Preparing to go to work on Tuesday & Questions- help!
 

Well, we've made it through our first 3 days and things are going well so far! She finally has a name. Her name is Violet. It just "clicked" when we thought of it! She is a little luvvv girl!

I have a couple of questions - if you would be so kind as to help me. This is my first time ever having a dog, and I apologize if I sound amateur or stupid :(

1.) Violet is a little over 9 weeks. I work outside of the home 3 days per week and am gone from 7am - 5:30 pm (over 10 hours). Our current arrangement is that I have a very small kitchen that i have gated off, with her papers, food, toys, and her crate is in the adjacent laundry room.
When I leave for work on these days, do I leave her in her crate? Or can I leave her in the gated off kitchen? I'm worried if she doesn't have food/water for that long? I'm attaching a picture of my kitchen and you can see where her crate is, etc...


2.) The past 3 nights, I have put her in her crate at about 11pm. She has made it fine until about 5:30 or 6:00 am -- then she starts crying. I have just been getting up with her, taking her to papers, figuring that was probably enough time in her crate for being only 9 weeks - is this correct?

3.) When I have to do something in the house and can't carry her with me, I put her in our small, gated kitchen area. She has started crying when I put her in there and she cant see me or my daughter. Is it wrong to go in there when she cries --- i.e., are we creating bad habits?

Thank you all SO much in advance! What a tremendous resource you are!!

Cheryl (& Violet)

I would leave her gated in the kitchen with her food, water, etc. Mine would tear up the newspaper so I use pee pads with a tray that holds it down and they can not grab on to. Before I leave I give them a treat like a flossie and they are fine until I get home at night. Good Luck I am sure she will be fine.

Definitely leave her in the kitchen. She is too little to hold it more than a few hours, and you don't want her to ever go potty in her crate because she's left in there too long. We did this with Tobey when he was little. Eventually he figured out how to get over the baby gate, but by then he was totally "paper trained" to potty pads. Also, buy some potty pads, newspapers really don't absorb that well. Walmart sell them for cheaper than petstores do. we get a 50 pack for about $13. I also tape mine down with scotch tape on the corners otherwise Tobey will drag it off into the living room. If you are still working on potty training, when you are home, i recommend doing the crate training method. you can find lots of info about it on here. good luck!

I echo what the others have said. Definitely leave her in the kitchen. She will probably sleep most of the day.

Keep her confined in the kitchen, she's safe, has food and water, able to get to her crate if she'd like, safe toys to play with...but if you're training her to potty inside, use pads rather than papers. I prefer to train them to go potty outside, but if that's not possible or doable...use pads.
I think the trick is to make them want to be in there...never use it as punishment. I have always made Winston get in his bed (in the kitchen) on his own...I don't pick him up and put him there, at first I had to entice him with a treat, after a few times he just automatically goes there, waiting in his bed for his good boy treat...even before I'm ready to leave. And he has never had separation anxiety...he likes it there, and I know he's safe, comfortable and has everything there he needs. Good luck...hope it all works out well for you and Violet (such a pretty name)!!!

Definetly leave her in the kitchen gated up. I'm afraid she'd be too depressed in the crate all day.

I leave mine in the kitchen even she is potty train allready, she doesn't chew anything either, but you never know, I also have two seniors cats they good friends but I always want to make sure they are playing nicely; your kitchen look perfectly fine, I put some child safety lock in the lowers gabinets, and I always use stainless steel dishes for her she have some ceramic ones but I think stainless steel are more safe:rolleyes:

Thank you all so much!
 

I really appreciate your answers. I really thought the answer was going to be to crate her -- so I'm very glad I asked. If anyone has additonal thoughts on the crying, that would be great too. I'm sure lots of people ask this, so I'll do a few searches also and see if I can read a previous answer.

Violet says THANKS too!

Also...
 

Also, I'm going to switch her onto the pads in the next day or so. At the breeder, she was trained to go on newspaper, so I was trying to keep things as "status quo" as possible for the first few days... I'm sure she will really prefer the pads.

Thanks!!
Cheryl

You are doing good, congratulation on your new baby, I can imagine how happy your daughter is:D

She is!!
 

My daughter is just over the moon excited. She is an only child, and Violet will be her companion for many years to come!

I'm glad I have this board, it has kept the sanity in our house together!!

Cheryl

My little Maggie who is 9 weeks old also stays in my kitchen every day while I am at work. I feel so guilty leaving her but I agree with everyone that is much better than the crate. I have been trying the newspaper but she still poops on the floor sometimes. She is pee on the paper always. The problem I have with the pads is the kitty (about the same age) was getting in there with her while I was gone and tearing up the pads. I am having a very difficult time potty training. She is being treated for Coccadia and goes about 15-20 times a day. I think ithe training will take longer since I work so much. I know she is still very young but it is so frustrating. We will get thru this! Congratulations on your little baby and good luck!

Thanks Cheri. It is sooo good to know that I'm not alone.... I do feel so guilty about having to go to work. It is good to know that others do it. That is too bad about her having to go poo that much!!! Antibiotics sure do it to adults and kids, so I suppose pets wouldn't be any different! Makes it tough on owners though. Try to keep your chin up, she can't even control those poos yet... that kind of "having to go" happens too fast! She'll be back on the paper in no time I am sure.

Violet is precious! Love her name.
The first few months with a new baby are challenging, but it sounds like you are definitely on the right track - keeping her gated in the kitchen is a good bet. Congrats... you'll be a great yorkie mommy!

Violet is a lovely name and she is adorable. Looks like she has a great place to be when your at work.

May I make one suggestion. Place a towel over the back and 1/3 the way up the sides of her crate. It will make it feel more like a den.

