Anyway you could bring her to work with you?

I bring my shepherd pup to work with me. Some days she can come inside and lay in my office, others she has to stay in the truck (depending on how busy I am). When it's too cold, I leave her crated in my grandmother-in-law's garage. Then I can run her on my lunch. (She lives closer to my work than I do)

When I have her in the truck, we take a quick drive (7mins) to a lake nearby and hike the trail at lunch (45 mins). Or we go to a school field and throw her ball or do OB. we also make regular trips to main street to do OB with high distraction. For me, bringing my dog with me allows me to do different things with her everyday and expose her to things she would probably not get to encounter otherwise (like elevators). (I live out of town)

We also do classes 2-4 days a week. Since I am apprenticing, she will usually train for an hour, observe for two, then train for another hour.

So focus on how you use the time you do have with your dog. We all have jobs and we all have to work around them. Get creative and try to find ways to decrease overall crate time.

The other thing you could do is get an extra large crate that she could use at night so that she has more room than usual. Or tether her to your bed, put a rug down for her to sleep on, and on a Friday night (day before a day off) teach her to sleep quietly beside your bed. Now, the catch here, is that she is tired. So lots of exercise (walk then OB) so that she is actually calm and able to sleep.

If you are gonna choose to use a walker (not a bad idea...) try calling a trusted vet and ask if any of the techs are interested in a little extra money. The techs are usually a little more dog savvy than the average dog lover (they deal with scared and aggressive pups on occasion). Also the local animal control officers and boarding kennel workers.

Make it clear that you expect no training, or spell out the limits of the manners you are comfortable with enforcing.

Get your pup nice and tired prior to putting her up before your shift. Two ball, fetch, extra long walk, tons of training and tug stuff, etc. Putting him up tired and ready to take a nap will go a long way to extending the OK crate time.

Also, while I am not cool with doggie day care, a kennel situation where you can Drop the dog off for the day and they can kennel the pup with a few chances to get out into an exercise yard throughout the day. All the kennels around offer this service, but it may add up in cost...

 Quote: JessicaKromer

Also, while I am not cool with doggie day care, a kennel situation where you can Drop the dog off for the day and they can kennel the pup with a few chances to get out into an exercise yard throughout the day. All the kennels around offer this service, but it may add up in cost...

oooohhh...good one Jessica. i never thought of going that route.

Definately better than doggy day care!