Hello, new here and considering getting a dog

i really dont think you should get a dog, that is a really really long time to be alone. unless you could drop it off at your moms then that would be ok.  otherwise i really think you should get 2 cats or a hamster, or you could get 2 hamsters if you get dwarf ones.  i have 5 hamsters so if you decide to go that route i can give you lots of info on how to take care of them and stuff.  i feel bad when my dog is at home alone for one or two hours.  she even freaks out if i leave in the car when i go into a store.

ORIGINAL: jeano

Hey, here's an idea:

How about you drop your dog off at your mom's every day when you go to work? It sounds like she's already got quite a few animals, what's one more adult, housetrained one? (I agree that you ought to get an adult rescue--that doesn't mean it has to be elderly, though!)

yeah, i thought of that initially, but then it was a bummer when i remembered that her house is loaded with cats. i'd have to wash the poor thing every day.

ORIGINAL: jay
i really dont think you should get a dog, that is a really really long time to be alone. unless you could drop it off at your moms then that would be ok.  otherwise i really think you should get 2 cats or a hamster, or you could get 2 hamsters if you get dwarf ones.  i have 5 hamsters so if you decide to go that route i can give you lots of info on how to take care of them and stuff.  i feel bad when my dog is at home alone for one or two hours.  she even freaks out if i leave in the car when i go into a store.

admittedly, that's what i was thinking before i even posted this thread. however, i've taken a lot of the "pro-get-a-dog" opinions into consideration.

i don't know, i can't imagine a dog being better off left in a shelter cage than in a comfortable home with everything he/she would ever want and two loving owners.

I agree, and you have days off right?  As long as you are willing to devote plenty of before/after work and off work time to the dog, you can make it work and it will def be a better life than the pound.  I think its not a good idea for people who work then get home and want alone time or to have "personal time" to have a dog.  For me, "personal time" stinks without a dog around....

My dogs are home alone for at least 8 hrs and they do fine.  But my life revolves around them, so they get attention before I leave, then we spend the evenings training or just hanging out.  They sleep all day anyway.  When I DO stay home during the week, they nap all day and get ready to play in the afternoons.[]

Is is possible to adopt two dogs so they can keep each other company?  Sometimes you will find dogs that the rescues want to place together...

ORIGINAL: loveukaykay

I agree, and you have days off right?  As long as you are willing to devote plenty of before/after work and off work time to the dog, you can make it work and it will def be a better life than the pound.  I think its not a good idea for people who work then get home and want alone time or to have "personal time" to have a dog.  For me, "personal time" stinks without a dog around....

we go out occasionally, but we're mostly house people. so, he or she will have no problem with us being home on weekends. and if we have to go out to resolve stuff, the dog will be used to it.

...i'm hoping.

ORIGINAL: colliewog

When I DO stay home during the week, they nap all day and get ready to play in the afternoons.[]

thanks for pointing that out. i created a similar thread on my own forum ([link>http://www.encircling.us/forums/showthread.php?t=5332]link[/link]) and one of the posters mentioned that dogs are great at adapting to their owner's schedules.

i also wanted to clarify for anyone who might think that we're leaving the dog in a crate...NO WAY. i could never do that to an animal.

what we plan on doing is leaving the doors to both rooms and the guest bathroom closed. that will leave the dog with the entire house to roam around.

i was thinking that since the dog has had a little bit of training peeing inside a crate (at the shelter), that we could leave a open crate where he/she could do its business.

So have you found a dog already?
Have you thought about two dogs so they can keep each other company?
What breeds are you thinking of?
What state are you in?
Just really wondering where you are with the whole thing.
 
I think you should get a dog there are a lot less responsible people out there with dogs at least you are getting info and trying to find a breed that works for you and your family.
Julie

ORIGINAL: momtomany

So have you found a dog already?
Have you thought about two dogs so they can keep each other company?
What breeds are you thinking of?
What state are you in?
Just really wondering where you are with the whole thing.

I think you should get a dog there are a lot less responsible people out there with dogs at least you are getting info and trying to find a breed that works for you and your family.
Julie

we were planning to go the pound on saturday or sunday.
i'm leaning towards bichon frise. hopefully they have bichon/poodle mixes there. something hypoallergenic.
i'm in florida.

thanks for the comments. i know this is a huge decision. it's a living thing, not a new toy.  

if you re set on getting a dog then maybe a smaller dog that doesnt need much exercise would be a good choice, it doesnt sound like you would have the time for one hour plus of walking or otherwise exercising daily?  but if you leave a dog in a pound someone else who has more time for it would likely wind up adopting it.  a lot of pounds have a no kill policy.  also if your dog is unhappy being left alone for so long it could become destructive and i dont think you would like that very much and then it could possilby just wind up back at the pound anyway.  just some stuff to think about.  most dogs really need a lot of time with people and a lot of exercise.  i hope i dont sound too negative i just want you to think about everything and if the dog will really be happy.

sorry we were posting at the same time so thats why i mentioned getting a smaller dog i didnt know what type you were planning on but i see you are looking at smaller ones.   keep in mind theres not a lot of selection at the pounds, mostly big dogs and mostly pit bulls.  whenever small ones do come it they go fast!  so you might hafta visit the pound every day for a while before you get your hands on one.

Well I have a Shih tzu and I can tell you they are not yappy at all.
(I know 6 other people who have them and none of them are yappy),
but I would not recommend a shih tzu for your situation if you plan on
leaving them home all day. They are not the type of dog that you should
leave home all day.

The only exception I could see to that rule would be if you would invest
in a dog walker that would come twice a day or put the dog in doggie daycare or
with a pet sitter during the day.

