If so, what did you do with your pup?

We just got a 12 week old male gsp. He is amazing.

In the beginning, we had him inside an ex-pen with a crate and potty pads. That became messy so we put it outside. Now, he is able to escape somehow, and is lucky he hasn't been electricuted.

I'm lucky enough to be a teacher living working close to home, and I am able to come home at 12:30, hang out for 30 minutes and go back to school. I race home at 3:00 and take him out of the pen.

However, now that he can escape, and is not housebroken we need a new system. The vet says to crate him is not healthy for his bones, and recommends building a dog run. We rent, and can't lay down concrete... Does anyone have any creative options?

Also,

After the first night home, we were suckered into having him sleep with us . We blame it on "bonding" that will help in the field, since he's so recently removed from the pack. The vet and obedience trainer laugh at this and think we are suckers.

What do/did you all do? The hubby is learning how to hunt and will be taking him to a field trainer.

Looking forward to sharing our progress!

Love to be here,

Erin

You are very fortunate to work so close to home.  My husband and I work 20 and 25 miles from work each, so lunch visits are non-existance with the distance we travel.  My mother lives next door and is nice enough to come in once a day, when her schedule allows, to let our girl out.  It doesn't always work for us though.  She is almost six months old and for some reason, she can't hold it for 4 hours.  I think I should call the vet and see if we need to pay them a visit about this !

Letting our female GS sleep in bed with us was th eonly way for us to get a good nights sleep!!  We couldn't stand the howling, barking, whining night after night after night - no matter how we scolded her.  At first I kept her on a retractable leash whiel she was in bed for about a week, just so I could tell when she moved (didn't get much shut eye though!), and in her puppy chewing stage, I have had to re-sew the nylon leash that she almost chewed through.    But I have learned if she starts getting on and off the bed in the middle of the night or starts getting restless, I better get her outside & quick!!

We have withheld water a few hours before we go to bed, and she holds it all night, we have left water down until we go to bed and she can hold it all night - up to six hours or so.  But you think she can hold it during the day???  No.... 

How do people feel about crates versus outdoor dog runs, when the whole family has to leave the house for an afternoon or morning?  Is it better to have a contained area outside where the dog can run around unattended, or keep the dog inside in a crate?  I've always used a crate, but my husband thinks that's too confining for the dog and an outdoor run would be better.

Along those lines, is it helpful to have a dog bed in addition to the crate?  Or does that 'confuse' the dog as to where it's den is? Will that help with dogs wanting to get into bed at night? 

Thanks for the advice! 

As usual the problem comes down to people problems!  I guess being inside is just generally better for the dog's health and, if it's the case of only being out for an hour or two, the amount of additional exercise they would get in a run really wouldn't  be worth the risk.

I also worry that a dog in a run outside could be approached, antagonized or even hurt by stray or escaped dogs that wander around outside.  People in some parts of my area are pretty bad about letting their dogs have free roam of the neighborhood, and I just have scary pictures in my head about making my own dog helpless (because it's confined) against an aggressive wanderer, whether it's stray or let loose.

I was in the similar situation when I first got Jed. I would crate, go home at noon to let him out and play, then head back to work. The neighbors daughter was kind enough to go over and let him out and play with him as well.

Doing it this way worked for awhile, but it pretty much ate up my lunch hour as it was a 20min drive each way. I was lucky enough to find a daycare for him now, and have been dropping him off on my way to work and picking him up on my way home. I feel it is so much better for him than sitting in his crate by himself all day. Some days when I pick him up, he is so tired from playing hard all day, he falls asleep on the way home. Of course though, we still have to play fetch when we get home no matter what! Dogs, you gotta love them!

I think I must have been extemely lucky with him. He has pretty much slept through the night since the first day I brought him home. I did have to get up early around 4-5am a few times to let him out. Although, I did get suckered as well, and he has been sleeping on my bed since day one.

If you don't mind me asking, what is the price of doggie day care there?  the lady quoted me 26/day for my two here. 

-J