hi I live alone, I work 4 nights a week ,leave home at 845pm, get back home at 5.15am, long story cut short a week today my life changed, I was on the street with a friend when may I say I rough neighbour  walked past us holding a puppy he asked if any of us wanted to buy her, I asked how old she was he said 7 weeks his mum stop feeding her, he said I got her has a present but don't want her got kids an cat an more words I don't want to use, I had to have her save her, so payed £60 for  her,he gave me food, may I say food for a work dog!!! then run round for milk, cage an stuff, ( I have bin of work since I got her 16th of this month,i go back on Tuesday, I have never had a pet before don't have a clue what I am doing, but I am learning, I took kim to the vet on Monday after I got her Friday to have her checked out, she ok, I have been like a new mum lol bit much I think, so I have bin told, done nothing for the last week other than care for my kim (puppy), I have her in cage in kitchen, and I sleep in frount room, since 2nd night she has slept all nite ,,first cople of nites I woke her for wee , but last 2 nights , put her to bed at 8 an ignored her :( it worked last 2 night bed at 8pm, wakes at 6am, fab but I back at work Tuesday so I wont be able to spend has much time with her, would love any ideas of a routine I could get in,,,,,, my thoughts are has follows please bear in mind never had a pet, get home from work( work 4 nights ) 5,45 let her out for wee, then feed her, play with her till about 7am, then put her in crate, me then go to bed upstairs for first time since had her ,then at 11am or 12am my friend will come an feed her, not play just feed an wee her, then put her in crate, then I will be up about 3or 4 pm , I will let her out to wee, then at 4 will feed her, then till 7pm I will play,watch her all my attention,at 7pm I will put her in her crate, get ready for work, then leave home at 8.45pm,,,,,how does this sound ? need to put more but will be on here for ever :) please be nice to me, but please be honest, if I cant give the right care then I would have to find kim new home :( hope not,,,,, routine will be different when she has had her jabs,and I can walk her after the feeds I give her, oh yes I know she should be feed every 4 hours but my friend cant do 2 feeds a day, god I hope she will be ok being 8week old and fed right amout to weight ,3 times a day, thanks in advance for help :)

When I get a new pup I'd take 3 weeks off work to have a period of time to get the pup settled in and start training, a pup that age needs at least 4 meals per day, house training and learning to walk on a leash in the garden ready for when able to go out, leaving for such a long period is not good, I used to work nights but my pups would spend time with my Mum or friend overnight, have breakfast  then be home with me during the day, I would set the alarm to feed and toilet at midday and then we went back to bed till 6pm when I would get up, feed and toilet the pup and shower ready for work with the pup in the bathroom, we had play time and I had something to eat before leaving at 8pm to drop off pup and go to work, the pup played with the persons dog and was fed again at 10pm and settled for the night, initially would wake up at 2-3 am for a wee, would be taken out and encouraged to settle back to sleep till 7 am and the days routine started again, same routine when I was on nights off. At 3 months old feeds can be 3 times a day and at 6 months down to 2 meals per day for life.

I didn't use crates, the pup was either with me or in either the kitchen or bathroom when I couldn't watch closely, some folk have a crate with puppy pen attached so pup can come out for a drink or run around, newspaper or wee pad there so doesn't soil the crate. I would take pup out in the car and use a sling to carry the pup till it was fully vaccinated.

Once able to be walked outside trips limited to 5 mins per month age, 15 mins 3 months,20 mins 4 months and so on till 12 months old or fully mature.

You need to either get a better routine or find another home which has more time for the pup and its training or you are going to have problems later.

I would agree with the advice given.  My major worry is the amount of time you intend to keep the pup crated.  This would be a major welfare issue in my book.

I agree with the other two posters, the main problem with the setup you describe is the pup will be in the crate for far too long, this will likely lead to problems, not only behavioural but it could also cause physical problems as the growing puppy will be unable to move around enough. I don't use cages at all, and I think to use one for almost 20 hours a day is extremely cruel. I know that you don't mean to be cruel and that you have taken this pup on with the best of intentions, so lets work out a better plan :-)

Firstly where to keep Kim, you are going to be gone for long periods of time, a cage is just not suitable. Can you leave pup in the kitchen? Or another room which would be easily cleaned? I'm afraid it's inevitable because the pup will be alone that some things are going to get chewed, possibly even doors, cupboards, flooring - that's what pups do. If you're not prepared for that then best rehome her now.

If you don't mind the occasional chewed item, and have somewhere safe for her to be left, where she can sleep, run and play and go to the loo if she needs to then it could work.

