Time Off

[W Sibs]

I took two weeks off.

It was good for me in terms of toilet training because I woke up three times a night to take her outside.

During the day I had a normal routine and kept her alone for a few hours with toys, treats etc as if I were not home!

I would imagine it would be tough to toilet train a puppy all night and then work the next day.

I didn't sleep a solid 6 hours sleep till Em was 6 months. I was going batty after a while, I had to take off for a weekend. Book into a B&B so I could get some sleep

Answer the question... I usually take a week off to settle the pup in

Edited October 7, 2011 by CW EW

[**Super_Dogs**]

Very tempted to go for it.... timing is not ideal (but it will never be), and I'm slightly apprehensive at the "older" part, with whatever baggage / bad habits it may imply...

I would not be worried this. There are some breeder who do not let puppies go until 10-12 weeks. If the pup does have any bad habits, which there would not be many at this age, this can very easily and quickly be fixed. Puppies learn so quickly

An advantage of a 13 week old puppy is it is likely to settle in quicker being just that little bit older.

[fbaudry]

Thank you all for the replies!

CW EW I know what you mean re sleep deprivation!

From what the breeder told me this little pup has been crate trained and is down to one toilet break in the night

Good to see Charlie is still doing well too... hugs to him and Em!

Buddy1 I know puppy pick things up quickly and are very adaptable. I think I've been doing too much reading about critical socialisation times, fear periods etc... I don't want to mess things up

Saxonpup, I agree more time off would be ideal to fast track toilet training. I accept things will take a bit longer...

Esky, when is the next puppy due ? Will you go for a Lappie?

[NOCTRL]

I didn't take any time off and neither did my OH.

We picked Arby up a Tuesday evening and we both went to work on Wednesday - though i do have the kind of job where i can pop home frequently to check on him / take out for toilet. I'd put him in his bathroom at 830, go back at 1030, go back at 1230 for an hour, back at 330, OH home at 4, then me home at 5. He has settled to this routine really well.

We do play with him a lot before work (a good hour or so play from 730 - 830, an hour at lunch and then lots in the evening / before bed).

Would it be better to have taken time off to speed track toilet training? Sure... But he's going ok so far

[huski]

I think taking time off is one of the worst things you can do.

IMO you should teach your puppy the day it comes home that the picture you paint for it today is what the rest of it's life will be like.

If you work F/T, get your puppy in that routine immediately.

[Jarvis]

Hi! :D

I am at the end of my 2 weeks off to settle in Jarvis. I think it could just have been one week really, but as a complete newbie to dogs and puppies it has been good to spend time with him and see him change. As he cried for the first 3 or 4 nights it was good to not be working, but now he's sleeping through I could definitely have gone back to work sooner, though as it's school holidays I had to be home anyway. I have left him for longer and longer as the 2 weeks go on, and today he was left for 6 hours which is about as long as he'll ever be left. He was very happy to see us when we got home!

For toileting we're using newspaper inside and he seems pretty good at using that both at night and when we're out. When I'm home I take him out periodically for a play and the toilet.

Looking forward to some more lovely cocker pup pics then!

Sarah

[Esky the husky]

Thank you all for the replies!

Esky, when is the next puppy due ? Will you go for a Lappie?

Not for a while, I'm in the research stage of finding something for sledding that won't drive OH batty.

Umm not an easy task

[fbaudry]

Can't wait to see the list of breeds you come up with! I reckon it won't be a long one 

Thank you all for your feedback! Somehow I feel better about things.... I really like my delta society trainer, but I thought their views were very extreme on that matter.

One more week to go...

Edited October 8, 2011 by fbaudry

[sas]

I'd take longer than the weekend, mostly because I live in surburia and noise from my dog pen can be heard by the neighbours so if I just chucked a pup in the day pen and went off to work at 5:30am then I know that puppy would make a bunch of noise that my neighbours would not appreciate.

Edited October 8, 2011 by MEH

[Guest english.ivy]

I think I took a week off [maybe two] with Ivy and that was a bad idea as she got too used to me being around but she's grown out of that pretty good now.

And I took a few days off with Badger, mainly just to make sure he was ok around Ivy, who was 18 months at the time because they were going to be in the yard together from day one.

[Bubitty]

Cw ew I was lucky because she could hold from 11pm to 5.30am after the two weeks!

I really think it's wise to take at least a week off if you can. Doesn't mean you sit at home all day with puppy on your lap. It's good to have the time to spy on puppy and make sure everything is set up perfectly for when you go back to work!

I also used my two weeks to set up the perfect work routine in the morning ie timed myself to see how long it would take to train her, prep treats, take her out etc

[fbaudry]

I know what you mean Bubbity... Taking time off doesn't mean spending all this time with the pup!

I know many recommend to get the pup used to being on its own gradually. Like on Day 1, you leave pup alone for periods of say 2 minutes, then you build it up until the puppy is happy enough on its own for hours.

The other thing, as you say, is that it's good to be able to spy on your pup, and find out what sort of mischief they can get themselves into that you didn't think of

Not long to go now...

I was thinking of doing a mail drop to the neighbours to let them know that I had a new puppy and that even though we are trying as best as we can to settle it, there might be some crying / barking during the day to start with... Is there a template handy somewhere I could use coz I'm lazy?

[Agility Dogs]

I voted for the weekend one, but in reality Wikki flew in on Wednesday night (about 11pm) and i took the next day off work to sleep. After that it was business as usual (save for the rushed lunch time trips home to let her out of her crate occasionally.)

I agree with those who said to get the put into their routine asap.

[fbaudry]

I voted for the weekend one, but in reality Wikki flew in on Wednesday night (about 11pm) and i took the next day off work to sleep. After that it was business as usual (save for the rushed lunch time trips home to let her out of her crate occasionally.)

I agree with those who said to get the put into their routine asap.

Thank you for that!

You're making me feel better about it... 3 more sleeps now

Quick question regarding the rushed lunch-time trips home; I'll obviously will be doing these for a while but I am not sure how to make the most of them. Obviously she'll be excited to see me (Well, hopefully!) and I'll try to make my coming back as low key as possible (to avoid nurturing separation anxiety), but at the same time I feel I should be doing something to tire her out for the afternoon (training / play session / short walk). Do I run the risk of revving her up and making my going back to work in the afternoon more difficult for her to cope with?

Sorry for all these silly questions

[fbaudry]

I voted for the weekend one, but in reality Wikki flew in on Wednesday night (about 11pm) and i took the next day off work to sleep. After that it was business as usual (save for the rushed lunch time trips home to let her out of her crate occasionally.)

I agree with those who said to get the put into their routine asap.

Thank you for that!

You're making me feel better about it... 3 more sleeps now

Quick question regarding the rushed lunch-time trips home; I'll obviously will be doing these for a while but I am not sure how to make the most of them. Obviously she'll be excited to see me (Well, hopefully!) and I'll try to make my coming back as low key as possible (to avoid nurturing separation anxiety), but at the same time I feel I should be doing something to tire her out for the afternoon (training / play session / short walk). Do I run the risk of revving her up and making my going back to work in the afternoon more difficult for her to cope with?

Sorry for all these silly questions

ETA was Wikki able to hold his/her bladder all morning?