Gosh this is such a difficult one. Every one's experience is going to be different based I think on their own past dog experience and the temperament of the dog/puppy concerned. I have to work, but not fulltime and have the luxury of being able to pick and choose my hours, so I could build it up gradually. I get up early on work days to play/train/ walk Cassie beforehand and when she was tiny would crash out by the time I left, I don't think she realised I left the house. Now she's older she reads the signs and looks for her Kong! I hate leaving her though. She has 1 or 2 visits while I'm gone, depending on the length of my day. I've been lucky to have people who like dogs but can't have one to help out. Where I live is very rural, I can't find a professional dog walker. BUT what I stress is finding people who will help bring up your puppy to be the dog you want. Were do you stop with this , it's just not black and white.
I guess we are fortunate , we are retired but even before this happy event , we were self employed , I worked from home and so leaving a puppy/dog has never been an issue for us . I haven't ever said that working and owning a dog is wrong , it can be done with a happy dog as a result but I do believe it is something that should be planned out carefully and whenever possible to plan in advance . I will even go so far as to state that many rescue shelters are far too black and white in their appraisals , working = no dog which frankly is ridiculous if this is a part time job , or the situation can be well managed . As I said , ours are lucky , we have always been around and also have family living close by to help out if necessary .
We had often talked about getting a dog "one day when we had a big house in the country". I had grown up with dogs, there were usually two or three dogs and cats around, we had a big garden, my mum was at home and there was always someone around. So having a dog in a London house with a postage stamp paved garden was not something I could imagine. Then I had a miscarriage, wanting a puppy turned into needing a puppy. While browsing through a local magazine there was an advert for doggy day care, something I'd not been aware of before. I remember the very moment
After just working out how much I spend on Harley every month, I realised that if I didn't work I probably wouldn't be able to afford to have a dog. I quite often bump into an older lady who regularily walks a lab. We got chatting one day and she told me the dog wasn't hers but one she found on 'borrow my doggy' website. She said she registered then got a call from a local family who couldn't afford dog walking and they met up. They had a few walks together and after a month or so she started collecting the dog around 11am each day and dropping him home around 3pm. She also has him for the odd weekend so the family can have alone time with their children. She says she couldn't manage a dog full time and this was a perfect set up for her and the young family who are now good friends.
sorry sent sorry, sent before I was finished. We found a suitable puppy sitter before I even started looking for a puppy. We picked up Homer at the start of the summer holidays so I could maximise the time I could spend with him before the new term started. He is 4 now and still goes to full day care. He is as loved and well looked after as much with his sitter as with us. He has two homes. This works best for him and us. The cost, well as we say now, it's expensive but still cheeper than day care for a human baby.
We have Bailey, our 11 month old Lab and I do not work outside the home. He is never left for more than three hours. I know how lucky he and I are to be able to do this. My daughter and her husband have 4 month old Hugo, from the same breeder, -same sire. He is also a chocolate Lab. Both my daughter and her husband work full time. For his first 6 weeks with them, one or the other was at home. Since then he is walked at 6.30 am before work and when they come home about 5.30pm. He is left with Kongs, plenty of water, a sand pit and chew toys. Also, Bailey and I visit every day and stay for an hour or more and both dogs love it. When I leave, I leave an exhausted and happy dog, and take my own exhausted, happy dog home. They obviously enjoy each other's company and it is good for both of them. Is there a difference between them that can be traced to their different lifestyles? I don't know. Hugo is a much "naughtier" pup, but he may well have been so anyway. It will be interesting to see how each dog fares as they grow and mature. They each have a family who loves them dearly and are looking after them as best they can.
This whole 'dog aunties' thing is really promising. There ought to be an easy way to match up people who want to spend time with a dog, with people whose dogs are home alone.
