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Deciding to Raise a Puppy While Working
If you’re looking for a first hand account of raising a puppy while working full time, you’ve come to the right place!
Here you will find out how we potty trained and managed to raise our dog, Jackson, while working away from home. This include our schedule, the toys we used, and other things we found useful along the way.
I want to preface all of this information with the fact that it is not easy to raise a puppy while working. It will be stressful for you and the puppy.
We did it, but it takes a ton of work just to potty train a puppy, let alone making sure they grow up into well adjusted dogs when you’re gone all day!
Please consider your commitment and options very carefully before choosing to adopt a puppy.
My Background and Research
I had a puppy once, when I was 10. You can read all about that disaster and why I believe children should not have puppies here. Suffice it to say I knew when I got my next puppy, things would be different.
13 years and a Bachelor of Science in Animal Sciences later, that day finally came.
I am a research junkie and before I make any decisions I typically browse the web to see what other people have done, how it worked out, and what I could do for best success.
Thinking about getting a new puppy was no different. I was concerned how to raise a puppy while also working a full-time job which involved me being away from home for about 12 hours a day.
My research uncovered that basically, if you get a puppy with a full-time job, you are Satan and should be shot. People were all super passionate that if you had a full-time job, you should not get a dog, let alone a puppy.
I read all the arguments: potty training nightmares, hiring help, separation anxiety, general destruction and mayhem, the puppy’s well-being, etc. There were almost no success stories.
Anyone who asked about getting a puppy with a job on forums was quickly roasted to a little charcoal crisp.
I realized that I probably shouldn’t get a puppy at this point in my life.
Proving Them Wrong: You Can Raise a Puppy While Working
Nevertheless, when I happened to stumble across a sweet little Golden Retriever/Labrador pup, the logic part of my brain went straight out the window.
Forget “probably shouldn’t”, we NEEDED him.
I was determined to prove everyone wrong and even more determined to prove to myself that I could raise a well-mannered wonderful dog, despite working away from home.
I re-read (for at least the fifth time) Dr. Ian Dunbar’s book Before and After Getting Your Puppy. (Seriously, get yourself a copy before you get your puppy. I have no affiliation with it, just thought it was hugely beneficial for our experience. This link is to Dr. Dunbar’s free online courses.)
We bought a good sturdy crate (or three, is that excessive?) and a plethora of Kong and stuffable toys. I scheduled four days off from work. Then we brought little Jackson home.
Bringing the Puppy Home
After work on a Thursday, I drove down to pick up Jackson as an 8-week-old pup. I had put a deposit down when he was about 3 weeks old, and we had already met him when he was 5 weeks. He was the cutest damn thing.
But cute or not, we couldn’t cuddle him all day. That was a mistake I had made with my childhood dog.
We knew that in a couple short days he would be left home alone for over 8 hours, and we had to start preparing him for that, ASAP.
Determined to crate-train for housebreaking purposes, and on a tight timeline, we did not have the luxury of easing him into it. He had to know this was how it was and that the crate was the best place in the world!
As soon as I got home with him on the first day, he got a potty break, 30 minutes of play, then he went into the crate with a food-stuffed Kong.
He did not go in quite willingly, but didn’t put up much of a fight once he saw the food in there. There wasn’t much crying, but any noises he did make fell on our deaf ears. Acknowledging crying only makes the puppy learn that if he cries he will get attention, stay strong!
After about an hour we went out for potty and lo-and-behold he went! He got lots of praise and freeze dried liver treats immediately for eliminating.
That was our routine for the rest of the night. 30 minutes supervised (like a hawk supervises) play time, then in the crate for an hour.
By bed time we had one last potty then we brought the crate to our bedroom. We placed the crate next to our bed and he went in for the night. He cried for about 15 minutes, then went into a dead sleep.
The First Night
At about 12:00 I heard some light whining and got my slippers on for a potty trip. Without a word, I took him out of his crate, carried him to the door, grabbed some treats and went straight outside.
“Jackson, go potty” was met with elimination. He received treats and quiet praise, then was carried back to the crate.
He cried again for about 10 minutes, then heavenly silence. Again at about 4:00, at his soft whimpering, we repeated.
When we went out, he did not walk in the house, I always carried him outside. This way he didn’t get distracted along the way and potty in the house.
He also didn’t receive any play time, it was a business mission. By not rewarding him with play sessions, he didn’t begin to think that he could whine at night to get out and play.
Day 2
The next day, we repeated the schedule of 30 minutes of play, 1 hour of crate time with and without food in the crate. When there wasn’t food, he cried for a while before falling asleep.
If he was asleep after an hour went by, I woke him up to take him to potty. He went nearly every time.
On the rare occasion he didn’t go potty, it was back to the crate for 10 minutes before another try.
At night, we repeated the same thing as before with roughly the same wake up times. He didn’t cry when we put him in his crate anymore.
I think the reason for his acceptance of sleeping in the crate was the fact that he was the last puppy to go home. His siblings were removed a few at a time, easing him into sleeping completely alone. When we finally got him, he got to sleep in a crate next to us so it was actually better.
Day 3
The next day, Saturday, we started getting him used to his playpen, or what Dr. Dunbar calls his “long-term confinement area”.
He quickly shredded the puppy pad and hated seeing us leave the room, a reaction he never had while in the crate, but he eventually settled down. We made an effort to consciously look away from him when he started making a fuss and would only take him out when he was quiet and sitting.
Looking back, we probably should have played with him and fed him more in the pen to make it less scary, but he got it eventually.
He would stay in the play pen when we went out to do yard work or farm chores, but no matter what, we took him outside on the hour to potty. Then he got his treat and well-deserved play session.
We also interspersed a few crated time-outs for his meals and our own sanity.
That night we gave no more food or water after 8:00. We only got up once to potty.
Day 4
The next day was more of the same, but the intervals were closer to 1.5 hours in his play pen. He received lots of stuffed toys before we left the room, which he did not mind in the least.
