question
 

hi everyone, my puppy lexi is 3 months old. my mom comes over my house at 9:30 am to check on her.. i leave the house for work at 7:45
mom comes back at around 4:30 again to check up on lexi and she what she is up to and just to keep and eye her.. i come home at 5:30... lexi has the run of the whole living room... 2 wee pads and all her toys.. my cousins daughter is willing to help out and come over around 1pm to check on her..
my question is, i want to pay her each day for coming over .how much do i give her? she came over yesterday twice and i gave her $20.00. i know a bit much.. i cant afford that every day of course....she'll only come over once a day for about 15minutes... i probably dont even need her but that would mean lexi would be alone from around 10am to 430pm... what do ya thing?
any suggestions would be appreciated. thanks

Pay her maybe $25.00 for the whole week..at 15 minutes a day that is basically a 12.50 an hour!! not bad for a young girl!!, I wouldn't leave her alone for 10-4:30..I leave at 8:30 and my bf comes home at 12:30 feeds Maximus lunch and plays with him for 45 minutes..he is then home at 4pm and this is only 2 times a week because my bf and I have different "off" days and I am bringing him with me to work 1x a week!!

It's up to you if you want to pay someone to check on her. Try talking to them and telling them "Hey I can't afford $20 everyday but how much do you think is fair". If they are just enjoying your baby and don't want anything, Cool! You can make them dinner sometime or take them to the movies. I leave Coco alone from 8am till 5pm. She does great. Just naps the whole time.

I would think that if she is just stopping by and it isn't and
won't be anything time consuming that a gesture of say
$5.00 per day should be fine. Seeing the minimum wage isn't
much more than that and she is only there for a matter of
minutes that seems like a reasonable amount to me.

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the girl is 17 years old.. i think $25.00 is great for a week.. i was thinking of that price i just needed someone to agree....she is going to college in sept but lexi will be 6 months and maybe i can leave her..

:eek: I feel like I need to doge the flamethrowers right now but... I really don't see a problem with your baby staying alone from 10 to 4:30. If you are crate training, I think they get used to the time limits you set. I think sometimes there's a little bit too much concern about never leaving your pup alone. I know that Tatum just naps in her kennel all day. My husband works from home but also travels most of the day sometimes for work too. Sometimes Tatum is out all day lounging around in his office with him and sometimes she's in her kennel for a good 5-7 hour stretch. She seems to be none the worse for wear because of this. She gets lots of love when we get home and I think that's the most important part. But if you're concerned about her age.... we got Tatum at 9 weeks and she was alone for long stretches from the beginning. Of course my husband tried to be home to let her out more often when she was real little but that's what crate training is all about. We have no accidents in the crate but she's also not crated for 10 hour stretches.


All I'm saying is that you have to do what you can do but please don't let people make you believe that you're a bad person if you don't have a sitter constantly so your baby is not too lonely. You'll do what's best for you and your pup.

I don't believe that anyone was trying to make anyone feel bad about anything..BUT I also don't think it is the best thing for a young puppy to be alone for long stretches, but sometimes it is the ONLY option..I think it is VERY responsible of to have someone go by even for 15 minutes to spend time with her puppy...no one was criticizing anyone as a pet owner

wow im doing the same thing.... my lil cousin is coming to my apt to feed Chicle is 1pm. feeding she stays for about one hour but this was his first week alone she stayed longer... she herself set up her payment for 10bucks a week... since shes been working O/T i will up the payment.... shes 11 years old btw... and she even regected the O/T from me but i told her no she deserves it ...
20 bucks a day is steep but 10-20 bucks a week isnt bad ...
question.. why only 15mins?? why not a lil longer .. make her payment worth while you know???

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you know what? i just feel guilty..i know i shouldnt but i do... sometimes i feel she would have it better with a whole family.. its just me really...i have no children and probably will never have any. im single and love and feel bad for all animals who stay home alone....im just worried, why? i dont know..
im feeling down i guess. sorry for that

It is our job to worry we LOVE our babies...lol, I feel guilty that I don't take Maximus too work with me 3 days out of the week so he is NVERE alone..but it is just unrealisitc, I would end up losing my job and being homeless...lol, not everyone has my situation or is able to have it and as long as you do your best..what more can anyone ask for!!! YOU HAVE TO WORK!!! and I am sure you make up for it with lots of love when you get home..LOL, I spend my whole weekend making it up to Maximus!!!

i can COMPLETELY understand you .... its really heart breaking for me to leave him or know that hes alone. but its bound to happen. and i guess its true what they say ..."they will get used to it" and i guess they will once we start letting go...BUT THAT WILL NOT STOP ME from getting as much help as i can ... i have a lot of volunteers so thats been a great blessing for me :)
IT will be ok ... i think your cousin coming over is a good thing ...

