Puppy transition fr coming to work with me to staying at home alone

Good morning all,

So its finally happened... boss says that she is going to have to stop coming to work with me soon. Nothing to do with her being a nuisance or anyone complaining - she's very good. Sleeps in the morning til it's lunch time, then we go for a walk to the park and play some ball, then she gets her kong and sleeps for another hour or so til it's time to go home. Maybe one bark a day if there is something strange outside but otherwise not a peep. I'm so, sooo sad - I love bringing her with me, and she loves coming and seeing everyone at work. It's that other people are asking to bring their dogs in now too which he doesn't want and I guess he feels like he can't just give me special treatment.
Puppy daycare is out of the question because it costs too much.
She's been coming to work with me every day since we got her about 5 months ago. I'm gone from about 7:30 til about 4:45 and she's just over 7 months so she should be ok. How can I make this transition easier on her? I was thinking of taking 1/2 days for a week or so to ease her into the new routine, but my boss says that I shouldn't have to. She's still not the perfect puppy so we don't leave her in the house alone uncrated yet so she'd be crated the whole day (which breaks my heart thinking about it).
I'm hoping that I can find a neighbor to let her out, but we just moved into a new area and we don't know anyone well enough to ask yet.
What do you think? Suggestions?

If you are worried about having her in a crate all day, why not build her a pen so she has room to walk around, play, sleep, etc? My hubby built our bunny a 3ftx7ft pen and she's fine when she in there (although she is mostly a free-range bunny there are times she needs to be in her pen for a 24-48 hour period). As for her being alone all day, I'm sure she'll get used to it quick. Jsut leave her water and toys and maybe some dry food for snacks. I think it will be harder on you than on your dog to have her home all day!

Thanks for your reply Grissom's mom.
She's sometimes a little menace - likes to play with the phones or remotes if we're not paying attention to her enough, or she sometimes loses her bones under the couch and starts digging... we'll have to puppy proof our house a bit more since we'll have to leave her unsupervised. I think that I'm going to get a baby gate and block off the upstairs to give her more space. Water and toys - definately, but no snacks - as soon as I put food out for her - it's gone! Maybe I'll hide a kong or something for her to find later in the day.
And I guess I am just being an overprotective worry wart... I'll probably miss her more than she'll miss me.

Definitely do not keep her in a crate all day. Not only is this not fair, it is terribly hard on a dog. If she will be at home you should defnitely get an Xpen for her to play in. Set it up with a crate inside--with some cushy sleeping toys and blankets, have a few toys, and some water. If you want, you could also try to train her to use puppy pee pads--there could be a place in the pen for these so she can relieve herself during the day.

Also, try to leave a radio or the tv on to keep her company. Silence is everyone's enemy after eight hours alone.

As far as half days go, I disagree with your boss. Taking half days is a good way to ease her into being alone during the day. Puppies are not tough beings, they feel and ache for company. If you spend 24 hours a day with her and then cut her off she may suffer from separation anxiety. I would absolutely suggest taking a week and working half days to ease her into this new life adjustment.

I forgot to mention that it is not likely a good idea to give her a whole level of the house. By putting her in a play pen where she can move around you are in fact protecting her from harm. This is a good thing--she will thank you later. Her messes will be contained, you wont be stressed at the end of the day to find messes all over or damage to your home.

It's good that you are thinking about this. Anything you do to ease the pup into this the easier it will be for you too. Ask your boss if you can rotate doggy days with the other employees too. Everyone gets to bring doggy to work, but only one dog a day.

Thanks. I always leave a light and the tv on for her if we have to leave her for a bit. And our place isn't that big - so giving her a floor only consists of our kitchen (where her food and water bowl are) and the living room - where we hang out, she naps and all her toys and crate are. But I'll take your suggestion lil_kirk & I'll move her stuff into the kitchen for a test week and if she's all good then she can have the living room too. I'm not sure on the puppy pee pads though - she's been fully house trained for over 4 months now and it may confuse her? Anyone else have an opinion on pee pads?
Boss said it wouldn't be immediate, but I should start looking at making arrangments soon. Don't think he'd be too keen on rotating doggy days... he's been good to let me bring her with me for the last 5 months so I don't wanna push it.

