Dont want to leave puppy

[chow4me]

Hi everyone!

Im glad to be on this forum with so many knowledgable and friendly chow owners. I do not yet have a beautiful chow puppy, however would love to bring one into my home soon. I live alone in a one bedroom apartment. The only problem is, I will be starting work soon, and probably will not be home as much as I would want. I would have hoped to have been home a full month with him alone. Since I do not want to leave a puppy alone for too long, I was thinking to leave him with a friend who has a dog herself, or sometimes with my family members while Im at work.
Im worried that the puppy will attach to the people I leave him with, and will be more weary of me when I come to pick him up. I don't want this to happen, and I want the puppy to be very comfortable and feel safe with me.

Does anyone have any advice about this, or has anyone dealt with a similar issue? Thank you so much!

[cherriemater]

I think you've sorta answered your own question. There is no doubt in my mind that if you're going to get a puppy, it needs to relate to you as the Alpha and that means spending as much time as possible with it in the beginning. Most dog books agree that a month is helpful. But you also pose an interesting solution with leaving it with a friend or family member. For a chow chow, this would actually be GREAT for their socialization.

To answer your fear of them attaching to someone else or being wary of you ... I shouldn't think that would be to much of a concern unless you're gone for work more than 10 hours a day. Consider that if you work an eight-hour day, with an hour for lunch/commute, you'll only be gone nine hours at the most. They'll have you home for the other 15 ... and just hearing you breathe and smelling your smell really DOES count as quality time. I think for a chow chow, or any other pup, it's all about routine and making the transitions from one place to the next as smooth as possible. As long as your friend or family members know your routine and your rules and are willing to reinforce them, I think you should have much trouble at all.

Also keep in mind ... when you start with a pup, rather than a rescue or older dog, they can only hold their bladders for the number of hours they are old in months. For example, six months old they should be able to hold it for six hours. Seven for seven, etc.

I'm glad to see you're asking yourself all these important questions when considering when/if to add a chowpup to your home. It's a great place to start. Best of luck with your decision!!!

[chow4me]

Thanks so much for the reply!

Its good to know that my chow puppy will look at being with others as socializing. Ill most definitely want to train my puppy from the start, and would let whoever he is staying with whether it be my friend or family member, know that I want certain training techniques applied.
What I'm wondering now is, will my chow puppy get confused or frustrated if others implement a different training technique while he is staying with them.
I would tell them how I would like him to be trained when im not there, but I dont have control over people's actions.
I just dont want my puppy to get training from so many different sources, and when it comes time to be with me again, he is frustrated and doesnt listen to my training. Or worse, lets say he stays with my grandmother while im at work, and starts to see her as the alpha and doesnt listen to my training at all. Has this ever happened?

Thanks again!