Secondly the time you are away overnight is too long for a young puppy to be left, really she would need a meal during that time as you have to fit 4 feeds in. Could your friend pop in as late as possible, say 10.30/11 and feed and toilet puppy, she should then be fine till you come home, though of course she may need the loo.

Hi
Whilst I agree with the others that the situation you describe is not ideal for a pup, the realistic alternative (unless you know someone yourself who would take her ) is yet another staffy type pup in a rescue center waiting for a home. The rescues are already full of this type of dog and there is no guarantee that she will ever find a new home.  IMO you sound like you are trying your best and willing to work at it, even if not perfect for the pup it may well be a case of making the best of it. I also noticed you said that you only work 4 mights per week, not full time, that is better. :-)

What is your home situation? ie, what sort of house do you live in, do you have any outside space/garden?
One of the things that jumps out at me is that you are likely to struggle with house training, puppies will need to pee and poo OFTEN. nearly always after waking from a sleep, probably after playing and definitely after eating (a short while after) . so you need to ideally feed her when she will be able to be toileted about 20 minutes later.
looking at your schedule I would suggest a few tweaks.

get home @ 5.45 take her out for wee's
6am, give her breakfast
6:30 she will need to go out again by then, by watching her closely you can learn when she needs to 'go' and scoop her straight up and take her outside.
7am she will hopefully be getting tired and ready to be settled in her crate. however in the daytime she is unlikely to stay asleep for more than a couple hours IMO  could your friend come at about
10am? Feed her and take her outside. can she stay for 45 mins or so? if so then let her have a wee, feed her immediately and then play with her for 20 mins and take her outside once more before she leaves. about 11?
IMO it is too long after this for her to wait until you wake around 3-4. Could you go down to her again at about
1:30-2pm? take her out for a wee break, then I would be tempted to take her back into your room with some toys or bones (carry her up and down stairs), she may not be very restful while you try to sleep but she needs time out of the crate to play around and explore, if you have carpet in your room I would recommend covering it with something easy to clean, maybe get some playpen fencing if there is a particular area that isn't safe for her (electric leads etc).
4pm Get up properly, feed her and take her out and give her playtime with you. why do you need to crate her for 1 3/4hours before you leave? it would be better if you can keep her out with you (take her around the house with you) until about
7:30 feed her again and pop her in her crate , if you've kept her up she should be tired and ready to rest after her meal
8:15 Before you leave for work take the out for another toilet break, praise her when she's done but try and be quite calm and boring this time so she will be ready to settle back to sleep in her crate when you leave.

Even with those changes she is still being left in her crate for 9hours overnight but as she should settle better at night I think that will probably be ok. (not ideal but ok) If she is struggling to hold her bladder for that long you may need to think again, maybe leave the crate door open and put pads or papers down so she can wee in the kitchen, again, it's not good for house training but much kinder than her having to wee in her bed. When she is older she should be fine with that time.

Other things for you to think about though would be if you are prepared to keep this kind of commitment up for the rest of her lifetime? (12 years?) She won't need as many toilet breaks when she is bigger but she will need proper walks and training time, you will have to organise kennels or care for her if you ever want to go away at all.
Plenty of friend will be happy to help look after a cute puppy but will be unlikely to keep it up for ever, can you afford to pay a dog walker to visit if necessary? they would do the same, ie visit and feed and play with a pup that is too young to walk.
When she is older (say 6-8 months min) I think you could change your routine around so she has a reasonable walk when you get home (not too long while she is still growing), go to bed (I would be tempted to take her with me so she has company but you may not want her in bed) and give her another decent walk/training session about 4 pm. ideally then you would have someone else come in and take her out about 8-9pm for a short walk and break,   don't know if dog walkers will walk this late though, you'd have to ask around.
What are you feeding her? you mentioned milk,  she shouldn't need milk if she is old enough to be weaned and definitely not cows milk in any quantity, it's not good for them.

I hope this helps, do post again and let us know how it's going. :-)
good luck

I admire what you did to try and save this pup in the first instance but long term, I dont think you can really give this pup everything she needs in your current situation. Unfortunately, love isnt enough :-).
I have nothing against crating but I think you working when pup is asleep at nightime then coming home to sleep when pup is awake during the day isnt going to work with her cooped up all that time. Its good you have somebody available to pop in and feed her but she needs interaction and company too plus a chance to let off steam and exert some puppy energy.
Is there anyway she could go to a friends house for a few hours on the days you are asleep from working? Or could you put her into doggy daycare?
If she was an old dog that liked to sleep a lot and only wanted very short walks it perhaps wouldnt be so bad (not perfect but not so bad) but a young puppy requires a lot of time and effort put into training and making your puppy into a well rounded dog as it matures. Currently you dont have the right situation to be able to do that and could end up with a dog with lots of issues 6 months from now