Is she able to hold it for eight hours? Most dogs her age can't....of course if you come home at lunch and let her out to pee that could save you on the pee pad issue. Pee pads or litter can be helpful for dogs....many of those who are trained won't want to mess indoors if they know that they are supposed to go outside. However, their bladder can only realisitically hold it for so long--so they have to go against what they know and pee inside, which can take your training back a step.

Maybe someone on here has tried them and can give you more advice where pee pads are concerned!

Ling,

Is your dog ever left alone at home for a few hours at a time? I'm just concerned about whether or not your pup will have separation anxiety when she is left at home alone.

I took my dog to work and everywhere else with me when he was a pup. He has separation anxiety. It's completely my fault!! He can't be left home alone or else he wines and cries until he vomits and has no voice left! I'm lucky he doesn't get destructive! I've had my dog for almost 4 years and he is never left home alone!!

Going home at lunch may be an option once in a while, but there are those days when it's just too busy and I won't be able to go home. I think that it might confuse her more if some days I went home and others I didn't? I'd like to establish a solid routine so she knows what to expect. She's about 7-1/2 months now - I thought that pups can hold it for their age in months +1, so if I'm gone for 9 hours - she should be able to hold it if she has to shouldn't she? And I think that I may be able to stall my boss for another 2 weeks so she'd be 8 months by the time I started to leave her at home while I went to work.
She's left alone for short periods of time - an hour or so if we go out for dinner the odd time or a couple of hours if we go grocery shopping. Maybe two or three times a week at most. I always hate leaving her alone if we don't need to - I always feel so guilty. The longest that we've ever left her crated alone has been 5 hours. She seemed fine - no messes, and the neighbors said that they didn't hear a peep out of her (we live in a townhouse so you can hear through the walls a bit). And if we leave her at home we always give her a treat, peanut butter in a bone or a food filled kong... so she's alway more than eager to head into her house when I tell her to.
I'm concerned about the separation anxiety too. I'm hoping that she'll be ok. She seemed just peachy when she was at BF grandma's for a few days to play with her dogs and whenever we leave her with my family for a few hours she's a bit sad when we leave and happy to see us but never stressed out. And when we leave her alone crated - she whimpers for about a minute, then quiets down and focusses on her food. (I spied on her once :-)

She's left alone for short periods of time - an hour or so if we go out for dinner the odd time or a couple of hours if we go grocery shopping. Maybe two or three times a week at most. I always hate leaving her alone if we don't need to - I always feel so guilty. The longest that we've ever left her crated alone has been 5 hours. She seemed fine - no messes, and the neighbors said that they didn't hear a peep out of her (we live in a townhouse so you can hear through the walls a bit). And if we leave her at home we always give her a treat, peanut butter in a bone or a food filled kong... so she's alway more than eager to head into her house when I tell her to.

I know the guilty feeling too!! :sad: By the above description, sounds like she'll be fine! Since she is crate trained, she feels that is her comfort zone when you are not home. From what I've been told, dogs don't have a sense of time. They can't tell whether you've been gone 5 minutes or 5 hours. I really don't know if this is true or not :confused: . Can you maybe start leaving her home half days for two weeks and then eventually full days(if your boss will let you)?? Do you have any family living nearby that can come at lunch time to let her out if you can't make it home??

Yeah - I've heard that they have no sense of time, but she always know's when it's time for breakfast or dinner, or when it's time for her walk at lunch time... or at least it seems that way to me. I may very well be fooling myself into believing that she's that smart though :-)
I'm definately going to see if the boss will allow me to take at least a week of half days, or better yet two weeks to ease her into the transition. And sadly no family close enough to come by, and since we just moved out to the area - no friends yet...
I do have a neighbor that has a younger GR pup that only works half days that maybe I can ask if she'll maybe let her out for a quick pee in the afternoon - or even better yet maybe let them play for 1/2 an hour or an hour then I'll dog sit for her on the weekends for a few hours while she cleans her house or run errands. Or I might even offer to pay her a bit. I'll have to see what she says... maybe I'll bring her some cupcakes when I talk to her.
I looked online for dog walkers in my area too and it's very expensive - $15 for an hour group walk. Yikes! Doggy daycare all day is only $ 18! Both way too much for me though...