I think we lucked out with our little girl. She stays home by herself for 7 hours 4 days a week. She is now 7 months old and we got her when she was 10 weeks old. We put a kennel off the back door with a doggy door so she could go outside to the restroom when she wanted and be in the house the rest of the time. She has full access to one bedroom, the living room, and kitchen. She does wonderful. We have had no problems at all!

I got Wally in August and was able to stay home with him for just over two weeks. Since then, I have a dog walker that comes to visit him twice a day - plays with him or walks him, whichever. Once he got all of his shots, she often brings another puppy over for playtime. It gives me much peace of mind to know he is OK and that I don't need to worry about rushing home right at 5 o'clock. I am gone generally from 8 to 6 pretty much each work day.

[Note - she has been my dog walker for 8 years and has had a key to my house the entire time. I trust her entirely. There are VERY good people out there!]

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Missing my sweet Howie every day. See you at the bridge, my love.

I think a dog walker would be your best bet, when I got Murphee at 8 weeks he relieved himself every hour. My husband and I both work but our shifts our slightly different, he's only crated in the bathroom for 5 hrs tops a day. Never had an accident while being crated. Some dogs just won't eliminate in there sleeping area. Maybe there is a teenager that baby sits in the area that would be able to drop by after school, much cheaper than a walker plus schools let out around 2:30 in my area.

Thanks all who have responded to this thread! My fears have been calmed down greatly reading your posts, and I appreciate that.

Crate training was a definite from the get-go, and I have already purchased a Midwest Life Stages crate with a divider as pr our breeder's recommendation in her Puppy Preparedness packet she gave out

We're definitely going with the dog sitter, and in addition to interviewing people who have local businesses in our area (and they are insured and bonded), our breeder also offered to get in touch with a couple people she knows very well in our area, so I am hopeful that we find someone we like and know will treat our puppy well (and our home with respect) soon!

We had a fenced in area in our yard where our back door was with a doggie door. We keep the area enclosed when they are little with baby gates and play pen gate inside the door when we were not home and they never had any accidents in the house....

For anyone who's done this, what kinds of toys did you leave with your dog?

I stuff a puppy kong with carrots and PB and apples and kibble, or half a frozen banana. He also gets his kong wubba, a Nyla bone, a bully stick and whatever his favorite unsupervised toy is that week.

We run him ragged for two hours before I leave for work, so he spends 75% of his time sleeping.


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Hello & congratulations on your new puppy. I have a nursing colleague who has just got her second puppy (black Lab) a couple of weeks ago, & she works eight hour duties, & the hospital we work at is a twenty mins drive from her home. She recently lost her oldest Lab, so has got the new puppy to keep the new puppy of 18 months ago, company. She leaves them in a room with a babygate & seems to work well for her.

Although I am a forty mins drive from where I work, I chose to do only afternoon/ evening duties, so that there is just four hours from the time I leave for work, until when my husband arrives home from his work, so that works very well for us. I initially took two weeks annual leave for the puppy's for two weeks with us, but as it turned out, he has been with us for eleven weeks & I am still off work, due to a back injury at work three weeks before we got him. So, I have been at home with our puppy since his arrival, but I am hoping to return to work in the New Year after surgery, & have an exercise pen set up in our dining area ...polished floorboards throughout our house too. Whenever we go out, the puppy goes into the ex pen, with water, kibble, toys, & a comfortable bed. Our older dog stays in that area also, when we go out, plus our indoor cats, but just the puppy in the ex pen. Initially, he would pee on the floor in the pen, but he quickly learnt to hold on for up to four hours & then rush outside to pee when we get home. Longer than that, & I would expect him to have to pee indoors. But peeing inside the pen area initially, did not interfere with his toilet training at all.

I see someone mentioned Day Care. My trainer runs a Doggy Daycare every weekday & the dogs have someone with them all the time ...I've seen that when I've been there for training. She has little pools, sandpits, ramps, etc set out in the large exercise area, & large indoor area if it rains or is cold ...dogs can run in & out as they please. Each dog has its own crate with personal bedding, for nap times. Small puppies are kept in another area for playing, & in crates in trainer's office for naps ...she toilet trains the puppies throughout the day, & plays with them. If you could find something like this in your area, or on your way to work, perhaps that would work for you, & the pup would have fun & company & training at the same time. Best to get references from people using it. Good luck, whatever you decide upon.

When I got my Brandy on a Friday night she was only 8 weeks old. The following Monday, I had to leave at 6:30 to go back to work.

Because I have a small house to begin with, I blocked off the kitchen for her to stay in. This is when Brandy learned to sleep on the windowsill:


Brandy stayed home alone for three months (after the first couple of weeks, she had full run of the house), then my mother would come over about noon and take Brandy to her house. After about six months I would bring Brandy over to mom's house first thing in the morning.

Brandy was never destructive and she was a well adjusted dog. Never any separation problems. I left a plate of peanut butter cookies on my coffee table and she never once took one.

My brother used to call Brandy a "Dud" because she was so well behaved and I believe that stemmed from her early months of being on her own.

At my mother's house, unless she was given specific permission she would not get on the furniture. This was something she taught herself.

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"All I need on my journey is a wooded path, a dog by my side to guide me home and a bench to sit upon when I get tired"

http://www.waynesdoghouse.com