New Puppy Arrangement

[Checkers]

I think personally that you should gate him in the kitchen when you are gone with a puppy pad or news paper until you know he is old enough to hold it all day. Perhaps leaving an open crate in the kitchen as his bed is an idea I do think it is cruel to leave a puppy in a crate for 8+ hours with no where to relieve itself, but as you said you arent going to do that Another thing you will have to think about is feeding. Pups really need to have lunch, so whether you will leave food down for him or get someone to feed him is something you will need to think about until he can be on 2 meals a day.

As for leaving outside when he is older, it comes down to your dogs' personality. I leave Lily outside when im gone because she is not a jumper, she will not leave the yard (I leave the gate open when im home and she never leaves) and she does not get into mischeif. Whereas other people have dogs that will jump, destroy and escape. Yes it does get hot outside, but as long as there is ample shade, water and they can handle the heat relatively well, I dont see a problem with it She absolutely loves the sun, so I hate to keep her cooped up inside when she could be enjoying it. Not all dogs are the same so you will have to figure out what yours is like before you make the decision, inside or out

 

[bucca]

hi i see nothing wrong with gating the dog in the kitchen for those hours, im just not a crate person myself and if it works for you i say do it. as for leaving him outside from my experince with chloe she stays for a little while but whines and cries to come back in.(i wish she would enjoy the nice weather more) and i always have a fear that something will happen if im not there.(have heard alot of terrible stories of dogs stolen or hurt ) good luck on whatever you decide for your puppy.

 

[jmhocke]

Moderation

I have an uncle who has raised dobies, rotties and boxers, and happens to be a policeman who sometimes works long hours, so I got some advice from him and it worked pretty well.
Judah started out sleeping in a crate when we first got him at eight weeks old, even though we were planning to let him sleep with us eventually. At first he slept for about 4-5 hours before he needed to go out, but by 3 mos he slept for 6-7 hours. He now sleeps with us, and we have to drag him out of bed to go in the morning before we start our daily activities. One warning though, like others have said, once the pup gets in the bed, they aren't going to go back to the crate (though Judah has a luxurious sheepskin petbed that he will sometimes climb off our bed to sleep in.)
As for being away all day, we crated him for a couple of hours at a time when we first got him (ie when we went food shopping, or out to dinner) but if we were going to be gone for more than 3-4 hours we penned him in the tiled kitchen with his bed that would normally be in his crate. The first few weeks of being away the entire workday, he obviously had accidents, but now at 5+ months he rarely has any accidents at all, and none when we are home. The one thing that really helped (and was highly suggested by my experienced uncle) was to use one of those natural odor/urine removers to scrub the kitchen floor where you are penning the pup, and to make sure you clean up any accidents/paper areas with it. At 5 mos Judah goes 7+ hours without any problems.