Myself and my fiancée both work full-time, we have wanted a dog for years but felt it wouldn't be right leaving one at home all day. We both had dogs in our childhood homes but have just had a cat for the last 8 years since we've lived together. We're away from the house for about 8 hours (her) and 10 hours (me) Monday-Friday. We're both very active and do a lot of walking and running in our spare time and would love a dog to accompany us on our activities. We'd like a puppy so we can train him properly but are concerned about leaving him all day. We're looking at options such as taking him to work (our ideal solution though least likely) getting someone to pop in whilst we're out (won't be every day) or taking him round someone else's whilst we're out (the most likely, though not guaranteed). Neither of us are available to pop home at lunch unfortunately as work too far away. Have read the articles on this site and it seems like we could make it work but isn't ideal. Do you think it's doable or is it simply not recommend to get an active sociable dog if we can't be with him during the day? We'd play with and walk him every morning and evening and of course weekends. Many thanks for any advice.
Hello there, and a very warm welcome. For me, this question is just not black and white, there is no clear answer. I also don't think that the answer is the same at all stages of your dog's life. One thing that I feel very strongly about is that this is not about whether you work or not, it's about your resources to meet your dog's needs. You can meet those needs in a range of ways, but all of them involve spending money, or effort, arranging activities for your dog while you work. Getting someone to pop in is the absolute minimum, really. But a pop in doesn't provide your dog with company or activity. It isn't ok to leave a very young puppy, or even teenage dog, alone for 8 hours. While it might be ok, it also might not - and the chances of it not being ok are really quite high. Some dogs might be ok with being left for 8 hours once a bit older, and a careful regime to get them used to it, others not. My own dog could do 8 hours alone without coming to any harm but only for a day or so. Longer than that and his behaviour would change, and he would suffer if this were all week. I would look carefully at your finances and budget for dog ownership - take into account everything, vet's bills, insurance, kennels, cost if there is a serious health problems and work out whether you could afford a dog walker? A good run out for an hour in the middle of the day, and then the dog being left with a pile of kongs, can often make all the difference. This isn't a solution for a puppy though, because their exercise should be restricted at first (plus 7 hours even with a run in the middle is too much for a small pup).
Thanks for the advice. Money isn't a problem but time during the week is. If we can't get someone to puppy sit during the day Mon-Fri then we won't get one. Shame as we'd love a dog but accept that it wouldn't be fair.
Where do you live? If you have a decent budget, then it just depends on what services are available to you. I live in London, UK. Here, there are puppy sitters, puppy creches, daycare options, dog house sitters, individual dog walkers, group dog walkers....
Thanks, good suggestion. Live in Norfolk and it looks like there are plenty of dog walkers about. The difficult bit will be the puppy stage though as you say.
The early months are difficult - I managed, though. I worked horribly long hours when I got my puppy, but I found ways to make it work. I found a puppy creche run by a local dog training company, that helped a lot. I paid my (future) dog walker to do 3 or 4 x 1 hour puppy visits (bit expensive but it wasn't for long), and I found a young mum in the next street, with a new baby, who didn't mind hanging out at my place and was fab with puppies. I got my old Dad to come stay with us....and so on. I managed, then my dog got older, and it got easier. All of that is behind me now, and I have an adult dog that fits in with my life (I still rely very heavily on dog walkers though).
It may be worth reading Pippa's book 'The Labrador Handbook' for some insight on living with a Labrador and also her 'Happy Puppy Handbook' which covers the raising of a puppy. Puppies are hard work and require generally quite an effort to turn them into the dogs you remember from your childhood.
