Miniature Schnauzer Potty Training

Question
My wife wanted a Mini Schnauzer for our anniversary.  I had told her to hold off due to that she was job hunting and if she got a job she would not have time to take care of the puppy.  Well since she did not get a job I decided to buy her the dog last Thursday.  Needless to say she got a call on Friday and started working today (Monday).  My question is with neither of use being in the house from 6:00 am to 4:30pm how are we supposed to train our dog to go potty outside?  What method (crate or other) should I use?  Please help us, we love our little Max but if he does not learn to potty outside I will not be able to keep him.  Thanks!

Answer
Talk about a case of "good news/bad news"!

First of all, crate-training is absolutely the best way to housebreak a puppy. http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1548&articleid=157 You didn't say how old your puppy is, but I will assume he is around 8-10 weeks old. A puppy this age can only last around four hours between trips outdoors if confined, which means that someone must be able to let him out at lunchtime. If one of you cannot come home on your lunchhour to do this, you need to find a neighbor who is willing to come over, put him outside, and maybe play with him a bit. An offer of money wouldn't hurt!

The other thing you could do is to buy an exercise pen and set that up with a small crate (with door removed) inside it for the dog to sleep in. Use those wee-wee pads or newspaper for the dog when he needs to eliminate. Since this is a schnauzer I will tell you that most love nothing better than to shred paper*G*. The latest gimmick is doggy litter boxes, but I would be afraid to leave that with an unsupervised puppy for fear he would eat some of the litter. Bored puppies can get *very* creative!

Some areas also have "doggie day care", and that might be something to consider once or twice a week (I am not sure how young they take new clients, but certainly after the inoculations). It would also be a great way to socialize your new puppy.

When you take your puppy in for his vet check in the next day or two (if you haven't already), you might ask the vet or the receptionist for names of people or organizations who could help you out during the day. Here where I live, one woman is opening up a doggy day care where she will primarily be doing (clicker) training (and I think possibly housebreaking) at a local training center during the day.

Have fun with your new puppy!

Karen