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Home alone? Hello everyone! I'm new to this site....my husband & I just adopted our first Yorkie puppy 2 days ago & we absolutely adore him!!! We both work the same hours (8:15 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.) & we have no one to leave Rocky (our puppy) with? Is it ok to leave him home alone? I'm really worried about him, but both of us have to work. He is currently 9 weeks old & we're currently working on trying to train him (using wee wee pads). He has had a couple of accidents, but he does sometimes pee on the pads (which we praise him for every time)....anyways, it breaks my heart to leave him every morning because he whines & cries & then barks a bit.....is there something I can do? I hate being cruel & I hate leaving him alone. Oh, before we leave, we turn on the radio for him (not to loud, but plays Christmas songs)......will this drive him crazy thinking that someone is there? Thank you all for your time! |
Welcome to YT!!:) I would think it would be okay, as long as he is crated! I would also think the sound of music might comfort him some. I'm just guessing here. I'm sure someone with more experience will be along to say for sure!:) |
Welcome to YorkieTalk :) The music is fine and may keep him company. The biggest issue with a 9 weeks old is how often he is eating. It would be very easy for him to go into a hypoglycemic episode which is an emergency. If he won't eat on his own, he can't be left along that long. If you free feed and you are sure he is eating often enough, then it shouldn't be a problem. :) |
It shouldnt be a big problem, I had to do that with Daisy a few times and she was fine. I would leave the TV on (or radio :)) and have someone come and check on her. I would definitely crate him or keep him in a secluded room. Make sure he has food, water, a bed/blanket and lots of toys to keep him occupied. Remember though, if you do leave him in a room and he has an accident dont punish him,(unless you see him doing it) if you do he wont know why he's getting in trouble! When you get home he'll be so happy to see you, give him lots of love and attention!! |
oh yeah, :welcome4: :yorkietal |
Thank you, everyone! I feel a lot better now! About him eating, he does eat on his own, so I'm glad that is not a problem. Thanks...we don't punish him or tell him no unless we see him do it.....my husband had read that somewhere.....definitely makes tons of sense. I can't wait to get home & show him love....miss him lots......again, thanks everyone!!! |
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Crate a young puppy from 8:15- 4:30????? My vet said they need relief at least every 4 hours when this young. |
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Personally I think 8.15-4.30 is much too long to leave a young puppy on its own. The rescue kennels here won't let you rehome a young dog if you are going to have to leave it for longer than 5 hours. Any chance you could work flexi time, or get someone to call in to let him out for a wee and check he is ok? |
I wouldn't leave him alone at this age :( |
Hi! :wavey: Welcome! :welcome4: :yorkiesar I can imagine how it must break your heart to leave him each day. If he's in a crate, could you possible get him an exercise pen instead? This would at least allow him more room to move around. Or perhaps there is a neighbor, friend or family member that could stop by and check on him for you. Any way you can get home on your lunch break? Doggie Day Care will be a nice option for a day or two a week once he's through all his shots. Please post some pictures when you can. :) |
Rocky's Mom I will wait until you come back to answer everyone's questions, but I suspect, that like me, you don't have anyone you can depend on to look in on your little one. Day care was out of the question for me, because I can't afford one more thing in my budget. I had to leave Maya all day (still am as I am at work right now, but that will soon end, I'm retiring). I gated her in the laundry room with water only (I fed her in the morning before leaving, and then when I came home). I saw to it that she was gated and safe, and she was just fine when I got home. I have it on good authority that they basically sleep while you are gone. Some members who even have dogs they trust to have run of the house, and they have those cameras that you can watch them from home say that all theirs do is sleep the day away as well (even someone that had two, and you would think they would play or something). I think your baby will be fine. Don't worry. When I get home though, it is basically all about Maya until bedtime. |
Welcome to YT. I'm sure he'll be ok, but I'd keep him confined to the room where his wee wee pads are, or if you crate him make sure there are plenty of wee wee pads. I know there is something you can buy at the store, to put little droplets of this excuse me "pee" smell. That might help him get trained sooner. |
One more thing...I know there are all kinds of doggie daycare situations, but the closest one to me would be Pet Smart, and from what I can observe of that set up, I really don't want Maya there. |
P.S. I forgot to say what a cute little bundle he is. |
Thanks everyone. Little Rocky is so precious & I couldn't imagine keeping him locked up in a crate for so long. We have sectioned off a room in our home where he can run & play.....his food & water is there as well as his bed & wee pad on opposite sides of the room. |
