Ok, here is my problem. I work 8 to 5 and my new toy poodle will be here at the end of the month. I will be able to come home at lunch every day to feed him and let him outside. I am told the best way to house train a dog is by keeping him in his crate when he is home alone. But I have also heard that a two month old puppy can only hold his blatter for two hours. There is also the alternative of a Puppy Pen, I can put paper at one end and his crate and food at the other end. The only problem with that is I don't want him to get confused about going outside when I'm home and on his papers when I'm not. Please tell me what to do!
Jessica

Hi Jessica,

Have you made arrangements to take some time off to settle your new puppy in?

Most people when taking on a puppy should if poss look to take atleast a week off (2 if possible). In my opinion it really isn't fair to expect a puppy to come into a strange house, and then be left for a lot of the day (even given the lunchtime's), without getting used to the house and family very well first.

With regard to the crate, there are always discussions on how long you could realistically leave a puppy, but if you work from 8 in the morning, given that you have to get to work, it could be a good five hours before you return at lunchtime, which is a very long time to leave a little one.

I am not trying to put you off! :), we have only had our puppy for five weeks, and we decided to housetrain her from the start by putting her straight into the garden (I am at home full time though). Within two weeks, she was doing it there 80-90% of the time, and now stands at the back door to be put out, so you can train them quite quickly, but my concern is that puppies cannot "hold" themselves for very long at all at the beginning, and if she is going to be in a pen or a crate for a long time, it could get very unconfortable for her :(, (and is going to make the housetraining alot more difficult for you.)

Do you have any good friends or family close by, so that she could be visited more than at lunch time? (a friend has a poodle, and they are very sociable and LOOOOOVE company).

I know many people work full time and manage to look after their dogs very well, but personally, it seems a lot of time to be away from a little one, (toy dogs especially need alot of interaction and company) but I wish you the best. :)