People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

How do you guys do it? I want a puppy SO BAD and DH won't let me get one! He says its not fair that the puppy will be home alone all day....
Well, my argument is, I work regular hrs, he works different hours and sometimes leaves late and comes home earlier than me....if we get a puppy, we can crate train them during the day, and I can come home on my lunch break (20 mins away) to let the puppy out....

Any tips on how I can talk my hubby into letting us get a puppy?

Thank you!

Message edited 2/14/2006 1:12:13 PM.

Re: People who have puppies/dogs and work full-time...

if the pup would be left home alone for more than 4 hours you shouldnt get one. they cant be left for longer than that til they are an adult.


i, personally took time off of work to raise my first to pups.
(yes, thats right i was a SAHM to my pups!)

when i got Lukin i quit my job to tkaew care of him and i wasnt happy there anyway.

then we moved and i got Tinky so i prolonged finding a job until i felt she was comfortable enough to be left home alone.

dharma was already a trained adult when i got her and i was working two doors down from my apartment so i would stop in when we first got her a million times a day.


If i didnt do that i wouldnt have gotten tehm, i wouldnt know how else to do it.

Good Luck.

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

Well, I work a regular 8 hr day....so if I leave at 8:30 pm, come home for lunch at 1pm, then come home at 5:30 pm, is that really bad???

I appreciate the honesty.....

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

Lolita no offense, but not everyone can do that..take off from work or come home every 4 hrs.

What worked for Tom and I is that he came home at lunch and still does...luckily he works 20 min from our house.

For those that don't have that opportunity, consider getting a dog walker during the day. Until they are adults, it's not fair to leave them, that is true, but there have been cases where due to circumstances out of our control, we could not get home and Casey was in her crate for 8 hrs. Luckily, she was fine.

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

When we got Brodie, I would go home for lunch every day. So he would be with us until aroun 8:30, I'd be home by 12:30 until 1:30 for lunch and then one of us would be home by 5:30 at the latest.

He was fine. Once he got bigger we stopped going home at lunch time unless we wanted to or could.

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

I work from home 2 days a week and I'm in the city 3. Wed/Thurs my SIL comes by to feed him lunch and play for a bit and Friday either my mother stops by or he's home alone from 8-4:30 and he's fine.

I've left him several times for 7+hrs and he's been fine. He's gated in our kitchen, and cannot get into anything dangerous..we leave a bowl full of food, water, toys, weewee pads and his bed. I refused to leave him in a crate that long, no matter how well it works.

I don't know if I would leave him everyday for 8hrs now though, he's 16weeks ...I'd feel as though I was neglecting him.

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

Yeah, I have been doing a lot of research the past few weeks, and I contacted a breeder referral contact via the AKC who, in turn, put me in contact with a breeder on LI.
The thing is, this breeder has a puppy available NOW and I really want to go look at her, but DH won't even go to take a look. Obviously, you look, you fall in love, you end up buying...he knows me too well!
I have read that its best not to keep a puppy crated for more than 4 hrs at a time, but I think that it's definitely possible to either go home on lunch or have someone walk the dog during the day. I live in a co-op complex and there are plenty of retired people near me who wouldnt mind walking the puppy....
I just don't know how to make him agree. It's just so unfair that I have to have his approval! I feel like a child!

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

When I worked in the city DH came home everyday for lunch. Now the both of us come home at least once during the day.

Do you have any neighbors that you would trust to come in and feed/play with the dog for a little while?

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

When I got my baby, neither DH or I were able to come home during lunch. She is a minature Shihtzu, so we just put out wee wee pads and walked her every hour when we were home.

She got used to it really quickly and now she doesn't even go on the wee wee pads. When I stay home for work for more than two days at a time, she acts as if I am annoying her by being home...I guess I cut into her sleep time

Plus, she has her sister, my cat to play with.

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

When we got Bama he was 10 weeks old and already crate trained. DH and I staggered our work hours, so he would go in later than me, and I would get home earlier than him. He also came home every day at lunch time to let Bama out.

