# 8 Week Old Puppy & Work Schedule



## Riley's Mom (Jul 6, 2008)

For my puppy I set up 2 x pens in my spare room. I bought a large plastic rabbit cage pan and put potty pads in it. During the day my puppy goes in there. She can use the potty area if needed. At night she is crated. It has worked out great. She is 5 months old now and is pretty much potty trained. All this week she has not used her potty area.


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## LynnC (Nov 14, 2015)

Hello and welcome. Congratulations on your new puppy  . Are you talking about someone coming 1 time (bet 12-1) during the day when he’s 8 weeks? That’s a bit long for a puppy. I think eventually you can do that but when he’s 2 & 3 months I think 11:00 & 2:00 might work better. I think the “rule” is that a puppy can hold their bladder 1 hour for each month. I also use Rover.com and found a wonderful dog walker for my pup. Just be sure to tell them exactly what you want them to do. I have a friend who had someone come walk her dog & the persons idea of “walk” was to take the pup in the yard until the pup went potty & come right back in the house. Good luck.


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

Stuff isn't ideal, but if you're willing to take the set back in potty training, it can work. 

We've had Lana since she was 8 weeks old. She's crated (it's like a suite - an XL crate attached to an X-pen) from 6:30 to 11:30am, then again from 12:30-6pm. I come home for lunch to let her out. We had a litter pan with shavings in the pen... didn't really make a difference. We tried potty pads (she just shredded it). As soon as we removed those items, aside from an occasional accident and we're still battling happy bladder she goes the whole time without an accident. 

Just make sure you have the time to spend with her when you are home cause with these long crate days it isn't really fair for them to be ignored at night. Lana gets 90 minutes of cuddles and play in the morning, then 90 minutes at lunch, and then 2 hours at night plus an hour of settling (or zoomies depends on if she gets wet). Weekend is when we get a chance to really keep her out of the crate (though we do still do naps and/or time outs so that she is secure when nappy and so we can do adult stuff that gets neglected during the week (dishes, vacuum, laundry, etc)).


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Can you each take one week off when he comes home so that he gets two solid weeks of housetraining before he has to stay for longer on his own? That would be ideal - to be able to take him out every 30 minutes, get him used to going outside, used to the crate. Then, by ten weeks, you can crate him for 3 hour stretches with more confidence that he won't pee in the crate.


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## nikarahul (Sep 14, 2018)

Thanks so much for the advice guys! We both work in a hospital, so we can’t leave for lunch. I wish we could. We also just started this new job, so taking a week off isn’t really possible so early on. I think what we’ll do is have someone come from 11-12 and then again from 2-3. My boyfriend and I are both super active and he likes to run outside so he’ll definitely get lots of playtime once we come home from work and all weekend. 

We’re going to pick him up on a Saturday morning so we’re planning on making the crate a fun, cozy place and introducing him to it gradually so he’s not just seeing it for the first time at night. 

For overnight, we’re thinking of crating him in our bedroom and waking up every 3 hours to take him out. Does this seem reasonable?


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## LynnC (Nov 14, 2015)

That sounds like a good plan. I would also convey to the dog sitter that you want the pup played with and exercised those 2 hours they come. My friend tells her dog walkers as a friendly disclaimer that she has cameras in her house (wink wink she actually doesn’t  ).


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## nikarahul (Sep 14, 2018)

LynnC said:


> That sounds like a good plan. I would also convey to the dog sitter that you want the pup played with and exercised those 2 hours they come. My friend tells her dog walkers as a friendly disclaimer that she has cameras in her house (wink wink she actually doesn’t <img src="http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/images/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Smile" class="inlineimg" /> ).



Haha that’s a good idea!! To be honest, we were actually thinking about getting cameras, partially for that reason and then also just to make sure the puppy is ok the rest of the day. Quick question about his afternoon meal actually — when the sitter comes, when should she feed him? We’re going to feed him in the morning before work (around 7 AM), then when we come home (around 5 PM). Should she feed him during one of the afternoon sessions as well?


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## rabernet (Feb 24, 2015)

nikarahul said:


> Haha that’s a good idea!! To be honest, we were actually thinking about getting cameras, partially for that reason and then also just to make sure the puppy is ok the rest of the day. Quick question about his afternoon meal actually — when the sitter comes, when should she feed him? We’re going to feed him in the morning before work (around 7 AM), then when we come home (around 5 PM). Should she feed him during one of the afternoon sessions as well?


Our pet sitter feeds Moses his midday meal for us. Around 11:30ish.


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## LynnC (Nov 14, 2015)

I agree. I would go with the early time for lunch & maybe a small treat like apple/blueberries or carrots at the 2nd time.


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

nikarahul said:


> We have a plan to set alarms at night and take him out right when we wake up and come home from work, etc. but we are trying to figure out the best way to care for him during the day when we're not home.
> Nika


You don't mean that you will wake him up at night, do you? Rukie whined twice his first night home and I jumped up and ran him out. The next day my neighbor said her puppy slept through the night so that night when he whimpered I just told him we were there and he went back to sleep. If he had continued to cry I would have taken him out. He slept from 11pm until 5 am every night after that. We let one be the late person and one the early person so we wouldn't get too tired. Also he had a blanket in his crate which the breeder had let the puppies crawl on and get their scent on and I think that helped.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Yes - don't wake him up. Get up if he wakes you to go. Otherwise, you're teaching him to get up all night.


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## nikarahul (Sep 14, 2018)

cwag said:


> nikarahul said:
> 
> 
> > We have a plan to set alarms at night and take him out right when we wake up and come home from work, etc. but we are trying to figure out the best way to care for him during the day when we're not home.
> ...





Sweet Girl said:


> Yes - don't wake him up. Get up if he wakes you to go. Otherwise, you're teaching him to get up all night.