There is no way with your schedule you could properly train a puppy to go outside.
Especially for a smaller toy breed like a shih tzu. Sorry to say it, but a puppy needs a ton of attention and even doggie day cares usually do not take dogs that are not vacinated or housetrained. You cannot just install a doggie door and expect a puppy to know to go outside. When first housetraining a puppy you need to go outside with them and teach them about going outside.

Would your mom be willing to take a puppy outside every 30-45 minutes when it is 8-12 weeks old?

I take it from your other posts you have decided against a puppy?

Another option would be to train the dog to use a litter box, but I would never recomend that because then wherever you go you need to bring the litter box.

I know you wrote that you would give the dog free acess to the house. I would recomend against this. Everything I have read indicates dogs are given free acess to the house way to soon and they can destroy a lot while you are gone all day. Why not try a smaller space at first and try it out?

I have also heard yorkshire terriers and bichon frise don't like being left alone long either. All of these breeds are very people oriented.

If you don't want to litter train, can't have someone take the dog out at least once during the day, or give him access to the yard through a doggie door, then I would say you are not ready for a dog.

You mention a yorkie or a bichon frise... i have a siiiimple solution for you, but if you get a puppy, you'll need to take time off work (or hire someone) to train the pup- In my Opinon). Most toy breeds are easily puppy pee pad trained and or litter trained, yes, that's right litter trained just like a cat!!!! This would resolve soo many issues you'd have with your busy life style. 1. your doggie could be in your house 24/7 and only outside *safe* with you to play and romp in the yard and to enjoy the sun, without being stolen or getting loose. 2. after they're trained to potty in the litter, no more messes!!! No worrying if your doggie is at home crying to go outside to potty. I have 3 pomeranians, I have been taking 2 of them outside to potty since they were puppies, but like a lot of toy breeds they have their accidents... but my male solved this delema by when he has to pee and he's in the house, he finds one of the puppy pee pads i have layed out and he pees right on it for me! I praise him for this because it's MUCH better than him peeing on my floor or on my bed lol! He litterally potty trained himself! My younger female that i've outside potty trained, who is now 8 months old JUST now stopped having accidents in her crate for about a month and a half now... before atleast every day there was atleast some pee in her crate in the morning when I went to take her out. It was messy, and she'd needed a good bath constantly because of it, so would you with wanting a yorkie or a bichon. My oldest female, was abused and who ever owned her obviously never potty trained her or took her outside on a leash (she has no idea what a leash is or how to walk with one) i am teaching her the puppy pee pad method, which is really just luck of the draw... I will be getting a kitty litter box, and litter safe for dogs (incase she were to ingest some) and it would be a great thing if i could potty her that way, which would mean no more puppy pee pads!
 
Basically what im getting at, is toy breeds need a lot of potty time... if not, and in most cases, they'll just "shrug their shoulders" and potty anyhow in the house where ever they feel like it. So if you could possbly find a rescue with a tad older already trained toy breed that was trained on puppy pee pads or in the litter I'd make sure they're telling the truth and try that out!!! You say cats are low mantanance... and im guessing you're meaning that because they'll potty in their litter... well you can have that with a doggie too! There is MANY people who do it.. and that i haven't noticed on this thread ... yet (sorry if it is mentioned) i wanted to speak up about the litter thing! All hope is not lost! There are also wonderful breeders out there (i hope to be one of these eventually) who will littertrain and or puppy pee pad train the young pups at an early age (my mom trained her husky pups to do this their new owners were so impressed they called back in astonisment to tell my mom thanks for taking away that specific hastle for them) so by the time you get them the puppy will be in the habit of potting in that specific area or litter box.
 
I hope i made sense, im sorta in a hurry, but i wanted to get that out in the opened for you to consider!  

I also wanted to mention something... i read today from a pomeranian thread that "hypoallergenic" dogs really aren't hypoallergenic... since it's really their dried saliva that causes most allergies and not their dander ( i am not an expert on this, this is what i read) so if the dog licks it's paws (like a lot of doggies do every now and then) you can still get allergies from this. I also found out that "nonshedding" dogs actually do shed, it's just that the way their fur is, it keeps the shedded portion in the fur until brushed out. Just some "food for thought" i read about in the past few days!!! Really has nothing to do with this thread.... but maybe it does?
 
I also wanted to add, that NONE of my pomies are yappy... a lot of toy breeds that are yappy are yappy because they weren't properly trained. My pomies know if they make noise they'll get a stern "no!" and a finger point from me. they shush up and sit down listening to me.

My dogs are home alone all day when I am at work. Boss has free reign of the house, but only after earning that privelage. Gracie is crated. When I can I come home on lunch to let them out, but it's not often.
 
Crating is not cruel, it's safe for the dog actually and your home. They sleep much of the time anyway. I gave mine too much freedom in the house before and he didn't know what to do with himself. He ate my brand new furniture, my shoes, got into dangerous stuff so back to the crate he went. He is okay being out now, but it took some doing.
 
I spend a few hours with them before I go to work and they are all over the house the rest of the night and sleep with me.
 
People with dogs work all over the world every day. I would love to be home with mine all day, but I am a single woman and have bills to pay. Doesn't mean I can't love a dog and that I can't provide one with a loving home and it doesn't mean that you can't either.
 
Good luck in your decision.

You can use potty pads so the dog can relieve itself indoors. I really don't think that many hours of being alone is good for a dog. I have a bichon frise and if i leave her for just 3 hours she acts all depresssed. And please don't leave it in a crate!! I hate when people expect their dog to be entertained for that long of a time in a cage.