When we sat down to eat dinner, he was making a fuss, trying to climb over the wire playpen. Then we heard shrieking that made my husband and I both jump up, he had gotten his paw stuck in the gate of the pen and could not free it.
Our plan had been to keep him in the playpen the whole day we were at work. When we learned he could get seriously hurt if left alone in the playpen, we had to rethink this plan.
We decided to keep the playpen for day-use when we were home, and use our bathroom for a puppy room when we were gone at work.
In either case, he was not going to be able to hold his bladder until we got home. After 12 hours indoors, we knew there would be a mess no matter what. We also hated our bathroom and knew a remodel was not so far down the road.
In retrospect, I would have scrapped the entire play-pen idea and gone straight to putting him in the bathroom for long-term confinement when we were home. He didn’t really seem to have any trouble adapting to the new plan though.
If you are using a room of your house for long-term confinement, be aware that there will be a mess. I would also recommend not allowing the puppy access to that room while he is not confined. This will prevent him from thinking that is the spot to go potty!
The First Day Leaving Our Puppy While Working
The first day back at work was horrible and terrifying for me.
I stuffed all of the Kongs we had and picked up everything in the bathroom that he could get into, including the shower curtain! Then we shut him in and left.
While we were gone, I constantly wondered what he was doing and if he was okay. I had visions of him getting hurt, being distressed, and other awful things.
When we finally got home, the house was silent.
I was certain he was dead.
Opening the bathroom door, I found a happy wiggly puppy that was thrilled that we were back!
There was somewhat of a mess in the bathroom, but he kept it all to one corner.
We went out immediately to go potty and then played the night away (except for the housebreaking crate schedule…).
Continuing to Raise Your Puppy While Working
That was our routine for months.
On weekends when we were home, we didn’t play with him non-stop. He had a lot of time in his crate and in his playpen.
We had to have him know that we weren’t everything in the world, that he’d be perfectly okay while we were gone. That’s the trade off of having to raise your puppy while working, you can’t have them completely rely on you for everything.
Jackson had to be relatively independent and we had to teach him that we’d always come back.
His collar was always removed before we left for work, to avoid him getting it caught on something while we were gone.
We also removed the door to Jackson’s crate and would leave it in the bathroom for him while we were gone. His crate was located in the corner of the bathroom with the unfinished wood, to persuade him to not potty there.
We only once forgot to remove his bedding before we left, and he shredded it to pieces while we were gone.
Feeding a Puppy While Working: Stuffed Toys!
Keeping a puppy occupied is critical, and even more so when you’re raising your puppy while working away from home.
Special considerations are needed when starting your puppy off with food-stuffed toys. We’ve developed some guidelines on stuffing Kongs for puppies to help you and your pup figure it all out.
I highly recommend Chewy as a go-to for all pet supplies. Their prices are good, the reviews are helpful, and everything ships right to your home. I especially love that you can auto-ship things like dog food, so they come on a schedule and you never have to run around town trying to find a particular brand of kibble when you accidentally run out!
I would measure out his kibble each day and stuff about 3/4 of it into his Kongs for while we were gone. He would get the last bit as training treats or in Kongs when we got home.
As he was able to start mastering a tightly stuffed kibble Kong, we added in wet food, trickier treats, and started freezing them.
It became a ritual to stuff Kongs to freeze for the next day after dinner each night. My husband would work on training or playing with Jackson and I’d try to get creative with his Kongs.
Our favorite moist mixers were wet puppy food, plain yogurt, applesauce, and pumpkin puree. We also used various fruits and vegetables in moderation to keep things interesting for him.
Before stuffing the Kongs with anything new, we would give the new food to him a few days before while we could watch him to make sure he didn’t have any allergies or reactions to it.
I don’t know exactly how long it took him to get through all of the Kongs we gave him each day. When we’d get home, he seemed content and hadn’t destroyed anything in the bathroom, so we figured he was having enough entertainment.
Toys: Let’s Talk Numbers
He started with a medium puppy Kong, a large puppy Kong, and a Kong activity ball. I would also give him a piece of carrot or apple to chew on and a frozen cube of yogurt, oatmeal, or wet food.
We allowed him to have a nylabone or two that were pretty indestructable. We had closely watched him chewing on these toys for weeks before giving them to him while we were gone.
After about a month, and with a rapidly increasing kibble ration, I added in a Kong tire and a dense hollow rubber bone. Then around five months old, he got two more large adult Kongs.
He did chew a little on the trim in the bathroom, but considering how much time he had every day to be destructive, I’m okay with it!
Housebreaking Success
Jackson was officially potty-trained at about 3 months old thanks to our strict observance of the housebreaking schedule outlined by Dr. Dunbar.
He had a total of maybe four accidents in the house (all our fault for not following the crating schedule).
The magic happened suddenly when we had friends over one day and one of them said, “hey, your dog’s scratching at the door, does he need to go out?”
Jackson must have thought he was king of the world with all of the praise he got for telling us he had to go outside. And to us, he was. It was like a switch was flipped. He never had another accident.
Updates
At nearly 6 months old, Jackson was quite comfortable with his schedule and had developed excellent house manners.
In the morning he knew that the bathroom was a wonderful place full of yummy stuffed toys and he would sprint straight there after his morning potty break.
We were lucky in that my husband was able to start working from home when Jackson was about 7 months old so we didn’t have to continue keeping him in the bathroom. Thank goodness.
Housebreaking isn’t the only thing to consider when getting a puppy! Socialization and training are critical to having a friendly and well-behaved dog. We did all of this with our puppy while working full time too, read about it here.
Be sure to check out how things were going down the road when we celebrated his first birthday
Let’s keep the conversation going, do you have more questions? Comment below or reach out directly through our Contact Us page.
If you use my link for Chewy, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you, so if you are found this article helpful and need pet supplies (for any species!), feel free to click and help support our blog.
Beth
Hello! I am a teacher who is considering adopting the 8 month old pup I’m currently fostering, was researching how to handle morning feeding before crating for the day and stumbled across this post. What great ideas! I really like the Kong idea for feeding! Can you tell me what type of Kings you used to stuff the kibble in? There are so many options. Thanks!