This reminds me of my new baby-- his name is Butters and we just got him last week. I too was worried about leaving him home alone-- we sectioned off a part of the apt and puppy-proofed it, plus we left out his toys, blanket, water, etc. I work a few blocks away so I can stop by during my lunch break. When we get home from work, oh BOY is he a hyper little doggie! Pretty much keeps us playing with him until bedtime. Today I am actually working from home, and you can't imagine how surprised I was to find him sleeping most of the day. I guess this is what he normally does when we're gone, which would explain why he's so excited once we come back home to play. My only concern is that because he sleeps so much during the day, he might want to stay up more at night. Sometimes he wakes us up to play! (I know it can't be to pee pee because he's already house trained.) Maybe he's just looking for food. |
Thanks for the response! My puppy does this too....he'll wanna be up late at night to play....we're trying to see if he'll go to sleep during normal hours. Last night, hubby & I were up until 4 a.m. with him because he wouldn't go to sleep. We felt bad just leaving him & going to bed, even though we leave our door open & we're right in the next room. |
It sounds like you have a good setup for him. :thumbup: |
No Crating I agree with other posts. At this age, the puppy would be to young to crate, for that long. Maybe leave the puppy in a x pen, with food and water. This would be fine all day. The only bad part of this, would be that the puppy would most likely take awhile longer to potty train. Definatley don't scold the puppy for peeing off the pee pad, when no one is there to correct the puppy. |
Hello and welcome to Yt. You'll love it here and congrats on your new furbaby. |
Thanks....we don't scold him unless we see him doing something wrong....even then, it breaks my heart.....hubby says I'm too much of a softie & Rocky will be controlling me! LOL....can't help it. |
Thanks! I love it here already & I just joined today. |
I would leave something with him that smells like you a comfort thing. |
Welcome to Yorkietalk! My husband and I both work full time as well. Abby is a year old now and very well adjusted and just knows this is routine when we leave for work. She has most of the house available to her now and we don't worry about her tearing up anything. She has her pee pad and food and water bowl in the kitchen and chew toys and bed in the living room. We started out when we brought her home just giving her the bathroom with her pee pad, food and water and little bed in for her. After several months we gated off a larger area for her. We also leave music on for her. I think they adapt to your routine fairly easily. That is all Abby has ever known. We do exercise her when we get home though, either by walking her or playing indoors with her. We also exercise and play alot with her on weekends. Good luck. I am sure your furbaby will do fine. |
Puppies that young have a risk of hypoglecemia if they don't eat and also, they need to relieve themselves often. This is just what I would do: During the day when your gone, baby gate her in a bathroom, laundry room, foyer... some place where she can't get into trouble, but still have a pee pad, some food, and fresh water. You still play music or have the TV on. Maybe leave a dirty shirt that you and/or your husband have worn so she still smells you. At night or anytime you can't watch her, but you're in the house, I would crate her. |
Thank you everyone for all the kind responses. Today was a hard day for me...I was able to spend all weekend long with Rocky & now that it's Monday & I'm back to work, I miss him so much! This morning broke my heart....we sectioned off the house & he knew exactly what was going on.....he began looking at us with this sad face like he didn't want us to go.....then once he saw we were ready to leave, he started whinning & crying.....made me cry a few times already today just thinking about him being so upset & being home by himself. I am going to give him one of my shirts that I have worn tomorrow. I hadn't thought about that.....but honetsly, I think I am the one who is having more trouble adjusting to this........I miss him so much!!! He does eat & drink while we are away & I'm pretty sure he naps, too. He does tend to sleep a lot, but when he is up, he is always playing & chewing on his toys. Another painfully 5 1/2 hours till I get to see my little Rocky baby..... =( |
Hi and welcome! I am also new to this site and just got my baby Tobi :) My finace and I have to leave Tobi home alone but he work closer to home and is able to check on him during his lunch breaks. I feel relieved that everything I am doing is good for my baby. I leave him (gated) in the 2nd biggest bathroom in the house with water and food, pee pad, bed, and lots of toys. I also keep music on bc when we're home we play music..lol Today is my first day away from him for long period of time and I am watching the clock until I can get home to see my baby:cry::cry: One thing that I read that I might try is to record him while we're gone. Thats a smart/good idea. I'll keep everyone posted! Thanks everyone for the lovely advice! |
Awww, your baby is so precious!!! My husband was saying that he wants to set up a live feed so that we could watch him while he is home alone. I wish we could leave & go home for lunch to at least check up on him, but we don't work so close by (we both work for the same company). Anyways, I sometimes wonder though if that would be a good thing, because then he would get sad again when it's time to go back to work. I think he cries for a bit & hopefully gets over it & starts playing with his toys....I just hope he doesn't spend most of his time alone crying.....it just tears me up inside. I, too, cannot wait to get home & cuddle him. |
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