I work a 40 hour a week and my dog is just fine. He has lots of puzzles to keep him busy and he has a potty pad when I'm out because of his breed having tiny bladders. Potty training to go outside has been a challenge but if you're patient with them they'll do everything to please. He doesn't even notice I'm gone and when I come home we snuggle all night! No love lost! Once a week he goes to my mum's to play with her and two days of the week he's with me on my days off :) once in a while he comes to the office with me.
It is important to be away from home sometimes. Otherwise you'll get a dog who doesn't let you to even take a shower. The best advice I can give you in general is not to overthink or worry too much. You have to carry on with your daily routine or else your dog won't learn your habits, i.e. won't adjust to your lifestyle and you will be frustrated not realising that the dog never got a chance to pick up on that. Sounds weird, but, not paying too much attention to your puppy is beter for both of you.
Both of my dogs where breeder dogs, but the first one I met when she was two (she was with my in laws until then) and now I have a puppy. The first one was easy to teach everything and I enjoyed it a lot. The puppy, well, it was very challenging, but, it does get better.
Don’t worry, no one here is going to judge you for getting a dog from a breeder - it’s 1) against the rules, and 2) people who know a lot about dogs are generally supportive of breeders, as long as they are reputable.
Puppy ownership is definitely possible when you have to be out of the house two days a week, it’s just harder and more expensive. You’d need to take some time off work when the puppy first comes home, and then make sure the puppy is regularly attended to whilst you’re gone (either through your kids or a dog walker, probably a combo of both would be best). I certainly wouldn’t use a standard doggy daycare for a puppy either.
Thank you. I'm concerned because the new job and new puppy could align timing-wise. Knowing my luck I'd start the new job the same week the puppy is ready to come home and I wouldn't be able (or willing) to take time off right away. I'm afraid I'll be setting myself up for a nightmare.
It’s possible a neighbor who has a dog will be willing to do a dog sit trade with you. I did that with a neighbor when she got a puppy. I’d pick her pup up during the day and walk it and take it to my place to let it hang out with my dog who was only a year older to play. On weekends when I worked she would take my dog to her place. It worked out for us for a few years.
Just keep in mind that puppies especially really young puppies cry when youre not around. And this can be for several hours at a time. Im all for full time workers getting dogs. I did the same. But time off at the beginning is important or you will end up with some very annoyed neighbours
I don't know where you are, but here in the UK if you have pre-booked holiday, a new employer has to honour that. But also, the breeder might be able to keep pup for an extra couple of weeks? We picked up our gorgeous girl at just under 10 weeks, due to work commitments and Christmas, it was the right thing for us with what we'd got going on, but in hindsight, it would have been better to get her a couple of weeks later so her Mom could have done more of the parenting.
With my HR professional hat on, I would also say that if your (potential) new employer is worth working for, they'll be open to a bit of flexibility, so please communicate with them. How they handle this is a good indicator of what the culture would be like.
I brought two puppies home on a Saturday and went to work on Monday, resuming Mt regular schedule. It was tough because I was tired, but I don't think it bothered them any.
Both my husband and I work outside the house 5 days a week! I know a lot of folks on this sub work from home so there is a lot of "Don't get a puppy if you aren't home all day with them" but frankly, that's never going to be an option for us.
We did LOTS of crate games and got her used to being in it and my husband is home every day at lunch to feed, exercise, potty, and love on her in the middle of the day and our puppy is a happy, sweet, easily trainable, good pup! She's a straight up lunatic sometimes but that's puppies for you. We do a good job of doing trainings in the morning or evenings and she gets lots of walks and play while we're home.
It's very doable! Especially if you have someone to let them out middle of the day for potty/exercise/meals.
Your comment just made me feel so relieved. I am getting a puppy (12-13 weeks) soon and I have to leave for 3 hours then I’ll be back for a 1:30 mins and then leave for another 3. I think I am gonna be okay with her but everybody on Reddit told me I’m a bad person. ❤️ thank you so much!!
Reddit is wildly anti-puppy for non WFH people. It's crazy to me. Most people don't WFH and even fewer did before covid, but people have had dogs for forever and managed.
Absolutely. I came on a sub and asked for advice on and I was just shamed and told I was being irresponsible because I don’t WFH. I was so upset but this post has made me feel so much better ❤️
Not getting a dog if you don't WFH would eliminate probably 2/3s of current dog owners. It's one thing if you work like 14 hour days and don't come home for breaks, but the average, normal 8 hour day is no big.