Gabrielle
Thank you so much for taking the time to post this! I was feeling overwhelmed about how we would ever manage raising our puppy when we will be gone for 8 hours twice a week. Stumbling upon this post was the best thing to ever happen to our Frank! I devoured Dr. Dunbar’s book that you linked as well and I now feel so much more prepared for this journey. This has taught me so much about raising a dog in general too and I am just so thankful. Thank you thank you thank you!
Kaya
Hello Gabrielle, I’m so glad this post helped you! Frank is lucky to have someone like you who cares about his wellbeing enough to put in the time to research. Once you have that understanding about what dogs need to thrive, like from Dr. Dunbar’s book, it changes the game and makes raising and understanding them so much easier. It means so much you reached out, I’m always so happy when our story helps others. Wishing you all the best with your pup, keep up the good work!
Taylor
I just wanted to say thank you so much for writing this article! I have been wanting a puppy for years and the opportunity finally arrived due to a family member having some puppies but, sadly, I can’t get her until a week before I return for my teacher workdays.. I am so thankful I at least get 5-6 days with her before we both go back to work. I have been asking advice on other social groups and felt a little berated even though someone could pop in 1-2x a day. Everyone seems to think if you can’t stay home with them 24/7 then you shouldn’t have one and it honestly dulled my excitement some and turned my anxiety all the way up. So I just want to thank you again so much for the encouraging article!
Kaya
Hi Taylor, I am so glad you found this post helpful. I can definitely relate, I had a lot of anxiety when we decided to get our puppy after reading the internet forums. It took a lot of work but now Jackson is five years old (I can’t believe how fast time has gone by!) and we wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. Wishing you all the best with your pup!
Kathryn
Thank you for sharing your experience about how you were able to raise your dog from a puppy! Growing up, I was told not to get a puppy unless circumstances permitted and, likewise, had anxiety about ever getting one because of how many dog owners/fans scold those of us in even thinking about getting one down the line in life. Your story has helped change my views in adopting a puppy (ideally from a breeder at this point) and it helps knowing that someone else works close to the number of hours I work (I work 10-hour shifts, 4 days/week)! I don’t know when I will determine the day to bring one home, but I will definitely reflect on your experience and look towards taking some days off of work to spend with the future puppy!
If you have any other tips/suggestions, I am open to them as I would like to educate myself further down the road to adoption!
Kaya
Hello Kathryn, I’m so glad you found our experience helpful. Puppies are a lot of work no matter how you do it, but we were fortunate that our breed choice and the puppy himself ended up quite adaptable to being independent. Really our best tips are usually crate training on a schedule, getting as many Kongs/stuffable toys as you can, and being patient with yourself and your puppy! It takes a lot of effort, but we wouldn’t trade our experience and our (now almost 5-year-old!) dog for anything. Best of luck to you!
Kai
I am SOOO HAPPY I found this post and fully agree with the comment a “unicorn of encouragement” Thank you for posting your story and for being such an expander for me (a lot of folks actually it seems). I am someone who works from home in fact I run a clinic from my house so will have many people coming in and out. However, I do want to train a pup to be independent and able to entertain herself when I am working with clients.My biggest concern is barking and whining while I am in another room working and developing an over dependency since I will actually be in the house more with her. I really loved how you and your husband would crate even while home to get Jackson used to feeling safe in the crate. Any further tips on how to encourage independence? Thank you!!!!!
Kaya
Hello Kai, I am so happy you were able to find our story helpful. It is definitely nice to know your dog won’t go crazy when you need to step out to run errands. Really just go heavy with the food-stuffed toys, Jackson loved them so much he didn’t care we were leaving he would just run to his room and wait excitedly for all his Kongs. The crate training was instrumental in this as well, just being consistent with making the crate a good fun place (never a punishment) and having several stuffed toys in there, and then of course- not breaking those first few weeks when he was crying to be let out. It gets easier, bit by bit! Best wishes for you and your pup!
Ashten
This was amazing advice! Thank you so so much for sharing this as my husband and I now have to start leaving our pup home alone for about that same amount of time. I do not feel like I am a horrible dog mom for having to work and leaving him home alone. You are much appreciated!
Kaya
Hello Ashten! I am so glad you found this helpful, thank you for your comment. Best wishes for you and your pup!
Alyth
Hello, I know this article was from quite a while ago but I have not long found it.
I have just got a new puppy, and will have to be leaving her by herself while I am at work, there are times people can pop in but some days it isn’t possible.
I am seriously stressing that she isn’t going to settle or be happy with being left but also have a few questions about your situation?
How long was he left on his own during the day? And did anyone pop in? Also how did you tackle feeding when you were out?
Thank you so much
Kaya
Hello Alyth, it can be very stressful knowing your pup is home alone and wondering how they are doing. Our puppy was left home anywhere from 8-10 hours per day, without anyone popping in. Not ideal at all, but since we fed him out of food-stuffed Kongs I think he had enough activities to keep him occupied for a good chunk of that time. We would mix wet food in with his kibble and stuff all his Kong toys (4-8 toys), then freeze most of them so they were difficult and would give him something to work on while we were gone. Hope this helps, wishing you and your puppy all the best!
Elizabeth
This is SOOO helpful! I will be bringing my puppy home in December and I’m slightly terrified. I just have a couple of questions. Did you give your puppy water during the day or limit the amount of water you gave him while you were at work? And did you give him water while in his crate at night? I was also curious if you left toys in the bathroom to also help keep your dog occupied during the day while you were at work? I appreciate your advice so much!!
Kaya
Hi Elizabeth! Thank you for reading, and I’m glad you found our post helpful. It is definitely nerve wracking bringing home a new puppy, especially when you won’t be there full time, but still doable to raise a well-mannered dog if you work at it. We did give Jackson a bowl of water during the day when he was in the bathroom. He did not have access to water at night in his crate. We did leave some of our trusted durable toys we knew he couldn’t destroy with him in the bathroom while we were gone. I was very nervous he would destroy most toys to the point he could ingest pieces, so besides the Kongs he only really had nylabones, but do some experimenting to see what types of toys will stand up to your pup! Our boy is pretty gentle with his toys in general. Hope this helps! Congrats on your new puppy and wishing you all the best!
