Hello everyone

Is it too long to leave Teddy in his cage from 9-1 and then 2-3.30pm?  This would be for 2 days per week; he's 16wks old.  The dog-walker is booked to come in from 1-2 to play with/walk him.

I've left him before but only for max 3hrs and not very often.

Thank you

I don't think the 9-1 stint is acceptable.  There may be others that disagree.

I'd say that for a pup of only 4 months that the 4 hour stretch in the morning is much too long.  An older dog could feasibly be fully exercised before being left, so may be happy to snooze for this amount of time, but a puppy has quite different needs and will want to be up and about each hour at least.  I was amazed at how long mine could sleep at that age but it was in regular bursts and rarely for more than 2 hours during the day.  Presumably Teddy will need to pee several times during that period too - will he only have his bed to pee in?  That may delay your toilet training.

Teddy is also too young to need a full hour of playing and walking - perhaps you could have your dog walker for 2 x 30 min sessions instead.  It may also be worth asking a friend or neighbour to help out whilst you guide Teddy through the puppy stages.

In relation to the dog walker is he/she going to be playing with Teddy in your garden rather than taking him out for proper walks at this tender age?
I know my friends when they work during the daytime hours their dog walker spends time in the house/garden with the dogs just playing and interacting with them. That is due to the pup being 9 months old and they have had this walker in since the pup was little and its a happy routine which works.

As for the crating, is the pup crated at night as well, if so then i have to say i think its a long time for him to then be crated in one day. Have you a large puppy pen in which he can have one end for a bed and another for a pee area? This may be a better option?
But have to say if the walker could come in twice, once during the morning for 1/2hr and then again at lunch time and having the pen would be an idea?

>I don't think the 9-1 stint is acceptable.

No, four hours is too long for a puppy. You can get away with it occasionally with an adult dog which has had a long walk beforehand, but that's not possible with a puppy, whose requirements are very different.

I am going to disagree with others.   As you are only talking about two days a week leaving him alone from 9-1 is okay if that's what you need to do.  You would need to make sure that he has something to amuse him in his cage - like a stuffed kong.  

Four hours caged though may interfere with his housetraining, a young puppy may not be able to go that long without a wee.

So, not ideal, and if the dog walker could arrive a bit earlier it would be better.

Why must you cage him? I never think dogs should be locked in cages like hamsters :-( My 12 week old puppy is left from  midnight to 5am every night and is restricted to the kitchen by a pet gate. She likes this arrangement as she has room to move around and lots of toys, I like this arrangement because I'm happy that she has plenty of space, water and things to entertain her - although she generally does just sleep. She is 99% house trained but should she need to piddle while I'm away she has plenty space to move away from it which is very important to dogs.

My girl is 14 weeks old now and luckily between me and my other halfs shifts there is someone with her most of the time.
But about 4 days a month we are both out at work during the day, my neighbour comes in twice, once at 11am and again at 3pm. She stays for nearly an hour each time so I'm very lucky she is so nice and loves dogs! :)
I do feel bad for leaving her but I see she doesn't seem to get stressed about it, she is never going crazy when I come home and her bed doesn't get wrecked and she is always happy to go in her crate.
This obviously is not ideal every day - if we were out every single day like this I would not even have got a dog - but I think for a few days a month it is fine.

It will probably depend on the dog too, some seem to handle being on their own quite well, others find it very stressful.

Maybe see if your dog walker could come in twice just to break it up a little and give your pup a chance for the toilet more frequently.

Can you not just get the dog walker to come at 12pm instead of 1pm, so  the morning isn't so long or twice if she can do that for half an hour at a time.
This is only two days a week so i'm sure the pup will be fine if you can sort out help for him. it's never ideal to leave a pup more than a couple of hours but least your at home the rest of the time so can crack on with the toilet training.he may get a little confused though about where he's supposed to do a wee if when your there he can go out but when left he's expected to use the floor.    

Teddyboy, mine was left alone from 9 - 1230ish 3 mornings a week - the rest of the week there was someone in the house all the time. We just got up extra early, gave him a good walk on the beach or in the park and also plenty of play/tugs etc. in the garden, then inside for a bit of calm time and a cuddle and he was more than ready for a good sleep. He never seemed bothered by being left alone and in fact the days we were there he would often go into his bed and sleep for that time anyway. He was and still is crated at night and even though he loves being in our bed, doesn't really settle untill he gets into his crate.