I also leave the radio or TV on when I go out. Something nice and soothing.

Good Luck with her. She'll be fine.

She is darling! what a beautiful name!

I agree with everyone else...definitely give her the kitchen area.

The only thing is I don't think I'd leave her alone with a flossie or any kind of chewy. I like to supervise when mine have them.

Great idea on the towel covering the sides and back of her crate. That makes perfect sense. And yes, I've got the radio there and ready to go. My heart is going to BREAK on Tuesday!

Being that this is my first experience as a dog owner, I am suprised by how much similarity there is between this and having a newborn baby. I was expecting the amount of work it is (a lot), but have been surprised by how much emotional bonding there is already. I am full of worry, joy, protectiveness... all the same feelings I had when I had my daughter 7 years ago. It's amazing how the emotions rush back!

Thanks so much!
Cheryl

Violet will be just fine, you wait and see. I really don't think Winston does anything but sleep while we're gone. When I come home he's all curled up in his bed and looks up at me with his sleepy eyes...stretches...then comes a running, always happy to see us. The bonding thing is very emotional, they get as attached to us as we are to them. And it happens so very fast, before you know it...it's puppy love!!!

My advice would be to leave her in a big xpen, or two connected together ( my only reason for saying this is because my puppies have chewed all of my moldings and cabinets, when I've left them in the kitchen).

Also, with the crying -- never ever go pick up, talk or play with Violet while she is whining in her area. It is super hard, but by giving her a treat or talking or cuddling her, it will reinforce crying = i get out of here, or I get attention :).

You are doing great! And she is sooo cute!

Let me tell for me was very streesful because we don't have skin kids, I remember the first couple days I cried because I thought man what I got myself into, I don't think I'm ready for this, but now is like boy I want another one:p. I forgot to mention that I bought from Waltmart some plastic covers things for the electrical outlets, you probably have those ones allready, that way I don't worry about she getting into anything:aimeeyork

Congratulations on the new baby girl! Violet is sooo cute! Sounds like you are doing all the right stuff. I have 2 yorkies--Emmy (1 1/2 years) and Oscar (14 weeks).

Debra--

Thank you for you perspective, I appreciate your advice. Yes, my mom lives close by and at least for the first month or so she is going to try to stop by and play with her. She is not a huge dog lover though, so hopefully it will be something that will work. We actually just moved about 2 weeks ago into a new apartment, and there are lots of people with dogs here. I have been so busy unpacking and such, that I have not gotten out to meet them yet. I am fairly sure that there are people in here who do that sort of "check in" or pet sitting, so I've just got to do some networking and figure out who's who. Ideally I would like to find someone to "trade services" with... like if I could check on their dog a couple days a week and vice versa. I'll figure something out! Thanks again for your perspective.

Cheryl

Even though my two were a little older when I got them (4 yrs and 1 yr), I worried about them getting bored or lonely when we were gone. So, I set up a Video camera one day. I let it run until the tape ran out. Here's what it showed:

Seconds after I left them, they both crawled into the same crate (even though they each have one in the XPen!) They came out twice to bark. Once I figure was the Mail-man, and the other was for a deliveryman that rang the doorbell. They barked for only about 10 seconds each time and then, back into the box and off to Dreamland! Once in that 2 hour period, one of them came out for a very brief drink of water, and then back to sleep!

I felt so much better after I watched the Video that night! Try it if you can! :):aimeeyork:animal-pa

QUOTE=Heycher;1253497]Debra--

Thank you for you perspective, I appreciate your advice. Yes, my mom lives close by and at least for the first month or so she is going to try to stop by and play with her. She is not a huge dog lover though, so hopefully it will be something that will work. We actually just moved about 2 weeks ago into a new apartment, and there are lots of people with dogs here. I have been so busy unpacking and such, that I have not gotten out to meet them yet. I am fairly sure that there are people in here who do that sort of "check in" or pet sitting, so I've just got to do some networking and figure out who's who. Ideally I would like to find someone to "trade services" with... like if I could check on their dog a couple days a week and vice versa. I'll figure something out! Thanks again for your perspective.

Cheryl[/QUOTE]
PHEW ! I am glad you didn't mind the suggestions - it's always hard to know how to word these things !
I am so delighted you have your Mom nearby - I am sure she will do just fab checking wee Violet, but remember to give her chocs or flowers, lol. (I bet that wee mite will turn her into a secret puppy lover !)
It also sounds promising on the new neighbours too - I would deffo check out that one - though be careful that they are trustworthy. Maybe your Mom knows some dog people who she knows are fine, as she lives nearby ?
I am so glad things are working out for you....it is such an awful time and I know you will fret the first few times until the routine is established as to what happens when Mommy goes to work !
:animal-pa Debra x x x x :)

[F]I think you have a great setup for having to work. I work 40 hours a week and my puppy has been gated off in my bathroom with food, water, his kennel (with fav. blanket), and newspaper to go on during the day since he was 8 weeks old. I leave the radio on for him during the day and he is now 10 months old. He pretty much holds it all day long (although he could go on the paper) and he is a perfectly well behaved healthy puppy. He has had no behavioral issues at all, I have socialized him well at any chance I get, and has never had a single health issue. I think its fine for people to have puppies when they work (obviously, because I am one of those people :) ). I think ideally it would be great if everybody could stay home full time with their pets, and I do look forward to the day when I can spend more time at home with him, but i also know that he is healthy mentally and physically and I don't consider it cruel to leave them at home (once again obviously because I do this:) ) I hope this eases the feelings of guilt when you go to work tomorrow!! You are not damaging your puppy by leaving her in a large kitchen with all her necessities and she will get plenty of loving in when you get home! Trust me!!! [/FONT]