Leo: Hungarian Puli left alone for 8 hours?
After all of my exams are done, my family was planning on getting a Puli puppy to work with over summer (I have 11 weeks in which to train this dog) and then I go back to college. Would the dog be alright with no-one being in the house for 8 hours? My stepdad is a plumber, so often comes back sometimes within the day. Does this make it any fairer?
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Answers and Views:
Answer by Sighthounds
Puli are more independent than a lot of breeds, so leaving them alone is not as damaging to the dog as leaving a needy dog alone. That being said, you probably will be able to do it, but there are a couple of things that you did not mention that you should look into. Puli are known barkers, being left alone, they may become bored and start barking, that could be a problem for neighbors (if you have any.) A good way to keep a dog entertained while you are away is a cardboard box filled with newspaper. The dog can destroy it, and it's easy to clean up.
Another thing is their coat. Being left outside (while not necessarily a bad thing) may cause damage to their coat. The cords act like velcro to dirt, sticks, rocks, and debris, and the coat could become a mess if left alone for too long. Plus if it rains, the coat can get wet and if it stays wet, it is highly likely it will develop mildew and can smell terribly. But that's not the only thing. When the puppy is growing the hair first mats. the mats are then separated by the owner (by hand using scissors or something like that) into cords of your desired size. During this growing stage the coat easily mats, and if it does you may have to shave the dog down. The cords of a puppy must regularly be separated or else you could have a big problem. Because the dog could be alone 8 hours a day, you'll probably have to separate the cords daily at night.
One last thing. I don't know what the climate is like where you live, but Puli's cords make them susceptible to overheating. So being left outside (even with plenty of water) may be dangerous and the dog could easily overheat and die.
This doesn't mean you can't do it. If you take everything into consideration and work around the problems, I'm sure you'll be able to have a Puli alone and it'll be fine.
Answer by wishnuwelltoo
It is usually 1 hour for each month of age, so a two-month-old puppy can only be alone/hold its potty for two hours at the most, so keep that in mind when working on your schedule. You might be able to come home every two hours for potty breaks or work something out with your family.
Puppies are very demanding and stressful and take a lot of time for training. You also need to understand that a puppy will go potty every two hours at night too, so make sure everyone in the family takes a turn taking the puppy potty at night.
You will need your sleep for your studies. Set a timer or alarm to wake up at night and take the puppy potty. I think if you all work together, you can make this work. The bladder is grown at 6-months-old and it is usually fully potty trained at 1-year-old, so if everyone pitches in, it should work just fine.
Don't let your Puli puppy have full run of the house when it is first little, it is overwhelming. One room at a time until it can behave in that room and then graduate to more space.
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