My Smart Puppy Minute Episode 13 Home Alone - Confined or Not on PetLifeRadio.com

Many loving puppy people debate whether to leave their pup confined when they go out. Sarah addresses that concern here, explaining what she thinks and why.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is pet Life Radio. Let's talk pets. Hi. Welcome

(00:26):
to the My Smart Puppy Minute. This is Sarah Wilson
and this week we're going to talk about whether or
not you should leave your puppy confine when you go out.
The short answer is yes, you need to leave your
puppy confind I often hear from people who adore their
puppies and feel really badly about leaving them created or

(00:49):
penned in their absence. They're worried that the puppy is
going to be bored or restless or feel unhappy in
that state. And the bottom line is, yeah, they might
be a little bored, and it might not be what
they would want to do, but remember what they want
to do is chew your carpet, eat the electrical cord,

(01:10):
and possibly get hurt, swallow things that could harm them.
They are young and they just have not yet developed
enough to be left home safely. If you can find
them in a reasonable and loving way, meaning if you
leave them created, somebody is going to come back and
take them out and interact with them at a regular basis,

(01:32):
so they're not left so long that they're forced to
go to the bathroom in the crate. If you leave
them penned for long hours, you get up a little earlier,
You spend a little extra time training, interacting, playing. You
make it your business to be home in the evening
so that the puppy has your companionship, which is what
he needs. Long isolation during the day is just a

(01:55):
part of life for the modern dog, and many many
dogs adapt to it very well well if it's done
reasonably and responsibly. But for young puppies, and I would
say these are dogs under a year, and if you've
got one of the notorious chewing breeds, which would be
a lot of retrievers, and some of the Nordic breeds

(02:17):
like huskies, it may be longer than a year. You're
going to let your puppy set the pace. When your
dog is home alone with you and isn't constantly getting
into things picking things up. When the housebreaking has been
good for a couple of months, then you will start
leaving the puppy loose for short periods of time and

(02:38):
you will gradually work up from there. But until that point,
it is your responsibility to create your puppy, or confine
your puppies safely in a room with a gate or
in an exercise pen when you leave them alone. It
is not about your puppy having the most fun ever,
It is about what is safe. It's just like a

(03:00):
car seat in a car. Yeah, maybe your toddler would
rather be crawling back and forth across the back seat,
but you know as a parent that that is not
a risk that is reasonable, And because you love your child,
you put them in the car seat even when they're
kicking and screaming at first, because you know what, it's
not an option. And it's exactly the same thing with

(03:22):
a puppy. You will create, train them or confine them
safely because it's not an option, all right, So I
hope that answers the question. I also want to do
a quick shout out to the people who hate the
stage who don't like to confine their dogs this way,
because I love people who love their dogs, and I

(03:42):
am confident that when you get through this phase with
your puppy, your dog's going to have a great life
with you. You're going to devote yourself to making sure
that your puppy and then dog has a wonderful time
living with you, and that is to be admired. This
is a short term necessary phase to get long term

(04:06):
good results. So think about it that way and it
makes it a little easier, but the answer is absolutely yes.
Your puppy needs to be confined for their own safety
and welcoming. If you have individual questions or would like
to know how to do this for your particular circumstance,
then come to miserom ourpuppy dot com and ask us

(04:26):
at our forums. That's what we're there for. Until then,
go out and have a great time with your dog.
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