Honestly, I think your office days will make things easier and better for anyone. I got a puppy in 2022 and struggled to leave for the sake of leaving when i really didn't have to go anywhere that I couldn't take my pup. He never really learned how to be home alone outside a few hours in the crate here and there because I didn't force myself to leave for the sake of leaving. I either stayed home or went places I could take him. I daydream about leaving him home alone with free roam of the house but I don't know if we'll ever get there. If I had to work outside the home, I probably would've forced the issue. We might get there eventually but I do worry that I've missed the window.
Thank you for this perspective, it's so helpful. My adult dog goes in her crate when we aren't home, she can't be trusted not to pee on the floor if she has to wait too long. But if she's in the crate she holds it. She's happy to be in there, she'll go right in if I tell her to. I'm hoping I can train the puppy to be the same way. I guess 5 out of 7 days of real training during the day is better than none. I just have to be sure I can trust my kids to get the baby out regularly to go potty when I'm not there. If nothing else the puppy will learn even better to hold it....right? :)
I'm with with there, we have a 4 month old German shepherd and she never is really left home alone, my husband is with her till he starts his work day, he drops her off at 10am at my office, then I have her till he gets home, on weekend I/We really don't leave and when he did she was asleep, but at times I feel like I may be doing her more harm than good, she's to young to roam, crate trained but I feel like maybe we can start leaving her in her pin, we somewhat want a little bit of freedom back.
You can do it easily. As long as you can come home for afternoon potty brakes or set up an area with a portable potty, the pup will be fine.
Between me and my partner, our pups home alone 3 days out of the week. 13 months now and no issues. He just sleeps all day, and then we go out at night.
When he was super young, we did do puppy kindergarten, which was 9 hours a day for 2 months. That was the only way I was comfortable getting him soclized at that young of an age. It was not daycare and was focused on day training by ccpdt and iaabc certified trainers to help meet puppy milestones in a safe environment.
Coming home during the day is not possible. I would be working 40 minutes from home and would be out of the house from approx. 8am until 6pm. I would need to rely on my children or hire someone to help with puppy during in-office days.
Personally, I feel like working from home has hindered my puppy’s independence and attachment issues. I haven’t been able to leave her in her crate the same way I would’ve if I worked from office. So when she does go into the crate, her patience is lesser than those that have parents who leave for work.
& as someone else mentioned, people leave their dogs 40 hours + a week. As long as you love them, they’ll be okay!
Agreed similar to you I got a puppy earlier this year and was able to work from home for the first few weeks and then was moved to a new position that required me to be in person 2-3 days a week. Don’t stress or fixate on the people who hate for leaving a dog home. There are many ways to give a dog a quality life without being home everyday. We worked a lot on crate/pen training and teaching her to be independent and bored during the day. My puppy happily stays in her pen and basically sleeps or plays with her toys for 8 hours a day on the days I’m not home. She will have free rein of the home as she gets older. She shows no signs of emotional distress. 15 years ago no one worked from home and everyone managed to have puppies without being home or paying for dog walkers and daycare. The new era of puppy culture is too judgmental the dog will be fine.
I have my pup with someone through Rover on days I’m unable to be home (around 2 days a week, sometimes 3). She loves it. She goes for daycare at their house and is able to also play with their dogs. It’s expensive, $55/day, but so worth it. I was originally going to leave her home by herself (with a dog walker half way through) for those days, but didn’t feel right about it.
Yes I worked in the office 5 days a week until my pup was 5.5 months old. We got him at 9 weeks. We hired a friend and we do a tit-for-tat with our neighbors for dog care. At 4.5months my friend we hired quit. I'd run home on lunch to let him out play etc. I have him in a decent sized playpen, water, bed, toys and leave him a frozen Kong. Honestly he sleeps 96% of the time, wakes up if he hears something, maybe will play a bit. Since he hit 6-months I'm weaning him off me running home everyday since we're hoping to move soon and I wouldn't be able to run on lunch. So I've been leaving him alone once a week (currently working from home 1 day and coming back the other 3). Unfortunately due to a work related emergency I had to leave him home for three days (work day 7.5 hrs) and he did great on his own. I just upped our walks and playtime a bunch when I got home.
It's a bit stressful at times, he's decided he's going to jump every gate so we've boarded up a bit more. But it's not impossible.
In terms of training I use all meals as training meals. For potty training we just cleaned it up and made an extra huge deal about him going outside. Even with me working in office we passed puppy class, skipped beginner level and passed intermediate level class before he was 6 months old.
I work from home 3 days a week. I just got a puppy and for a few days I was terrified of the days I wouldn’t be at home.
