Hi Wahine,

We brought our two puppy beagles home over five years ago and they STILL require lots of love and attention! When they were puppies, they needed a lot more . . . remember, they only have puppy-sized bladders, so they need to be taken out about every two hours (max - ideally less than two hours). Keeping them crated any longer than that is bad news. Potty training is very time/labor intensive in the beginning. Now that ours are grown, they are able to stay in their crate for up to 8 hours.

For us, we order our lives around our dogs, not vice-versa. My husband is home with them until about 10am and then puts them in their crate. I go straight home from work and let them out at about 5pm. I don't go anywhere in the evenings until he gets home (anytime between 7pm and 10pm). It is not fair to the dogs to stick them right back in their crate after they've been in there all day just so I can go out and do something. Even if they weren't crated, it's not fair for them to be left alone that much - they are pack animals and their "pack" includes their humans. They are most content when we are all together at the same time.

Summertime is easier because my husband doesn't work in the summer. This way, they dogs are with him all day and I can put them in the crate when I get home from work and go for a bike ride or a jog or whatever. During the winter, I am limited to weekends for those activities. Forget taking the dogs with me on jogs - they are beagles and have to sniff EVERYTHING along the way. My husband takes them for a walk in the morning and I take them for one in the evening.

Hope something works out for you! I tend to think that with your lifestyle you may do better with a grown/trained dog rather than a puppy.


By the way, does your place of employment have OSHA regulations regarding having an animal in the breakroom? This may be something to look into, especially if people eat in there.