We are a large family of 4 children, I gave up work to have my 3 younger children and when they started Primary School and Nursery I went straight back to part time work which was 3 mornings at 3 hours so 4 hours including travelling. We got Hattie when my youngest child was 7 years old, I wanted my children to learn and take responsibility for Hattie which they do. I really admire owners that are so dedicated and thoughtful in ensuring their dogs are well looked after whilst they work and often spend a lot of money to achieve this. My own personal feeling is unless you have the funds to do this maybe getting a dog is not the right decision at that time. We would never have dreamt of owning a dog if I, a teenager or David wasn't able to be at home to be with our dogs if we need to be out for more than 4 hours at a time which is our rule. If we do need to be longer or there's an unavoidable emergency my neighbour has a key and will pop over regularly to see to Hattie & Charlie's needs and I do the same for her dog. I see good and bad owners where we live and it's very sad. I know a lady who has a young rescue dog of around 11 months old who is crated from 8.00 am until 5.00 pm even later, sometimes a neighbour pops round to let him out for a wee, sometimes she takes him to work and he stays in her car all day in all weathers She got him from a very reputable rescue centre that advertises on TV. I can't imagine what they think they are doing rehoming a dog to someone with that work schedule, unless of course she wasn't truthful. We had to jump through hoops to be allowed to rescue Charlie, my working hours had to fit their criteria to the letter and I think that's right. I'm not judging anyone this are my personal feelings. I would always put the needs of a dog before my need and desire to have a dog. xx
This is an interesting thread. I have a full time job but fortunately have a lot of flexibility about my hours. Our schedule is pretty complicated but basically I try to make sure that Jess isn't alone for more than 2-3 hours at a time. That means a dog walker comes in for at least one visit every day. Generally, I was totally unprepared for the amount of time that Jess would need. But the worst bit is that I really thought I knew what to expect! I grew up with kenneled working dogs and thought that once the tiny puppy phase was past then it would be possible for me to leave her for 4 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the afternoon, and to just come home at lunchtime to give her a short walk. That might be possible one day but for now she needs much more company. I've changed my work routine so that I work from home a lot more. When I am out for a full day, Jess is noticeably more unsettled, barky and agitated in the evenings. And that's despite regular visits from a dog walker. So much depends on the dog. Some dogs seem calm and accepting and able to cope with being alone for hours on end. Jess is not one of those dogs! We were incredibly lucky that I have a) a flexible job and b) enough extra money to cover the dogwalking costs and c) enough free time to dedicate to training her. Otherwise I don't know how we would have managed. Caring for Jess also costs vastly more than I initially budgeted for, largely because of the dogwalker but also because I keep buying her things. That said, in principle I do think it's possible to spend relatively little on care and maintenance of a dog once the initial outlay of crate, bed, collar, lead etc is past. It's nice to buy treats and toys etc but you could have a healthy, happy dog without them. But I don't think you can have a healthy, happy dog without giving it a lot of time. In my view, people who have inflexible work hours and an inflexible budget, where they know from the outset that they can't afford a dog walker, need to think really hard about how they are going to give a dog the human contact it needs. I would say a puppy is definitely a bad idea. An adult rescue of the right temperament might be feasible.
I'm very lucky I'm home all day, I can now leave Mabel for up to three hours at a time. She certainly was very unhappy to be left in the beginning and I've had to work at it. We have a local dog walkers and apparently she is brilliant she has been so inundated with requests for doggie day care that she has now taken on a member of staff. We also have a doggie "uncle" who takes out a couple of his neighbour's dogs. As he said he would love a dog but feels at 75 he is too old to own one so this is a fantastic option. I think in my area more and more people are beginning to realise that dogs need company for at least part of the day, although there are still plenty of stories of dogs being left for 8 hours plus a day. I think it definitely is a very tricky subject, I certainly wouldn't dream of judging other owners and welcome many different views. While reading through the posts I get the impression that everyone loves their dogs dearly and wants to do the best and help others do their best too. Hopefully any wouldbe owners who are doing research before they buy a puppy will come across this thread and they will be able to make some informed choices. Regarding cost, I can't imagine how much I've spent some through necessity but if I'm honest a lot because I want to, she's probably more spoilt than by sons
Reading this thread reminds me that 2 or 3 years ago a local dog rescue started a scheme whereby dogs could be "adopted" by people who couldn't take a dog full time, but missed the company of a dog in their lives, for the weekend or similar. I thought about it myself, but I didn't do it because of where I live which is slightly unusual and I didn't think suitable for an adult dog to come into. I don't know if they still do it.
