what to do with a new puppy when i go to work?

[BULLBLASTER]

i am getting a gsp puppy soon and am wondering what to do with him when i go to work?
a crate? outside?

thanks

[jackelope]

i crate trained mine, but if you are talking a new pup, he shouldn't be left all day in a crate. he'll have to pee and poo at some point before 8-10 hours later when you get home. i was in a position to go home at lunch to let him out, walk him, etc.
suppose you could leave him outside, but that opens up a whole other potential can of worms with winter weather and stuff.
 

[BULLBLASTER]

its too far to go home and let him out at lunchtime.

[jackelope]

well...................i have a friend that has a doggie door into his garage. the dog stays in the garage and goes out when needed. i would still be concerned with a young pup. he'd figure it out in due time...you might have to puppy proof your garage a bit and expect to be cleaning up puppy poo for a while...but it might do. maybe section off a part of the garage so he doesn't have access to the whole thing.
other than that, not sure. you'd need to figure something out. IMO it's not fair to leave a dog crated all day every day. thats a miserable life for a dog.

[BULLBLASTER]

the garage is a pretty good idea, is the garage warm enough for a puppy, and could i just leave the man door open a bit for him to go outside?

[jackelope]

i think you need to decide what the right thing for you to do is.
you might look at cutting a hole in the man door to put a doggie door into it. you can buy the kits at the big pet chain stores i know for sure, or online.

[jackelope]

look at this:

http://www.ronhazelton.com/howto/dog_door_installation.htm

[Ridgerunner]

we put ours in the garage in a wire pen we got at petco, put some paper down so they have a target to go if they have to go, then you don't have to worry abotu them.  Thorw their bed and some water down and they'll be fine.  

[Ridgerunner]

Oh the wire pen is collapsable so it can be taken down or put up within a minute.  Works really slick.

[coop2424]

The accidents will happen not matter what you do at the beginning but I strongly recommend crate training the dog at some time.  Once they get older the crate will be a place of comfort and if you need to use one for travel or basic needs they will feel comfortable in the situation.  I have two dogs that I crate trained and they are now in their crates more than anywhere else.  I do not lock the crates but that is just where they go.  I would just get a habit of putting the crate where ever you have the puppy for the day with their bed inside it.

[bobcat]

I got my GSP in the month of December (11 years ago) and he was only 6 weeks old. When I went to work I barricaded him in the kitchen with a couple of baby gates, and of course had to clean up the mess every night when I got home from work. But it worked out pretty well. After a few months of that, with him being much bigger and the weather warmer, I began leaving him outside in the fenced yard, and of course he had a dog house to get out of the weather. When I left him for the day in the kitchen I would leave some dog toys in there and I'd throw things in there like carboard boxes and anything that was just garbage that he could play with. Most of that stuff would be shredded and scattered all over the kitchen floor when I got home.    

[BULLBLASTER]

can they jump over the fence things in the garage or the gate things?

[SpokaneSlayer]

I don't think a small pup could.  Mine is now 5 months old and he can reach up to the kitchen counter.

[Schmalzfam]

Not sure how old your puppy is but, if you are talking 8wks or so, I would be scared to leave him unsupervised, with too much room to roam.
Personally, if he is a little guy, I would put him in a crate and bring in the car to work so, he was able to get out on your breaks and for awhile at lunch.
If you are talking older, I would do the garage thing. We have a 6x6 dog kennel in our garage. That gives them the room to move around and ours don't poop or pee in it but, some may.
I don't know, I would just be leary of too much room to roam while I wasn't home. If someone isn't home our dogs don't go outside but, that is how we feel.

[bobcat]

My dog couldn't jump over the baby gates. I believe they were about 2 1/2 feet high. Using a garage is a good idea but at the time I didn't have one, so that's why I used the kitchen. Plus it was a lot warmer than a garage in the winter would have been.