Leaving A New Dog Home Alone

[tanteNdut]

Hi,

I got a new dog recently and she's a little over a year old now. She's been in kennels all her life so doesn't have any trainings at all. I've been with her for the first week but now have to leave her home alone during the day.

Yesterday was the first time we had to leave her alone, and when we get home she chews my OH's adapter cable and a roll of double sided tape that I left on the table. I left the balcony door open again today in case she wants to come inside, but left a plastic bottle with her treats inside so hopefully she'll get distracted (still waiting for her Kong to arrive).

I'm not sure which one is best for her training right now:

1. Leave her on the balcony (it's pretty spacious so she can run around) during the day with her toys

2. Leave her in the house but put bitter spray on items that we don't want her to chew on

She's pretty comfortable playing in her balcony, her dog house and food/drink bowls are out there. I just don't have the heart leaving her outside because our unit is on the 8th floor and it can be very windy.

Also, would appreciate if anyone can give tips on home made bitter spray. A friend suggested to use chilli, but I think that's just too mean

Thanks!

[Kelly_Louise]

Can you leave the balcony door open, and partition off a small area or room of the unit that is 'chew' proof? That way she can use both areas (in case of bad weather), but stay clear of the main dangers or possessions you don't want her to get to.

I wish you luck with her - I have no advice on the bitter spray sorry.

[persephone]

Unless a dog has legs 2 inches long..and the balcony is walled/netted/roofed... there is no way I would be leaving a dog home alone on a balcony A stressed/bored dog can jump and climb, as well as chew .

I have no useful suggestions,really ... I'm just sorry that things are hard for you and the dog.... she will chew, and explore , and probably other things too... it is your responsibility to keep her (and your things, safe )

Remember .. if she chews cables, one of them may be a power one There are bitter sprays you can get from the vet/pet store ...or perhaps yopu can build a large 'playpen ' which will contain ONLY dog safe things?

Edited February 24, 2011 by persephone

[W Sibs]

Unless a dog has legs 2 inches long..and the balcony is walled/netted/roofed... there is no way I would be leaving a dog home alone on a balcony A stressed/bored dog can jump and climb, as well as chew .

I have no useful suggestions,really ... I'm just sorry that things are hard for you and the dog.... she will chew, and explore , and probably other things too... it is your responsibility to keep her (and your things, safe )

Remember .. if she chews cables, one of them may be a power one There are bitter sprays you can get from the vet/pet store ...or perhaps yopu can build a large 'playpen ' which will contain ONLY dog safe things?

This is a really good suggestion

[tanteNdut]

I'm not worried about her climbing up the balcony wall, because it's pretty tall and there's nothing near the wall that she can use to climb up. Took all the basic precautions like switching off electricity socket and cleaning up little knick knacks within her reaching distance. We also hide treats around the sofa and her dog house for her to find, hopefully she'll behave better today....2.5 hours to go before I get to go home and see how she's doing

Thanks for the advice, will definitely consider getting a playpen set up if she still chew on cables. My OH promised to get a webcam ready for streaming, so we can watch her behaviour when we're at the office. This should help us to decide what our next step is, she might just need time to learn that she's got toys to play with instead of chewing random stuff.

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

IMO anyone with a new dog or puppy should puppy-proof before new addition comes home. It's our responsibility to ensure their safety - that is we remove anything which a dog or puppy may harm themselves with - this is obviously including things like power cords, poisons, plants which are toxic but also things you may not have thought of such as rubbish bins (should be locked in a cupboard) and floor mats/rugs.

I would never leave an animal unattended on a balcony - I have seen this turn to tragedy with a dog dying from sunstroke as it was not able to find a suitably cool spot on the balcony on a hot day. Glass doors and windows at balconies can mean they heat up a lot more than you would expect. Can you not leave the puppy indoors somewhere safer? Eg your laundry or bathroom or perhaps gated into a safe and secure room? My dogs are all inside all day when I'm at home or out. My little dog has the sunroom which has louvered windows on two walls to keep the air circulating and keep her cool. The other 2 are in the living area with windows open 10 to 15 cms for air flow. I have a baby gate separating the two rooms for everyone's safety. I also don't leave ANYTHING of value where they may grab it. They're all older now which helps as they're content to sleep the day away but when younger, they all had kong toys, puzzle toys and treat balls to keep them amused and safe.

