Work/k9 Relationship, what do you think??

I'm gunna be moving out within the next 5 months and I'm planning on **buying** a golden retriever puppy. I know I'm going to have a good week or two off right from the start to train him and be with him all the time for the first week or so, What i wanted to ask all of you wuz, Do you think when i go back to work 8 hours, Is going to work that long, coming home sleeping for seven and then waking up and having a day with my pup going to be too little time to train a pup into a mature adult canine, ofcourse my weekends I'll have off, but is seven hours a day a decent amount of time to raise a pup by myself? Any help on this would be nice :D

thanx for your time

peace :ph34r:

i think its a decent amount of time, but, ive avoided getting a dog for a lot of reasons you might want to consider. First, puppies need LOTS of time and attention, housebreaking does not happen in one week, nor does training for a lot of behaviors you will want to put a stop to, like destructive behavior or nipping. Puppies, esp. golden retrievers, thrive on human contact and might act out when you are gone, or just get sad. I think it would be easier if you had two people home at different times to be there a lot for him. I think it would be much easier with an adult dog to do what you're talking about than a puppy. They just require so much time and attention. Plus, having just moved in to your own apartment, you'll probably want to go out a lot, be busy aquiring things for it, having people over, and enjoying your newfound freedom. (Lord have mercy if we had cats and dogs in my first apartment out of the 'rents)

I think with only seven hours a day, on weekdays, would be pushing it for a young puppy, unless you can have someone come visit him while you're at work, and don't forget, you'll be getting up every two or three hours during the night, at least, to tend to the pup, it's like having a baby. (Trust me, I brought home a seven and a half week old pup last June and recently went through this all!).
The rule of thumb is that a pup should not be left alone for more hours then the pup is months old... For example, a two month old pup should be alone no more then 2 hours at a time, a four month old pup, no more then four hours at a time, etc.. So unless you can arrange for someone you know to drop in during the day, and if you can put up with a couple weeks of poor sleep, then go for it, (And I'd strongly recommend crate training). Otherwise, an older puppy (8+ months), or an adult would be the better way to go.
Keep in mind, a bored or lonely pup can and will develop negative behaviors while you're gone, (crate training would help minimise this), so this may add to the work you put into him.

Depending on your job you might want to see if you'd be able to bring a dog to work, some places are pretty open to the idea. I've worked at a few non-animal related places of business that loved having dogs at work. Somewhere I've got a picture of my GF and wolf standing at the counter waiting to help customers.
Other than that, if you don't have the time to spend with your dog, especially as a puppy I wouldn't recommend it. Unless you can find some way to work around the problem of not being home for that extended period of time, than I'd say your chances of having a well trained/adjusted dog is just that much harder.

thanx for the replies everyone, I know the whole thing is not gunna be easy. I am willing to put every minute of my day into the training and up bringing of this puppy. I know housebreaking isnt gunna take a week, and the only times I'll be going out of my place would be for work and groceries. I also dont mind getting up every 2-3 hours for my pup, I'm gunna give him all I've got :) I'm not too sure about the dog to work thing, I work in a factory so most likely not. Even if I could i wouldnt want too, I wouldnt want my pup breathing in all that stuff.

Other than spending all my time with this puppy, is there anything else I can do while I'm with him to help with (possible) seperation anxiety??

thanx everyone

peace :ph34r:

Hmmm, maybe I was just lucky, but my pup was almost 8 weeks old and was actually pretty well behaved and slept the whole time I slept, though I did wake up to the sound of urinating a couple times :D She slept in the bed with me... which probably helped to keep her from wanting to wander around.

Anyways, if you do have to leave your dog home, I would recommend keeping him in something other then a kennel (such as a bathroom). This way he wont feel so cramped. I left the door open and bought a gate.... you dont have to get a gate and could just leave the door closed, but if you do, DONT buy one with grid-like wires as he could hurt himself and most likely would figure out how to climb up it... there are gates that just have vertical wires.

Oh and remember, YOU are the one being trained :lol:

thats a good idea gryph, i'll keep that in mind :D THANX

peace :ph34r:

well then, it sounds like your question is not "should i get a puppy" but "im going to get one so what should i do" in which case i would suggest crate training and petsitting until he is housebroken and can be alone for long periods of time

Pet sitting would have to be a must for leaving him alone while you're at work.

