (Heck he sleeps a lot when I AM home!) Could you hire a dog walker to come in that one day to break up the day more? It might reduce your guilt some, give the pup more play time and another bathroom break, and you wouldn't have to worry about daycare germs.


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## franciswee (Sep 4, 2012)

that's very reassuring, thanks for sharing that!


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## tess and toby (Oct 12, 2012)

Thanks for all the reassurance  I feel a lot better about leaving him alone now. And he definitely seems to be getting used to it.


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## hikeon3 (Oct 17, 2012)

Yup y'all are fine. My wife and I have a 9 week old pup and he spends 7am to noon alone and about 12:15pm to 5pm alone, all in his exercise pen. We try to make up for it with lots and lots of tug-rope and short training sessions in our gated off kitchen. Last night we watched 2 episodes of Homeland while I was in the kitchen tugging the puppy back and forth. He konked out hard in my lap after that.


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