My story is somewhat different, and I may fall into the "frowned-upon" category. I was and am in a "part-time" job, which involves longer and longer hours as the years have gone on. I was mostly off Mondays, but worked half days Tues/Wed and full days Thu/Fri. When we first had Lilly my OH was full time 9-5. We did it all wrong. I think we have been lucky, not withstanding the fact that Lilly has severe bilateral HD. We chose our "breeder" from an ad in the local paper that had a litter ready at around the time we wanted to bring a dog home. Just a bloke with a few working dogs who had bread a few litters from his back garden. Error number one perhaps. We brought Lilly home after a 2 week holiday abroad with 4 weeks of school holidays ahead of us, my OH and I having a mixed bag of days off over this period to be home with the children on their long days. They were 11 and 14 at the time. Responsible mature kids. Honestly. Sophie who was 11 was obsessed with dogs. and walked all our local dogs whenever she could prise them from their owners! The kids were pretty much in charge over this critical period. Error number 2 to....well into double digits? Once the kids were back at school, potentially we needed to cover 8.30am to 1pm (when I could get home) on 2 days a week and 8.30 to 3pm (kids home from school) on another two days. To begin with OH came home from work at midday for a half hour or so. Incidentally, she was on 2 meals a day from when we brought her home at 12 weeks! She usually didn't pee or poop, just enjoyed a wee play. She was well adjusted to her crate and knew when we were going and always went off to her crate for her frozen kong. We gradually built up the crate time almost from when she was first home as we knew we would be using it a lot. From when she was around 18 weeks, OH dropped the lunchtime visit. She was never distressed when we got home, rarely would go outside to relieve herself right away, loved her crate. On the days when there was something else going on that stopped someone being home by 3pm, our neighbour popped in. Even now, I have a friend who dog-walks who I can call on for extra long work days if Sophie is out) Our old neighbour was a vet, newer neighbour worked for the PDSA. They never reported barking from the house. We asked them, as well as friends who walk up and down the road from house to park to school. Lilly was safely de-crated around 9 months (I think) but continued to use her crate by choice until we removed it when she was around 2 years old. So. We bought out a local paper from a casual breeder. Knew nothing about researching and less still about health checks. We left our puppy in charge of our children to train. We left her home alone for 6-7 hours. Lilly is a perfectly gentle well adapted family pet. With HD which hasn't needed surgery. Who sleeps with us at night. Oh, and she has a passion for deer chasing As I say, I think we were very lucky. You may criticise, but to be honest, we knew no better, and as others have said, it is/was accepted practice. Members on here are unique in their outlook for their dogs and are in some ways a little "precious" about what is right or wrong. To be honest, now I have experience, I know we were lucky, and I know how to do things better now. Not that I am planning another dog in even the distant future. Not until I retire in 2025. (There is incidentally something really special about Sophie and Lilly and their relationship which means that Lilly turned out better than she might, even if I had been home alone full time)
We have something in common Jacqui , our last Lab Tess, who we bought in France , came with no papers , no health checks on parents etc . It was a case of, Looks like a Labrador so it must be one ! You have been very honest , I admire that greatly , I guess an awful lot is down to each dog and their needs , how well they can adapt , sounds like Lilly has done just fine x
I feel that since we are on a dedicated Lab forum, you're going to get a certain type of dedicated owner posting here. Are all the full-time-working owners on here? Probably not. This forum is filled with hobbyists, so in my opinion you're going to get a skewed viewpoint. That's the trouble with the internet - it doesn't always provide the full picture because people tend to cluster. I personally don't see a problem with people working full time who own a dog. I do have a problem with owners who work full time and then completely ignore their dogs, as my last roommate ignored hers. I ended up taking the dog out for hikes and walks and played with her. But she was happy enough...granted she was an older mix who liked to sleep, but you get the picture. I don't think we should become slaves to our dogs. We should definitely provide them a full life, but they aren't humans. Wild dogs aren't entertained all the time. That said, I'm currently having an issue with my own pup as I feel like as a single person I might not be enough for him - he might need a bigger "pack" because he's so high energy. The cost of daycare and walkers is quite high in my area. I can't spend $25-35 a day on walkers/daycare...that would be $750-1000 a month. It's seriously stressing me out right now. But I just can't be with him 24/7, it's impossible for me, despite the fact that I work from home. So, it's something I'm currently thinking about. The moderator of our Petco puppy playtime hour has a lab, and she said to me "I thought my lab was rambunctious but Finn is even more rambunctious than mine was". Great.....
I agree with this actually, though I do seem to have become a slave to mine Before I got my dog I would never have dreamed that she would occupy so much of my time and money. Partly I do it because I love her and her progress brings me huge enjoyment. And partly I do it because she's a very energetic and quite demanding dog, and I'm hoping that lots of time invested in her at this stage (she's not quite a year) will pay off in a calm adult. But yeah, I definitely didn't envisage becoming quite so obsessed with my dog!
I haven’t been on this forum for a while…I’m not sure I’ll be back all that often! Will I be deleted for having a rant, I wonder… Where on earth does all this ‘don’t judge me!’ ‘don’t shame me!’ and so on come from? Seriously! Get a grip. No-one should be criticised for anything that only is about themselves or themselves and other consenting adults. I have no business commenting on what you look like, what you wear, what you do behind closed doors with consenting adults, or whether or not you are right to worship at the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (I am a fully paid up member myself, btw, and will defend to the death my right to worship the Flying Spaghetti Monster). But, as soon as your actions impact on others – other human adults, children, animals or the future environment of our planet, you are fair game for being ‘judged’. If you treat your dogs in a way that I think is rubbish, I’m going to say so. And I couldn’t give a Flying Spaghetti Monster that you think that’s unfair. Because it’s not about you. ‘Hi, I’m John and I hunt endangered whales during the week, and club seals to death as a hobby on the weekend! I hope I’m in a place where I won’t be shamed and judged for that, because that would make you very bad people!’. Sigh. Anyway. Have I been deleted yet? If not, I’ll write a response about leaving dogs and puppies alone during the day.
