Straus, pup will be fine. It's no different than you having to hold it for periods at a time.

If you can afford a dog walker, go for it. We had one for about a year and it worked out fine. Rio got his exercise, had a playmate for about 20 minutes then slept until we got home.

If you do decide to go this route, it won't change his "potty" times, they even go when they don't have to (marking).

You're doing fine.

it's funny how attached we are to our pets.