DD and DS really want a puppy and DH is onboard. He loves dogs. I am not a dog person but seeing how they interact with other dogs I really want to get somthing small like a long Charles spaniel.
If you both work outside the home does your dog just stay in all day or do you do doggy care? How do you balance all your other responsibility with caring for a dog?
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My husband and I both work full time. When we got our lab as a puppy I would go home on lunch to let him out of his kennel. As he got older, and was house trained I leave him out of his kennel while we aren't home. I let him out when I wake up, and leave him out until I'm ready to leave. When it is really nice, I leave him in the backyard all day because he has shade, a kiddie pool full of water, a water bowl and his food bowl. Now that we have a nanny/babysitter she is at the house 3 days a week so she lets him out throughout the day, and the 2 days our son is at her house he just stays in all day like used to always have to do. If we go out of town, he either comes with us, or my sister stays at our house, or he stays at my parents house because they have one of his liter mates.
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My dog is older now (12) so much more low maintenance. The girls help feed her, she goes to the groomer for bath every month, I vacuum everyday, I no longer let her up furniture or even upstairs to limit places I have to vacuum. We have a fenced in yard so she goes out to pee when we're home, and we leave wee wee pads just in case when we're not home.
I can't attest to what I would do when it's a puppy AND young kids. When she was a puppy I was single and living at home so I put her in doggy daycare. Also my parents would walk her for me
If you can take the dog for a good walk/run morning and evening, it should be okay if you can just get someone to do a small walk/pee break midday. But be prepared to use a long weekend or even take time off to crate/potty train the puppy!
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My dog was ok with being alone for oh, seven hours at a time while I was in school when he was a puppy. I'm not sure if he could have handled longer breaks, but luckily we moved into a house and my grandparents moved with us, so once I was working full-time and gone for 10+ hours, they were close enough to drop in and let him out into the yard. If I didn't have family help, I would have probably found a dog walker.
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We got our dog when he was one so already house trained, but our dog walking service offers puppy visits where they come and take them out and help work on the house training.
Even though our dog was older, we didn’t allow him full access to the house for a while. He was crated for a short time, then one room, then a floor, etc. Until we trusted him to not destroy or pee all over. He’s 6 or 7 now and has full access to the house all day (8-9 hrs). He gets a half hour walk before we leave and then another walk and outside in the yard when it’s nice when we get home.
ETA: definitely make the dog walks and responsibilities part of the whole families routine. We walk as a family mainly for our dog but also to get us out in the fresh air. DS pours his food and is learning to throw his ball and sticks in the yard. I vacuum a lot, brush 2x per week and got a roomba to take care of shedding. He does annoy me sometimes because I feel I don’t have enough time or energy to devote to him but he is an integral part of our family.
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I don't work and we have a 12 week old puppy and I literally feel like I can't leave the house. I don't know how people who work have puppies. Not to be Debbie downer, but puppies are a huge responsibility. If you're not a dog person, I would make sure that the main dog care responsibility doesn't fall on you because it can be tiring and draining and can really affect your relationship with the dog. But, I'm also a little bitter because my dog peed on my floor again so maybe you shouldn't take my advice!
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We both work out of the house, sometimes longer hours. We have a dog walker who comes in the middle of the day and takes her our for a half hour walk (or play time inside if the weather is poor). FWIW - she can go the whole day without a potty break...
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Thanks everyone, i have a lot to think about...
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We're similar to SamsMom. We both work full time and raised our labrador from a puppy with our jobs outside the home. I'd come home a few times to let her out when she was little and still being housetrained (crated when we weren't home). We gradually extended our trips away from home as she got older, until we were gone all day at work. She stayed crated when we weren't home until she was completely out of the puppy phase, somewhere around 2 years old. Now she says in our sunroom during the day.
As for balancing the responsibility, training the puppy fell mainly on me. It meant I put in a lot more work on the front end, which I grumbled about at the time. I started sit-stay-etc. at 10 weeks, I think? Now the responsibility is more even between us. I'd suggest having a convo with your husband about how the two of you (and your kids, depending on their ages) will handle it, esp the training and getting up at night to take the dog out until she's housetrained.
@Jmom: So sorry! I remember reading that puppies don't develop the ability to sense when they have to go to the bathroom until around 12 weeks, so even though you're housetraining before then, after that is when it clicks. Training before then gets them in the habit so that when they recognize the sensation, they already know what to do. I hope it clicks for yours soon!
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@afc061018: I had too much faith in my lab pup, I left him out of his crate while at work around 7 months (I know, I've been around the breed my whole life since my parents used to breed them, I don't know what I was thinking). He did great for a month or so, then I worked a surprise 11 hour shift instead of the usual 8 1/2... He ate a hole in the drywall by the front door. He went back to his crate while we were at work until he was at least a year and haven't had problems since.
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@Sams Mom: I have to say, the location of the home seems very purposeful! He probably meant to get outside and go looking for you
Good thing he didn't succeed though!
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@Sams Mom: NO. Omg. We made the same mistake around that age, but we came home and she had taken a bag of red plastic Solo cups and scattered them ALL OVER the living room along with a loaf of bread. It looked like someone had thrown a frat party and we busted out laughing when we walked in the door.
My childhood dog saved us from a fire though. We were sleeping through the fire alarm and our golden retriever woke me up and dragged me into the living room to see the flames. (It was a very small fire, but still!)
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@Mama Bird: It did seem like he was focused on finding us or going potty!
@afc061018: Remington (my current lab) is our sons dog through and through (he ditched me the minute we brought Sam home from the hospital). He has judged out parenting of his human since the start!
Our son has no stranger danger and Remington has all the stranger danger for him! I can see him saving Sam like your Golden did! That is an amazing story, no matter the size of the fire!
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Our dog is outside all day. We have a fenced in backyard and have a doggie door to get into the garage where she has a bed and water bowl to use when she wants. I don't think it's fair to make a dog stay inside all day when people are at work, especially when they can't go use the bathroom when they want. I think it'd be so boring. When our dog was a puppy and not old enough to be left alone outside we left her crated in the house and took turns going home at lunch to let her outside for 30 minutes.
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@alphagam84: For us, the decision to leave our dog inside during the day is based on safety. We live in an extremely hot climate, and AC is a must. The city actually warns people not to leave their dogs out during peak summer. Our lab loves sticks, but she also loves to chomp them (and other yard debris) into small pieces, and we don't want something to be swallowed without us there to help her. At 7, she's pretty laid back, and prefers to spend her day lounging on the couch with her favorite toy. I think it depends on the dog and other circumstances, and everyone has to do what's best for their pup's health and happiness.
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@alphagam84: we leave our dog outside in temperate weather but it's actually illegal to leave your dog outside in the summer where we live. It's way too hot. We have the best of both worlds as we give our dog access to the laundry room with a dog door but a lot of people don't have that option
Our son has no stranger danger and Remington has all the stranger danger for him! I can see him saving Sam like your Golden did! That is an amazing story, no matter the size of the fire!
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