We are picking up our new GSP puppy next weekend and I had a question about where to keep him when we are not home until he is trained. I read a lot of ppl using dog crates to keep them in. I was thinking about just blocking off our laundry room door with a puppy gate and letting him have full use of the laundry room to roam around in while we are out of the house instead of a small dog crate. Would that be preferable to a dog crate?
Congratulations on your new puppy. A baby- gated laundry room sounds ideal. Leave him a radio on for company as he will miss his littermates at first. Do you plan to leave him for long periods? Have you thought how you are going to manage his feeding routine and housetraining?
unfortunately the wife and I both work so he will be home alone for about 8 or 9 hours. one of us will stay home the first week but after that he will be alone. I can go home during lunch some days to take him out. He will only be alone for a few weeks as my wife is a teacher and will be home all day in early June.
Hello Ryan - welcome to Breedia from Tikva and me How exciting - a new puppy how old will he be when you pick him up? I think that a puppy-gated laundry room sounds better than a crate, but I also think that to leave a new puppy alone for 8 or 9 hours after having been with you for only one week is not ideal. He will hardly have had time to know you and his new surroundings.
he will be 2 months old. wife or I will be home with him first week, then he will be alone with me going home for lunch for 2 weeks, then wife is home all summer after that.
Personally i wouldn’t advise leaving a young pup alone 8/9 hours per day even if you can pop home at lunchtime. Puppies that age need 4 meals per day and taken out regularly every couple of hours for toilet /play breaks. Far better to get someone to come in every 2-3 hours to take him outside, it will take awhile before he can hold it for longer, If you let him have accidents in the room you will have a much harder time with housebreaking.
I agree with the comments in the previous post, and do hope that you realise what a commitment you are taking on. The puppy's early requirements and training apart, I would feel negligent if I did not also add a note of caution about your puppy's teenage and young adult period. GSP's are a very high energy breed, and are likely to seek for an outlet for their energy if they are left for too much time without adequate stimulation. I have to say that, personally, I would not sell a puppy to a home - however loving - where a breed designed to do a days work on the moors, would be left alone and unoccupied for such a long period. I'm sorry, please believe me when I say take no pleasure in giving this advice. I hope that it is possible for you to find a dog walker, or some kind of doggy daycare, to break up his day, and give him a little more interest.
