On Friday I picked up my new puppy from the Humane Society. He is a Lab mix, maybe Boxer or Pitt; aproximately 3-4 months old.
I am a police officer and have crazy hours. I wasnt going to look for a puppy but an older dog because of that, But, one minute with George and I was hooked! Anyway, I cannot figure out the best way to train the dog since I wont be home from 1:45 PM to 11PM 5 days a week. I had the first 3 days off take to spend with him and we have been very successful with him relieving himself outside and my parents were visiting for the week so he got lots of attention. My Mom decided to stay for one more week and help me get George on some sort of schedule, but Im worried that I may not be able to get the most of her time. I want to make sure I am training him the best way without wasting a lot of time doing it wrong. I have read many opinions on what is right, and Im so confused. Its killing me to leave him in the crate all those hours. He is in hs crate when we go to bed for the night, but I think thats enough. I wish I had someone here to take care of him all the time, but I need to try and get him trained the best way for me as well as him. I have a small bedroom Im not using and the first two nights the crate was in there,after a small amount of fuss he slet 6 1/2 to 7 1/2 hours each night. Last night I felt he may do better if he were with me, so I put the crate in my room and once I put the tv on he was fine and went to sleep, again for 7 hours, NO accidents ever! I told my Mom for today lets put the crate in the other bedroom, leave the crate door open, lots of pee pee pads and toys in there, and see what happens. Our plan so far is to leave him in there when I go to work and then my mom letting him stay longer and longer each day to see what happens. Hopefully by the time she leaves next week, he would be able to stay there for at least 8-9 hours without much fuss. Again, we arent even sure if this is the best way, so thats why I post here hoping someone can suggest the best way to train when you work these crazy hours! Im sure Im not the first police officer to have a new puppy! Thanks in advance for all your suggestions!

My last puppy I got I took two weeks off to get the bonding and marker training, and house/crate training started off solid. I highly reccommend Ed's puppy videos, http://leerburg.com/120.htm

and his basic obedience videos. I also dedicated one hour of the day just to training/playing with my new puppy. I built a room out of an attached shed that I started the training in. Clicker/marker training is the way to go for puppies.

Hi Patrick,
It would be 100% better if you can maybe hire a dogwalker/ let the pup out to pee person than the pee pee pads. I never used them, but i think it would cause confusion to the little guy, you don't want them going in the house at all, ALWAYS outside! It'll make it clear to the dog what you're asking that way. Good luck with your pup,

Great suggestions from the experienced folks. I want to reinforce Al's objection to pee pads if you can possibly avoid them. They do teach potty-in-the-house.

Could you take any more time off? Like Dennis, I always take time to be at home for a weeks or so when a new dog is arriving (and mine are not even puppies).

If not, can your mother be helping you to find a dog-walker for mid-shift potty?

You mentioned other training confusion? Or was it all potty-related?

I hope you caught the marker references, because the very best thing you can do for the dog and for your bond is to learn and practice marker training (you may know it as clicker training) from the get-go. (We can help, and also point you to great LB resources.)

Congratulations on your new dog!