Dates with my spouse

First I'd like to thank this subreddit for the helpful resources and shared experiences.

I have a 10 month old pup, we've had him since he was ~10 weeks old, so 230 days so far. He has never spent anytime alone and we know we really need to work on that; he has always been with my partner or I, or on special/important occasions a sitter or family member.

That being said, I would really like to go out with my partner! Now that winter is here we don't get to go on long outings with the dog or sit on a patio. This is our first dog so we don't really know what to do. Do you have any experiences or resources you could share about having a social life that occasionally includes your co-parent and not your dog?

TLDR; How do you do things (alone if you're single or with your spouse) in the winter when you have a 10 mo. puppy and no one to watch the dog except always relying on a dog sitter you need to book in advance and costs $? We're still working on leaving him alone at all and I need a break!

I feel like it's an obvious answer, "train the dog to be alone and in the meantime hire a sitter" but I'm hoping there are some other creative suggestions out there or some advice?

Thanks in advance!