# Will my puppy forget me?



## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Welcome to the forum, glad you've joined us. 
Congrats on your pup!

I haven't had a pup in about 20 years, so I will let the members who have recently gotten pups weigh in on this and give you their advice.


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## Coby Love (Apr 9, 2015)

I don't think your puppy will forget you at all!. But more importantly this sounds tough on the puppy. Not sure you can leave a puppy that young, that long while your mom is at work. Doggy daycare might not take him
So young if he hasn't had all rounds of shots. If I were you, I would hire a personal doggy babysitter who has worked with dogs to go to your moms house each day your mom is gone and play with him and do a little training. Then he can sleep in his crate prior and after then, your mom will be home! 

Is your mom experienced with puppies? Does she know she'll have to keep up on his training? Is
She excited to keep the puppy for that long? Lots to think about. 

If you do find a doggy daycare, look for one that offers some training too. Good luck finding the best solution for your new pup!


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## tikiman53 (Apr 15, 2015)

Hey guys, thank you so much for the advice. I know the situation is less than ideal. I really wish I could just cancel my work. But for now, here's what I'm thinking, and I'd really appreciate your thoughts on the plan:

My mom will be working 5 days a week for 8 hours. Her hours vary, but on some of those days, she has a long enough lunch break to drop by the house and check on the puppy, play with her, walk her...etc... Maybe about 30 minutes. On the days where she can't do that, we'd like to leave her with a pet sitter in our neighborhood who seems to be great, with some obedience training as well. The pet sitter has her own dogs, and I think it might be good for the pup to have the chance to play around with some other dogs under good supervision. We're working out the budget right now, but we're also thinking about asking our trusted neighbor if she could pop in the house in the afternoon and just play with the puppy a little bit, take it for a walk...etc... Then again, our neighbor is quite old, so I'm not sure if she'll be up to it...

Do you guys think this plan is enough to make things work? And do you think the pup will be confused by all the different people it'll have to spend time with? I'm really worried that with all this switching of hands, my pup will forget me in the 2 months that I'm gone. Or be less than thrilled to be back with me full time when I get back


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## Cpc1972 (Feb 23, 2015)

As young as your pup is it probably will not know who you are when you get back. If it was a adult dog no question it would. You just have to do the best you can do with your situation.


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## Marcus (Aug 24, 2014)

No it won't.
We got Ben at 8 weeks and after his last vaccination we went on holidays for 2 weeks and boarded him. 

When we got back it was like we never left.. so don't stress


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## Susan: w/ Summit we climb (Jun 12, 2014)

I think Marcus is right. 

Also you could work with your pup, start training him in the basics like a puppy kindergarten and that will help the bonding, when you praise him for recall, sits, downs and stays. I taught my puppy to stand early also. He won't forget the person who teaches him and praises him.


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## Chritty (Aug 17, 2014)

I'd want to make sure that your mum is fully aware and prepared for how tough raising a puppy can and most likely will be. 

She might want to join this forum herself


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## Marcus (Aug 24, 2014)

Chritty said:


> I'd want to make sure that your mum is fully aware and prepared for how tough raising a puppy can and most likely will be.
> 
> She might want to join this forum herself


haha not a bad idea... think how nice it'll be once you get back... your may never speak to you again, but you'll have avoided most of the rotten puppy stage


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## tikiman53 (Apr 15, 2015)

LOL you guys are hilarious. Thanks a lot. I think I'll be spending a LOT of time around here. I have about 8 weeks to spend with my puppy before I have to leave. I'm hoping to get a lot of the legwork down and try to make things as easy as possible for my mom. Realistically, how much do you guys think I can accomplish in this time? I'm currently unemployed and for the 8 weeks, literally every waking moment will be spent with this puppy lol. 

I was worried a lot about the possibility of coming back and not being recognized by my pup. I feel a little better now, but I guess I have to accept that the situation is less than ideal and it'll affect my bond with her. I just need to accept that and try to make the time I spend with her when I come back absolutely amazing. Lol I'm still worried that I'll walk back through the door and she'll be like, "who's this guy?" but sigh, one can hope...!

If anyone else has any input on similar experiences or advice for my situation, I'm all ears. I've always had cats, but never a dog, so this is really new to me.


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## Marcus (Aug 24, 2014)

tikiman53 said:


> how much do you guys think I can accomplish in this time? I'm currently unemployed and for the 8 weeks, literally every waking moment will be spent with this puppy lol.


Search for Posts by momo_ she has done an amazing job at training her little puppie, videos and all... I mean at that age my dog was lucky to lick himself let alone perform on command...



tikiman53 said:


> I was worried a lot about the possibility of coming back and not being recognized by my pup. I feel a little better now, but I guess I have to accept that the situation is less than ideal and it'll affect my bond with her.


It is what it is... don't worry about it...

Just remember people who recuse goldens also develop an amazingly unbreakable bond with adult dogs.