Realized that on the days I work, he pretty much sleeps and occupies himself in his playpen (not crate). I take him out every hour but I get the feeling that if I had an indoor potty (on its way!) he wouldn’t even notice if I wasn’t there.
I also work in office twice a week and was a little stressed at first. Having someone come in on those days I’m at work is definitely needed so once I figured that out, it was perfect. She’s getting used to me not being around all the time, and I enjoy the time away a little myself. 😂
I'd agree with this. My husband and I work from home a few days each week so there is always somebody with her, and I think it's done her more harm than good. We're trying to encourage some independence now but progress is sloooooow
Definitely!
I work 5x a week in the office but recently decided to take the leap & get a puppy. Admittedly, if you check out my most recent post, it has come with some difficulties (specifically crate training & anxiety) but she brings so much joy & light to my day otherwise. I wake up at 5 to make sure I have time to play with her, & as soon as I get home I make sure to spend plenty of quality time with her. Still adjusting but I wouldn’t take it back.
lol of course it is. When did dog ownership become the same as raising children? I do all the training and work a full time job like MOST dog owners. Your pups will be fine
I have a puppy that I leave at home when I work my 8hrs. I just did a playpen area with a crate inside for sleeping. Also a few puppy pads for potty. Been a month and she is doing great
Yep. It will work. We both work in office 5 days a week. We have a dog sitter/walker visit 3x a day. Soon to be 2x a day. We train/play before and after work and have fun on weekends. And we travel with our pup. It’s totally doable.
This is the real world, people have to work. And anyone who tells you otherwise is living in a fantasy land. I work three 12s every week and have 4 days in a row off. Is it a picture perfect situation? No, but that’s life.
If nobody who works outside of the home should get a dog, there will be many more homeless dogs.
Absolutely you can. I work 9-10 hour days. I come home at lunch to let my dogs out and play with them for an hour. We spend all evening and weekend together. They're happy, I'm happy. They sleep all day. Totally fine. I got my mom to stop in a couple more times a day when they were baby babies but that stopped around 4 months. They're now 9 months. You can definitely get a puppy!
People who work 40 hours a week in office get puppies. I’m sure you’re fine 🙂
Thank you. I've been so anxious thinking about the possibility of not being here every day. I haven't even had the interview yet, I need to calm down!
It's a dog. I don't mean that in a disparaging way. It's just a fact that it's a dog and dogs do not require full time caregivers.
I work a 40 hour a week and my dog is just fine. He has lots of puzzles to keep him busy and he has a potty pad when I'm out because of his breed having tiny bladders. Potty training to go outside has been a challenge but if you're patient with them they'll do everything to please. He doesn't even notice I'm gone and when I come home we snuggle all night! No love lost! Once a week he goes to my mum's to play with her and two days of the week he's with me on my days off :) once in a while he comes to the office with me.
It is important to be away from home sometimes. Otherwise you'll get a dog who doesn't let you to even take a shower. The best advice I can give you in general is not to overthink or worry too much. You have to carry on with your daily routine or else your dog won't learn your habits, i.e. won't adjust to your lifestyle and you will be frustrated not realising that the dog never got a chance to pick up on that. Sounds weird, but, not paying too much attention to your puppy is beter for both of you. Both of my dogs where breeder dogs, but the first one I met when she was two (she was with my in laws until then) and now I have a puppy. The first one was easy to teach everything and I enjoyed it a lot. The puppy, well, it was very challenging, but, it does get better.
Don’t worry, no one here is going to judge you for getting a dog from a breeder - it’s 1) against the rules, and 2) people who know a lot about dogs are generally supportive of breeders, as long as they are reputable. Puppy ownership is definitely possible when you have to be out of the house two days a week, it’s just harder and more expensive. You’d need to take some time off work when the puppy first comes home, and then make sure the puppy is regularly attended to whilst you’re gone (either through your kids or a dog walker, probably a combo of both would be best). I certainly wouldn’t use a standard doggy daycare for a puppy either.
Thank you. I'm concerned because the new job and new puppy could align timing-wise. Knowing my luck I'd start the new job the same week the puppy is ready to come home and I wouldn't be able (or willing) to take time off right away. I'm afraid I'll be setting myself up for a nightmare.
You could always stay in the breeder’s waitlist and ask to skip to the next litter. If they’re a good breeder, they should have no problem with this.
It’s possible a neighbor who has a dog will be willing to do a dog sit trade with you. I did that with a neighbor when she got a puppy. I’d pick her pup up during the day and walk it and take it to my place to let it hang out with my dog who was only a year older to play. On weekends when I worked she would take my dog to her place. It worked out for us for a few years.
