Neutering/doggie day care???/questions galore!

[reenybean25]

Hey everyone! I have so many questions right now!!! Hugo is close to 7 months and still extremely attached to me. If I go into the bedroom or bathroom he sits, whines, and scratches at the closed door until I come out. Everytime I get up from the couch, he follows me. When I leave the bathroom, he is outside the door waiting for me like a little furry bathroom attendant it's cute, but can be a tad suffocating. One of my questions is, how old do you think they can be to be left alone in the house by themselves without a crate? We have done this with success for a max of 2 to 2 1/12 hrs....but obviously there are things that require you to be out of the house longer. I think he would be fine for 4-5 but because the breed is so craving of companionship, would it be advised to get him a dog walker/sitter or put him in doggie daycare 2 days a week? I have more questions but ill start with this one lol....any advice would be great!!

[krandall]

Originally Posted by reenybean25

Hey everyone! I have so many questions right now!!! Hugo is close to 7 months and still extremely attached to me. If I go into the bedroom or bathroom he sits, whines, and scratches at the closed door until I come out. Everytime I get up from the couch, he follows me. When I leave the bathroom, he is outside the door waiting for me like a little furry bathroom attendant it's cute, but can be a tad suffocating. One of my questions is, how old do you think they can be to be left alone in the house by themselves without a crate? We have done this with success for a max of 2 to 2 1/12 hrs....but obviously there are things that require you to be out of the house longer. I think he would be fine for 4-5 but because the breed is so craving of companionship, would it be advised to get him a dog walker/sitter or put him in doggie daycare 2 days a week? I have more questions but ill start with this one lol....any advice would be great!!

I don't think we'll ever leave Kodi completely loose while we are out. I've just heard too many horror stories of (harmful) things dogs have gotten into with their owners not home. If we are out for less than 4 hours, he is in his crate, with water and and an antler to gnaw on. On the (extremely rare) occasion that he has to be left for more than 4 hours, he is confined in my office, with his crate left open, his litter box, water, and a few safe, non-destructible toys.

It is rare, really, that I have to leave him for more than 3 hours, and even that is no more than a couple of times a week. If I had to leave him regularly for longer periods, I would either get a dog walker or try to find the perfect in-home daycare with only a couple of other compatible dogs.

I know that some people use the larger type of daycares, but I have heard of too many problems with this type of setting. (including from my son, who used to work for one that many people think is "wonderful"!). I would not subject Kodi to the stress of one of these larger daycares.

[marlowe'sgirl]

Originally Posted by reenybean25

Hey everyone! I have so many questions right now!!! Hugo is close to 7 months and still extremely attached to me. If I go into the bedroom or bathroom he sits, whines, and scratches at the closed door until I come out. Everytime I get up from the couch, he follows me. When I leave the bathroom, he is outside the door waiting for me like a little furry bathroom attendant it's cute, but can be a tad suffocating.

I'm fairly certain this behavior is completely familiar to ALL of us velcro dog owners. Whenever friends watch Marlowe, they freak out a bit by the "always at your heels" and think something must be wrong. But at 3 yo, my Hav is always at my feet. He doesn't whine or scratch at a closed door, but he does sit patiently on the other side awaiting my reemergence.

As for leaving him alone, it depends on your dog. I do leave my pup out during the day and have since he was around 7-8 months old and he had pottying outside down. I've gone up to 6 hrs but he does have a cat bff that he plays with. I take him to doggie daycare if it'll be longer (which he LOVES) and I know others get dog walkers.

[TilliesMom]

these ARE velcro dogs, the behavior seems totally normal to me...

[reenybean25]

Thanks guys! I feel reassured that I'm not just being an overprotective or dramatic owner. I know we have velcro buddies so the fact that I know other owners don't leave their guys alone for long periods of time makes me feel better lol. I know a lot of other dogs are probably fine by themselves all day but I guess our havs just are not in that group. I am going to move forward in the search for a dog walker/ sitter. I just stepped out right now to run into the store and, of course, Hugo is along for the ride

[Becky Chittenden]

We leave our dogs out in the house after they are sufficiently house broken and are not chewing anymore, but we're never gone longer than 3 hours. If you can find a reliable dog walker great. Doggie daycare places are kind of like boarding kennels, some are great, some ok and others no way. My daughter and sil have an Am Staff who doesn't know she's a bully breed. When they moved to D.C. she worked outside the home full time and my sil mostly worked from home; however, he did have to go into the office for several hours a couple days a week. They found a really great day care for her and even if he had a week he didn't have to go in, she enjoyed it so much they took her. I'd say, like child day care: do your homework.
Oh, by the way, to me one of the endearing things about Havanese is their velcroness. I have one on my lap right now and the others are laying around my chair

[lfung5]

These dogs are Velcro dogs so his behavior is normal. I found as they get older they get more independent. My boys still follow me around, but don't whine if left alone. They are also fine if I'm in another room. Scudder tends to be glued to my hip, but my other 2 are fine as long as they know where I am.
My guys had full run of the house once they were potty trained and stopped chewing. I always kept my electrical cords hidden. They were never destructive guys and weren't the type to get into things.
I get a dog walker when I'm gone for more than 5 hrs. She will walk them for an hour. I'm not a fan of daycare. I've only found 1 that I would even think of sending my dogs to. In fact, I've decided to use this place on days I work longer days. It's a small daycare in a ladies home. It's a really nice set up and I think it will be great for socialization and mixing things up for my guys. We went for a visit and they loved it. Mostly small dogs are there. Out of curiosity I visited other daycares and was horrified at the conditions..... Yesterday I saw a place that made my skin crawl. The lady said, you can bring your dogs in for an evaluation. I said, oh no, to be honest this place would overwhelm my guys!!!! So be careful if u go that route. Good luck

[krandall]

One thing to be aware of with daycares is that there are almost always dogs (especially in the small dog groups, which are filled with underbred Chihuahuas and Yorkies) that pee and poop all over the place. This gives the others the idea that THEY can do it too.

I, for one, don't want my carefully trained dog in an environment like that.

[lfung5]

Oh my! I didn't even think about that. Hmmm, I might have to second think this one.

[lfung5]

Actually, even when they go to my dog walkers place where there are a lot of accident, they don't come home and have them here. They know I would hang them! I am a neat freak!!! Ok, I wouldn't really hang them, but I would take away a treat LOL