So I have two cats already, Baylee and Jordan, and my DH has been wanting a puppy. We found a 6 week old girl (Chihuahua mix) through an animal shelter and, if all goes well, she might be coming home with us on Wednesday.
Anyway, I've been doing my homework on having a puppy and read that a dog that age can only hold their bladder for about 2-3 hours at best. We are out of the house M-F from 6:30am until about 4:30pm. My DH will be coming home on his lunch break to let her out (she's going to be crate trained) and play with her... but that's still leaving her alone for quite a long time at once.
Okay so I've read about people who, for small dogs, "litter box train" them. I was thinking of doing something like that - having the crate be large enough for her and a litter box and letting her use that while we were away... does this sound like an ok idea? Or should we just crate train her and suffer for a while with accidents in there til she grows up and her bladder starts to mature?
I guess I need to hear from people who've been through this... I've never had a dog before (DH has) and I want to know if this is going to be cruel for her or will work okay.
Oh yeah, and in 2 weeks I'll have 2 weeks off for Christmas vacation so I'll be home all day with her.
Anyway, I've been doing my homework on having a puppy and read that a dog that age can only hold their bladder for about 2-3 hours at best. We are out of the house M-F from 6:30am until about 4:30pm. My DH will be coming home on his lunch break to let her out (she's going to be crate trained) and play with her... but that's still leaving her alone for quite a long time at once.
Okay so I've read about people who, for small dogs, "litter box train" them. I was thinking of doing something like that - having the crate be large enough for her and a litter box and letting her use that while we were away... does this sound like an ok idea? Or should we just crate train her and suffer for a while with accidents in there til she grows up and her bladder starts to mature?
I guess I need to hear from people who've been through this... I've never had a dog before (DH has) and I want to know if this is going to be cruel for her or will work okay.
Oh yeah, and in 2 weeks I'll have 2 weeks off for Christmas vacation so I'll be home all day with her.