Ideas for entertaining puppy while I'm at work

[KJT]

Hi everyone

 

Firstly I want to introduce myself! I'm Kim and new to this board and a first time BC owner! I have a delightful BC who is 6 months old. I have owned dogs for years and compete in agility with my mixed bred rescue dogs. However having watched in awe at the intelligence, speed and trainability of the BC, after several years of drooling over lovely BC's at competitions, I finally got my own BC pup at the start of this year. He is everything I had hoped for - intelligent, eager to please and learn, fantastic natured being so easy to take everywhere, loves people, attention, very loving, food motivated and loves toys (balls and tuggies are his favourite). He has plenty of drive for a pup and constantly wants to learn and play, yet he can also switch off and chill when asked (crate trained and happy to relax in there when necessary). I have taught him lots of tricks and have been following Silvia Trkman online puppy videos.

 

Until now, he has only been left alone for 3-4 hours a day inside, but next week I am back at work full time and will be away from home from 7am-3pm. He will be outside in a well fenced garden area, but will be separated from my other dog, who is a bit too rough in play, therefore they cannot be together unsupervised, so the pup will be on his own (but can see my other dog through the fence). Although I have left him in the garden by himself most days and he is fine (no barking or whinging), I am wanting to make sure he has plenty to keep him occupied now that his days out here will be much longer.

 

He will be getting a 20min walk before I leave (on lead), plus 10mins tricks/obedience work for food rewards. He gets his breakfast in a Kong Wobbler which he loves and occupies him for about 30mins, plus I have a Kong bone which I fill with peanut butter and ram a rawhide stick into it (in the freezer over night to make it last longer). Plus his usual soft toys, tuggies and a ball.

 

So my question for you knowledgeable people is....do you have any other suggestions for helping him stay busy during the day while I am gone. My only concern is that he might bark/whinge/cry when he gets bored and unfortunately my neighbours are not dog lovers. Any tricks you have come across, good toys, kong stuffings to make them last longer, other forms of entertainment etc.

 

Thanks very much, I appreciate any suggestions people are willing to give

 

[Gideon's girl]

No advice, but welcome to the dark side.

[Camden's Mom]

I work from home, so I am also not able to offer any advice regarding keeping him entertained throughout the entire day.. sorry. :/

 

However, I also wanted to say "welcome" and it sounds like you have a fantastic pup (he sounds perfect)!!

 

Regarding the neighbors, maybe you could approach them and let them know about your new routine? Talking to them ahead of time and asking them to let you know if there is a problem (excessive barking, whining, etc.) throughout the day would likely be seen as an act of good faith. On top of that, you'd have someone who could let you know if there is an issue. My neighbor (who I get along with) didn't know his dogs were barking incessantly in the back yard until I told him about it. As soon as he'd get home they would be perfectly well behaved, quiet and happy little things. Silly dogs had him fooled

 

Best of luck to you and I hope all goes well!

[Shetlander]

Welcome, Kim! What is your boy's name?

 

Talking to your neighbors ahead of time is a good idea. Some dogs do fine out in the yard all day. Others practice bad and sometime dangerous habits - barking, digging, escaping, etc. When I used to let my dogs have outside access while I was at work, the first three did fine but the fourth became a terrible nuisance barker. One day I discovered someone had been shooting paint balls at her (fortunately, they missed). That was the day I realized she needed to be inside while I was gone and also when I stopped trusting that my dogs would be safe outside without me.

 

I know it may seem odd to say about a young, energetic pup, but I want my dogs to chill while I am gone, not be busy. I crate my youngsters when I go out and credit lots of down time for helping them learn a good off switch. Since I work all day, I have someone come at lunch to let the dogs out to potty and romp a bit. When Quinn was a puppy/teen, he had a schedule that gave him plenty of time for walks, training, play time in addition to when he was crated. I think as long as you give your puppy quality attention, mental workouts and an outlet for physical activity, he should be fine cooling his heels while you are at work. It sounds like he is getting lots of great interactions with you. Try to stay proactive with the neighbors about how he behaves when you are gone. Don't wait for them to say something. Ask periodically and be prepared to come up with a different place to keep him if he doesn't do well in the yard for one reason or another.

 

Good luck.

[GentleLake]

Aside from the many nuisance behaviors dogs can develop left to their own devices, there's also a danger of theft.

 

You don't say where you live, but here in the US there have been organized groups of people known as "bunchers" who go through areas stealing dogs. No one knows for sure, but the assumption is that they're most likely being used as bait dogs in dog fighting rings. It happens in urban, suburban and rural areas.

 

There have also been a couple reports in the past year or so on online news sites about a growing trend of people stealing dogs to claim rewards for them. Sometimes people get their dogs back; other times they never see them again.

 

Our rescue was recently sent a video showing someone driving up in a van, pulling to a stop across the street from a fenced yard. Before the van came to a complete stop, a guy jumped out of the passenger side, ran across the street, jumped the fence, grabbed the dog, and by the time he was back at the fence the driver was there to take the dog from him and they ran back to the van. The whole thing took less than 2 minutes.

 

We've gotten reports of dogs being stolen from 6' chain link kennels with padlocks on the door.

 

I will no longer let my dogs out in my yard even if I'm only going to be gone for just a few minutes. I could never forgive myself if I came home and they were gone.

[KJT]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have spoken to one of our neighbours who is going to let me know if he barks or whinges. Shetlander his name is Rylan I probably should have worded my original post better, I don't actually want him to be 'busy' as such, more have things to keep him occupied so he doesn't make a nuisance of himself. Although I would love him to chill and relax like my older dog (who the neighbour reckons sleeps all day long basking in the sun on our deck!), I think its wishful thinking on my part that he will sleep alot of the day .

 

GentleLake, I live in Australia and where I live, we do not have a problem with dog thefts for baiting. I am happy leaving my dogs outside in our yard and have done for many years with my older dogs. We have a great community watch group in our street with several neighbours working from home and they keep an eye on the comings and goings from our quiet little street. Although we have the dogs inside at night if we go out for the evening, I personally do not want them inside all day every day, especially when the puppy has been crated for 7-9 hours overnight, but this is my personal preference and I realise everyone has their own opinion about inside vs outside.

 

Thanks again for suggestions and I look forward to using this forum regularly