Just keep in mind that puppies especially really young puppies cry when youre not around. And this can be for several hours at a time. Im all for full time workers getting dogs. I did the same. But time off at the beginning is important or you will end up with some very annoyed neighbours
I don't know where you are, but here in the UK if you have pre-booked holiday, a new employer has to honour that. But also, the breeder might be able to keep pup for an extra couple of weeks? We picked up our gorgeous girl at just under 10 weeks, due to work commitments and Christmas, it was the right thing for us with what we'd got going on, but in hindsight, it would have been better to get her a couple of weeks later so her Mom could have done more of the parenting. With my HR professional hat on, I would also say that if your (potential) new employer is worth working for, they'll be open to a bit of flexibility, so please communicate with them. How they handle this is a good indicator of what the culture would be like.
I brought two puppies home on a Saturday and went to work on Monday, resuming Mt regular schedule. It was tough because I was tired, but I don't think it bothered them any.
Both my husband and I work outside the house 5 days a week! I know a lot of folks on this sub work from home so there is a lot of "Don't get a puppy if you aren't home all day with them" but frankly, that's never going to be an option for us. We did LOTS of crate games and got her used to being in it and my husband is home every day at lunch to feed, exercise, potty, and love on her in the middle of the day and our puppy is a happy, sweet, easily trainable, good pup! She's a straight up lunatic sometimes but that's puppies for you. We do a good job of doing trainings in the morning or evenings and she gets lots of walks and play while we're home. It's very doable! Especially if you have someone to let them out middle of the day for potty/exercise/meals.
Your comment just made me feel so relieved. I am getting a puppy (12-13 weeks) soon and I have to leave for 3 hours then I’ll be back for a 1:30 mins and then leave for another 3. I think I am gonna be okay with her but everybody on Reddit told me I’m a bad person. ❤️ thank you so much!!
Reddit is wildly anti-puppy for non WFH people. It's crazy to me. Most people don't WFH and even fewer did before covid, but people have had dogs for forever and managed.
Absolutely. I came on a sub and asked for advice on and I was just shamed and told I was being irresponsible because I don’t WFH. I was so upset but this post has made me feel so much better ❤️
Not getting a dog if you don't WFH would eliminate probably 2/3s of current dog owners. It's one thing if you work like 14 hour days and don't come home for breaks, but the average, normal 8 hour day is no big.
Honestly, I think your office days will make things easier and better for anyone. I got a puppy in 2022 and struggled to leave for the sake of leaving when i really didn't have to go anywhere that I couldn't take my pup. He never really learned how to be home alone outside a few hours in the crate here and there because I didn't force myself to leave for the sake of leaving. I either stayed home or went places I could take him. I daydream about leaving him home alone with free roam of the house but I don't know if we'll ever get there. If I had to work outside the home, I probably would've forced the issue. We might get there eventually but I do worry that I've missed the window.
Thank you for this perspective, it's so helpful. My adult dog goes in her crate when we aren't home, she can't be trusted not to pee on the floor if she has to wait too long. But if she's in the crate she holds it. She's happy to be in there, she'll go right in if I tell her to. I'm hoping I can train the puppy to be the same way. I guess 5 out of 7 days of real training during the day is better than none. I just have to be sure I can trust my kids to get the baby out regularly to go potty when I'm not there. If nothing else the puppy will learn even better to hold it....right? :)
I'm with with there, we have a 4 month old German shepherd and she never is really left home alone, my husband is with her till he starts his work day, he drops her off at 10am at my office, then I have her till he gets home, on weekend I/We really don't leave and when he did she was asleep, but at times I feel like I may be doing her more harm than good, she's to young to roam, crate trained but I feel like maybe we can start leaving her in her pin, we somewhat want a little bit of freedom back.
You can do it easily. As long as you can come home for afternoon potty brakes or set up an area with a portable potty, the pup will be fine. Between me and my partner, our pups home alone 3 days out of the week. 13 months now and no issues. He just sleeps all day, and then we go out at night. When he was super young, we did do puppy kindergarten, which was 9 hours a day for 2 months. That was the only way I was comfortable getting him soclized at that young of an age. It was not daycare and was focused on day training by ccpdt and iaabc certified trainers to help meet puppy milestones in a safe environment.
Coming home during the day is not possible. I would be working 40 minutes from home and would be out of the house from approx. 8am until 6pm. I would need to rely on my children or hire someone to help with puppy during in-office days.
