Bird Dog Puppy Question - Advice Needed

[Rydonn]

Howdy,

My wife and I brought home our GSP around July 4th. We have enrolled her in a puppy daycare for the last month and a half while we are at work. We have had discussions about leaving her at home in a closed off portion of the house - a space roughly 6ft x 8ft. In one of the puppy training books (not bird dog specific), it had mentioned an area removed of all chewable items, placing the puppy crate inside the area, and making a puppy toilet - it also said to put in food/water for the pup (we feed her only with Kong's so she works for her food). I believe that the puppy will do fine in this area while we are at work (nine to ten hours), but my wife insists on leaving the dog in the daycare. We can't create a kennel run for the pup as we live in the city and don't have a yard. Does anyone have any thoughts/pointers/other advice that they would like to share? Your input is much appreciated! Thanks

[splashcaster]

I know other people with dogs who have been successful with this, but my dog would either find a way out or bark all day. I know it would help to try to get that dog somewhat tired before you leave, so maybe a quick morning run do the trick. It would be a good idea to use the puppy training pads inside the area, but that also leaves the risk that the dog thinks it's ok to go inside all the time. Kongs are great, frozen kongs and frozen marrow bones are even better. I know quite a few dogs that tip their water over when they get mad, so that's something to consider.

If you're in the city, there are likely services close by that offer a "lunch break" for your dog where they come in and take it out for a bathroom break/walk mid-day. Less expensive than puppy daycare. Of course, if you have a trustworthy neighbor/friend who can do it, all the better.
Good luck with your new little buddy 

[NW-GSP]

If you leave a pup for that long you will come home to a mess of urine and feces.

[lokidog]

I would never train my puppy to pee/poop in the house.     Keep up the puppy daycare as long as they are also working on house trianing.  Otherwise, crate training with a friend/service coming in every couple of hours would be my choice.

[YellowDog]

I got a 7 week old lab pup at the end of August last year.  I was 2 weeks into a 3 month paid vacation from work when I got him.  I immediately crate trained him and he quickly got to the point that he could make it though the night with only one or two trips outside.  Before I knew it he was making it 7 hours a night in his crate without having to go outside.  I tried to make him wait a little bit when he woke up and first started whining before taking him out.  By the time I went back to work in mid November he was doing awesome and he was only 4 months old. 

I set up his crate inside an 8 pane exercise pen with a gravity feed water bottle attached to the crate.  He had maybe 6-8 square feet of space to move around in.   I did hire a neighbor kid (teenager) to come after school (he ended up being in the pen for 7 hours at a time) and let him and my 10 year old lab out for a 1/2 hour, play a bit, and give them a couple treats.  There were some days that he had to go the full 10 hours without a break and he did just fine without a single accident. 

Like others have said, I would not want to "train" a put that it is okay to go to the bathroom anywhere in my house if I could help it at all. The amount of space you are thinking about giving him is too much IMO.  Keep the space relatively small.  Not as small as just a crate but not nearly as big as you mentioned.  If he has too much room he will almost certainly start using the bathroom because he has enough room to get away from his poop and pee.  I would keep him in daycare for another month or two at least, try to extend the amount of time he can hold it by crating him whenever you are asleep or when you are not able to keep your full attention on him. After a couple months it would be great if you could find a neighbor or neighbor kid that you could trust to let him out once in the middle of the day like I do.  Otherwise I think daycare might be the best option.  There are also dog walkers that  you could probable get to come to your house and take him for a mid day walk for a fee.  My pup had razor sharp teeth and could shred kongs if left unattended so I would be careful with that leaving a kong with him without supervision.  I think one of the plastic puzzle food dispensers would be better than something they can chew up and eat that might hurt them.  If you absolutely have to leave him for that long, I hope you have a garage that you can set up a pen in rather than having him in the house going to the bathroom.  If he is allowed to go in the house he will keep going back to the same place even when you are home and it could be a nightmare training him to go outside when you are home but that it is okay to go in the house when you are at work.  too confusing for a pup.

[Rydonn]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. For the poop/pee area I was going to buy a kitty litter box and line it with sod so that she associates it with going on grass - not on carpet (that is my hope anyway). She's been crated overnight, all through the night, for the last couple of weeks without incident, and she's four months old now. A few mixed opinions but the dog walker option is a very good suggestion and something I will look into.

I appreciate the help and will no doubt be putting all kinds of posts here for help with a first time pup that I want to train to be a bird dog.

[YellowDog]

Post us a picture of the pup!

[Rydonn]

Here she is!

[AspenBud]

Crate your dog while you're off at work. Less mess, less destruction, and the dog will be fine. The key is to give your dog enough mental stimulation and exercise to keep it happy, something it would need crate or no crate.