First time puppy owner??

[dhpfish]

All,

I will be getting my first springer puppy in about three months from now and am really looking forward to it. I know the puppy is going to need a lot of my attention and time, but am wondering how people go about transitioning a pup into being alone during the day when they are at work and at what age can you start to leave them alone.

My girlfriend is a nurse so it will only be about 2 or 3 days a week that we are both gone from home during the day. Our plan right now is to bring the pup over to my parents house on these days that someone can not be around so he will not be all alone. If anyone has previous experience any info would be appreciated.

Thanks,

David

[nofishfisherman]

I would highly recommend crate training the dog. That way when it needs to be left at home you can crate the dog and know that it is safe. When we got our pup our breeder had already started the process and he had already slept at least one night in a kennel by himself when we got him at 8 weeks. We then continued the process. Biggest thing is to not leave the pup in too long without a bathroom break. The rule I believe is about 1 hour for each month, so a 2 month old dog may need a break every 2 hours. I think thats a little low though. I think its closer to 2 hours for every month.

Crate training can also make house breaking the pup much easier. There are many good books out there that will give you the run down on how to crate train a dog. Its pretty easy and most pups seem to pick up on it quickly.

Now that my dog is almost 4 we still use the crate when we are away at work. If left alone I'd hate to see what my dog would get into. I figure that when I'm gone I would like him to just chill out and relax so whether he does it in crate or on the couch there really is no difference except the piece of mind I get from knowing that when he's in the crate he's not destroying something. Also the crate helps when guests are over that might not be dog people. The dog can go chill in his kennel and not bother the guests.

[dhpfish]

Thanks for the input on crate training I will do some more research on it in the next few weeks. I got the HUP book for ESS and have been reading that. What is your opinion on the size of a crate. Do you buy multiple ones that fit them as they grow or buy one larger one when they are a pup that will fit them once they mature.

-David

[MN Shutterbug]

Might as well get a medium size to begin with. I used to have a springer and a medium size worked well. Otherwise you just spend money unnecessarily and what do you do with the smaller crates after he's outgrown them? Also, once he's used to the crate there is no sense in changing it a couple times down the road. It may just confuse him temporarily.

[nofishfisherman]

We used three different sizes, one for when he was a puppy, a medium sized crate, and then the large adult crate. Although we only had to buy the large crate. The breeder lent us the puppy crate and we got the middle size from someone else. Not sure I'd have bought all three sizes myself although if I did it again I might do the puppy crate again when house training is still a big issue.

The only down side to going with the larger crate right away is that the pup may still go to the bathroom in the crate if it has the room. Dogs do not like going to the bathroom in their own space so if the crate is small enough and the pup would have to lay in its mess it will likely hold it as long as possible. If the crate is big enough it may designate one side a potty side and one side as the sleeping side which can slow down house breaking. Its not an issue for all dogs regardless of crate size but it can be an issue for some dogs.

One thing you can do if it is an issue is get the larger size crate but find a way to block part of it of to make it smaller. I think some of the wire crates might be somewhat adjustable so you can make it smaller.