If you choose to do crate training, know that a puppy will take to it well, as long as you're consistent, it makes housetraining simpler as well (No, they do not feel uncomfortable in a crate, canines are den animals, and a pup will feel safe and secure in his crate, and sleep most of the time, an airline-style solid crate would probably be better for starting with since as he adjusts to it, he won't hurt himself in the bars of the other style.)

My pup loved his crate, he always went to it for naps and at night when he got tired, all on his own. :)

If you choose to leave him in a small room though, make sure there is nothing within reach for him to get into. For exampel, in a bathroom, toilet paper, rugs, trash bins, etc. and if you do this method, you'll probably have to pee-pad train him before housetraining him, (for some dogs, the switch from pee-pads to housetraining is easy, and for others it can take a long long time, so it's a bit of a gamble).

To help prevent seperation anxiety, practice leaving him alone, even while you're home. Play with him a bit, and slowly tone it down, then for a minute or to, just casually do stuff around the room, without paying direct attention to the pup, and eventually leave, closing the door. Come back in maybe 2 minutes (you can increase the time as he gets used to this game), and for the first minute or so, don't give him any direct attention, then you can slowly start giving him some. Never get excited right before you go or right before you come in to see him, and never give him attention when he's being anxious right when you get home/come in the room. This will teach him that you leaving isn't a big deal, and that he won't get attention from you until he's calm. Also, make sure he has something to do while you're absent, a kong filled with peanut butter is usually the number one recommended thing, but if you're pup is anything like mine, he won't like 'em. lol You can try other things like bully sticks (also known is bull winkles, winkle sticks, etc.... Essentially, they're dried and/or smoked bull penises, but dogs love them for chewing.). If he has something to do, to keep him occupied, this will lessen the chance that he will develop destructive behavior.

Never open the door to the room he is in, or the door to his crate if he's making noise, whining, barking, whatever, wait for him to get quiet, then open it, this way, you are again rewarding good behavior and not unwanted behavior, and you'll have a better chance at having a dog that is quiet while you're gone, as apposed to one that's annoying the neighbors with whining and barking and howling. :)

Letting a puppy sleep in your bed isn't a great idea, yes, some people get away with it just fine, but it's better if the pup has his own spot to sleep (preferably a crate.). This stops the pup from having a chance to fall off the bed, or get into things during the night, and it's easier to clean pee off of a crate then a bed. :D Also, unless your dog is on the timid/fearful side (generally a better idea to go for a more outgoing puppy since the timid/fearful ones are somtimes too shy later on for having a sexual relationship, if that's what you're hoping to have possibly when he's an adult), it's best to start off early, placing yourself as alpha, this will make the "terrible teens" easier, if he already knows his place, he won't have to fight for a place when he's older. Best sleeping spot is always reserved for alpha, and not letting him sleep on your bed will also make it easier to teach him that he's only allowed coming up when he's invited, and same goes for couches, it's just good manners, not to mention a dog is more relaxed if they know they can trust their owner with making fair decisions.

There's a start anyways. lol

So very true... my cousin was outta school for the summer, so she came down to puppy-sit for me (I was working nights then, so it was pretty easy)... I really don't remember her having any trouble...

As far as sleeping, I got Buddy 2 beds (that match the decor)... 1 next to my bed, 1 in the living room (where we play)... it has worked out very good for both of us... :rolleyes:

Yup, just make sure to lay down the rules for your petsitter, so they're not undoing any hard work you're putting into your pup. :)

Yea... it has kinda switched from "should I" to "I am", looks like that is kinda my fault, oops :P. I knew I wanted to get a dog, but didn't commit to it until I found out I could take her to work. 8 hours is a long time to be home alone, petsitting is an option, and/or coming home for lunch. (Pups should have all their shots before socializing with other dogs to much though). I am not positive what to say other then that... it just seems that leaving the dog home that long would have potential to cause some behavior problems later. However, even though I could take her to work, I didn't consistently until after over a month due to training and vacinnation reasons.

Heh, crate training is not for everyone, some people like it some dont. For me, I just felt more comfortable leaving my dog in the bathroom when I went to work, and the crate if I was going to be gone for a couple hours. Whatever you decide, with consistent training, your pup will figure it out.

