# Having trouble working from home with my V!



## Tina Bendzsa (Apr 11, 2012)

Zsiggy has been with us for 4 months now and love him dearly. He's such a curious playful puppy and never seems to be satisfied unless he's the constant center of attention. Which brings me to my problem. I thought now that I've been given the opportunity to work from home that it would be the perfect time to be a dog owner as I couldn't bear the thought of leaving a dog in a Kennel all day. Although he is kennel trained and I do leave him in the kennel for periods throughout the day (no more than 3 hours) I make sure he gets a good amount of exercise at 11AM and 3PM. When he's not sleeping he's whimpering, howling, banging his kennel door which is quite distracting. This morning the noise was too much to bear so I took him out 20 minutes earlier than I usually do while I finished up my work on the computer and left the back door open for him to run around. In that short time he managed to unravel a roll of toilet paper in the living room. Take a box of Kleenex outside pulling out every one and grabbed a new jar of fish food popping the lid off and ran with it (as I was chasing him) with flakes pouring out everywhere . He has lots of toys, a Kong, bones, bully sticks to keep him busy but it's like he knows they won't give him the reaction he wants from me to get my attention. As I'm on the phone quite a bit with clients, I can't get up and attend to his every need when he demands it. 

Any thoughts on setting up a routine that would work in the best interest of both of us?

Appreciate any suggestion!
Tina


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

What is he like when are not working?? Let's say you are watching TV or doing the dishes?? Is he demanding attention then?? If so and you are giving it to him then yes he is going to expect the same when you are working as to him it is all the same.

I work from home some days and my boy knows that lap top on the lap means you get no attention. It took awhile and I do understand your frustrations. One thing I can say is even though my pup is 14 months there is no way in **** he would let me put him a room or kennel next to me while I am in another room. He would go crazy yet if I put him the same room as me he lays down and waits or sleeps til his next walk.

One thing I noticed on your walking is you stated 11 and 3. I would add a 15-20 min walk first thing when you both wake up. So don't just let him out the back door in the morning to his busy but take him out on lead. Set the tone for the day. Also you mentioned kong and bully sticks which are great but at his age a great way to make him tired is to make him work for all his food or at least 2/3 of it. If you feed him on kibble you can take the kibble and put it in different food dispensing toys. My boy gets half his food in the bowl and the rest is all earned through training or through food dispensers. If you are doing raw food diet you should buy 4 or 5 kongs and half the food goes into kongs and half in the bowl. You can freeze the kongs to make it extra tough.

Good luck. Keep him busy and he will sleep.


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## Tina Bendzsa (Apr 11, 2012)

Thank-you so much for this! It's great to hear from someone who's in the same position as I and to hear that it can work (as I was at my wits end today : )

It makes total sense when you put it into context that he's getting tons of attention before and after work so would expect no different. I will try to add the extra walk in the morning (although difficult with getting 2 small kids ready for school). He always fell back to sleep right after eating in the morning so thought he would be able to wait it out.

I've tried the food in the kong and and dispensing toys but he seems to lose interest after the first couple of licks and then I end up cleaning out dried up cream cheese/kibble/treats that's been abandoned on our back porch. Will definitely cut back on the food in his bowl and see if this makes a difference!

Again, thanks for the great tips!

Tina


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

Your dog is still young, but
House training will take care of it... We had a 6' soft leather leash on the dog at all times. At the beginning we used a training collar (not a choke collar, please) and progressed to a soft leather collar later, much later. I would make him sit and lie down on command. I would sit on the leash or step in it so he cannot up and run. After a few months we arrived to a point where we can work, eat, watch TV ... 

Look up leash pressure training. It will serve well, later.


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

When Savannah was that age, we did lots of short walks instead of long ones. I'd work for 45 min to an hour, then take a 10 min break with her. Walk, hall ball, wave the stuffed toy, find the treat...we would do something for 10 mins, but then get back to work. When she became demanding, she went into her kennel. When she became obnoxious, she went into the hall for a 5-count (no longer to avoid opportunities for mischief).

With all that said, we still had days with severely limited productivity.  She also has developed an instinct for email time versus project time. To this day, email time she spends in my lap.

Good luck!


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## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

I work from home and on the phone majority of the day. It was very hard in the beginning at that age. I would have to crate Ruby for some important calls because it was too distracting. She was cry her little head off then fall asleep. 

