Charlie is home!! With one V.I. question

[kitty123]

Well, as I promised here is Charlie. He is now home with us and he is nothing but a bundle of joy. Still making some adjustments with the cats and all but everyone is doing fine.

I do have one very important question that I am getting mixed information on. We have been home with him all weekend and now its come time to leave him home alone as we go to work. My big question is do I have someone come in 2 a day to let him out and slowly ween him off or do I just start leaving him home alone from day one.
A lot of dog owner's I am talkiing to are giving me different answers. Some are saying that we have to have someone in once a day (my niece is willing as she is out of school now), because I don't want him spoiling in his crate. And since we let him out at night we should let him out during the day. Then, some people are saying "No" that we should leave him in there and let him soil his cage but this way he won't get used to anyone coming in during the day to let him out and he will learn quicker.
I am sooooo confused. because everything I've read says puppies can't hold it more than 4 hours (which sometimes he's doing at night now anyways.....depending on how tired he is), so I don't want to be mean and hurt his bladder.
He's a very smart dog already for only 8 weeks old. He knows his name and we've only had 2 accidents in the house all weekend, and he's walking on his leash already.

This is our first puppy so we are looking for all the advice we can get now.

Thanks, will check soon. Hope the picture worked.

[britishbandit]

Awww.....what a cutie!

And yes, if you have someone who can come and let him out, do that. There is no way at 8 weeks he'll be able to hold it while you are gone to work, or out for long periods of time.
As he gets older, you can go down to once while you are gone, and so on until he can hold it 8 hours, which will be a WHILE yet.
But saying that, if this person doesn't mind letting him out when you're gone, why not just keep having them let him out, I know I would!

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

I agree with BB, if you have someone able to do it then by all means have them let that little darling out. By the way, I think Charlie has got to be one of the cutest pups I've ever seen!

[kitty123]

Believe it or not he is a Cocker Spaniel. Odd coloring but purebread.

Anyways, my mother in law went to check on him today. We left the house this morning and she wasn't able to get there till 1pm and she said there were no messes, not even a puddle. Now I know I SHOULDN"T at all expect this all the time but I thought it was amazing especially for the first day. Plus he went right back into his kennel after she played with him for about an hour and he went with no problems. He wimpered a little bit but then she said by the time they left the front door he was quiet.
I know this won't be the case all the time but at least it gives me a bit of hope that it won't be very difficult to train him.

Thanks, for saying he's cute. I think so too and so does my husband. Its amazing how much my husband "ADORES" him. He babies him probably more than I do. His is a total Mama's boy though. He is attached to me like crazy. Even when we go for walks, when we stop he sits between my feet and waits for me to go again.
Should I be expecting this to turn around and have to start again?

[kitty123]

I should add that I left the house at 9:00am.

[poodlesmom]

What a precious pup! I think it's great that you have someone who can come and spend some time with him during the day. It will help tremendously with his housebreaking. Your hubby sounds just like mine was. A real softie when it came to the furpals. Just watch out if he follows and does what mine did - he'll be taking credit for all the wonderful training as well!

[sammy]

At 8 weeks I wouldn't expect him to hold it even 4 hrs, so I would leave him either in an enclosed room with washable floors like the kitchen with some paper down, his toys and his crate to sleep in- door open. If you don't have an area you can enclose you can get an x-pen and create one. If he is forced to pee in his crate it will make potty training so much more difficult not to mention it would be unpleasant for him .

Puppies are social animals aren't accustomed to being alone and so even if it's not about potty training/ him holding it, I would still have someone come and play with him, take him outside etc. If possible it's nice if the room he's confined in has some natural light and perhaps a tv or radio going, something that smells like you.

Have you got a really good book about puppy care? This one is a favorite with dog people.
http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DTB790

[PawNclaws]

OMGosh, what a cutie he is !!! Look at that widdle face !

[kitty123]

What about bringing him to my neice's house to watch him? She says she doesn't feel comfortable coming into our house when we are not home so she wanted to know if we could bring him there during the day to watch him?? Is this a good idea? They only live about a block away so its not too far. Or is it just better to have someone come to our house?