[Tank's Momma]

Well was it a success? I'm not so sure. Today was Tank's first day home alone. We had the gate up at the entry of the master bathroom. A very large tile space for him to run around. Had his toys; his grass mat and everything he needed. Well it seems that he decided not to poop on his mat and then stepped in it and tracked it around the bathroom. Our poor lil pup; my heart just broke hearing this. Has anyone else experienced this?

Also; the first thing he did when he got home was took him outside so he could go potty. But Tank did not want to go; he just stood by my boyfriends side and didn't want to leave his side. Is this normal behavior for being his first day left alone. I'm so fearful for what tomorrow will hold.

 

[doxiemommy]

Sounds normal, but not pleasant, I know. I have heard of puppies getting themselves pretty messy.
As for standing right by your boyfriend and not wanting to leave his side, yes, that sounds normal, too. He was upset at being left alone and wanted to stick right with your boyfriend. My dogs are 2 and older, and when I've been gone awhile they still do that, when I take them out to go potty! But, after 30 seconds or so, they finally go potty!

 

[Aayden]

How old is your pup? It would probably be a good idea to crate him when you're not home. There are so many dangers to leaving a young puppy unsupervised when you're not home...

 

[Tank's Momma]

How old is your pup? It would probably be a good idea to crate him when you're not home. There are so many dangers to leaving a young puppy unsupervised when you're not home...

I completely understand Aayden. However we are gone far too long during the day due to work; so I would prefer not to crate him during the day. But the bathroom that he's in is completely puppy proof so there is no harm to him. We have even put the baby locks on the cabinets so he can't open them and get into mischief. He is 8 weeks old. We've only had him a few days. We do crate him at bed time though.

 

[Aayden]

As long as he is taken potty before you leave he would be perfectly fine in a crate and less mess for you. It would also help him feel more secure. You could get him a kong or other toys for his crate. Ida has a bed in her crate and gets a kong filled with frozen goodies when I'm at work. She is crated at night and when I go to work and does fine.

 

[NRB]

As long as he is taken potty before you leave he would be perfectly fine in a crate and less mess for you. It would also help him feel more secure. You could get him a kong or other toys for his crate. Ida has a bed in her crate and gets a kong filled with frozen goodies when I'm at work. She is crated at night and when I go to work and does fine.

I don't agree with this at all.. The pup is only 8 weeks old, therefore can hold it's bladder for only 2 hrs max. Leaving it all day while you are away at work in a crate is asking for the dog to soil the crate. Dogs hate to soil their crate. What I do is similar to the OP. I have a crate set up inside an ex-pen. Bedding inside the crate and newspaper on the floor as far away from the crate as possible. So very similar to the OP, leaving an inside potty ares for the puppy b/c there is no way in the world for the little guy to hold it while you are away at work.

One thing that the OP could do is to habituate the dog to being alone..... By that I mean get him mentally comfortable with being away from you. I think Ian Dunbar on DogStarDaily site will discuss this. But patricia McConnell talks about it, many other R+ trainer talk about how to do this. It will really help your dog out alot to get him comfortable with being alone... It's hard with a new pup and a job.

 

[luvmyfurballs]

It is almost impossible to have an 8 week old pup and work all day unless you either know someone or can pay someone to come in the middle of the day to take the pup out. I don't agree with the small room or the crate for a pup that small but if I had to choose one, it would be the crate. If they confuse this dog now with potty training methods and the newspaper or puppy pad will confuse them, they will never have a potty trained dog. These dogs are chewers and I'm guessing that within a couple weeks he will figure out that the cabinets make a good chew toy. My golden was trained and holding his pee/poop by the time he was 12 weeks. We rotated a schedule and I took some time off of work but it was worth it not to feel the guilt of leaving my baby in the crate with the chance of going to the bathroom. You just need to get this dog potty trained and the crate won't be so bad.

 

[luv2byte]

Oh yeah, Chloe's first week home I regularly washed poop off the walls, cupboard, floor & rugs. She was limited to the bathroom. It gets better,must give time to adjust. She was trained to potty pads, while at work, when home it was outside only. We did this with both of our dogs & bith successfully transitioned without potting on throw rugs.