how long to leave alone

[Elly]

HI

I have an opportunity to do some volunteer work . Just wondering how long I can leave my papillon pup alone crated. He is now 11 weeks old. He go's to bed at night around 10:00 and doesnt get up untill 7:00 am

Thanks

 

[queenie521]

The rule of thumb is you take the number of months your dog is (approximately) and add one. That is the number of hourse your dog can be expected to "hold" it. If you will be gone longer than this you should stop home on your lunch break or have a neighbor take her out or something.

Let me just say that you are very lucky that she sleeps 9 hours straight....our 13 week old pup doesnt sleep longer than 3-4 hours at a time at nght.

 

[Elly]

Thanks queenie I have never left him more than two so that helps to know that. It takes me 30 minutes just to get into town to start any volunteer work.

Yes he sleeps actually better since we took him out of our bedroom. When he was in there he was waking up every couple of hours for some reason. Maybe we were waking him up snoring or something

 

[queenie521]

Actually.....we had the same problem with Brinley.....first few days she slept about 4 hours....then, the past week she was waking up every 2 hours which we just couldnt handle. We now put her in her crate downstairs and we set our alarm to wake up in the middle of the night to take her out once just in case she needs to go......we are taking her out at 4 hrs and we will tack on 15 minutes every week until she goes the whole night. I am just afraid we will not wake up to her crying with her being all the way downstairs.

 

[girlbuffalo1]

our experience

Wrigley slept through the night at 11 weeks too (guess we are lucky)..Generally from about that time on he has always been left alone in crate from 8am-12pm or 1pm and has been fine--never has had an accident. I work from 8am-5pm and my husband works from 4am-noon or so...generally now (he is 6 months) he is good from 8am-3pm if he has to be.....(maybe longer--however i don't want to find out!)

 

[Elly]

Thanks girlbufflo I guess that Casey shouldnt have a problem then . I have only been leaving him two hours at a time. I guess at his age judging from what you guys have told me he should be ok for about 3-4 hours which is plenty of time.

queenie that is a good idea to tack on 15 min more each time. Guess you will be glad when you reach a decent hour eh?

BTW your pups are adorable

 

[luvthepup]

We rescued our Butch from a family that didn't want him, and I don't know exactly how old he is, but he still has his baby teeth, and he has NO bladder control. Butch sleeps well for about 4-6 hours, then gets up and messes up the house if he's able, but he seems to do better about sleeping if we are all at home. When our son spends the night at a friends, he's restless, and can't settle down. He sleeps really well if he catches my hubby on the couch, he lays right on his chest, but that doesn't happen often because he pees all over when he wakes up, and we won't let him up on the bed.

 

[queenie521]

Are you crate training him? It doesnt sound like it and this may help your problem. Also, realize pups need to potty "as soon" as they wake up. So the second you see him stand up, bring him to his potty spot to do his business. You need to teach the pup how to live in your house, he wont figure it out on his own (or maybe he will, but not to your likeing)

 

[LabBreeder]

I don't like leaving mine alone longer than 2 or 3 hours. Not because he makes a mess or pees/poos all over but because I feel badly leaving a puppy alone that long. They need tons of love, attention and socialization. If you're gone all the time they aren't getting these things.

Do you let him have free run of the house? If so, it's not a good idea. You'll end up with "accidents" all over the place. You must keep a constant eye on a puppy so they don't have accidents and go where you want them to go.

Mine have their own room at night (complete with love seat, crate and toys) and access to the hallway. The bathroom door gets shut and a baby gate put up to keep them out of the living room. Gunner still chews on everything. We're not worried about Tira, she's 2 y.o. and doesn't do anything wrong when left alone. But, instead of playing favorites, they both get blocked off at night. When we leave during the day Tira gets to stay in the living room and Gunner gets blocked off in the hallway/their room. Sometimes they will come into our room in the early morning hours (the door pushes open easily) and they'll jump on the bed and sleep with us til we get up (no accidents either).