leaving my boy at home alone

C

cait28

Forums Enthusiast
hey all,
I'm going to university and i'm off for 4 month in the summer so i decided that getting a sheltie puppy for myself would be good since i can start getting back into the routine of walking every morning and getting up on a schedule and such, but i have to go back to school again in september and usually my classes are not that long and there are days were i don't have classes at all but i'm wondering when i go back to school (he will probably be about 6 or 7 months) will he be okay at home alone for 2- 4hours? should i ask for my parents to help out a bit and make sure he gets out for a walk? i know many of us are at work for long hours during the day so how do you guys manage? thanks!
 
How old will Riley be when you go back to school?

The general rule is that a puppy can hold it one hour for every month old he is. So if Riley will be 4 months old, then he shouldn't have trouble holding it for 4 hours. I wouldn't leave him much longer than that until you establish a routine.

When Lexi was 5 months old she was left alone from 8-12, then again from 1-2:30 and she did fine.
 
2-4 hours? No problem.

But I highly recommend that you crate train him. It's not cruel, and they do find it becomes their haven.

I don't crate my dogs anymore, but I'm betting that if I hauled out the crates, when they were feeling funky, they would go right back there.
 
FOr a while you have to be careful because of chewing. Crating is a wonderful solution -- Riley will sleep and relax.
 
he is crate trained :) so hopefully there will be no problem i will get home as soon as i can form school. Thank goodness i don't have to worry about it for 3 more months
 
By the time you get back to school, he should be okay to leave on his own for a few hours. Just make sure he has his treats, water, and toys. Leave on music if necessary. My dogs have always been home alone for a few hours and are fine. Emma is home alone for about two hours on Sundays and is okay. I chose not to crate any of my dogs (Hamish was crated when I got him from my sister but I stopped this). I just block Emma from the bedrooms, laundry room and bathroom for now until she is older. Hamish and Noah never needed to be blocked when they were trained as they never got into any thing.

Get to know your puppy and you will learn what will and what won't work for him. The forums are a great source of information and advice from seasoned owners.
 
2-4 hours in a crate, should be no problem at 6-7 months old. he will have a lot of energy so, a nice walk or playtime before would be ideal.
 
That's not a problem - dogs tend to sleep for long periods during the day. One thing I would suggest, get him used to sleeping during those hours when you would ordinarily be at class. You can use the crate for this. Then when you get back to uni he will be used to sleeping through anyway. And by 7mths his toilet training should be coming on well enough to cope with that period.

If you are going out for longer periods think of getting a puppy play pen too.
 
I crate trained Sandstorm and made the mistake of gating him in the hallway when I was at work- thinking that crating him for 7 hours would be unfair to him. He chewed the base board, door frames and area rug. I now leave him in the crate for 7 hours, he is 10 months old. He does fine, and we make sure he gets plenty of walks/adventures in the afternoon when I get home. When he was 5-7 months old my neice came in the middle of the day to walk him ( I should have crated him then instead of gating him in the hallway).
I think our dog likes his crate, it is in the living room and when we are home we just leave the door open, sometimes he goes in when he wants to. I wish I had crated instead of gated in the hallway!!! This summer I have to sand and stain areas that he has chewed, and throw out the area rug!!! Good luck, and don't feel guilty, your dog will trust that you will come home and spend time with him, as long as he gets lots of excersize and attention it is not a problem. Sandstorm also sleeps in our room on the bed or rug, he is not crated at night, as long as he is with us in our room with the door closed, he is not destructive at all.
Karen
 
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