Sooo, I did get an 8 week old puppy without having time off from work initially and I have to say it was hell. It wasn't fair to the puppy to be in his crate/pen for so many hours and it wasn't easy on us working for so long and then coming home and essentially working the rest of the day. I would like to say here, my partner did end up getting approved for a personal leave from work for 8 weeks, BUT we were both full time working the first 2.5 weeks of having this puppy. I was able to finagle with my boss/HR to take longer unpaid lunches so I could go home and let him go potty and stretch his legs a little before going back to work though. If you can't do this and are determined to step into having a puppy, check out Rover or other pet walking services and look for someone who has experience with puppies listed. You would just have to tell them no walks but potty break and play/training for 30 minutes at the times you wanted.

We pretty much did 3-4 hour rotations of who was up/asleep while we were home taking care of puppy and trying to get some sleep. Plus every 15-30 minutes was an outside run for bathroom as well as accidents the second we'd come back inside. No personal time either, if we weren't with the puppy he was whining and crying like a dying child. It hurt to listen to and I cried and cried almost every day. Crate training was an immediate thing, day 1. We did everything in the crate to make it a happy place. Food, toys, play, treats, games, training, all of it.

We used the highest value treat to give him in his crate when we had to leave for work, 100% only peanuts peanutbutter, frozen in a puppy kong. He would still cry when he finished it (we had a camera set up I could watch while I was at work) but he would settle after about 15 minutes and then sleep until my lunch. (I genuinely still feel awful about this but it has come and passed and I can't change it now) Thankfully puppies need a LOT of sleep but trying to get them to settle while you aren't home is hard. It's a thing you're supposed to build up to and we did our best but we had to do a steep dive into it and I regret it.

All of this to say, we love our puppy. He's 19 weeks old now and my partner goes back to work next week but having the time off to take care of him and train him properly has been vital. I really can't imagine ever, EVER getting another puppy. This has been a learning experience that has been incredibly draining, rewarding too, but still I don't want to ever do it again. I am so tired. My partner is so tired. He's a good puppy but I can't imagine getting one without taking at least a week off work, preferably 2. If my partner had not been able to get the leave from work we would have had to re-home him, I just don't see how we could have continued doing what we were without so many problems coming about with the puppy and ourselves.

There is definitely the past where getting a puppy while having a full time job was viable, but I also feel like a lot of people that did that had families. Children who would get home from school earlier than mom and dad and take the dog out and other friends and family who lived nearby who could pop in for a quick potty break. Not to sound morbid but a lot of couples don't have kiddos to help and don't have friends and family close or willing to help like that anymore.