You may also want to try a DAP diffuser, google it to see what I'm talking about.

Best of luck.

[Monah]

I'm not worried about her climbing up the balcony wall, because it's pretty tall and there's nothing near the wall that she can use to climb up. Took all the basic precautions like switching off electricity socket and cleaning up little knick knacks within her reaching distance. We also hide treats around the sofa and her dog house for her to find, hopefully she'll behave better today....2.5 hours to go before I get to go home and see how she's doing

Thanks for the advice, will definitely consider getting a playpen set up if she still chew on cables. My OH promised to get a webcam ready for streaming, so we can watch her behaviour when we're at the office. This should help us to decide what our next step is, she might just need time to learn that she's got toys to play with instead of chewing random stuff.

I agree with lillysmum. All dogs can jump, if there's a thunderstorm or anything unexpected the dog may do something out of character. The balcony would have to be awfully high to prevent any accidents. Mine are always in too. Dogs do not know the difference between chewing toys and chewing 'random' stuff. you have to ensure the 'random stuff' is not available at all. Is it possible to have an area or room where the dog cannot get into any mischief? Once it is an adult it will probably be OK left with other things, but not while it is young.

[tanteNdut]

Yeah, I can see how that an accident might happen with the balcony (even though the breeder assure us that miniature schnauzers can't jump too high). We always left the balcony door open so she can come in whenever she wants to. The balcony is covered so it's really nice and breezy on warm days, but not a pleasant place to be if it's extremely windy.

I've ordered a bottle of bitter spray and will try that option first because the only thing that I need her to stay away from are the cables. Apart from that, our living room is pretty empty (no more clutters lying around).

What do you do for potty when your dogs are inside? We're still trying to train her to pee on one of those pee stations with the imitation grass but the progress is really slow. She only pee on the balcony or when we take her for a walk. I guess it's a blessing in disguise, at least she doesn't pee on the carpet.

The only room that I can think of is our bathroom...or maybe the kitchen area. For some reason she doesn't like both area and prefers to stay on the living room/balcony when we're at home. She's only been with us for a short period of time, basically her spots are the dog house outside, my couch and under my OH's bed (which is out of limit when we're not at home). Apart from those spots she won't even consider sitting down even though I've been encouraging her to walk around and putting treats everywhere

Any suggestion on where I can find gates?

[Sydoo]

We used metal baby gates (figured she might chew a timber one) from Bunnings. Kmart, Big W, Target etc all sell baby gates. We got standard size gates with addable extensions of various sizes - we used the gate + extension to span french doors when she was young and now we can use just the gate section for normal doorways.

You could scout around for second hand ones too - a friend of mine got the same gate as us from a garage sale for next to nothing.

[Max#1]

Hey - congratulations on your new addition! Its hard to think of everything at the start - you really try to do your best, but some things you just can't foresee. We lost a cord, a pair of shoes.... it happens.

We had for our puppy a pen, it was quite large, it took up most of the kitchen and was 1 m high. And it was not cheap! It took him (all six kg) three days to figure out how to climb out of it - I'll never forget coming home to find him on the dining table sitting in a basket of washing. He was VERY happy to see me - who knows how long he'd been stuck in the basket!

I recommend just leaving lots to chew. I think chewing is relaxing for them, helps keep them calm. Also leave things around that are okay to be destroyed - newspaper, for example. The plastic bottle with treats inside is a good idea - even just scattering kibble around the house will help.

It gets better, you get your routine, and you stop worrying (so much) at some point. Good luck!

Also bitter spray didn't work overly well for us, and our dog likes chilli, it would seem. I would recommend vicks/eucalyptus - that menthol-y smell is a lot more effective.

[oakway]

Purchase a metal puppy pen or two and set up with a roof if necessary, you can never be to careful.

The roofed pen could also protrude onto the balcony but also give inside comforts.

[tanteNdut]

Thanks for the advices!

We're really excited to get her to settle down and see her true personality at home, but can't stop worrying about everything. It's been so long since I brought a new dog home and the last one was a puppy when I took her home - I was still in uni so I had plenty of time to stay at home with her.

