leaving pup whilst i work

[Julie Marie]

:)hi, another question. i have had just had a week off work to settle my pup benny into his new home. i go back to work next week and i will leave him locked in crate. my neighbours teenage girl will come in for a week and play with him (most of the day) but when they go back to school i will only be able to have someone come in for differing times from 1 hour to four hours. i leave at 8.30 and return at 3.15. i am worried about leaving him in crate. he was brought up with a crate until i got him at eight weeks.

at what age can i leave him out of the crate during the day without fear of eating electric wires and my sofa!!!

any advice please  

many thanks

Julie                    

[Gilly]

Hiya Julie,

Have you thought of investing in a puppy playpen as these come in various sizes with plenty of room to move around. It's not easy leaving them at first....i work 10.00am until 2.00pm and Butty was left in a playpen while i was at work. At the time i had just had a new kitchen fitted and worried that she might chew the units etc....but the playpen solved this and she slept in it at night too...in the end it doubled a stairgate as she had a habit of stealing toys from my daughters bedroom  

Just a thought anyway  

Gilly                    

[Karen]

I did the same as you when mine were pups! They stayed in crate until about 6 months but you still get the odd thing wrecked until maybe 1yr! The solution is avoiding boredom - plenty of exercise when you are there and leave part of his meal in a toy which he has to work at to get out - that worked a treat for me. I work 9-5 and come home for an hour for lunch and the kids are home by 3.30. Once they are old enough to understand the routine, get worn out before you leave them and understand you are coming back they're fine! When I've had the odd day off I've noticed they still stick to the same routine and just sleep when I would have been at work!!                    

[Julie Marie]

thanks for the advice guys. i felt cruel cos i work but its a necessity. where do i get play pens from? are they bigger than crates  

thanks   julie                    

[Mary]

Playpens should be available at larger petshops.  I've a feeling Gilly bought hers from 'Pets at Home'.  I know I've seen them there for sure

You could also try mail order.  I know this website sells them in various shapes and sizes as I have their brochure as it's where I bought Lotties crate:

www.croftonline.co.uk                    

[Gilly]

Yep mine is from Pets at Home   its a 6 sided one...they usueally come in panels where you can add as many panels as you want, tho the one i have is a fixed one. And yes, they are MUCH larger than a crate  

I know Colin got his playpen for Misty from Champion Pet Supplies

www.championpetsuppliesonline.co.uk

Failing that just type Puppy Playpen/Pen into Google and that usually brings a good result.
Gilly                    

[Julie Marie]

fanks!                      

[PennyB]

I attach the panels on to my pups crate when I go out, so he has his bed in there to lie in.

The champion link doesn't work, but think it might be this one:

http://www.championpetsonline.co.uk/home.cfm

I also got my pen and panels from Croft as well; however I found that the clips that came with it were difficult to put on and take off so they suggested cable ties which you have to cut off (but they're quite cheap anyway and do the job a lot quicker and my fingers are no longer sore)                    

[Anita]

Phoebe has now reached 1yr old

We have a stair gate to keep her in the kitchen when we're not there and at night (no door - just an arch way). But..........the last couple of days she has jumped over the gate . She's not done any damage but there's still time .  I'm a bit worried that she might wreck things if she can't get to her toys.

I don't know whether to see how we go or invest in a play pen. But I suppose if she jumps the stair gate she'll get out of the pen .

Any ideas?                    

[PennyB]

I don't know whether to see how we go or invest in a play pen. But I suppose if she jumps the stair gate she'll get out of the pen .

Any ideas?

Croftonline have all sorts of panels to make up a pen and I've got one that can go on top to stop mine getting out                    

[Anita]

I'm going to check this out now!!!!                    

[Silver Surfer (indiesnan)]

Hi1 Anita ive got a very large lab, and we got a Lindam dog
 
 Cotrol gate from argos its a lot taller than a normal baby gate,We also put ties on either side to make sure it was safe, it cost £34  99.                    

[Gilly]

OOOps sorry about that link not working  

Anyway one of the other benefits of a playpen (especially if you have young children  ) is that you can put them in it for a time-out session when things get to much and I used mine often for times when i just needed half an hour to get things done arouns the house. That way i knew she was safe. I put her bed and all her toys and some water in and she was fine.....in fact so much so that when it came time to wean her out of the pen at night (about 8 months) she cried for the 1st 2 nights without it  

Gilly                    

[Lisa]

Hi Everyone,

Here is another link Petpack Parco Play Run
http://www.petpack.co.uk/shop-processtype....2&ProcessType=1

I only wish we had had one for Daisy, but we settled for the baby gate across the kitchen door...unfortunatly she still managed to eat the walls and wires (unplugged)                    

[Anita]

The problem with the stair gate is that we need an extra wide one as its not a standard doorway (arch from one room to another ). The one we have at the moment is from mothercare as all the bits came with it to make it fit the gap. Didn't have to pay extra either.