Hi ???? we're new to the forum

[Lucywaters97]

Hello, my name is Lucy and I have a 6 month old female staffy called Yuki (you-key) and we live in South Wales UK. My partner chose her name (it's japanese for happiness). She is my firt dog (I have grown up with many different breeds but she is my first dog I have owned). I am absolutely obsessed with her, she is doing fantastic. She graduated from puppy school last month and is smashing her training. She walks to heel when asked, can sit, stay, leave items on command and her recall is getting better eveyday. I've had these 6 month off with her but I am due to start work again (I work with autistic adults and will be doing 40 hours a week). I've been preparing her since 8 weeks old by leaving her for short bursts and rewarding when calm (she's also crate trained) but I am worried about leaving her for my 8 hour shifts, my partner works shifts too so I will be moving mine around to make sure she's not on her own for too long. I am thinking about having a dog walker coming in and walking her for 1-2 hours while I'm at work but I'm nervous about leaving her with someone I don't know. Has anyone used a dog sitter/walker before? And any more tips for helping her get used to being on her own? (She has a frozen kong and yak chew in her crate with her when she is left alone)

I've added some pictures of my gorgeous girl 🥰

[Caryll2]

Hi Lucy & Yuki, welcome to the forum!

What a pretty girl she is & obviously very clever.

What sort of hours will she be left alone? Will she be able to free roam or will she be in her crate?

If she's in her crate I personally wouldn't leave her more than 2 or 3 hours maximum. She could easily become bored & grow to dislike the crate.

If she's free roaming but you're worried about damage to your property (or to Yuki herself) you could invest in a pen that could be built around her crate & can be taken apart when you're home.

A dog walker's a great idea, but you'd need to get references from other users & make sure that a) they have insurance & b) they're not going to be walking 6 dogs at a time & ruin all your training!