# Best potty solution for someone who works 9am to 5pm?



## Rob519 (Feb 5, 2015)

Not sure if this is the right area to post this...

I'm very close to purchasing an AKC registered GSD puppy from a reputable breeder; however, I want to be sure I have a potty plan before I bring her home. I desperately want to make this work, but I refuse to set myself up to not take care of the dog properly. I can't see myself being ok with her holding it for 10 hours (even as an adult).

I work 9am to 5pm, but I can come home at lunch to walk/potty her during the first few months while crate training. Long term, I was hoping to have a system for her to safely potty if I can't come home for lunch. (I would still exercise her at least once per day before or after work.) I am trying to think of the most safe/cost effective way to accomplish this.

I have a new home on a small safe/gated street with 12 houses, a big un-fenced yard, and a small cement porch with two sliding glass doors (one to the master bedroom and one to the kitchen/family room).

*Options:*


I have thought about slider dog door to a kennel on the porch with a porch potty, however that seems overly complicated, and I've read porch potties arent great for bigger dogs.

Fencing seems expensive, and I would also have to make sure she couldn't dig out. 

Kennel in the yard seems kind of tacky, and I would also have to do something to prevent her from digging out. She would also have to be outside all day, which I don't love because we live in Florida with high heat and lightning. 

Doggy day care is about $24/day. We have a great one near us, and I want to bring her there once per week to socialize, but daily would be super expensive and drop off/pickup would be a pain.

*Any suggestions or am I out of luck?*


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Have someone come in and exercise the pup on days you can't get home for lunch?


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## Rob519 (Feb 5, 2015)

llombardo said:


> Have someone come in and exercise the pup on days you can't get home for lunch?


I think that will probably cost about the same as doggy daycare though, right? And I would probably prefer the daycare by us b/c it's really good.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Hire a neighborhood kid or stay-at-home mom or dad? When I was working from home I let my neighbor's dog out to play for an hour each day and charged them $50/week.


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

This Amazon.com : Midwest Homes for Pets Floor Grid Fits Models 1324TD, 1524/DD and 724UP : Pet Crates : Pet Supplies

In the bottom of a wire crate... put kitty litter in the tray. If they have an accident, its all absorbed and they don't have to lay in it. Easy to clean and blocks odor too


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

An eight week old puppy should not be crated for so long a time that it must potty in the crate. 

Do you have a basement or a garage? 

If you do, you could put up a kennel for the dog inside. X-pens really have to be about 4' tall or a pup will learn to climb over them. You can use an extra tall baby gate with vertical bars and section off a room in your basement maybe. 

Then, you can put a small child's wading pool with some cedar chips in it. Teach the pup to use that area to potty and clean poop daily, and change the chips weekly. Also put an open crate or cot in there, stuff to chew on. I probably would not put anything cushy as pups will chew when they are bored, and my ingest a dog bed. I would use raw bone, knotted cotton rope maybe, and appropriately sized rubber toys. 

I would clip a small water bucket onto the x-pen or wall somewhere so that it cannot be spilled. I would feed the dog only when I was there, and immediately out to potty, so hopefully all poop will end up outside, and a good schedule will be set up.


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## GatorDog (Aug 17, 2011)

I bring my puppies in crates in the car (if I don't have the ability to bring them in to work with me) so that I can run outside every so often for potty breaks.


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## qbchottu (Jul 10, 2011)

Hire a dog walker, take him to doggy daycare, come home during lunchtime if you can, build a large secure kennel with an area to potty, or bring him to work so you can let him out. 

I had a person think it is ok to leave a puppy 9-10+ hours in a crate and kennel - the puppy learned to be dirty and had behavioral/health issues as a result of being crated so long. It's inhumane to force a puppy to sit in a crate for that long and not allow for a way for the puppy to relieve himself. Once a puppy learns to be dirty and soil his living area, it's very difficult to untrain that learned behavior.


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

When I was working, I set mine up in an X-pen in my room with one of the potty patches. It worked really well for me. A litter type box would also be a good idea. Just make sure that whatever potty area option you go with, you take some time to introduce it as a potty area. Usually the mistake I see is people set up a great potty area, but they then just expect the pup to use it without showing them that it is a bathroom area.


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## Rob519 (Feb 5, 2015)

Thanks to everyone for the thoughtful responses!



selzer said:


> An eight week old puppy should not be crated for so long a time that it must potty in the crate.
> 
> Do you have a basement or a garage?
> 
> ...


I have a garage, but I'm afraid it could get too hot in the summer (Florida). Maybe a big kennel on the porch with a mini pool with chips. Just seems so unsanitary. Maybe I'm wrong?



GatorDog said:


> I bring my puppies in crates in the car (if I don't have the ability to bring them in to work with me) so that I can run outside every so often for potty breaks.