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

When DH got Meiko, he took off about a week or two (can't remember how long) to stay home with the puppy and begin housebreaking her. After that he would come home for lunch for the first few months or so.

When I got my last puppy (years and years ago and he is no longer with us) I also took off 2 weeks from work to train him.

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

Actually we didn't crate train any of our dogs. We got a baby gate and blocked them in the kitchen with newspaper. they got use to the routine of us coming home and letting them out. Training was pretty fast.

Don't get a puppy that is too young. 8-12 weeks is usually ok, but you may want to consider getting a puppy that is a little older. 1 hour to hold per 1 month of age is usually how it works as far as bladder is conserned. Maybe you would want to consider adopting an older dog that is already house broken.

Good luck!!!

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

I just kept bringing up the subject and kept talking about it and eventually he caved! Now we have 2 dogs! He loves them just as much as I do! I also kept showing him pictures of puppies!

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

We didn't crate train our puppies, we have baby gates up and keep them confined to the kitchen when we are out. One of the reasons we got the pups are because we work opposite schedules so the pups are only alone about 3 hours a day. We wouldn't have gotten them if they were going to be alone all day.

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

Ok, I spoke with Dh again...apparently its not the "home alone thing" its the "DH is gonna get stuck walking the dog in the middle of the night since we dont have a big backyard thing".....we have a small patio, but the dog walking area is literally 10 feet away!
It looks like he isn't gonna cave in until we get a house....

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

Two words will work one major miracle: DOGGIE DOOR. Best investment I ever made. It's easier than having a cat, and I have TWO DOGS! Be careful if you're trying to get a pet from a shelter or petfinder though. Some ppl will 'reject' you if you're not a SAHDM!

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

I wish I could get a doggie door, but that wouldnt work for me....not in a condo....

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

FH and I have three little toy breeds, and we both work full time in Manhattan. We got our first pup when we were both still in college, had more time on our hands then... when we started working, we got a 2nd one to keep our first one company
.. and now we have three.

I would suggest taking some time off for your puppy's first week home, train him/her properly, you should have no problem when you go back to work, since you can come home to let the puppy out during the day. Crate training is very essential and they love having a "house" to call their own, always keep the puppy confined to a designated area, not free run of the house when you are not home, puppy proof the designated area, of course.

Good luck!
(perhaps convince your hubby that you should get TWO pups, they they can keep each other company )

ETA: my doggies are trained to go on the wee wee pad/newspaper during the day, they go out once first thing in the morning, once when I get home and once before bed.

Message edited 2/14/2006 3:07:21 PM.

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

I wanted a puppy, a beagle like forever. DH wanted to see what NSAL had. I really wanted to go to a breeder, get the AKC papers and all of that stuff. Then, we went to NSAL and I fell in love. I saw this hound/Sheppard mix there who got hit by a car and NSAL was going to amputate her leg. When we adopted her she was approx. 3 years old and housebroken already. We were living in a one bedroom apartment at the time.
She had the surgery after we adopted her so she could recover in a loving home. She can run , walk, play, etc. like any other dog with four legs.
I write this LONG story to illustrate that maybe adopting a housebroken adult dog would be a great option for you.
DH & I wanted a puppy for a long time and we had no idea how we would train it with us both working full time. This worked out perfectly for us and our doggie Dixie. Good Luck! I hope you get your doggie soon.

Message edited 2/14/2006 5:02:32 PM.

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

we got reesie when she was 8 weeks old. my dh took off 2 weeks to be with her and then i took off about a week. i work only about 5 mins away, so for the first few months i came home every day at lunch. She is now 9 months old and does really well in her crate all day.

i dont know what i'd do w/out her now. she's my baby

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

Message edited 3/23/2007 8:12:56 PM.

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

How the heck did this get here 57 weeks later???

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

get a little dog and s/he can go on wee wee pads.

Re: People who have PUPPIES/DOGS and work full-time...

Umm I guess she got a dog, since it's in her avitar photo