How to handle a young puppy alone during sudden schedule changes
Young puppies cannot attend daycare yet and often struggle to settle in new environments, leaving full-time workers with no safe options when unexpected events like jury duty disrupt daily routines. This mismatch between long work hours and a puppy's strict need for supervision makes owners worry they cannot properly raise a dog while working.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Leaving the puppy at parents' house in a crate for a couple of hours
- 2Using a frozen kong to distract the puppy
- 3Hiring a dog walker or pet sitter through services like Rover
- 4Setting up a indoor playpen area
- 5Using an automatic feeder
- 6Installing Furbo and Ring cameras to watch and talk to the puppy
- 7Laying out puppy pads or an indoor potty area
- 8Using a Fresh Patch
- 9Sending the puppy to daycare once a week
- 10Taking 2 weeks off when the puppy first arrives
- 11Hiring a dog walker or having someone stop by during the day
- 12Coming home during the lunch break to let the puppy out and provide exercise and food.
- 13Using a frozen kong and crate training to keep the puppy occupied while away.
- 14Testing out short absences beforehand to help the puppy get used to being alone.
- 15Having someone come by around noon to let the puppy out for an hour or two
- 16Leaving the puppy in a playpen
- 17Leaving the puppy in a crate
- 18Attaching the crate to the playpen so the puppy can move between them freely
- 19Using a crate for short periods
- 20Leaving the puppy with a friend during longer shifts
- 21Using a playpen configured with toys and mats
- 22Fully puppy-proofing rooms
- 23Leaving the puppy alone for short 30-minute intervals to run errands
- 24Using a puppy camera to monitor the pet remotely while away
- 25Bringing the dog along to dog-friendly places or drive-thru errands
- 26Gradually building up the duration of time away during nap windows
- 27leaving the dog in a crate for longer periods
- 28using a dog walker
- 29free-roaming
- 30leaving the puppy crated at home
- 31asking a friend to sit in the car or watch the dog
- 32having one person stay outside with the dog while the other goes inside
- 33Hiring a dog sitter to come midday for feeding, play, and toilet breaks
- 34Using a crate for multi-hour intervals during work blocks
- 35Confining the puppy in an exercise pen with a litter box
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I took a 2 week vacation in preparation to bring him home and get him settled, but I go back to work on Monday.”source ↗
“the only thing I am worried about is the second half of my work day.”source ↗
“I just feel like I can’t get a break.”source ↗
“I want to start going back to the gym in the evenings (I feel this will help me a lot with my dreaded puppy blues), but am afraid of ruining her potty training progress.”source ↗
“How did you guys start leaving your puppy alone for a couple hours?”source ↗
“Did you wait until a certain milestone was hit (no accidents in X weeks, sleeping X hours without waking up, etc) before deciding to leave them alone?”source ↗
“What happens when I need to go out for an appointment, etc. and he’s not ready for a nap? How do I prepare him to stay alone for a couple of hours when he’s wide awake?”source ↗
“I wanted to get a play pen to block off some of my room so he’s able to at least leave the crate and move. He does super good supervised and maybe when I go out to the kitchen for short periods but I’m worried if he has full room access while I’m at work he will get into something.”source ↗
“i’m just worried since she’s in a different place it’ll be hard for her to settle.”source ↗
“School is about to start for me, and unfortunately, I can only have someone come by around noon to let her out for an hour or two.”source ↗
“Would she be okay being crated from 8:00–12:00, then having a break from 12:00–1:00/2:00, and being crated again from then until around 4:00?”source ↗
“Looking for some advice. First time puppy owner. I have a 14 week old bernedoodle puppy who I will be leaving for 5ish hours tomorrow. Our longest stretch yet.”source ↗
“Basically I’m wondering if I should leave her in her pen tomorrow while we are gone for the extended stretch or in her crate.”source ↗
“What’s the best for her being comfortable and also hopefully being able to not have an accident.”source ↗
“Her walker is unavailable for the next two weeks.”source ↗
“Things are getting tricky at work and I really can't skip going into the office right now, but I feel absolutely awful even considering it.”source ↗
“I wouldn’t. even if the temps don’t get to a dangerous level, I wouldn’t want to risk someone breaking into my car to steal my dog.”source ↗
“I would never, ever do this. At one hour, the car would be 86°F. At two hours, the car would be 102°F. In 31 states, it’s illegal to leave your pet on the car for ANY amount of time.”source ↗
“Because she hasn't had all her shots she can't yet go to doggie day care so we are trying to figure out what to do for the next four weeks.”source ↗
“We still have accidents about 1-2x/day.”source ↗
“I'm hesitant to put her in a bigger crate because I'm worried she will use half of it for the bathroom if she's in there for 2.5 hours.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 16How long can you safely leave a dog alone at home?
- 2How to move abroad or travel without leaving your pets behind
- 3When can I stop crating my puppy when I'm not home?
- 2How to handle a puppy while working and going to school alone
- 9How to handle puppy night potty breaks in a two story house
- 10Puppy too scared and overwhelmed on walks