Potty Training Schedule and Night Shift

Nurses General Nursing

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I am a nurse working 7pm-7am 3 days a week and my fiancé works 8am-6pm. We are thinking about getting a puppy, but we are having a little trouble deciding how the potty training schedule will work with my night shift schedule. Any suggestions on getting a new puppy and working night shift? Did you wake up every two hours to take the puppy out? Also, any insight on crate training with night shift would be greatly appreciated! What we don't want is to have the dog be in the crate all night, be up for only 3 hours, then have to go back in the crate while I sleep for 4-5 hours.

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Specializes in Peds, School Nurse, clinical instructor.

Getting a puppy with your schedules probably is not a good idea. Puppies need a lot of care and should not be crated for long periods of time. A better idea might be a little older dog. It would not be healthy for you to wake up every 2 hours to let the puppy out either.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Doggy day care. In my part of the country, some of them offer potty training as well.

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Getting a puppy with your schedules probably is not a good idea. Puppies need a lot of care and should not be crated for long periods of time. A better idea might be a little older dog. It would not be healthy for you to wake up every 2 hours to let the puppy out either.

I like this idea too. Lots of older, potty-trained dogs that need rescued.

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It can be done, but it's not easy. I woke up every 2 hours for awhile. At least until the puppy was older. I would consider a daycare or a friend/relative/puppy walker that could stop by mid-sleep time to walk/play with the puppy.

It also depends on the breed and energy level of the puppy. With my Great Dane he would have been content with walks in the morning midday and night for the three days you work. My current lab mix needs a lot more exercise and game playing. With a small breed you could use a kitty litter or piddle pads.

I always crate trained because I dislike waking up to find my sofa was a chew toy for the Great Dane. I also have a six foot fence around a very large backyard. In the summer I could leave my boys outside for a few hours once they were older.

Its not just the work schedule it depends on the dog and if both of you are committed to putting the dog first. A dog is a long term commitment. Are you willing to take on the responsibility of a dog for 12-18 years? Would you be willing/able to take care of the dog if you two broke up? Or had a baby? Have either of you trained dogs on the past?

All thoughts to consider. I adore my dogs, but they are inconvenient at times. I once dumped a boyfriend because he didn't care for my dog and I had the boyfriend first. I just decided I liked the dog better. :D

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Specializes in Leadership, Psych, HomeCare, Amb. Care.
I like this idea too. Lots of older potty-trained dogs that need rescued.[/quote']

Yep, a lot of shelters have their animals online, and indicate if they are housetrained, Ok with Kids/cats/other dogs/ etc

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Specializes in pediatrics; PICU; NICU.

We adopted a 5 year old dog last July. The shelter said he wasn't completely house trained & had been returned 3 times because of this. All he really needed was time to adjust to his new environment & he's been great. I work nights & my husband works days. We just did whatever we had to do & it worked for us.

Also, when you adopt and adult dog, you know what their personality is like right from the start.

That's the new guy in my profile picture.

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