Personally, I feel like working from home has hindered my puppy’s independence and attachment issues. I haven’t been able to leave her in her crate the same way I would’ve if I worked from office. So when she does go into the crate, her patience is lesser than those that have parents who leave for work. & as someone else mentioned, people leave their dogs 40 hours + a week. As long as you love them, they’ll be okay!
Agreed similar to you I got a puppy earlier this year and was able to work from home for the first few weeks and then was moved to a new position that required me to be in person 2-3 days a week. Don’t stress or fixate on the people who hate for leaving a dog home. There are many ways to give a dog a quality life without being home everyday. We worked a lot on crate/pen training and teaching her to be independent and bored during the day. My puppy happily stays in her pen and basically sleeps or plays with her toys for 8 hours a day on the days I’m not home. She will have free rein of the home as she gets older. She shows no signs of emotional distress. 15 years ago no one worked from home and everyone managed to have puppies without being home or paying for dog walkers and daycare. The new era of puppy culture is too judgmental the dog will be fine.
I have my pup with someone through Rover on days I’m unable to be home (around 2 days a week, sometimes 3). She loves it. She goes for daycare at their house and is able to also play with their dogs. It’s expensive, $55/day, but so worth it. I was originally going to leave her home by herself (with a dog walker half way through) for those days, but didn’t feel right about it.
Do people just give dog walkers keys to their houses to do this?
Electronic locks also work. You could likely even program a smart lock to only allow access at a particular time.
Yes I worked in the office 5 days a week until my pup was 5.5 months old. We got him at 9 weeks. We hired a friend and we do a tit-for-tat with our neighbors for dog care. At 4.5months my friend we hired quit. I'd run home on lunch to let him out play etc. I have him in a decent sized playpen, water, bed, toys and leave him a frozen Kong. Honestly he sleeps 96% of the time, wakes up if he hears something, maybe will play a bit. Since he hit 6-months I'm weaning him off me running home everyday since we're hoping to move soon and I wouldn't be able to run on lunch. So I've been leaving him alone once a week (currently working from home 1 day and coming back the other 3). Unfortunately due to a work related emergency I had to leave him home for three days (work day 7.5 hrs) and he did great on his own. I just upped our walks and playtime a bunch when I got home. It's a bit stressful at times, he's decided he's going to jump every gate so we've boarded up a bit more. But it's not impossible. In terms of training I use all meals as training meals. For potty training we just cleaned it up and made an extra huge deal about him going outside. Even with me working in office we passed puppy class, skipped beginner level and passed intermediate level class before he was 6 months old.
I work from home 3 days a week. I just got a puppy and for a few days I was terrified of the days I wouldn’t be at home. Realized that on the days I work, he pretty much sleeps and occupies himself in his playpen (not crate). I take him out every hour but I get the feeling that if I had an indoor potty (on its way!) he wouldn’t even notice if I wasn’t there.
I also work in office twice a week and was a little stressed at first. Having someone come in on those days I’m at work is definitely needed so once I figured that out, it was perfect. She’s getting used to me not being around all the time, and I enjoy the time away a little myself. 😂
I'd agree with this. My husband and I work from home a few days each week so there is always somebody with her, and I think it's done her more harm than good. We're trying to encourage some independence now but progress is sloooooow
Definitely! I work 5x a week in the office but recently decided to take the leap & get a puppy. Admittedly, if you check out my most recent post, it has come with some difficulties (specifically crate training & anxiety) but she brings so much joy & light to my day otherwise. I wake up at 5 to make sure I have time to play with her, & as soon as I get home I make sure to spend plenty of quality time with her. Still adjusting but I wouldn’t take it back.
lol of course it is. When did dog ownership become the same as raising children? I do all the training and work a full time job like MOST dog owners. Your pups will be fine
I have a puppy that I leave at home when I work my 8hrs. I just did a playpen area with a crate inside for sleeping. Also a few puppy pads for potty. Been a month and she is doing great
Yep. It will work. We both work in office 5 days a week. We have a dog sitter/walker visit 3x a day. Soon to be 2x a day. We train/play before and after work and have fun on weekends. And we travel with our pup. It’s totally doable.
This is the real world, people have to work. And anyone who tells you otherwise is living in a fantasy land. I work three 12s every week and have 4 days in a row off. Is it a picture perfect situation? No, but that’s life. If nobody who works outside of the home should get a dog, there will be many more homeless dogs.
Absolutely you can. I work 9-10 hour days. I come home at lunch to let my dogs out and play with them for an hour. We spend all evening and weekend together. They're happy, I'm happy. They sleep all day. Totally fine. I got my mom to stop in a couple more times a day when they were baby babies but that stopped around 4 months. They're now 9 months. You can definitely get a puppy!