sounds like your doing great.. I also work from home and need to be on the phone and the computer all during the day.. new pups are raised around that schedule crated when I am distracted not to able to supervise them. I break every hour to take everyone outside for a little run around the yard for 10 minutes and then back in.. As a pup gets older I can ask for a little more time between breaks and it's easily accepted that they know a break is coming as it always has.. My set schedule is only 4 to 5 hours and the rest of the time the dogs and pups are with me running around doing other things.. The adults are quiet when I'm on the phone,, there is a signal for that "On the phone" lol .. and the pup is quiet because the other dogs are quiet and content.. I also have the "it's not time yet" pointing to the wrist.... and the second they calm or pause then I say OK! it's time and we go out for a break even if it's not a schedule break.. easy to give the open hand signal for (5 more minutes) then we go.. and I am always truthful for wrapping up what I am doing and heading out the door with them ... have fun with your new little one...

 

I do - or did, my youngest is 6 months right now.

Frankly, I treat the dogs as if I work away from home. The only exception I made was when the pups were very young, they got out every couple of hours for potty trips. Otherwise their schedule was the same as if I left the house at 7:30 and got home at 5:30. That means crated, away from me and not in the room in which I work, from after breakfast at 7:30 until 12:30 (except those brief potty trips, that I handled the same as night - out, potty, back in), then an hour out for lunch and play, then back again until evening.

They get used to the routine, they don't expect fun to happen during the day and learn to turn off and settle. Once they do that, yeah, I'll switch it up occasionally but overall if I'm WORKING, it doesn't matter where I'm working from - I'm not on puppy duty, I'm doing my job. Evenings and lunch, and that's what they have and they need to get used to it sooner rather than later.

So my advice is to figure out a schedule and stick to it so the puppy knows what to expect. They'll adapt, really.

(All of mine, all 5, are now allowed out during the day. They all know, however, that if it's not lunch time or evening nothing fun is going to happen so they just settle and sleep. Or play amongst themselves or chew something. Even the 6 month old border collie.)

 

Thank you for these replies. It sounds like continuing to crate on a schedule that mimics actually leaving for work is advisable, and it makes sense that this will ultimately help him know what to expect in the future when he's a free agent in the house. As well, that I may look toward 6 months as a good age to consider trailing him loose in the office.

One foreseeable problem is that he doesn't spend any time in my office now, so when he is in there (like if I have to go down to print something in the evening) he is quite a bit more stimulated and curious about the environment. I wonder if it might also be helpful to start doing some training/ settle practice / hanging out in there in preparation for inviting him down.

Thanks again!

 

Yeah, maybe open it up and let him hang out there some on weekends if your goal is to have him loose in the office with you. My 'office' is the living room (I'm home alone all day; it works and the good desk fits in here) so the dogs are often hanging out on the couch and in the room from go.

The only other thing I can advise is not to hang your hat too hard on free roam by 6 months. I kind of lucked out with Molly; she's a CREEPY mature puppy and was super fast maturing. But, yeah, having them know the deal and routine has been enormously benificial, plus if I end up having to be in an office or life happens and forces them to be crated because I'm gone they're all cool with it.

 

Yes, that's something to consider! Pai is awfully sweet and doing really well... but I wouldn't say he's particularly mature?! But who knows, maybe he is and I just don't realize it (as I said this is all totally new to me!) He's just now (like in the last few days) been able to 'settle' outside of his crate without something else to distract him (ie a bone). This is after using kikopup's 'capturing calmness' technique right from day 1! And truthfully I think this breakthrough is what prompted me to write this post about bringing the puppy to 'work' with me - I was that excited about it. I think I'll take your advice and do some weekend hangouts in the office and see how that goes. Thanks again!

 

You don't have to crate a dog. It seems to be some US philosophy, but plenty of people have great dogs around the house who aren't crated.

In terms of W@H with a dog, I've done it for a long time. The first few weeks are rough. My advice is that for this to work, the dog has to get used to it from the start. If the only time he's around you you're playing with him then you're never going to get to the point where he'll be good at this. Thus, not crating him like you're doing will probably avoid him getting super excited when he's in your office.

Most of my advice is going to be hard at first since little puppies don't walk well. They do have the advantage of sleeping more. My schedule was get up, take dog out immediately to deal with bathroom things and get 30-60 minutes of activity to help the dog crash out when you get back. I'd then work and let the dog deal with me working. I had a bed for him under my desk if he wanted to crash there. I get breakfast towards mid-morning so a little play then. He'd sleep most of the morning. Then a long walk at lunch. He'd usually nap afterwards. Then I used to use bully sticks (bull penis jerky) and that for a small puppy would be an hour for work (and peace and quiet for me). He'd be mostly good until 4 or so.

I would take conference calls while walking or playing with the dog.

The biggest thing you can do with any puppy is get an obedience school that does puppy play. Your dog being socialized and learning impulse control will make things much easier for you. Dogs learn things there that they can't at home since there are other puppies around.