[mhass1129]

One of the things to be careful with animals that are left alone all day is that they can develop nervous habits that are hazardous to their health. They can nibble on their paws or chew their teeth sore as a way to cope with the anxiety of abandonment for being left alone too long. Most people would think that only happens with Parrots who develop mental illness but I've seen it in dogs as well (I don't think I've seen it yet with cats but it could). Is there a neighbor that you could trust and would be willing to come over mid-day just to play with him?

When my mom and my sister adopted their dog, my mom just started working till 8pm 3 nights a week and my sister was in the busiest track schedule ever. I volunteered to go over at noon and take the dog out, play with it, clean up after it. Now my sister gets out earlier, the dog is paper trained so it has more freedom to move around, and the dog is more comfortable with being home alone most of the day - but then again, she's also used to the schedule and knows that once my mom or my sister get home she'll have undivided attention and play time for the rest of the evening. My mom will also take a late lunch break and spend time with the dog if she's working late. Your puppy may not "trust" you guys in this aspect just yet and it can create seperation anxiety.