I feel for you Jeremy. I have taken some leave from work to get through the puppy stage. And when I go back to work my wife has two weeks off. And when that's over we will be looking at doggy day care twice a week. I work shifts so I will be home the other times. It's hard to make it work and juggle full time work and a puppy, but if you are smart about it, it can work. Take all the puppy's needs into consideration and make sure he gets enough socialisation and training and I believe you can make it work. But, be aware that it won't be easy. However, it will get better. My puppy is only ten weeks now and I have already seen an improvement from when he was 8 weeks. If things keep going the way they are then it's gonna be fine. Best of luck with it
My hubby works full time and I work 9 days a fortnight (every second Friday off). From the age of 9 months to 2 years our dog Obi did 5 days of day care which we gradually reduced to 4 days then 3 days then at 2 yrs of age we reduced it to 2 days a week. We got him at 9 months of age. Our dog Obi has now been doing 2 days a week of daycare (eg Tues and Thurs) for the last 2 years (ie. since he was 2 yrs old) and that's been fine, along with a daily weekday 40 min walk, longer weekend walks, cafe outings and dog club training on weekends. He sleeps on our bed too which I count a bit towards 'people time'. On non-daycare days when we're both at work he's alone in the house for about 8.5 hours. If we're ever at home on those days when he'd normally be alone we've found that he just sleeps all day. At his current daycare he does a group on lead walk, swimming, rest at lunch, another outing and another walk after lunch, and a training session (tricks or recall or sitting quietly at a cafe or something). It's all group based. He's very tired after each daycare day. We initially used a daycare that was basically free-for-all playing all day, and it was a bit wild and I wouldn't recommend that kind of model. I say he's pretty typical of Labradors in terms of his energy levels and entertainment needs (not crazy but definitely not totally laid back either). Our dog seems content with the current regime and isn't asking for attention all the time or showing any signs of being under-occupied or bored. So, you can definitely do it if you take advantage of dog care services. It's a fair bit of time (ferrying the dog about to daycare) and money in the first year but you can probably wind it back gradually after that. I know that 5 days of daycare would be too much for my dog now at 4 yrs old but 2 days a week seems a good level of activity, judging by his fairly calm behaviour.
^^^ this is valuable discussion and encouraging to see, taking into account everyone's circumstances. I like how there are people who make this work in the real world of people working. Sure, it's not ideal, but when is life ever perfect and ideal. Well done Oberon and JulieT.
I wouldn't rule out getting an adult dog. I'm having great fun training Coco, and he's very receptive to it (oops I've forgotten the first few weeks!). It does eliminate that puppy stage which need so much time on your part, and you have a dog you can take on your lovely long walks straight away. It's just something to think about.
Welcome to the forum! I am also a working Mum. We were complete novices - it was pre-lab forum, and OH had a dog when he was in his teens, me, never. We planned Lilly's arrival to coincide with school holidays so my son and daughter (14 and 11 at the time) had her home for the first 4-5 weeks. She was a little older when we picked her up as the breeder had kept her longer until after our holiday - around 11 weeks. Here is the first potential stumbling block - the kids were doing the basic training, really, not ideal, and I guess if you handed this over to someone else, you would need to know what they were doing, and HOW they were doing it with your pup. When the kids went back to school, Lilly was home alone from 8.30am to 12.30 when OH popped home at lunch for half an hour, and then until 3.15 when Sophie got home from school. By that stage we rarely had accidents, and the lunchtime visits only lasted about a fortnight as she was more interested in playing than popping out for a pit stop. A friend took her for a short walk if we were unable to get home. She was happy in her crate, and loved stuffed kongs. Personally we didn't use puppy pads or an inside toileting area. By the time we were leaving her, she was pretty much house trained. Lilly adapted really well and she is a contented inside dog. Perhaps Lilly's "selective hearing recall" stems from getting her a little older, and lack of structured training in the early weeks - in retrospect, leaving it to the kids, keen though they were, might not have been in her favour, but it seemed a pragmatic solution at the time Overall things have worked out fine for us. Lilly is really pretty laid back and sleeps all day (she is almost 6) if nothing is going on. Things could have been so much different though. I can relate to Rachael's (Oberon's) comment about needing more input and structure - and financial input - over the first year in particular, then being able to slowly reduce the need for daycare and so forth. I am glad you have found the forum. You are quite rightly giving this a lot of thought. All dogs are different and I don't see why this shouldn't work for you, based on my limited experience. It is really hard work at the beginning before you get a dog the fits your lifestyle. Do expect the worst, though, then be pleased if you get an angel of a dog and it turns out much better
We both work and so had to look into options for puppy care before we got our puppy. I'm a teacher so fortunately was able to pick up our little 8 week old fur ball the first weekend on the summer holidays and had him with me for 7 weeks. Then the new term started he went to his puppy sitter during the day Monday to Friday. They picked him up at about 9 am and drop him off by 5pm. They work as a team and take dogs out in different groups so when he was little they took him out with older less boisterous dogs for shorter walks and now he's off on runs leading the pack. Although he's now nearly 4 years old we've kept up the all day care arrangement except for school holidays when he's with me. It's expensive but worth it.
