Page 1 of Dogs and working

I have asked this question on here before but can`t find the thread to resurrect and would just like some opinions before I take the plunge.
I live with my wife and we would love a dog (we are not cat people). However, we both work between 9 and 4 each day so, up until now, have reasoned that we shouldn`t have a dog to just leave on its own.
Realistically though the situation is never going to change long term as we will both have to work unless situations drastically change. We already know some people who leave dogs alone all day and I could go back at lunch time to walk it etc. Does anyone else on here have a dog that they leave most of the day on its own? If so do you regret getting it?

I think it would be tough to leave a dog at home all day. They do need a lot of exercise, so not only would it be bored, but it might also get a bit destructive. depends on the dog and circumstances I suppose.

We always had dogs when i was growing up at home, but my mum worked from home, and the dog was only left all day occassionally.

I work from home these days, and tomorrow morning I am picking up a black labrador pup! Can`t wait. I have made the place a lot more dog friendly and i am looking forward to taking her out first thing, and then again in the afternoon for a really good walk. I`m planning on getting another shorter walk in and the end of the day as well.

Apparently the golden rules are discipline, exercise and affection. In that order

This item was edited on Friday, 12th September 2008, 13:04

I am looking at a Maltese or a Shih Tzu which are quite small and apparently don`t need much exercise and quite like small spaces (Wikipedia say that Maltese are ideal for people in apartments). It would get walked twice daily so the exercise thing doesn`t bother me really.

We do, after a lot of research and nagging we finally got a Pug this time last year.

I did have a moan on the gaming forum about her pooing on the carpet but in all fairness she is great.

They are classed as lap dogs as like cuddles and so on but they are far from it, they will play rough, like long walks through the streams, play great with the kids and the cat. But do like a lot of sleep, so they are like the best of both worlds.

We leave her home alone usually 8.15 to 17.30 and in all honesty we have had no problems with her at all apart from the occasional wee or dump which are far less frequent now, about once per fortnight. Can`t blame her for that though as they are always right next to the back door so she really did want to go out.

When we leave she gets in her bed and when we get home she is still there, we have had no chewing and even leave the washing drying on airers in the kitchen with her and she leaves it well alone.

She has the complete run of the downstairs while we are out, you would expect her to be on the sofa but she is always in her bed.



Playing with the kids

All the best

Gerald.

This item was edited on Friday, 12th September 2008, 13:12

Hmmmm very tempted now....

My first wife and I tried a dog for a while.
Complete pain in the arse, when you both work.
I tried to go home every lunchtime to walk it, as we only lived about 5 miles away from work at that time.
That didn`t work, it was too much pressure on me and my work colleagues.
The dog also, inevitably, slept all day which meant it was lively at night.
Exactly what you don`t need when you`ve both come home from work.
Nope, I would never, ever, recommend working people get a dog.

We only took it on because we felt sorry for it, as it was given as a gift to an 80 year old woman we knew.
She couldn`t cope, we thought we could.
We were wrong, so we ended up giving it away to a farmer and his wife.
So it all ended well, we were just a `halfway house` for a while. 8)

That was a while ago, when I liked dogs.
I wouldn`t shed a tear of every single one disappeared off the face of the earth now, TBH.

Funny how your feelings can change towards animals.

This item was edited on Friday, 12th September 2008, 13:20

Quote:
Apparently the golden rules are discipline, exercise and affection. In that order

Couldn`t agree more, think that is one of the reasons ours is so well behaved.

What sort of dog are you thinking of getting?

All the best

Gerald.

When we first got Ripple the OH wasn`t working, about 6 months in she started one day a week, she only worked down the road so getting back at lunch wasn`t a problem (Ripple was crate trained so spent her day in there). Ripple`s a bit older now and TOH works a couple of days a week, Ripple has the run of the kitchen after we `de-crated` her and is left from 7.30 until 4ish with no problems

I`d at least have two weeks off work to get the pup settled in initially for toilet training/getting used to a new environment etc.

Whoot - how old will the puppy be? Due to labs proneness to hip complaints there`s a school of thought which says you should only walk them for five minutes of each month of their age (3 month old - 15 minutes walk a day), and no walks before there innoculations are complete (ok if you don`t meet any other dogs carrying the diseases, but a bit of a risk). When we got Ripple we lurked on labradorforums.co.uk (keep away Juls), some very knowledgable people there (mainly women going on about how beautiful their dog is etc, a sure way to avoid the common names if you`re so inclined as well), still I imagine you could liven it up a bit...


My Photo`s

"But you`re not Judge Judy and executioner...."

This item was edited on Friday, 12th September 2008, 14:06

she`ll be nine weeks old..ish. we know we have to keep her in for a bit, but cheers. She`ll be microchipped, wormed and all that sort of thing.

got all the elbow scores and all that sort of thing. Apparently they rank downwards from 150, and anything below 40 is considered good. Her scores come in at under 5.
She`s a gun style lab as opposed to show, and is jet black. I cant wait.

We have a retired greyhound and have had her for about 6 months. She is only 2 & 1/2 and as she has been in kennels all her life missed her `puppy` time so now has regressed to this stage - by this I don`t mean chewing and s***ting all over the place I mean lots of energy but all in short bursts - after a mad 2 minutes thats it sleeps for a few hours.

Work wise I work odd hours but at the moment work during the day and so does the missus. When both of us are out all day the missus can come home from work at lunchtime for 20 minutes to let her out.

I also can take her into work and she sits under me desk (eventually) in our office we like dogs more than kids!

I do think it is tight when owners leave dogs home alone all day, but upto about 5 hours max our dog seems fine - although we`ve always left the radio on for her!