Roxanne
Thank you sooo much for this. I felt so awful reading all the tips about getting a puppy. The schedules for taking care of a new puppy were always so irrealistic for us and I was always : Those people don’t work? It gives me so much hope about our new dog coming in December. I had my first dog ten years ago when I was 20 years old and I want to make it so right this time. Thank you again, I was crying with joy yesterday when I came across it. All the best regards to you xxxx
Kaya
Hi Roxanne! I’m so glad this was helpful for you. Be patient and know you’re in for a lot of work, but it is definitely doable and we couldn’t imagine our life without our dog now. Best wishes!
Holly
Hello!
(I’ve noticed you’ve been getting comments on this post for years – your story is a unicorn of encouragement on this harsh internet ha!)
I’m a single teacher in a relatively new-to-me city. I’m getting a Goldendoodle pup in a about a month, and my situation will look a lot like yours with me having to jump pretty quickly into being away from him. (I’m allergic to most long-haired dogs, so he’s the best match for me and finding an older groodle that doesn’t cost me my soul proves impossible.)
I go back and forth wondering if I’m making a terrible mistake for my little guy with me being gone 8 hours a day with no good way to have somebody come to let him out mid-day, but your post gives me determined hope! I’m curious how big the bathroom was where he was kept (I’m debating if my small-ish bathroom is ideal) and if there are any good tips you have for cleaning up the inevitable messes. Thank you!
Kaya
Hello Holly! I laughed out loud at “unicorn of encouragement”, love that. It is a somewhat unusual situation, but dogs are quite flexible and do like routines, so it’s definitely not impossible! Our pup just turned four years old last month and we still wouldn’t change a thing about his upbringing- he’s a great dog. I honestly think jumping right into this schedule is good, then they don’t get used to you being around all the time, only to have the routine upset when you finally have to leave all day. Our bathroom has maybe 6 x 8′ of floor space, including the shower. Get yourself some of Nature’s Miracle stain and odor eliminator, it was our favorite. Get a lot of stuff-able toys to keep your pup occupied, and have a lot of patience, he’ll be such a great companion for you in your new city. Hope it all goes great for you!
Taylor
This is the best article ever…my husband and I got an 8 week old Great Dane puppy about 3 weeks ago. It has been sooo hard! I am gone for 10 hours a day and my husband for 13! My mother-in-law does come take him potty twice a day but omg! The energy this guy has at the end of the day is madness!! But it’s great to hear everyone else’s worries cause it is hard! But sooo doable! We love our little Morrus, thank you for sharing!
Kaya
Hi Taylor, I’m glad you found the article helpful! It is very hard, but once you fall into a good routine things get a bit easier. The key is keeping their minds active as much as you can, the frozen Kongs really helped wear our guy out. Keep up the good work and try to enjoy puppyhood- little Morrus won’t be little for long! 🙂
Hope
I am so relieved to find this article!! You have no idea. We just got our goldendoodle puppy 4 days ago. She is 7 weeks old. I have had such anxiety thinking about her being home all day. And it doesn’t help that you can’t find anything positive online. I have just sobbed for 2 days. She luckily loves her crate. We have our laundry room puppy proofed. She does okay at settling down. We have a camera to watch her (which probably makes my anxiety worse honestly). My question is how long did it take sweet Jackson to get the hang of his kong? My dog will lick the peanut butter out and then lose focus when trying to get the dry food out and just give up. I am just so nervous about her developing separation anxiety and I would feel so much better if I knew she could at least entertain herself with a kong
Kaya
Hello Hope! My apologies for the late response, I never got a notification. 🙁 I hope all has been going well for you guys in the meantime!
I know exactly how you feel! I think I cried a few times myself leaving our little puppy in the beginning.
Jackson knew a little bit about Kongs from the breeder we got him from. When we started giving him Kongs we very loosely packed them so that the kibbles would basically fall out if it even rolled around. It also helps to put a special treat at the deepest part of the Kong, like a piece of frozen liver. That will get them to work a bit harder! It also helps if they don’t have access to a bowl of food, because easy food will reduce the amount of work they’re willing to put into the Kongs. If your girl likes wet food or yogurt, those might be good enticements as well, to mix in with the kibble. Of course make sure she doesn’t have any reactions to new foods before you leave her alone with them.
I hope this helps, if you have any other questions please feel free to comment or send me an email kaya.diemfarms@gmail.com (or via our Contact page). Best of luck!
Sage
Our dogs are legitimately doppelgängers!! Do you happen to know the breed of your dog?
Kaya
Haha! That’s awesome! And yes, our boy Jax had a golden retriever mom and a black lab dad. He gets confused a lot for a flat-coated retriever though!
Michelle Miller
So happy to have found this article!!!! My daughter got a puppy this weekend and called me crying with terrible anxiety and guilt about leaving her for work tomorrow. This will help her so much!!!
Kaya
Hello Michelle,
I’m so glad to hear the article will help your daughter. It’s really hard leaving the puppies home alone, I think I cried when we left Jax for the first time. Don’t get discouraged and be firm with the training regimen! You and your daughter are welcome to reach out if there are any questions, good luck!
Meredith Perry
Kaya, I have read the before and after you get your puppy. I am definitely going to do the short and long term confinement. Did he stop using the puppy pads in the long term confinement? I loved this post and thank you for sharing!
Kaya
Hello Meredith, thank you for reading! If you are planning to be fully away from home, like we were, I would not recommend having any non-food items in your long-term confinement area that your puppy could ingest. When we tried using pads briefly with Jackson, he shredded them to bits, we were lucky he didn’t eat any of it because it could be very dangerous if he did. We went into our puppy-raising adventure knowing that we would be cleaning up messes in our bathroom, he eventually decided that the shower was his potty zone so it was easier to clean from there. I hope that helps, please let me know if any other questions come up and good luck with your puppy!
