IS our schedule gonna work?

CGillock · #1 07-18-2009, 10:14 AM

OKay so I know I'm being a forum hog, but I'm not a patient person and since we aren't brining Piper home for 2 more weeks I've been analyzing every little detail. I'm gone at work about 9 hours during the day, but my husband works nights so He's here all day just sleeping until the afternoon. Piper will be 10 weeks old when we get her. I will take her out, feed her, take her out again before I leave for work in the morning. My husband will take her out again before he goes to bed. He usually gets up for a bit around noon, so another feeding and potty. He's awake for the day around 3 PM, play and potty. I get home around 6, more play and feed and potty. and we're both awake until about 10 when my husband leaves for work. So basically someone is home with the puppy all the time.The puppy will be in the crate when we are'nt with him until he's older. Do you think this is a good schedule? We were turned down by a rescue group because they said that having the dog in the crate that much was cruel. When I tried to explain that it would only be until we could trust the dog roaming free in the house, they blew me off. I dunno maybe they don't believe in crate training? They seemed to want like a stay at home mom...I had been thinking our situation was good cause we're home all the time even if we are sleeping during some of it. Was I wrong?

sargboxerluv · #2 07-18-2009, 11:40 AM

If I'm understanding your schedule, during the day the pup would be crated for 3 hours at a time. At only 10 weeks, it might not be able to wait that long to go potty. It might be better to have a kitchen area to use and just gate it off. The thing with crate training is, you don't want the puppy to have to potty in it, once they start that, it is very hard to break the habit. Make sure the puppy has just pottied before you put it in the crate or gated off area and that it has played enough to make it tired.

I hope your husband knows when he gets up around noon he will not be able to go right back to bed, he will have to play with the puppy and get him tired out. I've also been told 3 to 4 small meals a day work best for puppies.

While I'm not knocking all rescues, some of them have some real wackdoos working there. I was denied by one because I live by a road, the morning I was supposed to pick the dog up! I guess I'm supposed to live in the middle of nowhere.

CGillock · #3 07-18-2009, 03:47 PM

ah yea forgot that part, Yes we are planning on having a playpen in the kitchen in fact we've been putting off buying an island so we'de have enough room. We're gonna put some "weewee" pads in there in the hopes that if she has to go she'll go there...housetraining might take bit longer but...oh well. Also Instead of buying one which she'll outgrow in a few months we're borrowing one from my sister-in-law who has a pug, she doesn't use it much unless someone is watching the pug while she's out of town. Glad to hear I'm not the only person turned down for a stupid reason.

ehayes21 · #4 07-18-2009, 07:01 PM

What time do you leave for work? Will the pup sleep in it's crate at night? Regardless if someone is home with him during the day, it doesn't really do any good if that person is sleeping. Maybe I didn't read your post correctly, but to me it still sounds like a lot of alone time for the pup.

**Jan** · #5 07-19-2009, 07:15 AM

I think your schedule sounds not bad. I would definitely try putting him in an exercise pen instead of crate, when your husband is home. Maybe in the crate at night in your bedroom with you. I think your pup will actually be alone less than with most people who work all day.

Good luck!

CGillock · #6 07-19-2009, 02:22 PM

Yeah we've already got the crate set up right next to the bed. THe other thought I had was we have a garage attached to the house with a door that goes into our back yard (fenced) we had thought about gating off part of the garage so the puppy could hang out in there or in the back yard. I don't want to leave the puppy outside all the time as it is pretty hot still. I'm in colorado so not much humidity but still in the 80's. Our back yard is shaded most of the day and the garage stays pretty cool. At the breeders they have access to part of the kitchen and the back yard through-out the day. Would this be a good idea? I'm just nervous about leaving her on her own that much.

johann · #7 07-19-2009, 09:32 PM

I wouldn't leave her with access to being outdoors unattended. Too many things can go wrong in that situation: getting out of the fence, eating something poisionous, digging up the yard and getting causing trouble, someone stealing her, etc. It seems like the amount she'd be in her crate/playpen is not excessive (IMO). If she can't go 3 hrs without peeing, your husband could always get up after 2 hrs and let her out to just pee and then put her back to bed.

We had a pretty similar schedule when Johann was younger. Hubby would get up at 6 with the dog, he'd be out and playing until around 7:30. Then I'd get home around 8 am, let him play and be out for around 45 minutes. Then he'd sleep in his crate until noon-ish, I'd get up and bring him out to pee/poop. We'd usually go for a short (5-10 minute) walk down the road, then he'd go back into his crate until around 5 pm. Then he'd be out with myself and/or hubby until bedtime around 10:30 or 11.

Johann is still happy to sleep in his crate or on the couch until around noontime (when I get up on days off, or get up to let him out on days that I work). I make sure he gets some decent playtime and running around beforehand though. I can't figure out how we'd do it if we both worked the same shift (Hubby works 8 am to 4:30 pm, I work 7 pm to 7 am).

Congrats on the new addition.

lewrox · #8 07-20-2009, 05:44 PM

just wanted to chime in here, we have a year old and have had her since she was 8 weeks. We leave her in the crate for 4 hours at a time and always have. She never once had an accident. With my experience it seems as though your schedule will work fine. Roxie slept A LOT as a puppy and was happy to go in her crate, she still is. A puppy will adjust to you and your husbands schedule. That being said, your husband may have a few sleepless days for a little while. Now we do an hour walk in the morning, about 20 minutes at lunch and and hour before bed. She also gets lots of playtime when we get home from work, dog park or whatever suites us for that day. Good luck, try not to worry! Easy for me to say now but i was a wreck at first!