# What to do with new puppy for 2 hours this week



## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

I pretty much cleared my schedule for the new puppy for the next couple of weeks, but I have something at my kids’ school for an hour tomorrow and another appointment the next day, a little longer. My husband is out of town, and he hasn’t had his shots yet so I can’t leave him with a daycare type place. I’m not sure if I should leave him home, which would add travel time so he’d be alone for 1 1/2 hours, or take him with me and leave him in the car. Either way he’d be in the soft carrier. The weather is actually very mild right now, i sat in my car waiting for carpool with the puppy for 45 minutes yesterday without my car on and we were perfect. It just makes me nervous because my kids were little when all the news coverage of hot car deaths and awareness campaigns were all over the place. I’d be able to check on him every 15 minutes or so if I took him, but then I might trigger a barking frenzy each time he sees me and I leave again. 

I haven’t started crate training yet because the crate I bought is the wrong size and the new one won’t be here until Friday. I’ve just been using a soft carrier and we sit on a blanket most of the day together and then I follow him around and clean up if he pees. I’m finally starting to recognize when he is peeing, so I’ve been able to catch him and move him to a pad a couple of times. 

The breeder told us the puppy wasn’t a fan of crating when they started introducing it. He’s pretty vocal. I spent the last couple of days working on increasing his time in the carrier by playing games with him in it and using treats. But, I think I might have overdone it. I cut the treats up into little pieces, but his poop is a little soft, just enough that it’s harder to clean up, but not diarrhea. It’s hard to tell if that’s the problem because he’s also transitioning food. I’m worried if I switch treats I might make it worse. Is there something puppies love that isn’t likely to cause stomach problems? He goes completely nuts for these treats - they’re just a bag of Merrick sausage cuts I bought on amazon so I would have something while I figure out what he likes. How much is okay? I’ve heard caloric guidelines, but I can’t picture what that looks like. 

He will go into the carrier on his own now, and he loves it. Since he is so vocal, the strategy I used was to “catch” him in between cries and praise and reward him. This worked very well at improving the amount of time he stays quiet, because any improvement is really noticeable when he’s crying continually! But it’s still only a couple of minutes at a time if he’s in the carrier with the doors closed. The problem i’m having now is stretching the time in between, especially once he starts crying. I can tell I’m riding the line between teaching him that crying gets him treats and being calm in his carrier gets him treats. The other issue is that he still cries whenever anyone leaves the room whether he’s crated or not. I hate the idea of him crying and barking in the car if I take him with me. 

I thought about “crating” him in the soft carrier overnight to help prepare him, but he’s already almost figured out how to escape so I think I’d rather wait until the real crate comes. 

Any suggestion?


----------



## LoriJack (Aug 21, 2017)

EvaE1izabeth said:


> I pretty much cleared my schedule for the new puppy for the next couple of weeks, but I have something at my kids' school for an hour tomorrow and another appointment the next day, a little longer. My husband is out of town, and he hasn't had his shots yet so I can't leave him with a daycare type place. I'm not sure if I should leave him home, which would add travel time so he'd be alone for 1 1/2 hours, or take him with me and leave him in the car. Either way he'd be in the soft carrier. The weather is actually very mild right now, i sat in my car waiting for carpool with the puppy for 45 minutes yesterday without my car on and we were perfect. It just makes me nervous because my kids were little when all the news coverage of hot car deaths and awareness campaigns were all over the place. I'd be able to check on him every 15 minutes or so if I took him, but then I might trigger a barking frenzy each time he sees me and I leave again.
> 
> I haven't started crate training yet because the crate I bought is the wrong size and the new one won't be here until Friday. I've just been using a soft carrier and we sit on a blanket most of the day together and then I follow him around and clean up if he pees. I'm finally starting to recognize when he is peeing, so I've been able to catch him and move him to a pad a couple of times.
> 
> ...


I know it is too late to help in the next two days, but I highly recommend an indoor exercise pen that is big enough to house a dog bed, blanket and toys in the main part of the pen. Place a small, but thick, whelp pad right inside the gate of the pen (for emergency use only). I am no expert, as I have only had KC for two months and he is now 4 months old. KC did very well sleeping in a plastic crate on a bench next to my bed for the first 6-7 weeks (I would put my fingers in the crate if he began to whine and he stopped.) During the day, when I could not watch him closely, I placed him in his exercise pen, which is a wire pen. I purchased a vinyl cover for the pen, which I use under the pen. I placed a large whelp pad over the vinyl and then placed his blanket, bed and toys in there. KC is also very "vocal", but I find that he enjoys being in his pen. As he has done pretty well with only peeing and pooping outside, I typically leave the door open on his pen when I am home and he goes in and out throughout the day and evening. When I have had to leave him home alone, I close the door on the pen. Even if he begins barking, he quickly settles down and finds a toy or lays on his bed. One time when I was gone for 3 1/2 hours, he peed on the small pad that I had placed inside his door, which was easy for me to clean. I have had to leave him a few more times since then for an hour or 2 hours at a time and he waited until I returned to go outside to pee. As of a week ago, KC stays in his pen to sleep at night and typically sleeps (or remains content without barking) from 11pm to 7am each night. I love the idea of the pen, because I know that he is safe, comfortable and has toys to play with. This really eases my mind when I need to leave him home alone.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro


