Is a puppy a good idea?

    • Puppy

    Is a puppy a good idea?

    I've been considering getting a puppy for a while, but want to make sure I'm ready for all that entails before I take the final step.  I live in a condo with my elementary school aged daughter, no backyard, but easy outside access.  I leave for work before sun up and get home around 2 in the afternoon 5 days a week.  Would a puppy be okay in a crate for that amount of time?  I have a week of vacation time when I'm thinking of getting the puppy, so that would help ease transition a bit.  Also for a few weeks I might be able to have someone come around 8am to let puppy out.  Any good resources for a first time dog owner?  I really want to do things right to be fair to the puppy!  Oh, and no idea what type of puppy it will be...

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    • Gold Top Dog

    Hi,

    The best advice is do your homework. A puppy is a lot of work especially with having a young daughter too. Maybe consider a rescue that is already a little older but still young. A good rescue would help you find a dog that is perfect for your family. I would suggest something smaller and by getting a dog that is maybe a year or so old they are out of that crazy puppy stage and most are already housebroken. With no backyard whether you have a small dog or a medium size dog they need to be walked everyday! Read about different breeds to make sure you find the dog for you and your daughter. Please don't hesitate to reach out when you find a dog, I'd be happy to help any way I can. Good luck!

    • Gold Top Dog

    @Michele68

    Hi,

    The best advice is do your homework. A puppy is a lot of work especially with having a young daughter too. Maybe consider a rescue that is already a little older but still young. A good rescue would help you find a dog that is perfect for your family. I would suggest something smaller and by getting a dog that is maybe a year or so old they are out of that crazy puppy stage and most are already housebroken. With no backyard whether you have a small dog or a medium size dog they need to be walked everyday! Read about different breeds to make sure you find the dog for you and your daughter. Please don't hesitate to reach out when you find a dog, I'd be happy to help any way I can. Good luck!

    To add to  all the good stuff Michelle already gave you stuff to think about.

    A *puppy* in particular needs FAR FAR more than just a walk every evening/morning.  They need exercise ... they need ***training*** ... and they need your life to conform to the "eat .... PLAY .... pee .... PLAY ....sleep .... PLAY .... PLAYYYY (er crash snooze) ... POOP .... PLAY ... oh yeah .. EAT .... PLAY PLAY PLAY" and repeat.

    Some breeds are more difficult than others ...

    However -- let me also tell you to do more homework than you ever imagined!

    1.  Breed  personality -- some breeds (I'll pick on  beagles because I *have* a hound mix) really really do NOT do well a-l-o-n-e all day     without other  dog company or they will bark ... and howl ... and BARK ... and did I mention H-O-W-L????  

    It can happen and it can get you in trouble with your association quicker than you can spit in the President's eye!  

    And let's not pick on just beagles there -- some breeds are FAR more social than others.  And barking at home isn't just "I'm bored" ... it's also "I heard THAT and I gotta tell all the dogs in the neighborhood about it!!"

    Some dogs may develop separation anxiety  and can be a huge challenge alone during the day.  

    2.  Ditto #1  for even young dogs who have lost their home.  My husband and I always "rescue" ... and honestly I've gotten into a couple of difficult situations because we took on a dog that turned out to be really unhappy during the day and can exhibit a barkfest all day long.  My hound mix wasn't a young puppy when we'd gotten her (about 8-9 months old ) -- but she'd never been left  during the day (she wasn't alone - we have two other dogs).  She was used to doggie daycare all day every day and    she's incredibly good in social dog situations.  But she has always been a huge challenge during the day.  She hates being crated and has destroyed literally thousands of dollars worth of crates.  So we tried to train her to be "out" but not only is she unbelievably destructive she gets into situations where she harms herself (like pulling TVs off the Entertainment Center and literally breaking THROUGH the bedroom door (as in making a 2 1/2 foot **hole* * in the middle of a hollow-core door) because  she wanted to see what was going on in the other half of the house.