I think there is one thing that you need to think about, but I don't think that it need stop you - it is something to consider though. My dog had a health problem that needed surgery and a long rehabilitation. This was very difficult while working. It happened twice. The first time, I paid for him to stay in a specialist rehabilitation centre, because I just couldn't take enough time off work (6 to 8 weeks) to care for him properly. It wasn't ideal in terms of my dog being away from home, but he got excellent health care. It was very expensive though. The second time, I just changed my working arrangements - I basically changed the way I did my job to work at home. I could only do this because the work I do is flexible. Without this, I would have had to rely on paid for services again. This would be exactly the same if someone worked and had a sick child etc and had planned to work and use childcare services, only employers tend to be a bit more flexible for children rather than dogs!
Yes, we had two dogs when we both worked full time. They went to doggy day care, ideal if you have a good one nearby .
You can do it. It takes a huge amount of planning, and there is lots of valuable material on this site and great experiences you can draw from the members on here. Exactly as JulieT says, it is the early months that are difficult, but manageable with foresight, money (or family and very good friends. )You also need this time to set up good habits with your pup, and that takes time in developing and training, you just can't rush these things. We both work full-time..and have three dogs one being a 16week old puppy. We both had some time off work, which have meant I don't back until next week,and the new job is more flexible. Brambles will be 18 weeks before she needs to be left for more that 2 hours, we have trained her carefully to be content alone for up to 2 hours. Maximum will be 3 hours. We do have more than one dogwalker, and this does help, plus very dog savvy parents just minutes away for emergencies. So they have a mixture of visits, group walks, and one to one walks. There are lots of dogwalkers out there, take time with your research and vetting...just because they say the love dogs, and the dogs are always tired when returned home, just isn't enough in my book.
Hi there We both work full-time and currently have Maddie who is a 10 year old Choc, we are about to get a new puppy (end of May). Fortunately we have two fantastic dog walkers who share the day care and are happy and willing to take on the puppy. I fully appreciate we are very lucky, they only walk labs so know exactly what they're dealing with! Winnie the new puppy will be 13 wks when she goes with Maddie to day care. I can't imagine not having a dog in my life and other posts are correct it is very doable but the essential component is ensuring your dog/s get the right care and attention. This takes planning and commitment from all parties. I work in education so during the summer hols Maddie really misses her day care buddies and we have to meet up, they're all great friends and love being together. My advice would be plan it all out first, get recommendations for doggy day care (word of mouth is better than an ad). Go and meet them for a walk and if you're happy book a place. Once you know you've got it all organised you can then look for a puppy!
Hello @Branston1080 and welcome to the forum Why don't you pop over to the Introductions section and tell us a little bit about yourself and Maddie x
I am in a similar situation (work full time away from the house). And i wanted a puppy next but I may have to put that off again. I adopted slightly older dogs. My lab, Rocky, i got when he was just under 2 years of age (He is now 11). And my second dog, Penny, when she was around 7-10 months (she is now 3ish). They were able to be home all day. When I first got Penny I did have a dog walker a few days a week but that's trickled off. I'd keep it up but finances were not allowing for it. Adoption doesn't mean a rescue dog with problems, can be a dog a breeder held back and then decided to place in a pet home. Or a dog returned to a breeder. (mine were from rescues but Rocky has NO temperament issues, he's a gem). I am up early to walk them, and I make a point of rarely going out in evenings (with the two of you that'll be a bit easier!) But evenings and weekends ARE dog time, since they are alone so much on a work day. It's not ideal, some people call me cruel to have dogs alone all day but i don't think they are unhappy But if you are ready to work with a puppy and can afford mid-day breaks then go for it. I would realllllly question any daycare for a young puppy on how they manage as they will be doing the bulk of the "dog socialization" if the dog is there all day everyday. You want things to be well.
I work too, but only 25-30 hours a week. I'm lucky in that I work 5 mins from home and am flexible in my hours. I can also sometimes take her to work with me (I work with children and young people so use her for rewards for them. I took 2 weeks off when we got her, then spent the next 4 weeks on reduced hours to get her used to being alone for periods of time. I use a dog walker twice a week and use them for daycare and the very occasional overnight. I took ages to find a dog walker I was happy with........I had met with 7 before finding my current walkers. My husband used to work 12 hour shifts, but is now self employed so is in and out of the house a lot which helps. Harley is now 2.5 years old and is happy to be left alone ..........I have a limit if 4 hours max alone time before going home for at least 30 mins. Good luck and let us know what you decide
