My name is Melissa, I live in Las Vegas and I am 26 years old. I will be bringing home a 7wk old chihuahua tomorrow (a little worried about how young he is) I currently have a salt and peper mini schnauzer he is 1 yr and 4 months, his name is Rocky...he is so needy and it just breaks my heart to come home after 9 hrs at work and listen to him cry like a high pitched little girl so hence the new puppy....

Harley is a tri-color black, tan & white chihuahua....Very nervous and excited!

Hello there!
Pups shouldnt be seperated from there mother until 8 weeks, and if you work long hours like 9 hours a puppy cant be left alone for that long...

I also agree with staffi lover! that pups should not be bought home before 8 weeks & that they shouldnt be left for as long as 9 hours.

If you are going to be leaving the pup for so long I wouldn't recommend getting one as it realy is not fair on the puppy, even if you have another dog all sorts of things could go wrong.

Hi Melissa. Could you not take a couple of weeks holiday to settle the little chap in before going back to work. I think once they get settled together they will keep each other company but at first you need to be around. This little chap will be snatched from his mum and thrust with another dog who it doesn't know. If you are not around you can't keep an eye out for any potential problems.

I work 5 minutes from home so I go home everyday for lunch anyways (this is how I trained Rocky) Since my new dog will be so small I will not leave him out alone with my other dog until he is older and stronger. I plan to crate train him, so 4 hours in the crate, home for lunch 1 hour out of crate, back in crate till 5pm

You do undertsand that those dogs are VERY small and have extremly TINY bladders? Even the dog left alone for 1 hr is cruel he can not hold it. If you get a large crate and make it a potty area at one end and a sleep area at another that would be best. But no that by doing whats best the dog will not crate train easily and that you will most likely come home to a smelly pup quite often, because outta shear maddness he will prolly stomp in his poo and pee... I use to do small animal fostering so I do know a bit about small dogs, they tend to take MUCH longer to potty train and and crate training is hard unless you can take them out every 30-60 minutes. A tiny dog may not be the dog for you, I think you will be dissapointed in your choice. You should prolly get a medium-small pup like a snauzer or maltese or something, Yorkies, Chiauua's, micro pups need alot of potty time, even when they are older. We had a yorkie foster ofr 3 years and he NEVER potty trained and we are home all day. We took him out at first every 20 minutes and then as he got older every hour and we still found potty mistakes in the house... I don't mean to down such a happy moment in your life, but with you working full time and only having a lunch break I just think you are gonna realize that this is much to small of a doggie for you.

Originally Posted by 1111mel

I work 5 minutes from home so I go home everyday for lunch anyways (this is how I trained Rocky) Since my new dog will be so small I will not leave him out alone with my other dog until he is older and stronger. I plan to crate train him, so 4 hours in the crate, home for lunch 1 hour out of crate, back in crate till 5pm

It sounds to me like you have thought this out and have a plan! Dont let the naysayers get you down. I am sure there will be "accidents" at first but it wont be long at all until your new pup can go the 4 hours between times. I have yorkies, shih tzus, and a collie. You can try putting a puppy pad in one end of the crate but how well it works depends on the individual dog. I use the puppy pads when they are confined to a room and they work quite well. 2 of my yorkie pups use them while in their play pen but my older yorkie used to just shred them when she was a puppy.
Once they get used to each other, it will be nice for both dogs to have a canine companion when you aren't home.
Good luck with your new baby!

Thank you Puppylove17.

I brought him home today! He held his bladder at 3 hrs and 2.5hrs so far....He is adorable....he is a little afraid of my mini schnauz, but seems to egg him on a little and push just the right buttons.

I made a great decision!!!!!!!! Here is to my 3-day weekend with Harley and next weekend another 3-days!

Congrats on your new addition!! I am happy for you. Enjoy your new furbaby and the 3 day week-ends! lol

:grin: Congrats on the new pup, I went and purchased a big crate and put puppy pads at one end and his blanket at the other, i also go home at lunch and take him out to play, eat and go bathroom, he doesn't poo in his crate, which is good, he is still young so i had to make sure he has somewhere to relieve himself when i am at work..... I just got a boston terrier..... soooo happy!!! puppies are such wonderful additions to your life.....

Good luck for the future. Have fun with every single pet you have and will ever have. Hope you have fun, and I wish I could see them.

Congrats and good luck on your new puppy. You have great taste in names. My doggie's name is Rocky too.

Hi, welcome, congratulations on your new puppy, hope you have many happy years with him...

I have four mini schnauzers and I love them very much their names are Boo, Sully, Darla and Jasper. I went thru the potty training with all four of them..I got each one of them at 6 weeks old except jasper I got him at 4 weeks old..and they all did just fine..you will be alright..enjoy your new puppy.