Hello everyone! I just got my new puppy over the weekend. He's a 7 1/2 week old Boston named Porter. He's such a great puppy! Although I grew up with dogs, this is the first dog I'm raising completely on my own.
Introducing him to his crate went very well, and we're already making headway with potty training.
I live alone but work out of the home 4-5 days a week. That said, I CAN be around him all day, but obviously I'm not getting much work done. It's day 4 since I got him, and today I sequesterd him in his room for the first time.
His crate is in a smallish room with hardwood floors and big french doors that open to the rest of the house. With one french door closed, I put the baby gate up about an hour ago. I was smart enough to tucker him out beforehand, and not surprisingly he cried for about 20 minutes then crawled into his crate and zonked out.
I plan on leaving him alone, (off and on) for four hours today (in one our sessions). I'm fortunate enough to work out of my home, but the flip side is I have to hear is little yelps and it's too much to bear!
Is this truly the way to do this? I hate tough love! I don't want to scar the little guy and end up causing what I'm trying to prevent. The family dog I grew up with (who's now 13) has had severe separation anxiety his entire life, most likely brought on by our caving in to him whenever he started to cry when he was a puppy. I don't want to make the same mistake with Porter! Any advice is appreciated, and thank in advance!
Introducing him to his crate went very well, and we're already making headway with potty training.
I live alone but work out of the home 4-5 days a week. That said, I CAN be around him all day, but obviously I'm not getting much work done. It's day 4 since I got him, and today I sequesterd him in his room for the first time.
His crate is in a smallish room with hardwood floors and big french doors that open to the rest of the house. With one french door closed, I put the baby gate up about an hour ago. I was smart enough to tucker him out beforehand, and not surprisingly he cried for about 20 minutes then crawled into his crate and zonked out.
I plan on leaving him alone, (off and on) for four hours today (in one our sessions). I'm fortunate enough to work out of my home, but the flip side is I have to hear is little yelps and it's too much to bear!
Is this truly the way to do this? I hate tough love! I don't want to scar the little guy and end up causing what I'm trying to prevent. The family dog I grew up with (who's now 13) has had severe separation anxiety his entire life, most likely brought on by our caving in to him whenever he started to cry when he was a puppy. I don't want to make the same mistake with Porter! Any advice is appreciated, and thank in advance!