We are hoping to soon have a standard poodle puppy.  I have questions about leaving it home alone.

I'm a stay at home parent and carer, so mostly i am going to be at home with the puppy/dog.  BUT in the early weeks/months it will sometimes need to be left while i do the school run (which we walk) because it is too far for a puppy (6 miles a day) to walk.

How long is reasonable to leave a puppy?  It takes me roughly 55mins to do the school run and about 20-30 to do the nursery run, depending on how well my son settles at drop off.  I am planning to take the puppy (carried (in a baby sling - i will probably look nuts but i need my hands to push my son's SN pushchair on the longer trips) on some of those outings to socialise, but not sure how many/often, and certainly for the first week or so wasn't going to (want to let him/her settle in at home).  I do know plenty of people work and the pups just have to get used to their absence, but i just want to make sure i'm fair on the dog.

The outings will be 8.35-9.30, 1.15-1.40 (or possibly longer - depends on how well my son settles at nursery), 2.40-3.30 and 3.55-4.15.  As I'm at home the rest of the time there will be opportunity to at least toilet the puppy before every outing (the school and nursery pick ups are a bit tight together to fit in a feed and a good play as well), if not toilet/feed/play-train.  As the puppy grows obviously it will be able to walk more and eventually on all of these journeys.  I am more inclined to take the puppy on pick ups than drop offs (because i won't have the pram and won't be hurrying as much).

Does this sound fair?  I have two kids with ASD so structure is a major part of our lives.  I like to have a plan, so that i can easily slot everyone in to the new routine with minimal fuss.

I doubt you'll be able to carry a Std Poodle pup for long in a sling, especially for some of the time periods mentioned. I would get pup used to being settled in a crate, personally. It will be quite some time before they are able to walk the 6 mile journey (is that 6 miles in total or does it break down into separate journeys)? I'm guessing you don't have a car?

I do have a car, but usually my husband drives it to work, so I walk the school runs.

It's about 6miles a day in total, but four trips, about 1.2 miles to the school, there and back twice a day, and maybe half a mile to the preschool, also there and back twice a day (none of the start/finish times coincide!). I frequently carry my 35lb 3yo on the longer school runs in a carrier, so as long as the puppy can tolerate carrying without struggling I'm sure the sling will work okay for a while.

I do have a car, but usually my husband drives it to work, so I walk the school runs.

It's about 6miles a day in total, but four trips, about 1.2 miles to the school, there and back twice a day, and maybe half a mile to the preschool, also there and back twice a day (none of the start/finish times coincide!). I frequently carry my 35lb 3yo on the longer school runs in a carrier, so as long as the puppy can tolerate carrying without struggling I'm sure the sling will work okay for a while.

I do have a car, but usually my husband drives it to work, so I walk the school runs.

It's about 6miles a day in total, but four trips, about 1.2 miles to the school, there and back twice a day, and maybe half a mile to the preschool, also there and back twice a day (none of the start/finish times coincide!). I frequently carry my 35lb 3yo on the longer school runs in a carrier, so as long as the puppy can tolerate carrying without struggling I'm sure the sling will work okay for a while.

> maybe half a mile to the preschool,

He'll be able to do that once he is able to go for walks, and then one of the school runs as eh gets older and eventually the short and long, then the two longer and eventually all three by 18 months.

He won't be short of exercise, reminds me of when all my dogs did the school run.

Oh my goodness - what a dog's dinner, serves me right for trying to use my phone to reply!  Apologies for the multiples, it won't let me delete them now (and wouldn't let me see them when i still could have).

That's what i was thinking - by 12 weeks the nursery walk will be okay and then i'll add as we go.  Another factor is that though i have to "walk properly" (as in, at a decent speed) TO the school/nursery, we can wander home very very slowly, so even when it's still a bit far hopefully we can come home very much at the pup's pace.

I am actually a bit worried about when the school runs diminish, as we will be moving to a closer building next year, and then beyond that the nursery run will end when he starts school.  I suppose by then i'll have a teenager to take the dog out too (scary!).

Anyway going back to my original query, please reassure this slightly hysterical owner-to-be that a puppy will be absolutely fine in a crate/pen for an hour while i'm out (now i've typed it i realise it is pretty hysterical, i'm sure our last puppy, which was when i was a child myself (had rescues since then but not puppies) were left for 3 or 4 hours in the kitchen right from the start.

So long as you crate train your pup so that he is more then happy to be in the crate. With a busy household such as yours, he will benefit from having a quiet space to relax in and have a snooze. Just make sure he sees the crate as a nice place to be, something like a filled Kong to lick out will keep him/her occupied whilst you are out.

Oh a bit more!

We started leaving Isla almost straight away. She was in the crate at night and after about a week or so we began to leave her during the day, initially for just a short time, but soon we were able to go shopping etc.