Ah, and a website I liked would be the perfectpaws page.... I dont think I can post links (www.perfectpaws.com), but you can search it.... has some great training information (including crate training and housetraining, and their dos and donts) and attempts to give the pluses and minuses for whatever training method they are telling you about (tons of good info).

As for the whole bed thing... well, perhaps with a male dog making him sleep on his on bed would be best for dominance issues... probably better for females too, the other benefits Sarx mentioned are definately nice as well. I had a roommate before who let his dogs sleep on his bed and 1 of them would get protective of it and bark at my dog when she wanted to play on it. However, with all that said, if I were to get another dog, I most likely wouldn't follow my own advice :P I would just have to keep the potential problems in mind and make sure he recieved proper training for them...... and buy a bigger bed :D

Anyways, good luck in whatever you decide :)

Thanx again for the replies everyone, I've got some really good tips from all of you. Thats too bad that dominance issues might come up with the whole bed thing. The only reason i wuz thinking I'de let him sleep on the bed is because if he would be in the crate/bathroom all the time while I'm at work, I would want him to be somewhere.....comfortable, and plus I wouldnt want him to be afraid to get close to me yah know. I want my pup to know as he matures that coming up and cuddling with me is alright, its something I welcome yah know. Could someone go into detail as to what might happen if I let my pup sleep in the bed with me? I'm not too worried about the peeing issue, I know its gunna happen a lot during the first few months but after he's potty trained we should be good. :D

peace :ph34r:

Hmm, I dont have first hand experience with this, but there are definately warning signs where you can take the appropriate actions, and stuff you can do to help prevent them from showing up in the first place. I went to about.com and found some decent info. There is quite abit of info there that should be helpful. The last link looked like it worked, so I will try to post another, (http://dogs.about.com/cs/basictraining/a/alternatives.htm) If it doesn't, you can navigate here, About>Home & Garden>Dogs> Training & Behavior> Problem Behaviors> About Dogs - About That Alpha Roll.

Maybe others can post personal experiences they have had too.

Having your dog in your bed isn't a problem, just make sure he knows that it's on your terms, ie. he comes up when you give him permission and he gets off when you command him to (Though, this is better reinforced when the pup is older and bigger, as jumping up on, and down off furnature, for a young pup is very hard on developing joints, and should be avoided whenever possible.)
The whole dominance issue with sleeping on the bed varries from dog to dog, but generally, your dog will be more "attached" to you if you pose as alpha, if the dog believes he is alpha, he may seem independant, because spending time with you is on his terms, not yours. A dominant dog may become posessive, and as was mentioned in another post, may guard the bed, and other things he declares as his own. I have so many friends who have dogs that won't even let a boyfriend or girlfriend, or their own child into bed with the owner, and that's a result of the dog getting too much priviledges... Dogs will take advantage of situations, and are intelligent enough to manipulate their own owners, give them an inch and they'll try their best to take a mile, especially males.
A dominant dog, who doesn't see you as alpha, also takes commands on his own terms, which could be trouble for commands such as "come", etc.
Remember that a pup doesn't think you're being mean if you make him sleep on his own bed on the floor rather then your own bed, they just see it as normal goings on, in a social hierarchy.
Outside of that, you can encourage that "clingy" behavior by tethering him to you with a leash aorund the house, he'll learn to follow you wihtout getting underfoot, and it's the best way to keep an eye on him so he doesn't get into anything. :P Teach him that being around you is way better then being somewhere else, whenever he comes to you on his own accord, give him a treat and praise, (with a pup, you should always carry treats on you at all times! lol) this also works for setting up a great foundation for "come".

A pup will start trying to find his place in the pack around 12 - 14 weeks old, so you may, or may not see a change in behavior, he may start trying to press your buttons, and it's taken up a gear around 8 months of age, where he'll test all his boundries, time and time again, so you should make sure you have the "alpha" stuff down pat. Walking through doors first, going down stairs first, eating first, are some other things you can reinforce yourself. :)

While he's little, there's a great way of bonding and socialisation, that gets around the issue with vaccinations and risk of disease. If you are going for a walk or anything like that, take him with you, and carry him, it'll be great for getting him used to the sights and sounds of the outdoors, seeing other dogs, cars, other people, and since he's not coming in contact with the ground or other dogs directly, he's safe.