Hi Peggy,
You are asking some great questions! I am currently
a stay at
home mom but worked when we had our first
two dogs as pups. It is
hard to balance the needs of
a pup with needing to be at work all day.
I think it would be a good idea to plan on keeping the
puppy in the
house at first. Bored puppies can get into
lots of mischief,
including digging. That said, a bored
puppy in a house can be a
potential problem, too. When
we left Bogey as a puppy, I made sure
he had lots of
interesting chew toys---nylabones, treat filled kongs or
buster cubes. We were really blessed in that Bo never
chewed
on furniture or other household items. Our
first golden did!
I think having someone come mid-day and let the pup
out, feed it and
play with it is a great idea. When we
got home from work, we then
had to spend lots of play
time with the puppies. Sounds you have a
great area
for your pup to run with supervision so that shouldn't
be
a problem.
Are you thinking of puppy kindergarten classes? We've
had great
luck with obedience classes with our dogs as
far as learning good
behavior. They have helped me so
much, too, in learning how to
handle puppies. I still have
lots to learn and I know there are
other real working
families on the list. Hope you get lots of
better ideas.
So glad you're on the list!
Take care, Lori and crew in Seattle
Peggy & Kurt wrote:
Hi allI'm needing some assistance. I've been
doing a lot of reading on raising a puppy, and the more I read, the more
I realize I don't know..... My dogs have been well loved but not
well behaved. I'd like to do things different this time, and I
keep coming up with questions. Would love advice from others on
this list...My most
pressing concern is the fact that my husband and I both work full
time(no kids). I'm looking for someone to come and feed and let
the pup out mid-day. But it's still a long day. Concerns
about house training, length of time in crate, confine to the
kitchen.... When she's old enough she'll go to doggie day care twice a
week. We live on an acre and are fencing in an area up by the
house. How old should the pup be before leaving her in
fence. How would this effect house training? I've got lots
more questions, but hopefully if I just do a few at a time no one will
get overwhelmed....Thanks!PeggyPS - I LOVE
seeing all those baby pictures -
thanks