Leaving Puppy @ Home Guilt

2703 Views 5 Replies 5 Participants Last post by brennanPatrick, May 21, 2015

brennanPatrick

Discussion Starter · May 21, 2015

My fiance and I have a 13 week old husky puppy and have had her for a little over a week, we both work 9-5 jobs so we have to crate our puppy while we are away for those 9 hours. This is very hard to do since we crate her for 7 hours while we're sleeping. That is already 15 hours of crating with only 2 hours of play/walk/eating time in the morning between "cratings". We both feel like we can no longer go to the gym because that would be another 1.5 hours of crating. Is it okay to crate our puppy this much?

Eventually, when she is more potty trained I can leave her out and about the house. I would love to leave her about the house during the day when we train the biting/mouthing phase out of her and when she is toilet trained. Would this 1.5 hours of gym time be a good time to try leaving her in a gated off room, such as our kitchen?

I realize this wont be much of an issue once she is house trained, just wondering if I should even be crating her while were at work or if it would be okay to leave her with a bed and some safe toys in a partitioned off part of the house, such as our mudroom which has nothing dangerous in it. It is just a blank room with 4 walls and 2 doors.

TL : DR - Is it okay to leave a puppy crated for 15 hours total during the day? (7 then 8 hours)

Should I feel bad about wanted to go to the gym for an additional 1.5 hours?

Can I start leaving my puppy in a puppy safe 10x20 room while I am at the gym?

Is spending 2 hours with her in the morning and 4 in the evening enough for during the week? The weekend will always be a puppy/dog fun filled attention weekend.

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BusterBCsMum

· #2 · May 21, 2015

For a 13 week old puppy to be crated that long is very excessive. Considering I don't leave my fully house trained, non destructive 3 year old dog in a crate for that long I can't imagine it with such a young pup. I think you need to look into alternatives because your dog is missing out on key interactions, socialisation, exercise and training with you being gone the entire day.

I'd look into doggy daycare or a dog walker to pop in during the day to take the pup a walk and then pop in later on to take them for a bathroom break.

It's definitely not wrong to want to go to the gym but to me you need to spend more time with your puppy socialising and training, especially with a breed like a Husky who need a lot of training and effort to help them to become a well rounded dog.

Leaving a young pup in a big room is something that has to be built up to, like knowing their potty training is reliable, that they are well exercised and tired, they have something like a filled Kong to keep them occupied whilst your gone and they've been shown its okay to be alone (like building up the time being left to avoid separation anxiety.

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Shandula

· #3 · May 21, 2015 (Edited)

Does anyone come home to let the puppy out to go potty? If not, I have to assume she is peeing in her crate, which will ultimately make housebreaking much more difficult.
I'll be blunt, I think that is much, much, too long to leave a dog in a crate for, much less a puppy so young. I respect your desire to remain fit and healthy, but I think you need to prioritize your puppy for a time being. I took three weeks off work when I got my puppy to ensure he was happy, comfortable, and had really taken to potty training before I had to go back to work. I understand that is not feasible for a lot of people, but I was determined to give my puppy the best start.
This is a super critical time to train your puppy to both people and other animals (vaccinated dogs at this point). I also imagine that long in a crate is going to result in a lot of pent up energy for a breed like a Husky.

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SusanLynn

· #4 · May 21, 2015

Hi BrennanPatrick,

First of all, I want to welcome you to the Dog Forum and congratulate you on your new puppy. There's a lot to be learned by participating in this forum.

To answer your question - Yes, crating your puppy for that many hours is excessive. To reiterate the previous posts, this is such a crucial time in your puppy's development, and he's going to learn very little being stuck in a crate all day and night. The time you invest now in his socialization and training is going to pay off hugely in his life. You need to committ yourselves to giving him the very best start in life that you can.

Since you're a couple, why don't you alternate nights at the gym? This seems like the easiest solution to me.

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boxer321

· #5 · May 21, 2015

I agree that it is a long time for such a young pup to be in a crate. Husky's especially crave that interaction with their humans when they have no one else. As suggested look into a dog walker and/or daycare. Of course a lot of people have full time jobs and get puppies but if it's not done right many of these dogs have behavioral problems from missing out on such critical socialization and training time.

As far as the gym you could always work out a schedule with your husband where you go one day and he goes another or you both go the same day but different times that way the pup has time to spend individually with both of you.

Just keep in mind that Husky's (most dogs for that matter) are very destructive when bored. Not to mention will have pent up energy from being in the crate all day so be prepared to play, train, play! Good luck.

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brennanPatrick

Discussion Starter · #6 · May 21, 2015

Thank you for the advice. I have family close by and I may be able to have my little sister stop by around lunch times to let out the puppy and take her for a walk if a dog walking service isn't available in my area.

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