How to help dogs through difficult time

Kimmyjane said:

Apologies if this is an essay!

We have a year old shihtzu cross Jack Russell and a 14 month old chihuahua cross (not sure what with). They have been through a lot of upheaval - we have moved house twice and last summer I was admitted to hospital and was out of the house for about three weeks. They were with my partner but he works full time, so he found it difficult to balance.

The dogs stayed with my sister for about 6 weeks when I last left hospital. We last moved house in November. They seem relatively settled but both continue to have accidents indoors.

Unfortunately I have now been admitted to hospital again, and in getting concerned my my partner is struggling balancing everything and says they won't settle, I believe part of this is because they got use to having me around all day.

What should I do? My partner is suggesting we are not the best owners for them but my heart breaks to think they could not be in my life.

Any advice or reassurance would be fantastic right now, thank you .

Click to expand...

Did they go to the bathroom outside prior to the hardship and change? Or have they always had accidents in the house?

Is house-soiling the main issue that has cropped up with them or something else?

Honestly, this will be very hard for you and your partner since these are VERY young dogs. It won't be easy for them to have long periods of being alone in a house. Do you have a crate for them to contain them in during the day so their accidents are contained? You may need to try crate training again.

It seems that this is really hard for your partner...he is balancing work and two puppies...that is no easy feat. Not only that, he is most likely very stressed with you being in the hospital. Doing this alone is most likely very tough on him.

Is there some way that you guys can find a temporary foster home for the pups? You may not be in a good place to have them right now, but maybe someone can help take care of them for a time? Or maybe you can look into a dog walker for during the day so your partner doesn't need to worry about them too much (but that costs more money and I am always leery of who I let in my house).

I hope you are alright! Hang in there and get better!