Dawn
I’m so glad I found your article, thank you for sharing!! I will be heading over to read your other linked articles. We are bringing home an 8 week old puppy mid-May. Both my husband and I work full time, but close to home. I have more flexibility in my job, so am planning to make 2 visits home during the day. I have already had people tell me, in training groups, that we should not have a puppy (and a breeder who told me, albeit nicely, that she would never let one of her pups go home if she knew he would be crated 4 hours a day). At first puppy should not be home alone for longer for 3 hours at a time. I planned on crate training – but 3 hours will likely be too long even at first. Unfortunately our main bathroom is demo’d right now, and unusable. Pondering a 1/2 bath we have in the basement. It sounds like we would be better served having him there at first, with a pee pad, and then moving to the crate when he is good with holding it for 3 hours. I thought about a play pen – but I have read other stories (and yours!) about puppy getting a paw/leg stuck – so don’t want to risk that. My stomach has been tied up in knots, worrying that I was doing the worst thing ever to our soon to be pup. First I’ve felt a little more relaxed today about it, and like it is going to be okay. BTW, your pup is absolutely beautiful! 🙂
Kaya
I hope things are going well with your new pup, you are lucky to be able to make it home for visits during the day, that will help you out so much! If you have any questions come up as you go, please reach out, I’m happy to offer what advice I can. And thank you for complimenting our boy Jax, we think he’s pretty handsome, but we’re a little biased! Good luck!
Elizabeth
This article is so helpful! It’s such a relief to read an article that doesn’t demand you need a dog walker in order to have a puppy and work full time. I’m just wondering how you did the transition of teaching the pup to not potty inside during the day and to only go potty outside? When did you decide to go from the puppy play pen to just the crate when gone?
Kaya
Hi Elizabeth! I’m glad you found the article helpful.
We followed the crate training schedule outlined in the post while we were home and never let him near the bathroom so he wouldn’t get confused about going potty there. Eventually he started signaling to be let out and it seemed to click that going potty outside got him treats galore so he never went inside.
We switched from the puppy room to the crate once he was able to reliably hold his bladder, I’d guess probably around 6-8 months or so. We didn’t want to force him to potty in his crate by keeping him in there too long, especially since that instinct of keeping the crate clean was how we were potty training. We were also lucky in that my husband changed jobs, so we didn’t have to leave him alone for quite so long every day.
I’d be happy to answer any more questions you may have, so don’t hesitate to ask! Have a great day!
Yuki
I had my puppy on pee pads (since she already knew them). When I was home and on weekends, she was cut off from the pads and was watched like a hawk to encourage potty outside only. It took her to maybe 6 months before she was 100% potty trained, but she surprisingly also weaned herself off the pads as she was able to start holding herself longer. She didnt want to pee or poo in ‘her’ room. I’ll probably personally always use a pen instead of a crate.
Beth
Thank you for your article! We are getting not one but two 8 week cardigan corgi puppies in a couple weeks (we must be crazy! technically one my parents bought & the other I did). Here I am googling working full time & raising a puppy & totally freaking out, but your article helped me realize it can be done. I work 8 hrs, but my brother works 3 & elderly grandma lives nearby. I’m thinking we’ll arrange the kitchen into a puppy-proofed zone, and then have an outdoor play pen outside. I think I’ll take a couple days off work, but it makes me sad that I won’t be able to spend as much time with them during the week. I’ll have to get a few of those kong toys. Your article has good tips!
Kaya
Thank you Beth! I’m so glad you found the post helpful. Sounds like you have a good support team to help with raising the pups, that will be good. It’s so hard to resist a corgi puppy! And I imagine two are twice as adorable! Hope all is going well with the little guys, congrats!
Yakshi Malhotra
Hello Kaya,
I am so happy to have come across your post as my partner and I are getting a Shih tzu and he would be 13 weeks old. I have a whole month (lucky me) to spend with the little pup to break him in to good manners. If you don’t mind me asking, could you tell me what the schedule was like before you left for work and possibly when you came back?
Would it be when you wake up, he would go out for potty, come back to play and then give his breakfast in a Kong in his play pen/crate (so he doesnt exceed his daily allowance) and thats when you leave for work? Is the breakfast given after potty time then potty again and then crate? I hope this makes sense. I am just trying to work out the schedule before I leave for work which gives me about 40 minutes to do the pre leaving duties 🙂
Thanks, Yakshi x
Kaya
Hello Yakshi,
Glad you found the post useful, and thank you for commenting!
It’s getting harder to remember now that it’s been a few years (Jackson just turned two yesterday!), but from what I recall we didn’t really spend too much time with him before leaving the house. We’d take him out to go potty and when we came inside we would bolt for the bathroom to wait for his Kongs (since that was where we kept him when we were away). I think I ended up trying to spend a little more time with him outside after he went potty, walking him around our yard and letting him smell everything, giving him some playtime if he was interested. So in the morning we’d usually just take him straight out of his crate where he slept to go potty/walk around, then he’d go to his room, we’d give him his Kongs, and then we’d leave, probably less than 30 minutes all together.
Once we got home at night it was straight out to go potty, since after several months he was trying his best to hold it until we got home to let him out. Then we’d play and work on some training with the rest of his kibble (I saved about 1/3 or so from his daily allotment for this dinnertime training). While he was still being potty trained we’d put him back in the crate on the schedule I mentioned in the post, but after he was reliable about asking to go out we stopped crating him and would snuggle or let him play with toys around us instead!
I hope that answers everything! Let me know if you have any other questions and I’m wishing you the best of luck with your new pup!
Kaya
Yuki
Just googled “getting a puppy with a full time job” and I want to thank you for your reassuring article! I’m getting my first puppy (something I’ve dreamed of happening since i was a tiny little kid) in 11 days. I found exactly what you did, articles and forums saying you have to pay someone to come walk your puppy while you’re gone, that you just shouldn’t have a dog if you’re away 8+ hrs. But I’m determined to make it work, just like you, and I couldn’t be more excited.