So developing a bond from puppy stage isn't as important as people lead you to believe...

~ my 2 cents


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## Test-ok (Jan 15, 2015)

it might be your mom you should be worrying about. 

where do you live, you might be able to find a good person here that really understands goldens and how crazy they can be at that young age.


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## Marcus (Aug 24, 2014)

Test-ok said:


> it might be your mom you should be worrying about.


You saying the mum won't hand the little fur ball back?


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## Cpc1972 (Feb 23, 2015)

In the time you are going to be here, teach your puppy some simple commands. Sit will be easy for your puppy to learn. Work on stay and come and maybe a few tricks like shake and high five. A puppy class would also be good. Maybe your mom could even continue those classes.


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## Chritty (Aug 17, 2014)

Whilst you're unemployed I'd suggest some reading if you haven't done a lot already. I was a cat person too and our 10 month old pup is my first dog. 

Goldens for Dummies. Good book, I wouldn't read too much into the part about aggression though. It made me think our little one was "trying to be dominant" and that she was displaying aggression. She was just teething/growing and it moves on. 

Help for Your Fearful Dog. Although your pup may never become fearful I believe this book has great info in it for all dog owners, I wish I had read it prior to getting our furball


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## Loukia (Sep 20, 2014)

I do think your puppy will remember you, especially if you work on training over the next 8 weeks. But I wouldn't stress yourself out too much about how much you can squeeze in. Use it more as a bonding experience than a crash course in obedience before you leave the puppy with your mom.

I agree with others who suggest your mom should take your puppy to training if she can. If puppies are new to your mom, she's going to need the support of a trainer to help her through the challenging puppy months ahead and to help her solidify basic obedience, continue socialization, etc. 

I'm hoping my next statement doesn't come across as doom-and-gloom, I say it instead so that you don't feel completely stressed about squeezing in every ounce of training in the next 8 weeks... no matter how much you work on training with your puppy over the next 8 weeks, your Mom will still have to deal with the challenges of puppyhood. 

Don't get me wrong, every little bit of training helps but similar to mathematics, if you don't use it, you lose it. Nothing you train your puppy to do over the next 8 weeks will be solidified enough to take a hiatus for 2 months, so your mom will need to pick up where you leave off. If I was in your situation, I would focus on the obedience behaviors your Mom is most apt to continue or need your puppy to obey while you're gone.

Those early puppy stages are particularly challenging when you aren't familiar with what to do (like me - Comet is my first puppy too). I would have felt very lost and unsure if I didn't have a trainer to help guide me through both training and identifying normal puppy behavior. As Chris mentions above, there were times I would read something and be pretty sure Comet was aggressive or trying to dominate me... and then I would go to class and the trainers would assure me that Comet was just being a silly, growly, sharky Golden puppy. If your mom hasn't raised a puppy, it might be a helpful support for her to have a trainer to turn to.

You're doing the best you can with the situation you have. I'm sure if you work with your puppy a lot over the next 8 weeks you'll leave your mom with a great foundation from which to continue. And if your mom can go to an obedience class once a week, your pup should have some basic behaviors well solidified upon your return!


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## dezymond (May 3, 2012)

Your puppy will not forget you, especially if you're there for the early parts of its life.

I have a sister who went to school about 300mi away and she would visit every now and then. Maverick remembers her and gets super excited and happy to see her everytime she visits. Sometimes the next day he doesn't remember she's visiting and gets all excited about seeing her again the next morning. She's gone up to months at a time and it's just about the same reaction everytime she visits, it's awesome.

I guarantee your puppy won't forget you.


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## Coby Love (Apr 9, 2015)

I think this is great. It takes a village to raise a puppy ha ha. He will love all the people. He's a golden!



tikiman53 said:


> Hey guys, thank you so much for the advice. I know the situation is less than ideal. I really wish I could just cancel my work. But for now, here's what I'm thinking, and I'd really appreciate your thoughts on the plan:
> 
> My mom will be working 5 days a week for 8 hours. Her hours vary, but on some of those days, she has a long enough lunch break to drop by the house and check on the puppy, play with her, walk her...etc... Maybe about 30 minutes. On the days where she can't do that, we'd like to leave her with a pet sitter in our neighborhood who seems to be great, with some obedience training as well. The pet sitter has her own dogs, and I think it might be good for the pup to have the chance to play around with some other dogs under good supervision. We're working out the budget right now, but we're also thinking about asking our trusted neighbor if she could pop in the house in the afternoon and just play with the puppy a little bit, take it for a walk...etc... Then again, our neighbor is quite old, so I'm not sure if she'll be up to it...
> 
> Do you guys think this plan is enough to make things work? And do you think the pup will be confused by all the different people it'll have to spend time with? I'm really worried that with all this switching of hands, my pup will forget me in the 2 months that I'm gone. Or be less than thrilled to be back with me full time when I get back


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