Can 3-week-old puppies be left alone for 16 hours when traveling?

Yes you can, absolutely no problem just as long as it is not on a daily basis, at this age it is not recommended to leave her by herself for too long on a permanent basis due to potential future behavioral issues.

Taking them outside would not be recommended. At their age, their immune systems are not strong enough to resist potential infection. They should remain indoors for now. If they are able to wander away from mom, watch them to prevent mischief or injury. They will return when they are hungry. They will likely need to nurse every 6-8 hours.

Monitoring throughout the 8 week period until the puppies are weaned is recommended, yes, although it may be difficult while you are sleeping. Having the mom and pups in your room and setting an alarm to check on them a few times a night is reasonable. If you are able to get someone to watch them that's great. Otherwise minimize the amount of time they are left alone as much as possible, and try to get a dog sitter if you will be gone more than an hour. Breeding dogs is a lot of work, and it is important to keep track of the mom and pups' progress by checking on them frequently. Here is some more information on birthing puppies https://www.vin.com/veterinarypartner/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951546

Thanks for using coach! Lady will need access to go potty throughout the day. If she has access to potty pads that will be sufficient. She also needs lots of freshwater. Because of her size she really needs to be fed 3 to 4 times a day so her blood sugar doesn’t get too low. I would see if you can find someone to come and feed her several times a day. Also, that many hours alone she will probably be pretty bored and may end up being distructive to her surroundings. This means she may eat her poop, chew up her blankets and pee pads, or cry for hours. I would set up a dog walker or find a friend that can help pet sit to break up her alone time. Good luck and kisses to Lady!

If he is over 7 days old, you could leave him for no more than a 6 hour period of time. He should be eating every 4 hours, but one stretch of 6 hours in a 24 hour period would be acceptable. Here is a great article with some guidelines for you: https://www.petcoach.co/article/orphaned-puppies-how-to-raise-them/ Good luck with him! Thanks for asking PetCoach!

If she is eating and drinking well on her own, then yes, she can survive being alone for that amount of time. If she is still nursing and not completely on to solid foods, then she would likely survive, but may not be getting enough nutrition, which can lead to problems if she has multiple days of being left alone for that long. If you are just leaving her alone for this long for one day, then she should be fine. If you are planning to leave her alone for 10 hours each day, then you should also worry about behavior problems developing. Puppies left alone for that time without human contact or other stimulation will develop behavior problems where they are less social and may be more aggressive and overactive. It's best to make sure that she has some contact with people and gets some exercise every four hours to ensure that she doesn't develop behavior problems later on. I hope that helps and all is well with Beetle.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. As long as you are providing the puppy with a place to sleep, plenty of water and toys you should be ok to leave him for 3-5 hours with no problem. You can even look into the PetCube to interact with him remotely when you are not physically there. I also recommend using a product called FreshPatch to help potty train and give him a place indoors to go to the bathroom. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.