Kaya
Hello Yuki,
Thank you for your comment. It is a lot of work, but definitely doable. I wish you the best of luck! Take lots of pictures, they grow up so fast!
Kaya
Vino
Hi, i am getting a shitzu poodle mix and she is 2 months old now. Will be getting her this week. I work 12 hours a day and im worried about her. May i know how was Jackson’s feeding schedule ? Her breeder is feeding her twice a day now. I leave home at 9am and back at 10pm. Can you give me some advice on the feeding schedule ?
KL
Hi Kaya,
This is just what I needed to read! I am on a waiting list for a puppy for the beginning of fall and have been so worried about potty training with a full-time job. My family has always had dogs and they were always home alone all day, even when they were puppies, so I’m so confused about all of the dog walkers/puppy daycares these days. While I’m sure they’re wonderful, it was never something my full-time working parents considered and our dogs turned out great. That said, getting a puppy now is totally different when I will be the one taking care of it so I’m very nervous!
Now that Jackson is almost two, do you still leave him in the bathroom all day? Or is he free to roam around the house? If he’s free to roam, does he have accidents in the house? Or is he able to hold it all day until you get home?
Kaya
Hi there,
It is nerve-wracking hoping they turn out okay, especially when you’re working. I liked the daycare we took Jackson to, mostly because it was all well-behaved adult dogs and they taught him some manners, but we only took him there once a week when we had his puppy class after work. It definitely makes things a bit more complicated. I’m sure you’ll find the right balance!
Luckily for Jackson, my husband was able to start working from home so he isn’t alone all day anymore. Some days, only when we have a lot of errands to run in the city, we will put him in his crate for up to 5-6 hours and he always holds it until we get home. We take him out before we leave and as soon as we get back, but it doesn’t seem like he urgently needs to go after that long. I have no idea what he’d do if we gave him free run of the house while we were gone, I like the crate because I know he can’t get hurt in it or destroy anything. I think we would still be leaving him in the bathroom (or building an outdoor kennel) though if we did have the same work schedules, probably would work more on training him to go potty only in the shower.
Hope this helps! Good luck with your puppy!
Kaya
Nin
Hi Kaya,
Thank you for this post! It’s been very helpful! So glad to know that full-time + puppy is possible! Just wondering in regard to the Kongs and feeding. Does this mean that he doesn’t/ didn’t have set meal times; everything was inside stuffed Kongs whilst you were away, or given as training treats when you were home? Is this considered free feeding? Many sources advise against free feeding so I was just wondering about this.
Thank you! 🙂
Kaya
Hello Nin,
Thank you for your comment! I’m glad you found the post helpful.
I’d agree that he didn’t have very official mealtimes. There was sort of a schedule though, he had his first “meal” of all his Kongs in the morning (at whatever pace he chose to eat them, I think by the time we were freezing them each one took him about 30 minutes to finish), then got his second “meal” of training kibble at night when we got home. Definitely not the norm, but it seemed to work out okay for us.
I don’t believe this is considered free-feeding though. Since we measured out his kibble every day, we knew that he was getting exactly the calories he needed and not over-eating. I think free-feeding is usually providing the puppy with lots of kibble and letting them decide how much to eat (I’d also advise against that! Jackson would’ve been so fat!).
I hope this answers your questions. Don’t hesitate to ask if any more come up! Good luck!
Kaya
Meredith
Hi! I am getting my goldendoodle in August and am very nervous because I am a teacher and work long hours! I am SO grateful for this post! I have one question, did you put Jackson’s crate in the bathroom for him to sleep in? Or was that left outside the bathroom while he was in there while you were at work? THANK YOU so much!
Kaya
Hello Meredith,
I’m glad you found the post useful, and thank you for commenting! Great question too. Yes, initially we did put his crate in the bathroom for additional comfort. We took the door off and removed the bedding though. At one point we accidentally left his bedding in the crate and he shredded it, so we learned our lesson quickly. We also didn’t keep a collar on him when he was in there, just in case he found a way to get tangled in something. We put his crate in the corner with the untreated wood flooring and it seemed to keep him from urinating in that area. He did nibble on the crate from time to time, so just make sure there won’t be any small pieces they can get hold of. I think we stopped putting it in there once he outgrew it and we had him in an adult-size crate at night (too big to move up and down our staircase every day!).
Let me know if you have any other questions, always happy to help. Good luck with the Goldendoodle!
Kaya
Caimbeul
I’m so glad I found this article! I have been stressing about whether or not I was going to come home every lunch time after I pick my pup up in 2 weeks. This would be pretty hard for me considering I get an hour break for lunch and it takes me 25 minutes each way to work! I have taken a week off for when I pick him up and I will definitely be using your techniques and see how I get on from there. This article has made me less stressed knowing how well you got on. Because as you say after a quick google search there are so many people that think you should be with your puppy 24/7 and no less. Thank you thank you thank you!
Oh and a quick question, how many kongs did you leave him and what did you put inside them?
Thanks again
Kaya
Hello Caimbeul,
Thank you for your comment! Raising puppies is definitely stressful enough already, so I’m glad you were able to find some tips in this post that help put you more at ease.
I have been considering doing a post on a few of Jackson’s favorite Kong stuffing combinations, you can get pretty creative and I think including new foods every once in a while help keep the Kongs interesting. When we first started with the Kongs, Jackson was only 8 weeks and very uncoordinated, so we just used dry kibble. He started getting the hang of it after a few days, so then we added in wet food with his kibble. This made the mixture sticky so he actually had to use his tongue to get all of the food out. After he was cleaning those Kongs out within 15 minutes, we started to freeze them overnight and then adding new foods. We started with two or three puppy Kongs, then added in more as his daily amount of kibble increased (approximately one per month or so). I tried to get a variety of styles and brands as well, to help prevent monotony.
I definitely recommend testing any new foods you might try a few days before in small portions, on a day where you will be home to make sure your dog doesn’t get sick. It wouldn’t be good if you found out your pup had an allergy to something after you had been away all day! A few other foods we like to use include: regular dog treats, raw carrots, blueberries, apples, applesauce, mashed bananas, plain yogurt, peanut butter, frozen peas, cooked rice, and cooked oatmeal. Always start with small amounts of new foods until you know they can tolerate them.
