Urgent advice: Cavaliers left home for how long?

[Smirkle1]

So, we're supposed to pick up our puppy (8 weeks) in two days. I've been searching the Internet but can't seem to find a situation that quite matches mine. By the way, he's 3/4 cavalier, 1/4 cocker spaniel (male).

I work at a church and my paid hours are only 15/week although I do a bit more than that. The church has agreed that for the first three months I can work from home more so my schedule would be, off Monday and Tuesday, go to work Wednesday for about four hours (with 1/2 hr- 1.25 hr commute each way), off Thursday, work Friday night (around 6-10), off Saturday and work Sunday night (7-9 plus 20 min commute each way). In addition there would often be meetings Monday night but my husband would be home for those.

I'm already arranging friends that could stop in half way through on Wednesdays for the first three months as I've heard puppies can be left for their amount of months plus 1. After three months (he'll be five months old) could I stop having this person come in every week?

I've read such mixed messages on here and on other sites. Is this okay or not? We would be keeping him in the kitchen with two baby gates on top of each other so that our two cats can't jump it and get to him. We'd have toys and an open crate in their if he wanted to rest. Obviously food and water. And since he's paper trained by the breeder we would probably leave paper in a corner just in case he needed it.

Thoughts??

[cpell009]

When I first got Lady I took 3 weeks off to be with her, then came home at lunch until she was about 6 months old. I used to crate them but leaving them alone all day I didn't feel this was the best option. Lady now gets the kitchen with a bed and some toys, and Gracie gets run of the apartment. I am gone 5 days a week for about 7-8 hours. I walk them every morning and every evening. Personally, I think this situation is fine but I do not feel comfortable leaving them for more than 9 hours. I don't like to go out on work nights since they're home alone all day I like to spend as much time with them as possible when I'm not working.

I used to use the puppy pads but by the time they are around 5-6 months they can go the day without needing to pee. The only time they've ever had an accident is if they've been sick. If I had to work longer hours or had a long commute, I would hire someone to walk them in the day time but I think my current situation works just fine.

Read the section on preparing for your puppy, there is really good advice on how to set up a pen-area for your puppy so they can't get into anything. Like I said, I use my kitchen and have a baby gate so she can't get out. Also, doggy daycare is a good option too if you can afford it and if there is a good one in your area.

[MomObvious]

Well, I only leave my dogs in their crates when I leave them. When I was a child we had a dog eat a while Halloween bucket full of candy from the top of the fridge (it was a small breed dog too). Also I have heard of puppies eating kitchen cabinets, just saying.

I think you have it covered. Personally, and this is just me I would want to get away from the paper potting as quickly as possible. I just think training a dog to potty on paper or those pads then switching to outside is just an extra step that is not necessary. I have read some dog training/ how to housebreak articles that specifically recommend this method however in my experience I just do not understand it. Why add another step won't that make the whole process longer???? I think leaving a 2 month old puppy 2 and a half hours is alright. You can increase the time as he gets older, you will know when the timing is right.

[Nicki]

I personally do not feel that ANY age of dog should be left more than 5 hours without the opportunity to toilet.
Also Cavaliers are people dogs and want to be with you, so I would not recommend anyone working full time to take one on.
They may cope OK (with a companion) but you do have to think about the future, an older dog is not going to be able to hold itself for 7-8 hours, Cavaliers are also prone to many different health conditions which require regular management, so you do need to be prepared to be flexible with arrangements.


Please download the free Ian Dunbar puppy guides, he suggests a very good set up for managing puppies http://www.dogstardaily.com/free-downloads

[Karlin]

I think your work schedule and hours will work around a puppy especially as you have plans to have someone come in on your longer day. I also agree with Nicki that I wish people who do work all day for a full workday would consider whether this gives much quality of life to a dog left alone day in and day out. There are, even with a full work day, ways to address this however -- I'd always advocate the dog either going to doggy daycare or a friend or whatever for a couple of the days each week so that they are not doing 5 days of 7 alone for 7-8 hours.

I think your basic idea sounds OK and the Ian Dunbar set-up is very good to explore. Do be aware that housetraining gets more difficult and takes longer when young puppies are left alone and don't have someone there to reinforce going outside so you'll have to revise expectations on this and manage the issue over time. The Dunbar set-up does to some degree help address this as best as can be done.

[Smirkle1]

Thank you everyone for your responses! We brought milo home two days ago and he's doing wonderfully with that. He hasn't made any accidents in his crate, only used his paper one time, and goes outside without a problem! The only problem we are having is with severe separation anxiety. I can't even go to the other side of the baby gate without him flipping out. We're working on it and using every trick we hear about. There has been a little progress (he settles down occasionally after about 10-15 mins of losing his mind some times) but the longest we've let him cry it out has been about 30-40 minutes of straight barking and howling. He just loves us way too much (best problem to have).