Just to add to Sherri's great post about living with a young puppy when you have to be
gone several hours each day...a dog walker can be a very good option to explore! There
are lots of them out there (who knew?) and it is a fairly affordable luxury (I pay $15
for 45 minutes of play/potty time).
My first Bernese was 9 months old when he came to live with us, so he could handle a 6
or 7 hour separation 4 days a week. When my elderly Bichon died last spring, I was
able to add a puppy Bernese to our family over the summer when someone would always be
home (timing is everything; we were lucky that Titan's breeder bumped us to the top of
her "list" as a "repeat customer"). By Fall, Maddie was 4 months old, everyone went
back to school or work, and we got a dog sitter for midday. Funny, in all the years I
was anxious to have a baby puppy, this solution had never occurred to me. It can make
the whole thing possible.
Anne
Cranford, NJ
with Maddie and Titan
