It sounds good to me, except, I would not leave a dog unsupervised in the garden through the day.

Dogs can get into trouble, learn to bark, or even be stolen.

Your plan to have a Dog Walker come in to break up the day sounds good and I would do that from when you go back to work after the Summer break.

 

Thanks - makes sense. Hoping that a dog walker twice per day will be enough after 6 weeks.

 

Again I wouldn't leave a dog outside will you always be back at 4 ? I work full time and it can be tricky to manage. Would you consider and older dog rather than a puppy ?

 

Thank you for your reply Someone would always be back at 4 (kids from school), but appreciate being outside all day is not ideal. Sounds like indoor crating will be our best starting point from after the school holidays.

Starting with an older dog makes sense and my parents do that. Think we'll want to start with a puppy though.

 

I wouldn’t leave any dog outside all day tbh but doing so with such a young dog will probably be detrimental to toilet training as they will just learn to toilet whenever and wherever they choose.

There will be lots of stimuli too so the dog might not ever be able to settle.

Maybe consider an older rescue dog but you will have to arrange a dog walker/sitter for part way through the day at the very least.

Take a look at the puppy thread for an insight into all the issues new owners face

Best in mind too that the kids will have after school activities and things to do with their mates, so getting home every day at 4pm might not be realistic. Ime the novelty of a pet often wears off quickly.

 

It might also be helpful if you and your wife can schedule some leave from work at the end of the school holidays - maybe some half days, to help make the transition between full time company then being alone except for the walker's visits.

 

Just keep in mind how long a puppy will likely live and how much your family will change over that time period. Especially as the boys get older and become more independent. It may seem like a good idea now but will you all have time for the dog in five or ten years time? Just something to consider.

 

That’s great that someone will be at home over the summer when you get the puppy, but definitely start training alone time over the summer, as well as the standard good behaviours.
When we got our puppy, we were at home, but started training her to be left on her own during that time (short bursts first) as you never know what might occur where you have to be out of the house or can’t get back, etc. You don’t want to go from 6 weeks of puppy with human all the time, to alone a lot of the day without a build up first. Also, have you any long holidays where you can’t take puppy, coming up?