Really?! This makes me so happy! I read somewhere that waking him up pre emptively avoids accidents. I didn’t think he’d physically be able to hold it all night. We plan on keeping the crate beside our bed at night. How can you tell whether he’s crying because he needs to go out vs. just needing attention/being anxious? The breeder said she’ll give us a scent blanket too...

Thanks so much you guys!


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

nikarahul said:


> Really?! This makes me so happy! I read somewhere that waking him up pre emptively avoids accidents. I didn’t think he’d physically be able to hold it all night. We plan on keeping the crate beside our bed at night. How can you tell whether he’s crying because he needs to go out vs. just needing attention/being anxious? The breeder said she’ll give us a scent blanket too...
> 
> Thanks so much you guys!


Lana was a crier. She spent from 8-14 weeks crying off and on when she was crated. She'd settle down after a few minutes. You can tell the difference between "I want attention cause I"m lonely" and "omg i have to pee!" There is an urgency in the bathroom cry. 

Worse case, you answer a lonely cry and take them out to pee, and put them right back into the crate. Lonely cries don't get more attention. They still end up in the crate.


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## FosterGolden (Mar 10, 2014)

I have never gotten a baby puppy then gone back to my regular schedule. I either get older puppies (10-11 weeks) or I take time off. Eight weeks is really young and tiny! If you can swing the dog sitter 2-3 times per day, that would be good. And, instead of a crate while you're not home, use the x-pen method with a potty area (litter tray). Ian Dunbar has a good example of this set up. You'll want to make sure the x-pen won't fall on him and that he can't climb it. 


Presto came home at 8 weeks and then I worked from home for two weeks. The next week I worked half days, switching between morning and afternoon. The week after that (11 weeks) I hired a dog sitter to come by at noon. I typically keep a regular dog walker for the first year and then re-assess my need. I'll keep them for emergencies and sometimes have them start back full time when I have a really old dog. It's $20 per walk (though I don't have them walked) which is a great deal! The gal that does it also does my dog-sitting overnight. Since my two older dogs are really easy, she doesn't charge me as much. I don't leave until 8:45am and I'm home by 4:30pm. It's working out really well for us and Presto was potty trained by the breeder so he knew to stop what he was doing and go to his potty spot. Since I was home, I was able to leave the door open for him so he could just run out to go as he was used to. During scheduled potty times, I took him out on leash since it's important to teach him to go on command and be able to go when connected to a leash, also. After two weeks, I started shutting the door and teaching him how to wait and hold it. 


I don't feed a lunch meal. Typically, I am up at 6am, full breakfast, play time, and then I leave at 8:45am. I put his lunch meal in a container and when I leave, I sprinkle some of the kibble in his crate and will give him a Kong with a little wet food. Not enough food to make him have to poop though! The dog sitter comes around noon. When she leaves she sprinkles the rest of the kibble into his crate. So, his lunch is basically a late morning and noon snack. Right now he also has a bully stick in his crate to munch on. He's too young/little to gobble it down (that time will come).


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## Jmcarp83 (May 4, 2018)

My 10 week old golden sleeps through the night. I was not expecting it on night one at home but breeder said they had been sleeping through the night. I would let the puppy wake you instead of waking them.


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## nikarahul (Sep 14, 2018)

FosterGolden said:


> I have never gotten a baby puppy then gone back to my regular schedule. I either get older puppies (10-11 weeks) or I take time off. Eight weeks is really young and tiny! If you can swing the dog sitter 2-3 times per day, that would be good. And, instead of a crate while you're not home, use the x-pen method with a potty area (litter tray). Ian Dunbar has a good example of this set up. You'll want to make sure the x-pen won't fall on him and that he can't climb it.
> 
> 
> Presto came home at 8 weeks and then I worked from home for two weeks. The next week I worked half days, switching between morning and afternoon. The week after that (11 weeks) I hired a dog sitter to come by at noon. I typically keep a regular dog walker for the first year and then re-assess my need. I'll keep them for emergencies and sometimes have them start back full time when I have a really old dog. It's $20 per walk (though I don't have them walked) which is a great deal! The gal that does it also does my dog-sitting overnight. Since my two older dogs are really easy, she doesn't charge me as much. I don't leave until 8:45am and I'm home by 4:30pm. It's working out really well for us and Presto was potty trained by the breeder so he knew to stop what he was doing and go to his potty spot. Since I was home, I was able to leave the door open for him so he could just run out to go as he was used to. During scheduled potty times, I took him out on leash since it's important to teach him to go on command and be able to go when connected to a leash, also. After two weeks, I started shutting the door and teaching him how to wait and hold it.
> ...


Thanks for the advice!! We'll be having the dog sitter come to let him out and play for an hour twice a day, so hopefully that should be good. Also, I was considering the x-pen, but was told to use a crate instead as it will be that much harder to house train the puppy if he's using one side to "live" in and the other to potty in.

Any thoughts?


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## nikarahul (Sep 14, 2018)

Whoa that's awesome! Yea that's what I'm hearing more and more. I'll definitely let him sleep and wake us up if he needs us  thanks!


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## jessny (Jan 21, 2018)

Congrats on the new addition! I stayed home the first week after we got our puppy, and was then stopping in twice a day for a few weeks after. We then hired a local dog walking service and have since had one of their walkers come in mid-day. She takes Molly out to go potty, feeds her lunch and then they go back out to play and take a walk (before vaccinations, when she was really little, they stayed in our yard to play). It has been money well-spent. She still needs exercise and attention before and after work, but this has taken a lot of stress away from us and it seems to have been enough time (but we're only gone 7 hours, so you might want a longer visit if you have someone coming in...hours stays a half hour).


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