Hi, it's me again, the crazy lady trying to decide if I'm going to get a puppy or not. I'm worried because I'm a stay at home Mom and although it seems like I have all the time in the world to take care of a new puppy I am very busy. I have three children, two girls who are in elementary school and both play softball. I also have a very active 3 year old son at home with me. I'm in the middle of potty training him. He's doing well though so at least we have that kind of going in the right direction. I guess what I'm trying to get to is what kinds of schedules do you all have? Are some of you at home like me or are some of you working outside the home full time? If so please give me an idea of your routine with your puppy. I'm curious as to when you have them out of their crate if you are playing with them constantly or do you let them roam at all? I'm thinking I'd be worried that the pup would get into mischief if not in the crate when I'm not able to give my full attention. Also, I know with a very young pup like 6-8 weeks they have to go outside to go potty every 15 min or so....
We have a 7 year old bullmastiff and we are incredibly spoiled with her. She trained fast and never ruined anything. She's also laid back. I guess my fear is that I will get a new dog and this one will not be as behaved...kind of like with children, you might have a really laid back one and then have a hell- on wheels one! haha.....
So if you don't mind giving me an idea of your routine with your pups starting from the morning until night time that would be great! You'd think I was completely new to this but it has been 7yrs since I've raised a puppy.

Thanks for listening.
Rachel
Oh and one other thing.... what do you think of the red/brown and white boston's? We are looking at a litter that has 5 black and white bt's and then there's one male who is red and white and he's adorable!! He's unique. Is it just the color that's different or are there any other differences that you know of?

-

i'm a nurse and work almost fulltime. my mother in law takes care of him if i have the day shift. if i have the eveningshift he stays at home and my boyfriend takes care of him when he comes home from work. i let him out in the morning at about 6 a7. then he goes again at about 2 and the last time he goes out is at about 9. inthe weekends it varies.
when he was a pup i began to let him out after eating,sleeping, drinking and playing. after about 2 weeks he went once in the hour. after that the time between letting him out increased.
every time i couldn't watch him he went into his crate. i'd give him a bone or treat and went to do the thing i needed to do. when i had the time to watch him he could roam around the house. the older he got the more he roamed. when he was 9 months he didn't need his crate anymore.

I appreciate that.
Anyone else have to share?
Going to look at a litter this morning with my husband.

Well I stay at home but when I'm not here I have a pen for him. He wakes up and goes out for a pee and poop at about 6:30 am then into his pen so I can take the kids to school (his food and water are in the pen along with some toys). Then I come home and let him out at various times during the day to play and do his business

He goes to bed at about 9pm and sleeps through the night and we start the whole thing over again

__________________

Chantal = Ozzy's Mom

Rach24,

A new puppy takes a lot of time and attention. Where as an older puppy say 3 months to 5 months takes a little less time.

Puppies need to go potty about every two hours until they are about 3 months old. In reality they can not hold thier bladder or bowels totally until they are about 6 months. They need to go when they first wake up, after playing, and after eating. You need to get them into a routine if you can so they will begin to learn to tell you need to go NOW! lol

Bostons are highly social dogs and do best when with people as much as possible. However, if you have a puppy that can not be left alone for more then a few hours at a time you will need to either take it with you when you go or have someone come check on it and let it out to go potty.

It sounds like a young adult or more mature Boston would be much better for you then a puppy.

Please, don't be sucked in by the unique color of the red/brown Bostons! They are a genetic mutation and are NOT Standard. This is a fad and people are breeding for them just to make money. They are not worth any more money then a black and white or Brindle and white are. In fact, they should be less expensive since they are NOT to standard and often times end up being un-healthy. Please steer clear of anyone breeding for the non-standard colors. I can pretty much guarentee that the brown/red puppy's parents are not only not to standard in some way but that they have not been CERF, BAER or OFA tested.

Where do you live? I can help you find a reputable breeder in your area that can sell you a healthy puppy with a lifetime guarentee on it's genetic health.

Jeannie Thomason