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you know what? ill be 43, single , own a home, work 9 hrs a day.,
come home and take good care of my puppy. i have no life cause i worry about my baby.... i knew i would be like this.... imagine if i had kid? oh boy, id be a nut case

You should be PROUD!!!

Oh, I know that's not the intention and I saw no one really doing that.... I'm just talking from past experiences from what I've read here in response to other people's questions. That's why I even hesitate to respond to posts like this one. I feel that I'm in the minority here (at least not many people are speaking up from my side) that Tatum gets crated for longer stretches than some. It may not ever be anyone's intention to criticize someone asking this question that Lexi Rae is asking but for those of you that have the joy and privilege of spending all day with your babies, sometimes it comes across that those of us that can't are not such good mommies. I guess it's not much different that the "stay-at-home mom vs. work-outside-of-home mom" debate that never ends.

What it comes down to is that I could see that she is feeling guilty for having to leave her pup and wanted to ease some of her concerns by showing her that there ARE other people that have to do the same. And since we seem to be in the minority, she may not hear that side of the issue.

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thank you for that, i feel like crying... you know sometimes you have everything and yet you have nothing...just feeling alittle sad thats all..
but thanks

You don't have to appologize for feeling bad for your baby. I think we all do and if we all could, I think that we would be home with them all day, or at least bring them with us to work if we could, but in the real world that isn't possible.
I leave my baby home alone from 8-5pm mon-fri, as do many people. He is in the laundry room with paper down, his bed, food & water, a radio and lots of toys. In the begining he wasn't used to it, but he is now. It only took about a week for him to understand the routine.
Anyway, if you really feel better having someone check up on them for a few minutes during the day I agree that about $20-25 per week would be sufficient. Seeing as they are only there for about 15 minutes at a time, that is a good deal I think. Some people might even do it for free, just to be with the cutiepie! :aimeeyork

Yeah..I think we all feel sad for leaving our babies!!!!I'm trying to find a puppy friendly supermarket and laundramat for that VERY REASON...LOL!!!..but truthfully!!

You have a "whole" family by the sounds of it, your Mom checks on her twice a day, your cousin is also checking on her. It sounds like you are taking very good care of your baby! I sometimes feel bad, knowing Macy is left home alone at night when we run somewhere but then I think it is better for her to be home in here crate than sitting in a hot car while we are shopping!
As long as she gets lots of attention and exercise when your home than don't worry. Hey I was raised my a single Mom working 2 jobs and I think I turned out pretty darn good. Your baby will be just fine, don't feel bad because your single, heck that just gives you more alone time with her!

My 2 Cents
 

:D I think it's fine to pay your cousin 25 bucks a week. That seems fair. I also think that it's not too much time to leave your pup alone. As long as they have enough room to move (a crate or x-pen), some food and water and a couple of chew toys I think puppy will be fine. When I leave Chewy I also leave the TV on to either Animal Planet or Cartoon Network and even though it's silly and people make fun of me, I call on the phone and leave messages.

This is just like being a parent and my philosophy about my own parenting and the thing I say to other mom's (about our skinkids!!) is simply, don't beat yourself up. Same rules apply ;)

Angie, I hear you and agree. I didn't post for awhile. I realize they are like our babies. But I know it's ok to leave them alone when necessaryand if you have to work and earn a living(especially if you are the only income) It has to be very difficult. I have 2 Yorkies so that helps me and them:) They really enjoying being together. I don't start my fulltime school til September. Then I might have my mom stop in to check on them on the long days.

Jack and Mandys Mom

Is Lexi using the pads? And, not playing and ripping them to shreds? If she is, a puppy her age can go about 4 hours without pottying. I'd base my schedule on that, if needed. Have you puppy proofed the area? If mine get bored they will chew (puppies do that anyway), including the electric wire of the lamp. Just to keep me from worrying I think I'd be glad to pay someone $25 a week to check on her.