# Need Advice...



## swaye (Mar 28, 2013)

One of these days, I may not need to post with questions twice a week and GIVE advice instead of always asking. 

I am leaving the end of July for 12 days. Sofie will be 7 months old. I am the primary human in her life. My husband will be taking of her and there may be days he may be gone for 5 hours at a time. We have left her that long only twice and she did fine. He normally interacts with her minimally. He will be doing it all for these twelve days. An option to leaving her in her ex pen for 5-6 hours, is doggy day care (she has never been there). I have talked to them and if they have socialized dogs, they do let them out to play together. I have encouraged my husband to start interacting more with her training, grooming and walking before I leave. He has, from the day we brought her home, been very good about helping to take her out for potty breaks and help in bathing.

My questions:

Is there anything else we should be doing?
Would doggy day care be better than being home alone 2-3 days a week for 5-6 hours?
Is there a risk of separation anxiety, during this temporary and slightly altered routine?

I would like to add, Sofie at this point seems to be a sound pup. She has no fears and has adjusted well to our routine, household noises, and outside noise (mowers, thunder, fireworks (country neighbor use them). 

Thank you all.


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## BearsMom (Jul 16, 2012)

I'm a novice at this as well....but Bear came to live w/ us last summer (as a 9 week old pup). I'm a guidance counselor so I was off most of the summer and spent all day, every day with him. When it came time to go back in the fall, my mother (I live w/ my parents) tagged in and spent all day w/ him....and he did great. As the year went on, my father's work schedule changed and there were times when he was with Bear alone and I was STRESSED about this idea. Let's just say he isn't the biggest animal lover out there. I must have called/texted him multiple times each day from work for a few weeks until I realized that they were just fine together. In fact, Bear cried at the door one afternoon when my father left for work. 
That said, if my father can do it...your husband certainly can  I know some people swear by doggy day care but your pup may find it to be a more stressful environment w/out any familiar people/scents if she goes only when you are away. If you decided to go that route, maybe introduce her sooner. At least at this point, she knows your husband well. I would also encourage him to become a little more hands on before you leave so that isn't a big change for her and in case he needs guidance w/ something. 
I hope you don't stress to the level I did.....they are more resilient than we think 

I know Bear doesn't LOVE his crate but he does just fine when we need to put him in there. He's safe and has "crate safe" toys and it takes the worry off of us when we are out. The good thing here is that you mentioned it would only be 2-3 days a week. That's a short period of time  
Hope it goes well!!


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Would it be possible for you to be away for a couple of days before you are gone for your longer trip? This would provide a trial run and a chance for your husband to see what sort of challenges might come up while you're gone. Could you began doggie day care now so that routine could be established prior to your being gone on your trip?


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## swaye (Mar 28, 2013)

BearsMom said:


> I'm a novice at this as well....but Bear came to live w/ us last summer (as a 9 week old pup). I'm a guidance counselor so I was off most of the summer and spent all day, every day with him. When it came time to go back in the fall, my mother (I live w/ my parents) tagged in and spent all day w/ him....and he did great. As the year went on, my father's work schedule changed and there were times when he was with Bear alone and I was STRESSED about this idea. Let's just say he isn't the biggest animal lover out there. I must have called/texted him multiple times each day from work for a few weeks until I realized that they were just fine together. In fact, Bear cried at the door one afternoon when my father left for work.
> That said, if my father can do it...your husband certainly can  I know some people swear by doggy day care but your pup may find it to be a more stressful environment w/out any familiar people/scents if she goes only when you are away. If you decided to go that route, maybe introduce her sooner. At least at this point, she knows your husband well. I would also encourage him to become a little more hands on before you leave so that isn't a big change for her and in case he needs guidance w/ something.
> I hope you don't stress to the level I did.....they are more resilient than we think
> 
> ...


0h, thank you so much for sharing your experience. I AM stressing about this. We had a German Shepherd with separation anxiety and what a negative experience that was for her and us! I am trying to avoid a negative impact on my absence for all long term. She is doing so well (and it has been a full time job in itself), that I don't want to move backwards. Like your Bear she would rather NOT be in her crate, but does well when she is in there. I am trying to put her in a few more times a day for short periods because my husband will need to be out doing yard work, showering, etc where he will not be able to be attentive or have back up so she will need to be crated at those times. I am glad for you that it all went well. Thank you for your well wishes, also.

Oh and good point about doggy day care...


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## swaye (Mar 28, 2013)

Pucks104 said:


> Would it be possible for you to be away for a couple of days before you are gone for your longer trip? This would provide a trial run and a chance for your husband to see what sort of challenges might come up while you're gone. Could you began doggie day care now so that routine could be established prior to your being gone on your trip?


I don't know about being gone for a couple of days now, but will discuss again doggy day care with husband. He is being pretty calm about the whole thing, but I am not sure if he realizes how much time is involved, especially if has had work of his own to do and than comes home to a rambunctious pup. He has seen the time I have put into her, but it just isn't the same as doing it.


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

swaye said:


> I don't know about being gone for a couple of days now, but will discuss again doggy day care with husband. He is being pretty calm about the whole thing, but I am not sure if he realizes how much time is involved, especially if has had work of his own to do and than comes home to a rambunctious pup. He has seen the time I have put into her, but it just isn't the same as doing it.


With our bigger dog, we did doggie day care 2-3 days per week from about 3 months to 15 months. The result was that the other days when he was home he was very tired = calm and less demanding (my husband was going through cancer treatments and couldn't handle all the energy of a young dog everyday). 
That said you would really want to make sure that the doggie daycare was a good one with caring people really monitoring doggie interactions closely. You also wouldn't want Sofie just sitting in a crate all day.


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## RoutineAvocado (Feb 6, 2013)

What about a walker instead of day care? Might be easier on her. We have a walker stop by for half an hour mid-day to check on her and get a little exercise down. Zelda does fine by herself before and after. She also gets a stuffed kong when I leave and another when the walker leaves. I prepare both kongs every morning with part of her breakfast kibble and some extra goodies.

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## swaye (Mar 28, 2013)

RoutineAvocado said:


> What about a walker instead of day care? Might be easier on her. We have a walker stop by for half an hour mid-day to check on her and get a little exercise down. Zelda does fine by herself before and after. She also gets a stuffed kong when I leave and another when the walker leaves. I prepare both kongs every morning with part of her breakfast kibble and some extra goodies.
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


That is an option. I have business cards for two and I know they have been around for several years as I have seen their cards at the vets office. That is all I know about them. My hubby and I have discussed that option, but he seems to think he and Sofie will manage just fine. He did agree it would be nice to have some options.


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