crate training while working

brebre432 · 02-05-2010, 01:00 PM

Hey Guys-

Wanted to get your thoughts, I just got a puppy and I have had a week off vacation intially, and crate training has been going well, but I work as a nurse 3-1130, and until she can be trusted alone in the house, she will need to be crated during this time. I am able to come home for dinner, and thats it. How do I continue crate training and be able to leave my pup alone during work hours?

Thanks so much.

Bree

DJEtzel · 02-05-2010, 01:04 PM

you'll have to have yourself or someone come home every two or three hours at least to let her out or you'll expect to have accidents every night and won't get very far with crate training.

MarcusDolby · 02-05-2010, 01:39 PM

Yep, DJ is right. She needs to go out every 2-3 hours or so. Assuming she's about 2 months old, she can only hold it for about 3 hours max. I currently have a 3 month old puppy and work full time so I feel your pain. I come home once during the late morning and then I have my sister-in-law come in the afternoon. She's never in her crate for more than 3.5 hours.

momtoharley · 02-05-2010, 02:18 PM

This will vary by the puppy. Our pup could go long periods (6 hours during day, 9 hours at night) at 7 1/2 weeks without peeing. He had access to the laundry room, but never peed while we were gone. If you can't have someone walk him every 2 hours, you might want to put the cratein a small room that is blocked off from the rest of the house (kitchen, laundry, bathroom). Leave the crate open and cover the floor with pee pads. Once we knew our pup could go long periods without peeing, we went back to putting him in his crate (being in the open room seemed to get him to excited/barky...did better in the crate). I work 3 days a week, and we have a dog walker come midway through the day, to spend about an hour with him.

Purley · 02-05-2010, 02:24 PM

I have shih-tzus and small dogs are a lot harder to train the big ones and also in my experience they can't hold it so long.

I did the same as MomtoHarley. I had an ex pen and I put newspapers down when I had to go to work. Once they got older and could wait longer, then I put them in a crate. If you let the puppy poop and pee in the crate, you will come home to a stinky poopy puppy and if he gets used to it - you won't be able to stop him messing in the crate because he has been trained to go there.

Robrowe · 02-05-2010, 02:36 PM

Puppy proof room for extended time away. Laundry room, bathroom etc. Expect to find suprises though. Puppy cant hold it that long yet. Make sure its not a carpeted area and you use an enzyme type cleaner to clean up after.

Labsnothers · 02-05-2010, 04:21 PM

I am a big believer in crates, but hate to see any dog left over 4-5 hours. If you can't make it back to give it a mid day break, see if a neighbor or professional dog walker can. Doggy day care is a great idea too.

The "shut the puppy in a safe room" is a fallacy. Very few houses even have a safe room. How many of us have a room with a hard surfaced floor and nothing else? Most rooms have electrical cords to chew if nothing else. In addition to destroying anything a bored puppy finds to chew, it may choke or have intestinal blockage from the pieces. I had a friend that left her dog in a "safe" room. It ate a hole in the floor covering. The safe rooms fail to give the dog the comfort of the enclosed space their instinct requires. Nor do they restrict activity extending the time the dog can go without relieving itself.

GypsyJazmine · 02-05-2010, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Labsnothers

I am a big believer in crates, but hate to see any dog left over 4-5 hours. If you can't make it back to give it a mid day break, see if a neighbor or professional dog walker can. Doggy day care is a great idea too.

The "shut the puppy in a safe room" is a fallacy. Very few houses even have a safe room. How many of us have a room with a hard surfaced floor and nothing else? Most rooms have electrical cords to chew if nothing else. In addition to destroying anything a bored puppy finds to chew, it may choke or have intestinal blockage from the pieces. I had a friend that left her dog in a "safe" room. It ate a hole in the floor covering. The safe rooms fail to give the dog the comfort of the enclosed space their instinct requires. Nor do they restrict activity extending the time the dog can go without relieving itself.

We have always had a puppy safe room...You dedicate it to the dogs & have nothing in there that needs plugged in...One can always in case the cords in special materials that are made for jsut that also...It is only a fallacy if you are unwilling to truly puppy proof the room.

DJEtzel · 02-06-2010, 12:11 AM

I have a lot of rooms in my house with no cords or anything to chew. Bathrooms for example. All tile floor. cabinets to chew on, and walls, sure, but if the dog's going to do that, i'll deal. put the toilet seat down and it's set. I have no cords for anything in my bathroom and we have sliding shower doors. :P The laundry rooms are the same way except they have a washer, dryer, and freezer in them.

Kyllobernese · 02-06-2010, 01:18 PM

With a small breed dog, I would get an exercise pen and leave them in there during the day with newspaper, food and water, if you have to leave them alone all day. Bigger breed puppies would be a lot harder to keep in a pen but usually a bathroom or laundry room can be safely puppy proofed.

Labsnothers · 02-06-2010, 03:40 PM

Well maybe you can clear everything out of a room. My daughter once left her little terrier mix puppy in the bathroom. We went out to dinner and when we came back, the room was shambles.

DJEtzel · 02-06-2010, 11:56 PM

Well if you leave toilet paper lying around and blowdryer cords hanging down with towels and bottles everywhere, that's gonna happen. It's assinine to think a puppy wouldn't take advantage of such things.

GreyWolf11 · 02-08-2010, 06:02 PM

Puppy proof a room. It is unhealthy in many ways to leave a canine unattended for longer than 4 hours at a time. I would hire a dog walker if you can at least for once a day and/or puppy proof a room in your house with a designated waste area so he/she may relieve themself if needed. Your dog will be resentful and may have behavior issues if left everyday for that amount of time. Not to mention the crate trainging and most training for that matter will be much harder. That is your responsibility as a pet owner to be able to care for your puppy. Please try not to keep him crated for periods longer than four hours. Imagine holding in your waste for over four hours and add onto that the fear that if you do, you will be punished for it

Puppies younger than four months should have access to water at all times of the day.

Labsnothers · 02-08-2010, 06:50 PM

Before I retired, we frequently left our puppies in the crate most of the day with a break at lunch time. They did just fine, most going on to work as service dogs. I don't see a problem as long as you don't leave it over 4-5 hours at a time.

DJEtzel · 02-08-2010, 11:16 PM

Just because a dog can go on to be a service dog doesn't mean it was unhappy or stressed being kept in a crate all day. No way to let a dog live his life.

Labsnothers · 02-09-2010, 07:26 AM

In your opinion. In the real world, people have no choice but to leave their dog behind when they work. Those that understand dogs, understand the dog is better off in a crate than loose.

DJEtzel · 02-09-2010, 09:42 AM

I understand dogs and IMO understand that the dog is better off in a home with people that are there more frequently and can care for it more often. I would hate to have been left in my crib when I was a baby while my mother went to work, wouldn't you?