I’m sure you’ll do great with your new pup! Feel free to ask if any other questions come up. Good luck!
Kaya
Taylor Schuster
This article is incredible. I was the one reading the “you should be ashamed of yourself getting a puppy working full time” the “you’re a horrible person” articles, then I stumbled across this and you have truly given me hope! Our 8 week old German Shepherd puppy will making her way home to us come late Summer 2018.
The question I have is to gain some clarity-
Monday-Friday you put Jackson in the bathroom from say “8am-5pm”. When you got home at 5pm, you took him straight outside, played the night away taking him out every hour still? Then crated him at bed time, say 10pm?
Then Tuesday- Friday, same thing? In the Bathroom 8-5pm, played all night, taking pee breaks every hour, then crate at 10pm for bed?
Then the weekends you just keep him out majority of the time? Or what did you do on weekends?
I just want to make sure I have this down pat, I’m so so nervous. I can’t even lie haha! I really appreciate you and your help Kaya!
Sincerely,
One nervous, new, soon to be puppy owner.
Kaya
Hello Taylor,
Thank you for reading and commenting! The Internet definitely has some strong opinions on the subject but with patience and determination it can be done.
When Jackson was around 8 weeks old, would take him out of the bathroom immediately when we got home to go outside to potty. He almost always went potty again for us so we’d play (or rather one of us would play with him while the other cleaned up the bathroom) for probably about 45 minutes then we did put him in his crate for 15 minutes and try to go potty then. If he didn’t potty right when we got home, we’d put him in his crate for 5-10 minutes and try again, repeating this until he did go. We tried to minimize the time in the crate when we were home, but I think it really helped to use it as a tool in house training. He would settle down and when we took him out he could focus on his task rather than try to keep playing. It was a very consistent schedule and I think he started to understand that playing only came after he went potty. It sounds really strict, but it was a very effective method for us. He only had maybe two or three accidents ever (only when we forgot to follow the schedule!).
The weekends, especially when he was just getting used to the routine, we used the crate the same way. He would go potty, then play for 30-45 minutes, go back in the crate for 15-30 minutes, out again for potty, play, crate, potty, etc. We tried to get him used to time without us early because we knew he’d be spending a substantial amount of time alone during the work week and we didn’t want that to be a scary or new thing. Also we have about a million farm chores that a little puppy can’t help with, so the crate was a good safe place he could be while we couldn’t keep an eye on him. I definitely recommend using food stuffed Kongs and other such toys whenever the puppy is in the crate, it makes it a much nicer place to be! Jackson still runs up to his crate joyfully when we ask, he associates it with food so well.
As he got older we were able to increase the amount of time he got to play (taking him out to potty every two hours instead of one when he was around 3 months old). Once he started asking to go out, scratching at the door in his case, we pretty much stopped using the crate for this, just crating him if we had to leave the house and at night.
If you can find a copy of “Before and After Getting Your Puppy” by Dr. Ian Dunbar, I highly recommend that book. Most of the techniques we used are from it and he goes into more detail about how everything works and has even more tips. It was especially helpful for us being first time owners.
Hope this answers your questions. Good luck with the new puppy! Take lots of pictures, they grow up so fast!
Don’t hesitate if you think of anything else you’d like advice on, I’m always happy to help. 🙂
Kaya
Taylor Schuster
So great! Kaya, I can’t thank you enough for getting back to me. I am book marking this entire post and saving it for when little “Aida” makes her way home to us! I’m looking so forward to it and will absolutely take lots of pictures!
I will ABSOLUTELY be obtaining that book, reading and taking notes!
Thank you again 🙂
Warm Regards,
Taylor
Chloe Doust
Hi Kaya. This is a very helpful post! There isn’t much information on the internet for puppy owners that work full time and are attempting house training! How did Jackson ask to go outside to potty? Did this happen once he was allowed to roam around the house? Im just wondering how he could indicate to go outside when crated most of the time. Our little pup (3 month old Aussie Shepherd) is on our deck with astro turf while we are at work and then comes inside into the lounge room when we are home. Sometimes he has accidents (only wees) on the rug but after reading this post i think i will crate him more often while he is in the room to prevent accidents. It seems like Jackson was crated most of the time – is that correct? I find crating just a little hard only because im selfish and want him out to snuggle with all the time 🙂
Kaya
Hello Chloe,
Thank you for your comment and for reading my post! It is definitely a struggle to try to get through the first few months, especially when they’re so darn cute! I bet your Aussie is adorable, I love those guys.
I’ll start with, yes, Jackson did spend some time in his crate for the first few months. When he was 8-12 weeks old we would take him out of his crate every hour (while we were home) to take him outside to potty. If he did go, and he nearly always did, then we’d play and snuggle with him for 30-45 minutes before he’d go back in the crate, usually with a small stuffed kong toy so he had something to occupy himself, for another 15-30 minutes and we’d take him out again.
We didn’t give him the opportunity to try to tell us at that point since science told us his max bladder capacity was right around an hour, we just took him out every hour on the hour. So the crate for us worked in two ways, it did prevent accidents and also kept us all on a schedule that gave him every opportunity to succeed. Everything I’ve ready says dogs don’t typically like to soil their sleeping areas, which we found to be true. The crate keeps them holding their bladder, whereas in the house they have more space where they can go potty wherever they feel like it. Once he started being able to hold it for about 2 hours (~3 months old) we let him hang out outside his crate for a bit longer after he did go potty outside, but still the same routine of taking him out at a set time (every 2 hours) no matter what.
At some point he just walked up to the door and scratched at it and we realized he was asking to go outside. We were thrilled!
I think he learned that when he went potty outside he’d get super yummy treats (freeze-dried liver), but when he went inside, like in the bathroom when we were at work, he didn’t get anything. He also probably correlated that going potty outside meant he got to play and spend time outside of the crate.