----------



## Tux's Mom (May 24, 2016)

I would never leave my dog in a car even if the weather is mild. You risk someone stealing him. If you have a bathroom you could leave him in there by either closing the door, or buying a puppy gate. Take the toilet paper off of the holder and remove any towels. Lay down pee pads and leave water somewhere where he is less likely to tip it over such as by the toilet. Close the lid on the toilet. Do not leave anything with the puppy that he could choke on. Leave something that smells like you and put it in the soft carrier so he can climb in and feel safe. Leave music or the TV on. He should be just fine even if he yaps the entire time. You should get him used to not being attached constantly to you anyway. You could start by stepping outside or behind a closed door, wait a few seconds then come back in. Gradually extend the seconds to minutes and longer. You want a well adjusted dog, and he has to learn that he can survive alone without you, sooner than later is best.


----------



## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

No time for lengthy reply, but just wanted to tell you your training treats can be cut REALLY small and mixed with kibble (treat then kibble then treat then treat then kibble, etc.) to keep stools good consistency. Loved these Little Stars when Shama was little. She's less into them now . . .

Little Stars Training Treats - Wet Noses Organic Dog Treats


----------



## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

LoriJack said:


> I highly recommend an indoor exercise pen that is big enough to house a dog bed, blanket and toys in the main part of the pen.


I do have everything to set this up, I just had this idea in my mind that I would introduce him to the crate first and then gradually expand the gate. Sometimes the answer is right there in a box in front of me and I'm just not looking at it because I had this picture of how it would go.



LoriJack said:


> As he has done pretty well with only peeing and pooping outside...


 I am struggling with this because he pees everywhere all of the time. It's one of the reasons it seemed pointless to set up the play area without the crate. Like he'll pee and little and then pee again just a little 5 minutes later. It's also hard for me to tell when he's peeing to interrupt and get him outside or on a pad. I just barely started to recognize his "stance." But I know this is normal, I just wasn't expecting that I would be so bad at it! In retrospect I can already see that the way he pees and looks at me expectantly is because he's waiting for a treat. I know he was introduced to training by the breeder. I just haven't been able to make it clear WHERE he is supposed to go yet because I can never get there in time, and I think it is confusing him.



Tux's Mom said:


> You risk someone stealing him.


 That didn't even cross my mind! But I feel weird about leaving him in the car anyway, I just can't do it.



Tux's Mom said:


> If you have a bathroom you could leave him in there by either closing the door


See, I knew there was a simple answer to this. Before crate training became common there were ways to keep puppies safe!



Tux's Mom said:


> You could start by stepping outside or behind a closed door, wait a few seconds then come back in. Gradually extend the seconds to minutes and longer. You want a well adjusted dog, and he has to learn that he can survive alone without you, sooner than later is best.


I started doing this yesterday but he follows me so I think it will work better with the playpen or crate. Today I went to take a shower when he fell asleep in his carrier. I'm pretty sure he was barking before I heard him, but I didn't go running. I finished my shower only a teeny bit faster than usual. By the time I was done he was quiet. Turns out, he finally figured out how to escape his carrier and was asleep, cradling a hammer I had been using and left on the floor in the next room. He woke up as soon as I walked in and just looked at me for a while. He's been pretty quiet the rest of the day so I think he wore himself out. Earlier I was worried because it's taking a lot of work to stretch out the time, but I think that is more because of the pressure of the short term.

This is all so helpful! I tend to second guess and overthink.


----------



## DuketheDog (May 1, 2017)

Tux's Mom said:


> I would never leave my dog in a car even if the weather is mild. You risk someone stealing him. If you have a bathroom you could leave him in there by either closing the door, or buying a puppy gate. Take the toilet paper off of the holder and remove any towels. Lay down pee pads and leave water somewhere where he is less likely to tip it over such as by the toilet. Close the lid on the toilet. Do not leave anything with the puppy that he could choke on. Leave something that smells like you and put it in the soft carrier so he can climb in and feel safe. Leave music or the TV on. He should be just fine even if he yaps the entire time. You should get him used to not being attached constantly to you anyway. You could start by stepping outside or behind a closed door, wait a few seconds then come back in. Gradually extend the seconds to minutes and longer. You want a well adjusted dog, and he has to learn that he can survive alone without you, sooner than later is best.


This is exactly what I would do to a T.


----------