It's do able although not the best situation.  When our pup will be 12 weeks old there's a possibility that no-one will be in the house for a day because I want to go to a show and my brother may have a full time job by then if he is lucky, so if he has got a job and I do go to the show we were working out pup will have to be left 2X 3 hour stints and it's do able but this is only once and then puppy won't be being left for afew hours untill september.

Pup's mostly sleep and aslong as the cage is big enough I would leave one end with just paper and the other end his bed so he can toilet and leave plenty of toys and a bowle of water.  That way it should be fine and lets face it, sooner or later the pup will have to learn to be on their own for afew hours as you never know what might happen.

Hi Teddyboy. I crate trained my dog and found it worked well. If you have a crate you can put a box in one end as his bed and the paper at the other end just incase he does wee (obviously thins only works when pup is young)

Why not try 9-12 get the dog walker to pop in from 12-1 then pup will only be left from 1 - 3.30 when you are home??

for a longer period of time I would suggest a play pen rather than a crate as there is more room . Personally I would have the morning broken up into two hours and ask the walker to come then for half an hour.

Thanks everybody, am going to digest all of your advice. 

I have decided (i think!) to put his cage in the kitchen with his bed in it with the door open in case he wants to retreat for a proper kip; his toys will be on the kitchen floor to play with and puppy pads in the corner.  Dog-walker is going to come at 12pm. 
No reason for the 1pm, i just opted for that myself.  Yes, she does take him for a proper walk but would be happy to just play with him for the hour if you all think he's too young for long walk?  I take him out for a walk before work anyway, so i thinking about it, it would be too much. 

I only crate him because i'm worried he's going to hurt himself in the lounge, but he's a bit older now so maybe it's time to leave him in the kitchen.

I have a friend who is happy to work from home (but at my place!) whenever necessary, so i will ask him in time for next week as i absolutely hate leaving Teddy for any amount of time really.  Obviously it has to be done sometimes, but am never really comfortable with it (was the same with the kids!).

Thanks everyone, will keep you posted.

> Yes, she does take him for a proper walk but would be happy to just play with him for the hour if you all think he's too young for long walk?  I take him out for a walk before work anyway, so i thinking about it, it would be too much.

Have a read of this thread about exercising a puppy - some very useful advice here.

An adult dog could easily manage a walk before work and then another at lunch time but it's too much for a puppy.  Consider your outings at this age as an opportunity to introduce Teddy to new experiences rather than a need to exercise him :)

Have you thought about puppy day care? A lot of kennels do it . You can leave your pup with them, the pup gets to play with other pups in a big run with toys an someone looking after them. Ask around your local kennels and see what's available.

> I have decided (i think!) to put his cage in the kitchen with his bed in it with the door open in case he wants to retreat for a proper kip; his toys will be on the kitchen floor to play with and puppy pads in the corner.

Brilliant! Really pleased to read this, well done :-)  This is where my pup spends her alone time.

Chewing will actually get worse for a while, not better.  So if he's bored I would be concerned about chewing the kitchen cabinets and such - injuring them and potentially himself.  I've had dogs that were not really particularly destructive gnaw on chair legs, cabinets, lino on the floor and even scratch or chew through walls.   So personally, I'd opt to put up a pen in the kitchen or find a large cage - much larger than you would need for housetraining.  Room for him to move around, but stay safe.   If you use an x-pen you can just fold it up when someone is home.  I've also set up an x-pen on a carpeted floor.  I just bought an off-cut of cheap line and set the x-pen up on top of the lino.

I don't know what breed your dog is, but whatever normal walk time is for you with him I'd aim to replicate with the dog-walker.

Bless!  Have got almost exactly this set-up, feel better now!

I think you have found the solution. I think the 9-1 stint is OK for being left alone, but not for being crated. I personally don't like crating though, so am a bit biased perhaps.  In any case, he has to be left out of the crate sometime, so now would be a good time. As another poster said, make sure he has a kong (frozen ones last longer) and some toys. I always leave a TV or radio on too, and mine are old hands at being left being 6 & 4, but I still maintain the regime.
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