So in about a month, we will be getting an 8-9 week old female GSD.
We are confident in the breeder, training, and vet.
What we are not confident in is the schedule for when we both head to work.
She gets home by noon one day a week, so we are answering the schedule for 4 days/week.
This is complicated in that we are in a townhouse with no real yard. We are very active and have a lot of green space around, along with other dogs. So the impact is really a during the day issue.

Everything says that the most common estimate for bladder control is 1 hr/month born. We can't adjust our schedules to reduce the time without a parent to 6 hours much less 2-3.
So looks like there are three possible solutions or maybe a combo:
1. Dog walker - effectively a stranger has a key to our house. $15-20/day gets you 1 period of about 30 mins out of the crate.
2. Doggy Day Care - $26/day - socializes our dog, but could get hurt/sick/whatever. Slightly complicates schedule with dropping off/picking up
3. Sliding door insert with doggy door - would let out to 2 floor (no ground access) patio. Could have crate against doggy door and lets out into controlled turf area (pen)

We will have time for long walks in the morning and afternoon to wear her out a little, just trying to weigh her discomfort and loneliness. Tons of people make this work in our area, but a lot of people also treat their dogs like accessories and not family members.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

That's a tough situation. We didn't get our dog until we could get the max. time in the crate down to 3 hours at a whack, and even then we arranged a few days off each before and after a weekend so that we had a solid week to be with the new pup, work on housebreaking and crate training, etc.

So first I'd look at arranging some time off for each of you so that at least one of you can be home with the pup 100% for the first week or so.

Then what we did is we were able to arrange our schedules so that my work started and ended late and hers started and ended early. I got dog duty in the morning, she in the afternoon. We had a dog walker/mid-day let-out service for the middle of the day, which included a legit walk, a bit of play and a bit of food.

If you can arrange maybe two days a week at doggie day care that is great for socialization, allows for crate training the rest of the time, and doesn't allow the dog to get too "doggie" (you want them more interested in people than dogs).

Definitely trying to take some time off. SO's schedule sucks though (except Thursdays ending at noon). She can't go into work earlier than 8am.

I'm going to talk to my boss some more to see if there is some training I can do from home for a little bit (we have a hour requirement each year)
She only works about 15 mins away when traffic is good but never gets a real break for lunch or anything.

I would avoid doggie daycare, too many things going around and your pup could catch something. Boy I'm glad I work from home, I don't know how I would have done it if I had to leave my GSD home all day when he was tiny.



Crate training helps, do you have any family or friends that can drop in and let your puppy out to relive itself?



 


Your pup will have accidents no matter what you do. Just continue to be patient and work with your dog, it will learn quickly.


 

Check Rover.com, some sitters are better and less expensive than others and only watch one dog at a time.

Rover looks like a great resource and an online dating site if I was single... wow

At the risk of sounding mean and catching crap from others, limiting your dog's access to water can help.  Kibble will make them thirstier than a raw diet.  If your dog will be alone for only 4 hours or so, don't give them water with their last meal of the day/night- whatever will lead up to the crating time.  You'll learn pretty quick what their pee schedule is (often!) but it can be manipulated to an extent.  Also, activity (or lack of it) will also trigger the sniff/squat/pee actions.

The last time I had a brand new pup, I went home for lunch everyday so the dog was never home for more than four hours at a stretch until she was older, and I kept her crated when I wasn't home or when I was asleep until she was older.

The minute they come out of the crate, it's outside for potty time.  A few minutes after they eat, it's outside for potty time.  Before you put them in the crate when you leave or got to bed, it's outside for potty time.  And when they're still young, you get up in the middle of the night to get them out of the crate and into the backyard for, what else, potty time.

When they get a bit older, leave the crate door open in the kitchen and gate off the rest of the house.  If they can't hold it, the mess is easier to clean, and you know they're not ready for whole house access.  (Also don't yell at the dog for making a mess, yell at the mess they made. It works.)

this is pretty much our understanding of it all

the only difference is that the middle of the day will have to be a dog walker for a while. That's alright though, we are seeing some pretty trustworthy (hot, young girls) dog walkers.

Routine, don't deviate, even on weekends. I handled this by making sure the dog had a specific time to eat. In other words, I fed him at 6:00 AM by 7:00AM he had done his business and I was leaving for work. I would get home at 4:00, let him out then feed him again. He peed a couple of times but that was it. I also keep him locked in a spare bathroom with a radio playing in the den approx. for a month. After he stopped peeing while I was at work and he got into the routine I let him out. As he got older food was left out all the time.

This was a Sheltie and he was 4 months old when I got him. He had been living in a pet store cage all his life. He was a good dog.

Right now we have a 3 month old GSD living with us. Best advice I can offer is to get a extra large cage, fasteners at top and bottom. We only leave her alone for 4 hours max. She is extra chewy and those little fangs hurt. She's not mean but just wants to play. My Sheltie pup is her offical chew toy so we have to watch them closely. She will pen him to the floor. She does listen good and goes to the door to want out.

We use a dog walker that was recommended by a relative. She is great, stops by and let's out the pup the 2 days a week when my wife and I cannot due to schedules. She takes him outside roughly mid work day and feed him lunch. Usually about 30 min. The best thing about it is that our pup loves her, and she loves looking after him too. She has been dog walking him since he was around 10 weeks and watched him grow also. I like knowing that the person who walks my dog is partial to him as well, makes me comfortable that she has his best interests in mind and not just the money.

What others said about routine and walking them before/after EVERYTHING is true. Best advice that worked for us was pick them up on a Friday afternoon and then take off Monday if you can from work. Maybe even Tuesday if you each can take 1 day. Spend all weekend doing housebreaking and crate training. Don't use treats for housebreaking, just constant supervision and repetition. Outside after everything. If they have an accident don't make a big scene, just scoop them up and run them outside immediately to finish.

Crate training is a good tool, but do it right. Feed them treats inside the crate and let them explore it with door open. Make it somewhere they want to be and NEVER use it as punishment.

Our lab was housebroken using these methods in about 4 days and he has his last accident around 12-13 weeks at most. That accident was more our fault for not paying attention that he wanted to go out. He loves his crate now, when we're home and he is tired he actually prefers to go sleep in there with the door open. Good luck op.

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Thanks guys. Trying to get approved for training that I can do at home. I will try and make it half days so we can be there the most possible for the first few weeks.
I've been trying to draft a weekly schedule with very little deviation for walks as possible.