New schedule and helping Watson adapt...

[sherlock]

Well, we're having some big changes in our house this week!

Today, my DH left to start an out-of-town job, and he will only be home on the weekends. And tomorrow, I start a new internship! It's part-time, but when added on to my other part-time job I'll be out the house for 6-7 hours a day 3-4 days a week.

This is new for us...until now, someone was almost always home, and if not one of us would be home within an hour or two. So of course with this big change, I'm worried about Watson.

I obviously don't want to kennel him all day. I can't let him have run of the living room though, because anytime we've done that before (even just to run to the store) something gets torn up or peed on. My mom suggested closing him in the bathroom, and I think I'm going to try that (after picking up all the rugs and putting the trash can on the counter) with some toys and his blankets.

Does anyone have any advice on how to make this work?!

 

[Admin]

We bought a baby gate and ours stay in the kitchen. The have a bed In there and it's where we feed them. I think the baby gate was 40 dollars. We put down pee pads for accidents

 

[Wandering Man]

We've used the kitchen as well. With the "open concept" that is popular now, I can see that gates are not always feasable.

Is there a doggy daycare nearby? Or a freind?

http://www.pamperedpaws-corinthtx.com/

http://woofcitypetvilla.com/?gclid=COvf69_0pLgCFWdo7AodCTQAbA

 

[Wandering Man]

And then there is this:

Two paws up! Dogs get their own TV channel - TODAY.com

 

[HilyBee]

We let Yosuke stay in our bedroom with a babygate across the door. We give him a very small bowl of water if we are going to be gone for more than 4 hours (like a cat food dish small... lol) and a chew toy. He does really well in there. We also leave his crate in there with him and the door open so he can go in and out as he pleases. The crate is great for short periods of time, but not 5-6 hours.

 

[sherlock]

We have an open kitchen/living area, so I couldn't do that.

HOWEVER I'm happy to report that he did very well today! I only had a half day at the office (and working from home for my other job today) so it wasn't a super long day. I put him in the bathroom with a babygate cutting off a small area by the door in case he decided to start scratching it to get out (don't want him tearing it up!) with his bed blankets, his favorite ball, and a small bowl of water. Came home to no potties on the floor, and the downstairs neighbor said he didn't hear any crying.

I'm very pleased that it worked out much better than expected. I really thought I was going to come home to an accident on the floor. I've thought about trying pee pads, especially for my long days, but I'm a little nervous that he might just rip them up the way he does tissues. I'll have a long day tomorrow though, so we'll see how it goes.

Thank you everyone, for your insight!