Just curious... do you leave the car running with AC and lock doors?



Pax8 said:


> When I was working, I set mine up in an X-pen in my room with one of the potty patches. It worked really well for me. A litter type box would also be a good idea. Just make sure that whatever potty area option you go with, you take some time to introduce it as a potty area. Usually the mistake I see is people set up a great potty area, but they then just expect the pup to use it without showing them that it is a bathroom area.


When you got home would you take pup outside, or back to potty patch to reinforce the habit? What system did you ultimately transition to as the dog got older?


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

Rob519 said:


> When you got home would you take pup outside, or back to potty patch to reinforce the habit? What system did you ultimately transition to as the dog got older?


I had a couple days free when I first got him where I established the patch as a potty place by taking him to it every time he needed to go and marking ("Yes!") and rewarding for peeing/pooping on the patch. But when he got the idea and I started work back up, the patch only went down in his pen when I was not there. Anytime I was there, the patch was put up and it was on me to take him out. Honestly, he was potty trained within about the first couple of weeks in that he would let me know by whining or staring at me that he had to go to the bathroom. But the potty patch still went down for a few months when I had 8 hour work shifts because I couldn't expect him to physically hold it that long. 

At about 5 months, the potty patch was gone completely. He was crated and I had a friend come over halfway through my shift to take him out to potty and play for a bit.

He is completely potty trained now and has been since about 8 months. I can leave him home for the entirety of my shift and he'll hold it. If he needs to go when I'm home, he'll sit by the door and jiggle the door knob until I take him out.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

There are few places in the country where an 8 week old puppy would be safe outside on its own, on a porch, in a fenced yard, etc. 

Puppies that are alone will get lonely, and engage in nuisance behavior like barking, digging, and chewing. Neighbors may be ok with that, but it may also draw attention to the fact that you have a puppy outside. It is not only jerks that want a free puppy that looks purebred and are willing to steal it that you have to worry about these days. There are also sickos who will torture small, helpless critters. I wouldn't leave the dog on a porch or even in a fenced yard. 

Don't leave the dog in the car either. Sorry, but Florida gets too hot and will cook a dog in a car. Leaving the AC going is how we lose police dogs every year. AC systems fail. This isn't a solution. Where I am, I could get away with it most of the year, or so I thought. An obnoxious, over-zealous Cleveland police officer felt that 50 degrees was too cold for a GSD to be in a car, and threatened to arrest me. So the dogs stay home, even though they would generally be just fine. Ah well, it IS too cold right now to take them with me. 

The beauty of cedar chips is that they smell good. They can help a dog smell fresh. It is temporary. The thing is, an 8 week old puppy can last 2-3 hours IF and only IF he is kept in such a small area that he cannot potty in one side and lay down in the other side, so a small crate. There comes a point when that just isn't fair, to expect a puppy to be in a crate for too many hours.

Have you considered getting an adult GSD, or an older puppy that can last 4-5 hours at least?


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## Rob519 (Feb 5, 2015)

selzer said:


> There are few places in the country where an 8 week old puppy would be safe outside on its own, on a porch, in a fenced yard, etc.
> 
> Puppies that are alone will get lonely, and engage in nuisance behavior like barking, digging, and chewing. Neighbors may be ok with that, but it may also draw attention to the fact that you have a puppy outside. It is not only jerks that want a free puppy that looks purebred and are willing to steal it that you have to worry about these days. There are also sickos who will torture small, helpless critters. I wouldn't leave the dog on a porch or even in a fenced yard.
> 
> ...


Totally agree. The dogs I am looking at would be around 10 weeks old. What if I screened in my porch and did a porch potty? Is that safe enough for the dog when it hits like 6 months old?


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

Rob519 said:


> Totally agree. The dogs I am looking at would be around 10 weeks old. What if I screened in my porch and did a porch potty? Is that safe enough for the dog when it hits like 6 months old?


I'm not a fan of keeping the dog outside when you're gone unless it is super secure. And even then, it's a bit questionable since GSD's are a very popular breed to steal. But even outside of that, a GSD can easily tear through screen. Plus, a bored dog with visual access to the sidewalk can easily become a reactive problem barker. It would be much safer to set up an indoor area.


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## Stonevintage (Aug 26, 2014)

It does not sound like you have a good yard setup for a large dog unless you fence it. It sounds like you will be away most of the day. How will you exercise the pup? Walking is not enough. A good fenced yard will help tremendously for exercise and boredom. I feel sad for large dogs that have so many hours of confinement in an empty house.

Why not wait a bit until you can get a fence built to get a dog? Fencing also adds value to property and gives you some privacy. Even after it's potty trained, GSD's are not house dogs and there is a good possibility your house will get torn up if you leave a young dog in all day with nothing to do.