    3.  There are some breeds -- like pugs -- who just plain do not do at all well "alone" -- they are super social, great with kids, but they need people, or other dogs at least.  

    4.  You are, I hope, considering things like the more energetic the breed the more they must have adequate (read "almost non stop" at times) exercise..  Not just when the weather is nice, and not just when no one has a cold and doesn't want to get up early (I'm not casting this on you -- these are decisions *I* have had to make and I'm pretty normal and pretty human, so it's worth consideration).  I'm just not a 'big dog' person for that reason -- I just can't handle the exercise they need. Nor am I a terrier person for the same reason ....

    This is tough when you have a small family.  

    5.  My biggest plea, however is -- **Please** consider a more mature dog!! .  Again, I'm not pointing a finger at you, specifically -- I'm simply suggesting you consider the dog that others don't even look at.  

    The dog who is no longer a puppy.  Maybe   3 - 5 years old.  But my humans got divorced, or  my human got cancer and died .... or the kids went to college and no one wanted to walk me any more.  My humans finally got pregnant and no one wanted to deal with a dog and a baby.  

    In fact I absolutely think the best dogs out there tend to be 5 - 7 years old.  Often they are so darned glad to get a real home with someone to cuddle with they would turn themselves inside out to please you.  Unless you're talking "giant breed" here most dogs today typically live far longer than  12 -- 15 and older is more like it.  

    6.  Try using something like Petfinder.com  (and there are others)  where you may go thru either an Animal Control for a city, or a rescue group.  But the advantage there is if you go thru a rescue (and some are good, and some ... aren't *sigh*) BUT you will get a chance to find out from whoever has fostered the dog what they are and aren't good at.  Why was the dog in rescue?  Any health issues?  How good is the dog with not just YOUR kids but with other kids??

    7.  Go to breed rescue pages thru the AKC.org.  That tends to be people totally immersed in their breed but who ALSO are  fully immersed in rescue.  You will read things like "if you don't want to clean up unbelievable amounts of doghair -- do NOT get a pug" ... in short they don't want to see any more dogs of their breed without homes because someone really didn't have a clue about the breed.

    If your daughter tends to have friends over a lot and they love to run around screaming (because they're normal little girls??) -- don't get a herding dog     who will think "oh, I need to contain all these wild human beasts"  and some kid goes home complaining your dog was barking at their heels.

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    I'm not trying to discourage you from getting a dog.  But when you live in a contained situation without a yard, where you work and your child is school-aged, I'm never firmly convinced a puppy is **ever** the easy solution.  Yes, it can work **but** it is hard, hard hard sometimes.

    This isn't Timmy and Lassie who had a farm and an entire countryside to play in.  This is the "new millennium" where we all have schedules, and condo associations and  everyone works *out* of the home and you have to carry poop bags every where you go.

    I will say that the  ASPCA Complete Guide to Dogs is one of the best books out there -- it's got a darned good  capsule description of each breed,      but it also shows pictures of what "Mixes" of that breed may look like (so if you want to go to Animal Control looking you have a good clue of what mix that dog might be).

    But you honestly may find that a middle aged dog has TONS of energy to keep up with your child, and yet they may place far far less of a drain on you.  Make a **good** vet your first stop -- and ask tons of questions *anywhere* about how good this dog is with other dogs, do they know how good/bad the dog is with men, kids, other animals?

    And please -- don't get a dog "for" Christmas.  Unless you are prepared to totally alter your schedule to make the dog the only focus.  

    Chalk me up as an old lady with too much experience.  But even with as many many breeds of dogs as I've had experience with -- man, I've been so surprised a couple of times.  And my husband and I never ever give up on a dog but man -- the adjustment can be .... tough.  But I've had so many mature dogs who were beyond a 'delight' and their wisdom and adaptability have been incredible.  

    • Bronze

    I think that getting a puppy is an awesome idea as long as you have the time to give him love and care. I don't think that leaving a dog in a crate during a whole work day 5 days a week is a good idea. A dog needs space to exercise. When I need to go out an leave my dog at home I just leave her free to walk around.