Will my puppy be able to hold it while I’m at work?

What must you make with an 8-week old puppy when you go to work?

A reader recently emailed me that question. He and his partner would both be gone for at least eight hours, three days a week, and unable to come home during lunch.

I thought this would be a good topic to bring up, considering that lots of of you have faced a similar situation. Some people just do not have the flexibility to come home each day for lunch like I did when I adopted Ace.

In this particular case, it turns out the reader’s mom is able to check on the puppy on those busy days. way to go “Grandma!”

And seriously, how charming is this puppy? She’s a keeshond named Zoey.

Will my puppy be able to hold it while I’m at work?

I wanted to go over this topic and get your thoughts on what a new puppy owner can do.

If we’re talking about an 8-week-old puppy, she will obviously not be able to hold it for eight hours. That would just be too long. Although, if the owner is only gone for four hours or so at a time, that might work out OK.

If you work full time or go to school full time and have recently adopted a puppy, the following are some options to consider. (Please share your own ideas in the comments.)

Use a kennel

I always suggest using a kennel for a puppy that is left alone. Not only is this crucial for potty training, but it also helps keep the puppy safe and quiet when home alone, and out of trouble! A kennel helps set a puppy up for success in so lots of ways.

Some people refuse to use kennels, and that’s their choice. If you do not use a kennel, I would at least keep the puppy in a certain area of the house such as in the kitchen or a shower room blocked with a baby gate.

Still, if you work eight hours straight, the puppy won’t be able to hold it that long, even if she is in a kennel. So, moving on …

Come home during your lunch break

This is the most evident choice, assuming your schedule allows for it.

If you can make it home for lunch, even for five minutes for the first two to three weeks, that might be enough to get you through.

If your boss is an animal lover, he or she may not mind if you need to adjust your schedule temporarily so you can get home to let your puppy out. It doesn’t hurt to ask.

Hire a pet dog walker or a pal to let the puppy out for you

Whether you hire a professional pet dog walker, a pet sitter, a friend, family member or neighbor, the point is this person will be reputable and will let your puppy out for you once or twice in the middle of the day.

I am a pet dog walker and pet sitter myself so I can tell you there are some amazing professionals out there who can make your life easier! It’s about finding the ideal person.

If you’d rather ask a pal or neighbor to let your puppy out, that works too. You are lucky to have that as an option! I suggest paying that person to make it worth her time, even though she will get to hang out with your ridiculously cute puppy! Of course, some pals will just volunteer to do this for you, and that’s terrific too.

Take your puppy to pet dog daycare

I’m a little split on pet dog daycares because some are just poorly managed with way too lots of dogs running wild. It’s kind of a free-for-all and a good place for dogs to learn bad habits.

On the other hand, if you can find a terrific pet dog daycare, this is better than setting your puppy up for mistakes at home. If I had a puppy and couldn’t come home at lunch, I would probably take the puppy to daycare considering that I am not a fan of people pertaining to my house when I’m not there. That’s just how I am.

Some pet dog daycares have puppy programs set up where the puppies get to play and socialize, and the workers will help them with potty training and basic training. All daycares are not created equally, so do your research and find a good one before you even bring your puppy home if you can.

Daycare could just be a momentary thing for the first month or so if you don’t want to pay for this service over the long term. The same is true if you hire a pet dog walker.

Last resort – puppy potty pads, fake lawn or newspapers

You know I am not a fan of puppy potty pads or fake indoor pet dog grass.

When I potty train a puppy, my goal is to take that puppy outside. I do not use newspapers or pee pads or anything like that. I’ve seen far too lots of cases (always little dogs) where the dogs think it’s ok to pee on rugs, pillows, pet dog beds, etc.

Yet, I am sensible and often you just don’t have another option.

I understand you may not have the funds to hire a pet dog walker. I understand you may not even get a lunch break.

I can only think of the possibilities some people deal with, and I don’t think that must hold someone back from owning a dog. Although, you may want to consider adopting an adult, potty-trained pet dog vs. a puppy.

But let’s say you already have the puppy, and now your only option is to leave him something to pee on while you’re at work.

You could use puppy potty pads, fake lawn for dogs or laid-out newspapers. It’s a personal preference and it also depends on how much you want to spend.

There are a few things I want to mention with this option:

Don’t assume the puppy will know where to go potty.

Unless a breeder or shelter volunteer has already taught her to go potty on newspapers or a pee pad, she won’t know to do this. a lot of likely, you’ll need to guide her and reward her for peeing in the right place.

Where to put the potty pad

I can think of two options, but please share your ideas.

I’m really hesitant about this first option (*even a lot more hesitant now after this has published – what do the rest of you think?), but here it is:

Put the pee pad (or newspaper) on one side of a fairly large pet dog kennel or crate. Put the puppy’s bed on the other end. Ideally, the puppy would pee on the pad side and sleep on her bed, because she wouldn’t want to pee on her bed.

There really aren’t any guarantees though.

There is a good chance you are setting your puppy up for a really bad routine of peeing in her crate. So I recommend this is a last resort.

Another option, and I think this is the better option in a lot of cases, is to put an exercise pen up around your puppy’s kennel or to place her kennel in a shower room or kitchen with a baby gate up.

You would put her bed in her kennel and a pee pad outside of the kennel in the closed-in area. Ideally, this space would be as small as possible to decrease her chances of peeing on the floor.

Again, the puppy won’t automatically know to pee on the pad or newspapers. You’ll have show her. You may need to just cover the whole space with newspapers at first, so the smaller the space, the better.

As soon as your puppy can realistically hold it all day, you would remove the pee pads or newspapers and start leaving her in her kennel. If she is in her kennel, she won’t be able to pee on the floor. So again, the kennel is a useful tool for setting the pet dog up for success.

OK, what do the rest of you think?

Have any of you faced this issue before? any trainers out there who can add to this?

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