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## Splendid (Aug 1, 2014)

I would just set aside an extra $3,000 for the doggy daycare for the first few months and consider that to be part of the price of the dog. 
Having said that, my dog did fine in an x-pen that was bolted to the wall. Don't even bother with a crate, you'll just come home to accidents and your dog's fur will be soaked with pee/poop and will continue to stink no matter how many baths you give him. An x-pen allows them to at least poop in a corner and not have to lay in it and when his bladder is big enough to hold it, he'll prefer not to pee in the crate. It's not as foolproof as being home with the dog for housetraining but it will work with less and less accidents waiting for you as time goes on.


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## Rob519 (Feb 5, 2015)

Thanks again everyone! Since the dogs safety and happiness is my main concern, I'm leaning towards garage with ac unit, coming home everyday at lunch for the first few months or having someone come over, then eventually getting a big no dig vinyl fence for the yard that I will slowly transition too if I feel it's safe for part of the day.


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## Rob519 (Feb 5, 2015)

Also a good amount of doggy daycare in the beginning for socializing and exercise.  so excited to be getting one of the best breeds out there!


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## marshies (May 18, 2011)

I suggest large indoor kennel in the garage. I would put adult incontinence pads on one side of the kennel and teach your puppy to potty on the pee pad only. This is an alternative to cedar chips.


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## Stonevintage (Aug 26, 2014)

Garage w/ac sounds good till you can get a fence up. Room to play and be a puppy. You could also put a radio in there and have it on low for him. When I was working, my dog had the backyard and access to the garage. I put a loveseat in there that he napped on when the weather was bad.


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## flyfisher22 (Feb 28, 2011)

Rob519 said:


> Not sure if this is the right area to post this...
> 
> I'm very close to purchasing an AKC registered GSD puppy from a reputable breeder; however, I want to be sure I have a potty plan before I bring her home. I desperately want to make this work, but I refuse to set myself up to not take care of the dog properly. I can't see myself being ok with her holding it for 10 hours (even as an adult).
> 
> ...


If you can come home to walk potty him for the first few months, I would do that and not teach him to go anywhere but outside. After 6 months old or so the dog should have no problem holding it for a normal workday, just start to move the time back by 30 mins or an hour each day. A lot of owners on this forum have dogs that hold their business all day. I let mine out at 7:30 AM Monday through Friday and get home around 5:30 PM, no issues here..........

Cam


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## Rob519 (Feb 5, 2015)

flyfisher22 said:


> If you can come home to walk potty him for the first few months, I would do that and not teach him to go anywhere but outside. After 6 months old or so the dog should have no problem holding it for a normal workday, just start to move the time back by 30 mins or an hour each day. A lot of owners on this forum have dogs that hold their business all day. I let mine out at 7:30 AM Monday through Friday and get home around 5:30 PM, no issues here..........
> 
> Cam


Thanks! I've heard this before, and I know dogs are different than humans, but I just don't know if I could feel comfortable doing this. Mainly because I know how many times I have to use the bathroom each day. Not saying youre wrong. Just looking for some more convincing I guess...


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## chadmonger (Jul 28, 2011)

This is the solution that we have for our dogs. We are gone four days a week for at least 9 hours so we decided to create an indoor/outdoor dog kennel. It works out quite well for our situation. Attached are a few pics, we have a couple camera to watch them while we are gone. I would also suggest the kuranda beds, we spent quite a bit of money on cheap beds before we decided to spend the money on the kuranda and should have just bought the good ones up front. This set up might work for you reading the earlier posts.


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## Rob519 (Feb 5, 2015)

chadmonger said:


> This is the solution that we have for our dogs. We are gone four days a week for at least 9 hours so we decided to create an indoor/outdoor dog kennel. It works out quite well for our situation. Attached are a few pics, we have a couple camera to watch them while we are gone. I would also suggest the kuranda beds, we spent quite a bit of money on cheap beds before we decided to spend the money on the kuranda and should have just bought the good ones up front. This set up might work for you reading the earlier posts.


Nice thanks! So you just clean the outdoor area daily?


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## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

I think your plan of coming home at noon for a couple of months will work fine. That's what I used with the pups I got while I was working. I did take several days off when I first got them. This worked well for us. My adult dogs have no problem holding their urine for 10 hours.


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## chadmonger (Jul 28, 2011)

Rob519 said:


> Nice thanks! So you just clean the outdoor area daily?


Yup I will go out there when I get home and hose off/scoop if needed. I let them out right before I leave and right when I get home so most days there is nothing to clean up. The outdoor area is 30' x 8' and the indoor area is about 8' x 8'.


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