Hope this helps! Please don’t hesitate if you have any more questions, I’m happy to try to give advice as best I can.
Kaya
Helen
Hi there,
I just read your response to an earlier comment about leaving Jackson in the bathroom when you guys weren’t home for 8-10 hours.
I think i’m in quite a similar situation where my partner and I work full time and although we are receiving help from a family member in the middle of the day for a few hours to let our puppy out to pee outside on the balcony, this will end soon and she’ll need to be confined in her bathroom for 8-9 hours moving forward. (She is currently in there once we leave for work and once our family member leaves until we come home from work).
I noticed you mentioned Jackson will potty in the bathroom shower away from his bed, toys and food and it has not affected his potty training outside when you guys are home. I guess this was my main concern, I didn’t want to confuse her.
And train her to keep coming back in there to potty as we are planning on giving her more access to the apartment as she gets older.
We are eventually thinking of giving her free roam to the whole living room and getting a doggy door installed so she can go out herself to pee and poo, so do you think having the indoor grass pad option in the bathroom shower is still relevant?
Or should we confine her to the balcony door area when we are at work?
Does Jackson now have free roam of the house?
Would love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks in advance!!
Kaya
Hello Helen,
Honestly, I know Jackson would’ve shredded anything we put in with him besides the durable toys we gave him. For him, I wouldn’t have given him the grass pad, but perhaps your dog is different. You could test it by having her in with the grass pad for an hour and if there’s no damage try a bit longer. If the grass is something she is already using for her potty, and it’s something you plan on using in the future, it might make it easier for her to understand where would be the best place to go. It’s definitely worth a shot.
It’s hard to say without knowing what your balcony door area is like. I would be hesitant if she would be noisy for neighbors or if it’s exposed to the weather. If it’s an enclosed and safe place though it might be a good option.
Jackson has free roam while we are home. He entertains himself with toys and then just likes to snuggle and sleep on us. We’ve started leaving him free when we go outside to do farm chores as well (up to 1 hour, he comes with us normally but the weather has been so nasty we’ve been leaving him in). So far so good, haven’t seen any signs of destruction and he’s long past the days of having any potty accidents.
Hope this helps! I’d be happy to try to answer any other questions you may have. Good luck! 🙂
Sara
I am so happy I found your post!! I just got a 10 month goldendoodle..and I work full time. I have been worried sick about leaving her alone. The internet makes it sound like your the cruelest owner in the world if you leave your dog home all day. So I’ve tried to keep her out of her crate the whole time I’ve been home to make up for it. But I felt like I was losing my sanity, constantly watching her like a hawk. Waiting for her to make a mess or get into something she shouldn’t. Your post has been very encouraging!!! It finally provides a schedule for working puppy owners. I feel better knowing it’s okay to put a puppy in a crate for a little while when I’m home. Thanks so much!
Kaya
Hello Sara, that is so great to hear, I’m glad the post helped you! I probably read all of the same articles you did- the ones that say it’s impossible or cruel. Jackson seems fine, and he’s almost two years old now. I’d argue that he’s even better behaved than some dogs I’ve met that did have the owners home all day when they were puppies (but maybe I’m biased…). It’s all about dedication to training and setting reasonable expectations. I think using the crate to take some breaks definitely doesn’t hurt, especially to keep your sanity! Don’t hesitate to message me if you have any questions, I’m happy to help. Good luck!
Trung
So how many hours were he alone every day in the bathroom? Normally 2 month old puppies would not be able to hold it for more than 2 hours so how can you leave him at home for 8 hours and not have a mess? And he was house-trained at 3 months – which is a month after you got him. It sounds impossible to me. Could you please share your daily schedule? I am in the same situation right now and I really wish I can find a way to make it work.
Thanks!
Kaya
Hello Trung! Thank you for your comment, I hope I can answer your questions here.
Jackson was in the bathroom between 8 and 10 hours per day. What I meant by him not making a mess was more along the lines that there wasn’t poop and pee everywhere (I thought he would be covered in it) and he wasn’t able to open the cabinets or reach on top of the counters to destroy anything.
Yes, by having to keep him in there so long he was definitely forced to find a place to go potty while in the bathroom. He initially chose next to the toilet and kept all of his potty activities there, but he did eventually switch to doing most of his business in our shower. He also was able to start holding at least his solid waste until we got home, but that was several months later.
Honestly, he was house trained by 3 months old. Maybe he’s just really clever, but we did work really hard to follow the schedule I mention in the post, using his crate a lot to prevent accidents in the house and rewarding him when he went potty outside. When we were home we kept the bathroom door closed so he didn’t have access to the place he went potty when we weren’t home. We found that even if we forgot to close the bathroom door he still would ask to go outside, probably because he knew he’d get treats for going outside and he never got any attention from us when he was in the bathroom. I think by using the bathroom as his long-term confinement area and not his crate, we were able to continue using his crate as a tool in his house training. I think if we kept him in his crate and he was forced to go potty in there things would’ve been a lot harder.
Let me know if you have any other questions, I’m happy to try to help! Good luck with your puppy!
Rose
This is great!! I’ve just got a puppy and even though she comes to work with me she still has to be crated at work. you never hear of people who have been successful with puppy’s/dogs and work full time so this gives me great hope that we can be just as successful as you have been.
Kaya
Thank you! There certainly are a lot of scary stories out there and people who say it can’t be done, but I think it’s really up to how dedicated you are. Anyone can have a hard time, even when they are home full time, if they aren’t willing to put in the effort! Congrats on the new puppy, it’s wonderful your work allows you to bring her with you. Keep up with training and socialization and I’m sure everything will turn out great!
Flor
This gives me hope. I’m going to get a puppy imTwo weeks and I work full time and I am super terrified. Everybody tells me that is not going to work. Thank you ?
Kaya
How exciting! Our boy is almost a year old now and he’s pretty wonderful. It’s definitely a lot of work and there are some struggles, but it can be done if you’re determined! I highly recommend the puppy classes, we learned a lot and Jackson really seemed to enjoy them as well. 🙂