Starting at 5 close to 6 months I put her in doggie daycare a few days a week. Now at 18 months, I still can't have her home all day everyday. She still goes a few days a week - more lately because of the ridiculous rain here in Florida. I'm sure many think I am crazy for putting her in daycare when I am home all day. It really starts to affect your job and that is not a good situation either. I really tried to get a routine down but never seemed to work when they are young like that.

I will say that older they get the better it will be though. The days I have Ruby home we try to get an early morning walk in but she really sleeps a lot of the day and then around 4:30pm the crazies start. As long as I don't have late meetings then I can get her outside running around.


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## Watson_Mills (Jun 11, 2012)

totally agree with born36, i work from home the majority of the time on a laptop or on the phone with clients - to start with Amber constantly craved attention, used to bark whinge and moan like **** and play up when the phone rang, however persistence paid off and now when i am on the phone or on the laptop (at my desk in the house) she just lays underneath the table and sleeps ... i get the odd day that she'll get up to mischief (she is only 6 months old afterall) but if you ignore Ziggy's attention seeking while you are working he will soon catch on - i praise Amber *ALOT* when she is quiet and don't speak to her when she is noisy ! 

I also make a point of taking 30 minutes-1hour out of the working day to soley focus on her over lunchtime outside of her normal walks in the morning and late afternoon 

Keep at it, it will pay off - and if you have nice clients that know you let them know you have a dog in the background (some of my clients always ask after Amber now, and regularly ask for photo's)


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## Vizsla Baby (Nov 4, 2011)

My husband and myself both work from home. Our V is one year old now so she has settled down quite a bit. I have a bed for her next to my desk which she naps in while I'm on the phone with clients, etc. 

Here is our routine. 
7 Sadie & our older dog go out to play, hunt for squirrels or birds & use the bathroom; come in & sit with us while we have breakfast & catch up on the news. A few times a week we take her for a leash/off leash walk.
8 She comes upstairs with me & rests or naps while I work
9:30 breakfast time for dogs & then outside to use the bathroom and then back to work for me
12 lunch for us and frisbee time for Sadie to wear her out

From then we finish up our work between 3 & 5 each day. She usually just rests. Then once we are done working, she gets played with, taken to the farm or the dog park, etc.

It took a while for her to get into this routine. She used to require continual toy throwing, bathroom visits, etc. By about 9-10 months she understood the work routine and I was able to work normally again. 

Now, this new peace & quiet is disrupted by several things. Kids in & out of the house during the summer - causing lots of barking. The doorbell ringing with a package delivery or something else - causing loud barking (yes, sometimes when I'm on the phone with a client - grrrrrr).

My kids (14 & 19) do help a lot by taking her outside during the summer but during the school year they are not around. If you have kids you should request help from them.

I love working from home & being available to my dogs & kids any time of day!


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## Tina Bendzsa (Apr 11, 2012)

*Re: Having trouble working from home with my V! - Update!*

Well, I'm happy to say that Zsiggi's finally settled into a routine. We took some of the advice with these posts and we now give him a good long walk/play early in the morning before work. This gets him sleeping in his crate quietly until 11:30 at which time I give him lunch and a 30 minute run with me. By 1PM he's back to sleep until 4 when my kids get home and play with him. He does wake up occasionally and whimpers to try and to get my attention but he settles back down shortly thereafter when I don't respond.

Thanks for all of the great bits of advice. It's great having a forum like this to reach out to for help!

Tina & Zsiggi


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## NeverGiveUpRAC (Aug 27, 2012)

I too think it will get better with time...

My boy does bad things for attention, when I am clearly busy. We've been doing time outs coupled with lots of running haha Tire him out best you can. I will never forget, its mostly a new experience that tires them out, running in a new place, meeting new people and dogs...etc. Try new games and new tricks to teach. Mental stimulation! Teaching Cole "leave it" as I put a cookie on the floor has taught him patience and when worst comes to worst, I can do that with him if I am on the phone or doing something important that needs quiet! Then I say "ok take it" and it starts all over... Or I give him cookies as he ignores the one on the floor. 

Question though... What kind of jobs does everyone do?? I want to work from home for my pets as well and maybe children someday so I am very curious about working from.home! Thanks!


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