[hawaiibeagle]

Hey all! I'm the proud owner of an 8 week old little male Beagle. I picked him up on Friday and have been doing my best with this little guy. This is my first dog. So far things have been going pretty good. He's super quiet and sleeps A LOT, which is surprising as I was expecting a little ball of energy. I'm sure that's soon to come though.

I'm new here and have been looking on the net for some info or a site like this that might be able to provide me with some helpful info!

I have been keeping him in my kitchen at night as it has doors on both sides and I can close it off from the rest of the house. I put down a training pad which he has been using MOST of the time, but he has had a few accidents too. He cried off and on the first night but has been getting better and better. I get up at night and let him out every 2-3 hours. I am trying to get him used to being alone as I work full time and don't want to spoil him with this long weekend. I've been working on trying to act like it's a usual work day and get him on some kind of routine to work around that.

I would like to crate train him...but I'm going to be gone for 8 hours, 5 out of 7 days a week and I realize that he has a tiny bladder and can not hold it that long and I feel like it would almost be cruel to make him do so. For now, I'm thinking I might leave him in my kitchen during the day after some outside time in the morning before I leave and maybe bring him in my bedroom to sleep from now on.

Did any of you guys work full time while your Beagle was a pup? What worked best for you? I don't want to shut him in the kitchen all day and then all night again after only a few hours of play/open house time.

If I do bring him into my bedroom, did any of you have problems with your pups elminating in your bed? I'm thinking I'll just move his bed from the kitchen to the bedroom each night, or just get another one.

I also thought about maybe putting him in a crate for the night but I think that would only confuse him and his potty training efforts as he would be "allowed" to eliminate on a pad during the day, but wouldn't be able to go in the evening until I got up and took him out.

Obviously, I need some advice!! Thanks in advance!!

 

[hawaiibeagle]

His name is Murphy. It's very fitting. I had that name in mind from the first time I saw him and waited a day or two to make sure it fit.

Thanks for your advice. I think I'll go with the crate for night time. What would you suggest during the day?

 

[hawaiibeagle]

So you crate him during the day and at night too? Do you have time to exercise him in the morning before you leave? I'm thinking that I might not have enough time to thoroughly exercise him before I leave for the day. And I don't have enough time to make it home during my lunch. Perhaps I should start waking up early to squeeze in some play time before I take my shower and get ready to go to work.

I just want to make sure I keep my puppy as happy as possible and don't want him to think of a crate as a bad place.

thanks for your input!

 

[hawaiibeagle]

A friend of mine here leaves her dog outside all day long on a lead. I'm not sure I would want to go that route as I know that sometimes things can get tangled and can kill a dog. Also, it gets extremly hot here sometimes...

Say I kept my pup in the kitchen during the day and kept him in a crate during the night. My husband has the next few weeks off and is going to be at home during the day, then he is getting deployed to Japan for a few months (he's in the Marines). Would it mess things up if I switched the crate to daytime and then brought him in my bedroom at night to see how that goes?

 

[hawaiibeagle]

Thanks guys...looks like my best bet is to get a crate and maybe see if I can get hour lunches from work and make it home during the day to let him out. Today is my first day away from the house and leaving little Murph in the kitchen all day until I get home at 4. I'm hoping I don't come home to a horrible mess or an upset, lonely pup!!

I'm so sad to leave him!!! I heard that it's best to not make a big production when leaving/coming, so I'm going to make my departure very quiet this morning.

I feel bad for the guy and even questioned buying him in the first place since I'm not going to be here with him most of the day. But I'm sure 85% of all dog owners probably aren't able to be with their pups either.

sigh.

Thanks for the help. I'm thinking I'll put the crate in the living room as it's a good half way mark between the backdoor to the yard and my bedroom.

Do you guys all leave your dogs in the crate all day? Even when they are grown? Or have you installed doggy doors so they can let themselves out?

I'm just curious as to whether or not my dog is going to have to spend the majority of his life in a crate.

 

[hawaiibeagle]

Thank you all so much for the tips!! I was able to arrange to have hour lunches today so I'm going to try to make it home at least for enough time to let Murph outside.

I'm freaking out about this way too much and just need to stop worrying about it and wait to see how each day goes and go from there. I've just heard so many stories about terribly behaved pets and how awful they are.

My husband is going to be home with him for the next two weeks so he's going to keep a close eye on him and make sure he either pottys on a pad or goes outside. If not, he's gotta deal with daddy. Haha... I'll post more pictures soon!

 

[hawaiibeagle]

Thanks Sylvia!

I have a question though...when I put Murphy's leash on him, he seems to freak out and all he wants to do is chew on it and try to escape it. Any tips?

Soo...how long did you have to crate train until your dogs were free to roam the house and not eliminate anywhere? I'm going to buy a crate this weekend. For now, the kitchen is serving as Murphy's crate...he has been good about peeing when I take him outside before bed, at 1:30 AM, and then again at 5 AM, but this morning he had an accident. I'm hoping the crate will curb him of this and make him KNOW that I'm going to get up and let him out and he's just gotta be patient until then. Haha

 

[hawaiibeagle]

Well guys....had a rough start to the weekend.
I woke up Friday night to let little Murphy out for his nightime potty, and found puddles of mucus/bile on the kitchen floor. I cleaned it up and stayed up with him a while and it appeared as if he was coughing this stuff up?
I wasn't sure as this is my first dog so I made an appointment with the vet and was there for about 3 hours. They did xrays to ensure that he hasn't injested anything that was obstructing his digestive tract etc. The x-rays came out kind of cloudy and that made the doctor kind of weary so he took some blood as he said that might be cause by Pancreatitis? He gave him some anti-biotics and said I should give him 1/4 tablet of Pepcid AC to help as he had an abnormal amount of some kind of fluid or something in his stomach that causes ulcers in humans? I'm not sure what it was called... meh.

I got a crate this weekend and he has been doing SOOO GOOD in it!! He has been sleeping a lot though...but he seems happy and playful when he's awake. Today it seems as if this might be affecting his appetite but I'm not sure as I was teaching him to sit earlier and was rewarding him with food, so that could have been the cause of that.
I just wanted to thank you all for your tips as I have now calmed down a lot about having this little guy and got a good schedule going with him now. I'm hoping for the best and pray he'll be okay!!

The test results should be back this Tuesday..I'll keep you updated.