LOL puppies are a lot of work but it does calm down. Just give it some time. once you get her trained things will be better. how old is this dog. Also, you can get a pet sitter and still go out of town. That's what I do.

Train, train, train. And just like with a baby they can get easier to handle with age. (except for some skids.}:) )

Pee pads can be your life long friends especially if the dog is not too big (or a dog door). I've almost always had a dog door so I never had to worry about being home and even could be gone for a night.

Pee pads can be expensive. There's a product called under pads ( 24" x 36") that are made to place under incontinent adults that are much cheaper and larger. They are just not treated with scent.

My 35 pound dog will use one if he needs to go but prefers not to. They come in handy during downpours when neither of us wants to go out.

Find a good boarding facility for weekend trips. It costs money but you knew a dog was going to incur some expenses.

The puppy issues are why I prefer to rescue a 1 or 2 year old dog. Good luck.

The puppy stage won't last long. Get thru it. You'll be fine.

also - adopting an adult dog (already trained) would have been a much better idea. Hang in there!

Same as what everyone says.

1) Invest some money in a pet sitter. When it gets older you can board it. Get away you need a break.

2) Get a doggy door, it will change your life, I swear.

3) Pee pads

They are a lot of work, especially puppies, but they will also provide a lot of comfort as it gets older.

My dogs are a lot of work too, and they are grown. I don't have a doggy door in my current home, and wish I did. I have a small hyper dog that doesn't think she needs to hold it through the night and likes to wake me up. every night, 2 am, I'm letting her out, waiting a bit, and let her back in. She really is a PITA, but I love her, so I'll keep doing this. It's crazy, I know.

I'm a professional pet sitter. We are usually cheaper than a boarding facility and we also trained in pet cpr and first aid. Our services usually include house sitting and trust me, unlike Skids or the kid next door, we won't trash your house or throw wild parties while you are gone! LOL

Baby gate and pee pee pads. The pads are money but you can get them at Wal-Mart. I buy the 50 or 100 ct and save some money. I have a cat that was jealous and used my old dog's pad to mark her place. After my dog passed, I still buy the pads for the cat. Do you have a large laundry room, spare bedroom or any other room with vinyl or tile floor which would work good for a space for the puppy with a baby gate. My dog was old and poor vision. When she got older, I put her in the kitchen with the baby gate and 2 pee pee pads.

I adopted my puppy late last year. He was 3 months old. It took me a month to housebreak him. For the first week or so, he howled and barked off and on during the night and that did wear on my nerves. (Thankfully my neighbors were understanding, lol.) Only when I joined an obedience class, did I learn some amazing tricks that saved my sanity.

The most important things you can do are #1 Buy a crate, #2 buy good food, and #3 set up a meticulous feeding/watering schedule. Obviously you'll need a lot of patience, but then you already know that, lol. I didn't get up in the middle of the night for potty breaks, and I didn't use pee pee-pads either. (No offense to all of you pee-pee pad users, lol.)
With the proper feeding/watering and exercise schedule, you won't have to do either. As I have learned, (and I always had dogs growing up but, it had been several years in between)when you control what time the food/water goes in, you can control what time the food/water comes out. NEVER free feed. Unless, your pup was brought up in an unclean environment, they usually will not go where they sleep, so the crate should only be large enough for the pup to stand up, turn around, and lie down comfortably. If you give them enough room for a half-bath, they will use it as such, lol. I didn't use pee-pads b/c quite frankly I didn't want to live through hosuebreaking twice, . For those that do.... more power to ya! lol. I don't want to do that again for a long, long time. For the record my brother has a shorkie who uses a litter box. Go figure. :O

The next few weeks are going to be hard but, instead of focusing on what your giving up, you need to tell yourself that it's only for a little while. Think of all the years of unconditional love AND with none of the SK disrespect, lmao. So you have to stop home to take care of your furkid before heading off for that after work drink. It won't be forever. As for vacay's. I'm on vacay right now and my furkid is asleep at my feet. I wouldn't have it any other way. Now, I just book 'dog friendly accommodations.' No biggie. They are everywhere! Sure, it costs me slightly more but, he's worth it. Plus, as a newly single lady, he acts as my protector. It's a win-win. Find activities that you, DH, and pup can do together. Nice strolls while holding hands, play dates with other new puppy owners (might find a few new human friends too) obedience classes, agility, flyball, dock diving, etc. Hmmm.... well, I guess that would depend on what kind of pup you have? LOL.

My point is this, you could feel regretful of your decision and end up hating that cute lil pup or you could take a deep breath and know that you saved a life AND got a good and loyal friend out of the deal. If after all of this, you are still unhappy. Re-home the pup as soon as possible and try again later when you're truly ready for the work. And yes, it is work, lol.

Best of luck to you.

We adopted a puppy in June after losing our dog last year too. He is now 4.5 months old and we can leave him for longer stretches now and he is old enough to go to doggie day care. We still have to make it home for a lunch time potty break and feeding (unless he is a daycare). The first several weeks were tough with multiple potty breaks per night and not being able to be too far from the house. Also the sharp puppy teeth and chewing everything were worse than I remembered. Hang in there, the 16 week mark when you get done with all the shots and they can go to doggie day care is huge.

Right now he is snoozing by my feet while I surf ST and watch football. We played fetching this morning and he has been content to hang out in his kennel while I ran errands this morning.

Your pup will be much less work and provide all the love and low maintenance companionship you miss from your old dog in a few short months. In the mean time, puppy kongs and a puppy play class (most local petco's have them for puppies only) really help wear them out so you can have a break.

Puppies are only good to have if you have the time. I have a Mastiff who is 2 now and a joy to be around. We recently got our Great Dane pup about 1 1/2 months ago..? She is 4 months and is housebroken and can be left out of her crate for up to 5 hours..maybe more, haven't tested it yet.

I do not recommend puppy pads unless you really want to train the puppy to go to the bathroom inside. At the very least they will prolong the training. Niko learned to go outside within a week and had one accident his entire puppyhood.

Get the puppy into puppy classes, even if you have had dogs before and can train them it is good for socialization with people and other dogs. Train the pup to walk off leash. If you have a well trained dog you can take it almost anywhere.

Right now, my dog doesn't get crated per se. He goes in to his crate on his own when he wants to be there. Initially I crated whenever I couldn't watch him 100% of the time. Sometimes I used the tether method (like when I was cleaning the house or something.) I also crated him while working but, he goes to work with me a couple of times a week. Other times he may go to doggy daycare. Depends on how I feel. I also hired a HS student to come in during the day to let him out and play with him when he was young.
He did cry the first week or so but, I had the crate in my room and used a squirt water bottle to blast him when he needed it. He never had accidents in his crate but, I was very careful with food and water scheduling. Hope this helps.