Hey guys!
So I'm still on my search for a Frenchie, especially at this point because I'm not sure if I should get a puppy or a retired adult if I can find one. Something I'm unsure about is teaching it to be home alone with confidence and not bark/wail the whole time I'm away, especially since I currently have neighbors. Don't worry, I'm not planning on right away leaving it for an 8 hour day or anything, but what exactly is a good schedule for doing this well?
A few questions I have:
-When is the first time you can leave it home alone for a short period of time? For example, I like to run every day, and on average I'm out on my run for around 40-45 minutes. Would I be able to do that on the 2nd day a puppy is home or would that completely mess up his training?
-I did the above and he cries/barks while I'm away, is that something that's okay and would naturally stop the more I do it, or does that mean I should start from the ground up again? As a single owner, it's tough to commit a week of not leaving my house haha. I've read that it's normal/fine when puppies cry and whine while you leave them alone, and it gradually stops in time because they gradually learn. Is that true?
-If it isn't totally crate trained, do you leave it in an ex pen or try the crate anyway? And if it is crate trained, should you leave it in there while you're out for an hour or so at the risk of it possibly going bezerk in there?
-If I found one a bit older, like a 1-4 years to adopt, but it had never really been left home alone before, would it be way too late to teach it/would it have a harder time learning to be alone with confidence?
There are a lot of guides to this out there, but it can get so overwhelming because a lot of them are over a 2 week period, and it's almost impossible to be a single dog parent and not leave your house for the first week. Basically, I'm scared I'm going to do something wrong and get it past a point of no return!
So I'm still on my search for a Frenchie, especially at this point because I'm not sure if I should get a puppy or a retired adult if I can find one. Something I'm unsure about is teaching it to be home alone with confidence and not bark/wail the whole time I'm away, especially since I currently have neighbors. Don't worry, I'm not planning on right away leaving it for an 8 hour day or anything, but what exactly is a good schedule for doing this well?
A few questions I have:
-When is the first time you can leave it home alone for a short period of time? For example, I like to run every day, and on average I'm out on my run for around 40-45 minutes. Would I be able to do that on the 2nd day a puppy is home or would that completely mess up his training?
-I did the above and he cries/barks while I'm away, is that something that's okay and would naturally stop the more I do it, or does that mean I should start from the ground up again? As a single owner, it's tough to commit a week of not leaving my house haha. I've read that it's normal/fine when puppies cry and whine while you leave them alone, and it gradually stops in time because they gradually learn. Is that true?
-If it isn't totally crate trained, do you leave it in an ex pen or try the crate anyway? And if it is crate trained, should you leave it in there while you're out for an hour or so at the risk of it possibly going bezerk in there?
-If I found one a bit older, like a 1-4 years to adopt, but it had never really been left home alone before, would it be way too late to teach it/would it have a harder time learning to be alone with confidence?
There are a lot of guides to this out there, but it can get so overwhelming because a lot of them are over a 2 week period, and it's almost impossible to be a single dog parent and not leave your house for the first week. Basically, I'm scared I'm going to do something wrong and get it past a point of no return!