Will my puppy be able to hold it while I’m at work?

What should you do with an 8-week old puppy when you go to work?

A reader recently emailed me that question. He and his wife would both be gone for at least eight hours, three days a week, and unable to come home during lunch.

I thought this would be a good topic to bring up, since many of you have faced a similar situation. Some people just do not have the flexibility to come home every day for lunch like I did when I adopted Ace.

In this particular case, it turns out the reader’s mom is able to check on the puppy on those busy days. Way to go “Grandma!”

And seriously, how adorable is this puppy? She’s a keeshond named Zoey.

Will my puppy be able to hold it while I’m at work?

I wanted to discuss this topic and get your thoughts on what a new puppy owner can do.

If we’re talking about an 8-week-old puppy, she will obviously not be able to hold it for eight hours. That would just be too long. Although, if the owner is only gone for four hours or so at a time, that might work out OK.

If you work full time or go to school full time and have recently adopted a puppy, the following are some options to consider. (Please share your own ideas in the comments.)

Use a kennel

I always suggest using a kennel for a puppy that is left alone. Not only is this important for potty training, but it also helps keep the puppy safe and quiet when home alone, and out of trouble! A kennel helps set a puppy up for success in so many ways.

Some people refuse to use kennels, and that’s their choice. If you do not use a kennel, I would at least keep the puppy in a certain area of the house such as in the kitchen or a bathroom blocked with a baby gate.

Still, if you work eight hours straight, the puppy won’t be able to hold it that long, even if she is in a kennel. So, moving on …

Come home during your lunch break

This is the most obvious choice, assuming your schedule allows for it.

If you can make it home for lunch, even for five minutes for the first two to three weeks, that might be enough to get you through.

If your boss is an animal lover, he or she may not mind if you need to adjust your schedule temporarily so you can get home to let your puppy out. It doesn’t hurt to ask.

Hire a dog walker or a friend to let the puppy out for you

Whether you hire a professional dog walker, a pet sitter, a friend, family member or neighbor, the point is this person will be reliable and will let your puppy out for you once or twice in the middle of the day.

I am a dog walker and pet sitter myself so I can tell you there are some awesome professionals out there who can make your life easier! It’s about finding the right person.

If you’d rather ask a friend or neighbor to let your puppy out, that works too. You are lucky to have that as an option! I suggest paying that person to make it worth her time, even though she will get to hang out with your ridiculously cute puppy! Of course, some friends will just volunteer to do this for you, and that’s great too.

Take your puppy to dog daycare

I’m a little torn on dog daycares because some are just poorly managed with way too many dogs running wild. It’s kind of a free-for-all and a good place for dogs to learn bad habits.

On the other hand, if you can find a great dog daycare, this is better than setting your puppy up for mistakes at home. If I had a puppy and couldn’t come home at lunch, I would probably take the puppy to daycare since I am not a fan of people coming to my house when I’m not there. That’s just how I am.

Some dog daycares have puppy programs set up where the puppies get to play and socialize, and the workers will help them with potty training and basic training. All daycares are not created equally, so do your research and find a good one before you even bring your puppy home if you can.

Daycare could just be a temporary thing for the first month or so if you don’t want to pay for this service over the long term. The same is true if you hire a dog walker.

Last resort – puppy potty pads, fake grass or newspapers

You know I am not a fan of puppy potty pads or fake indoor dog grass.

When I potty train a puppy, my goal is to take that puppy outside. I do not use newspapers or pee pads or anything like that. I’ve seen far too many cases (always little dogs) where the dogs think it’s OK to pee on rugs, pillows, dog beds, etc.

Yet, I am realistic and sometimes you just don’t have another option.

I understand you may not have the funds to hire a dog walker. I understand you may not even get a lunch break.

I can only imagine the possibilities some people deal with, and I don’t think that should hold someone back from owning a dog. Although, you may want to consider adopting an adult, potty-trained dog vs. a puppy.

But let’s say you already have the puppy, and now your only option is to leave him something to pee on while you’re at work.

You could use puppy potty pads, fake grass for dogs or laid-out newspapers. It’s a personal preference and it also depends on how much you want to spend.

There are a few things I want to mention with this option:

Don’t assume the puppy will know where to go potty.

Unless a breeder or shelter volunteer has already taught her to go potty on newspapers or a pee pad, she won’t know to do this. Most likely, you’ll need to guide her and reward her for peeing in the correct place.

Where to put the potty pad

I can think of two options, but please share your ideas.

I’m really hesitant about this first option (*even more hesitant now after this has published – what do the rest of you think?), but here it is:

Put the pee pad (or newspaper) on one side of a fairly large dog kennel or crate. Put the puppy’s bed on the other end. Ideally, the puppy would pee on the pad side and sleep on her bed, because she wouldn’t want to pee on her bed.

There really aren’t any guarantees though.

There is a good chance you are setting your puppy up for a really bad habit of peeing in her crate. So I recommend this is a last resort.

Another option, and I think this is the better option in most cases, is to put an exercise pen up around your puppy’s kennel or to place her kennel in a bathroom or kitchen with a baby gate up.

You would put her bed in her kennel and a pee pad outside of the kennel in the closed-in area. Ideally, this space would be as small as possible to decrease her chances of peeing on the floor.

Again, the puppy won’t automatically know to pee on the pad or newspapers. You’ll have teach her. You may need to just cover the whole space with newspapers at first, so the smaller the space, the better.

As soon as your puppy can realistically hold it all day, you would remove the pee pads or newspapers and start leaving her in her kennel. If she is in her kennel, she won’t be able to pee on the floor. So again, the kennel is a valuable tool for setting the dog up for success.

OK, what do the rest of you think?

Have any of you faced this issue before? Any trainers out there who can add to this?

*This post contains affiliate links.