Hello! And need puppy help!

[jdbyogi]

Hi There! I used to participate on these boards (and back on The Nest) a few years ago, and had 2 wonderful golden retrievers. I ended up losing both of them tragically last year following a hike where it was suspected that they may have ingested a toxic plant/substance or rat poison. It has been a horrible year adjusting to losing them, but last week my bf and I found ourselves with a tiny little pup in need of an immediate home. So now we have an 8 week old pittie/lab/something mix! (I cannot remember how to upload pics, but I promise to share some!)

I have a million questions, because I somehow have baby puppy amnesia and can't remember everything I need to know with a little one. But I fear she has separation anxiety. She was found last week, abandoned near an arroyo/creek in an area we have learned is common for dumping pups, especially pitties, to either be found by runners or eaten by coyotes We don't know how long she was out there, but she's perfectly healthy now and seems to be bonding with us and generally loves her crate - she chooses to sleep in it at night and plays in there when we're home. But we've heard from our neighbors that she will cry and bark for an hour at a time, and yesterday she was basically inconsolable when I got home.

She has only had one set of shots, so we aren't able to go walking yet, but we play in the house and yard before i leave, running, fetch, practicing manners (she's great with sit and down, starting to get come), put her potty pad, blanket and toys in with her, and give her a kong with a few pieces of kibble. She's hit and miss crying when I leave. I know it's not ideal, but I can only come home after 4 hours (we weren't planning on a puppy), and she eats, takes a potty breaks, plays, and goes back in for 3 hours when we're home for the day. It's really the afternoon where the neighbors are saying she cries. I only work in the office 2-3 days per week, and I am at home or am able to come home more frequently on other days.

HELP ME! What can I do to prevent the crying and barking? I was thinking of leaving her my pillow case with her in the morning to see if that helps. And I know 3-4 hours is a long time, but right now, I don't know what our other options are :/

Thank you!

[cmeon]

You need to look into getting a dog walker, a neighbor you trust, or daycare for her on the days you're not home. She really is much too young to be left for that time period, she needs to be offered a chance to relieve herself at least every 2 hours at this point.

I'm so sorry about your goldens- that's so sad! Congrats on the new pup- you can make it work, but, you'll need to make some adjustments to get through the "baby puppy" age.

[dr.girlfriend]

I'm so sorry about your loss of your previous pups...that is so sad. It sounds like you're doing a great job. I agree that a dog walker, even for a few weeks, would be a great solution for keeping your new little dude happy and tiring him out for you. I kind of resented the expense at first but now it's SO nice to know that my pup gets good exercise even when I'm too tired or busy to take her out as much myself.

I'm a little surprised that she's inconsolable once you RETURN, though. I can see her crying a lot while you're gone, but what is she doing when you're back? Continuing to cry, or just being really needy? If she is crying / whimpering even while you are petting her, etc., I would worry that it's something else, like she might be uncomfortable in some way.

We do kibble in the Kong with peanut butter, so it takes longer to lick out. You could also try puzzle toys, although our pup was a little too smart...she figured out picking it up and smashing it on the ground was the quickest solution, lol. Puzzle balls worked for her, though.

[jdbyogi]

She was pretty good the first week, whimpered a little when I left, a neighbor said she'd barked, but she was sleeping when I returned. This week she was crying, barking, etc from the minute I left and whimpering and barking (that I could hear from outside) when I returned. Wednesday she was whining after I got home, but Tuesday was the worst, where she was frantic, barely wanted to pee or eat because she wanted to physically be on me, whimpering, jumping, etc. I held her for a few minutes until her heart rate went down and she relaxed and then was fine in the afternoon.

I decided to basically try to restart crate training again and worked from home a half day Thursday (and I'm working for home today). I played with her, put her in the crate, where she started barking and crying immediately, even though she slept there the night before, and let her out after she was completely quiet for a few minutes. Yesterday morning it took 15 minutes to calm, and in the afternoon finally settled down with a kong (her first time with peanut butter!) and was only quietly whimpering when I came home, but didn't rip up her toys. I just put her in this morning and she's already asleep! So maybe I need to just keep working on smaller periods of time. She also briefly whimpered when I went for a walk last night and left her with my boyfriend (who lives with me).

She's so smart and it's hard while she's still so young and not fully vaccinated and can't go for walk or to daycare yet! Will dog walkers just come over to play before a puppy is old enough to walk? I was thinking of maybe asking the neighbor kid to come over and play with her or do homework or something here so that there's someone around to see if that might help for a while.

[cmeon]

Dog daycares are really, really careful with vaccinations- at least the good ones. I'd be fine letting a great one take a young puppy- they're really excellent for socialization when they're selective about who can play with her.

Yes- dog "walkers" do what you want them to! They'll potty, check water, feed a lunch (puppies that young should have that third meal), play- again, find a good one, of course.

By 3mo, she should be able to handle 3-4 hour stretches with sufficient potty breaks before/in between, by 6mo she should be okay with 7 hour stretches if need be. It's nice that you can work from home- it's tough to do puppies with more traditional work schedules.