She was a total angel yesterday, nothing breaks or chewed apart from her toys (yay!) Maybe I was being too paranoid and just assume the worst Will keep an eye on her progress though, discussed this with my OH and we agree to try the bitter spray (or vicks) for a week but if it doesn't work we will get a play pen for her.

I made chicken broth last night and freeze it, put it in her bowl this morning. That should keep her busy for a while and then she can start foraging for treats we left throughout the living room.

[Drumbeat]

Thanks for the advices!

We're really excited to get her to settle down and see her true personality at home, but can't stop worrying about everything. It's been so long since I brought a new dog home and the last one was a puppy when I took her home - I was still in uni so I had plenty of time to stay at home with her.

She was a total angel yesterday, nothing breaks or chewed apart from her toys (yay!) Maybe I was being too paranoid and just assume the worst Will keep an eye on her progress though, discussed this with my OH and we agree to try the bitter spray (or vicks) for a week but if it doesn't work we will get a play pen for her.

I made chicken broth last night and freeze it, put it in her bowl this morning. That should keep her busy for a while and then she can start foraging for treats we left throughout the living room.

We've also just adopted a 14 month old who has lived in kennels. We bought two of the wire panel compost bins from Bunnings and made a barrier to section off the family room which we cleared out apart from dog beds and crate. There's no way I'd let a young dog near cables as they seem to be very attracted to them!

[Maxarch]

If you do decide you want a puppy pen, the wire compost bins from Bunnings work great and they are heaps cheaper than buying a "puppy pen". We bought 2 of them to make a bigger pen and both our puppies were in them for a while. When we put them outside, I was worried at first with the heat/sun/wind etc (our patio is undercover still) so we opened up our patio door a fraction, put a cut down bit off wood in the door jam to stop any intruders from coming inside and the puppies from opening it wider and partitioned off an inside area so they could come inside if they didn't want to be outside... it worked a treat!

Good luck with it all!

Ps. I remember worrying about everything to do with the puppy but it does pass and you both get into a routine etc and your puppy will settle down soon enough once he's used to your house and his surroundings

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

Yeah, I can see how that an accident might happen with the balcony (even though the breeder assure us that miniature schnauzers can't jump too high). We always left the balcony door open so she can come in whenever she wants to. The balcony is covered so it's really nice and breezy on warm days, but not a pleasant place to be if it's extremely windy.

I've ordered a bottle of bitter spray and will try that option first because the only thing that I need her to stay away from are the cables. Apart from that, our living room is pretty empty (no more clutters lying around).

What do you do for potty when your dogs are inside? We're still trying to train her to pee on one of those pee stations with the imitation grass but the progress is really slow. She only pee on the balcony or when we take her for a walk. I guess it's a blessing in disguise, at least she doesn't pee on the carpet.

The only room that I can think of is our bathroom...or maybe the kitchen area. For some reason she doesn't like both area and prefers to stay on the living room/balcony when we're at home. She's only been with us for a short period of time, basically her spots are the dog house outside, my couch and under my OH's bed (which is out of limit when we're not at home). Apart from those spots she won't even consider sitting down even though I've been encouraging her to walk around and putting treats everywhere

Any suggestion on where I can find gates?

Your dog will want to spend her time wherever you spend yours. They're social animals which just want to be part of a pack...which is us and any other dogs in the family/household.

As for toileting, my three are house trained. Ruby and Lilly will not toilet inside at all, except if Lilly is sick she *may* wee or poo. Molly is toilet trained to go on towels I have for the purpose but puppy pads are fine too. You can also buy re-useable puppy pads, one of the members here has a website for whelping supplies so that might be an idea. Others use indoor dog toilets. Whatever works for your puppy is best so experiment to see what she prefers to toilet on.

I leave 3 to 6 towels out for Molly and 2 for the others as a "just in case" measure.

I leave so many for Molly so that she doesn't feel the need to re-visit a towel already used - she likes a clean spot every time.

Baby gates are available in department stores, Bunnings and garage sales. I got mine at Target and Bunnings - they're worth every cent. I use the metal ones as they're more durable (one is actually outside blocking off the underneath of the house as I don't want the dogs to get through there to the front yard.