Dog v Job: how do you manage?
Discussion
I love dogs, always have and would give my right arm to have one. However, I am a single chap with a job which requires a 40 mile round trip commute. Therefore I am away from the home for approximately ten hours a day, five days a week.
How many of you dog owners are in a similar situation? And how do you look after your pooch? Getting home at lunchtime is not really an option for me sadly and of course I wouldn't ever leave a dog alone for that length of time.
I live in central London FWIW. Is a lunchtime dog-walker an option perhaps?
Any ideas greatly appreciated.
TIA.
How many of you dog owners are in a similar situation? And how do you look after your pooch? Getting home at lunchtime is not really an option for me sadly and of course I wouldn't ever leave a dog alone for that length of time.
I live in central London FWIW. Is a lunchtime dog-walker an option perhaps?
Any ideas greatly appreciated.
TIA.
I'd love a dog.
We live opposite a country park, so walks would be fab... but I leave the house before 6am, and it's a result if I'm home by 8pm. The same is true of the missus.
Sadly, I just don't think it's fair for us to have one.
OP - living in London, there will be a dog walker about... just depends what it costs.
We live opposite a country park, so walks would be fab... but I leave the house before 6am, and it's a result if I'm home by 8pm. The same is true of the missus.
Sadly, I just don't think it's fair for us to have one.
OP - living in London, there will be a dog walker about... just depends what it costs.
Great Pretender said:
I love dogs, always have and would give my right arm to have one. However, I am a single chap with a job which requires a 40 mile round trip commute. Therefore I am away from the home for approximately ten hours a day, five days a week.
How many of you dog owners are in a similar situation? And how do you look after your pooch? Getting home at lunchtime is not really an option for me sadly and of course I wouldn't ever leave a dog alone for that length of time.
I live in central London FWIW. Is a lunchtime dog-walker an option perhaps?
Any ideas greatly appreciated.
TIA.
Always had dogs in my family, probably the only negative about moving out was not having a dog/s around!How many of you dog owners are in a similar situation? And how do you look after your pooch? Getting home at lunchtime is not really an option for me sadly and of course I wouldn't ever leave a dog alone for that length of time.
I live in central London FWIW. Is a lunchtime dog-walker an option perhaps?
Any ideas greatly appreciated.
TIA.
When I was younger my mum worked long hours but my grandparents lived with us so the dogs (retriever and 2 labs, then just the 2 labs, then one, then another lab!!) always had company. However, when my grandparents died and I moved out my mum got a dog walker for Monty. Worked well, my mum would leave the house around 8 and be home around 5.30/6. The dog walker took him out for a 45 minute walk in mid afternoon and my mum would walk him before work for 45 as well. Never a problem and he was a very happy dog.
She has 2 more labs now and the same set up but I think that having 2 does eliminate any loneliness.
Breed is important I would imagine but I don't know how it would be with a puppy as we always had rescue dogs.
I used to work with someone who had a Jack Russell-y thing (not knowledgeable about dogs) that sat under her desk all day - she took it out at lunch-time, and walked to and from work.
Is taking it to work an option?
The OH used to get trainee dogs from the Dogs for the Deaf training school to look after at weekends too - she used to get the same dog throughout it's training so she got to know them. Of course she ended up 'adopting' one that was too much of a dumb-ass to pass the course, but them's the risks you take
Is taking it to work an option?
The OH used to get trainee dogs from the Dogs for the Deaf training school to look after at weekends too - she used to get the same dog throughout it's training so she got to know them. Of course she ended up 'adopting' one that was too much of a dumb-ass to pass the course, but them's the risks you take
Food for thought folks, thank you.
GP Snr has a Chocolate Lab (which replaced me when I left for uni ha!), and he suffers with lonliness when Dad's out of the house. Kennels are a no-no too; seems poor doggy doesn't cope if he's separated from Dad for more than 24hrs. Bless.
Anyway, my point is that I wouldn't get a dog if there was any risk that it would suffer unecessarily by being alone.
A dog walker could well be an option, but there's an inherent trust issue there to get round also.
Without having looked into it at all really, are there any breeds which cope better with being alone than others?
GP Snr has a Chocolate Lab (which replaced me when I left for uni ha!), and he suffers with lonliness when Dad's out of the house. Kennels are a no-no too; seems poor doggy doesn't cope if he's separated from Dad for more than 24hrs. Bless.
Anyway, my point is that I wouldn't get a dog if there was any risk that it would suffer unecessarily by being alone.
A dog walker could well be an option, but there's an inherent trust issue there to get round also.
Without having looked into it at all really, are there any breeds which cope better with being alone than others?
Rule one: You don't buy a dog and leave it alone all day. Get a wife or a G/F and have them look after each other, or even better, get her to go to work and spend time with your dog yourself.
Dog walker is a poor second but JUST makes it possible.
ETA: I moved out of London JUST to own a dog. London is not the best place for dogs.
Dog walker is a poor second but JUST makes it possible.
ETA: I moved out of London JUST to own a dog. London is not the best place for dogs.
Edited by GetCarter on Thursday 9th August 15:52
t.
IMO, dog walkers/dog day care fill a market to alleviate problems for existing dogs whose circumstances (or rather, circumstances of the owners) have changed.
Not as a wherewithall for people without a dog and who work long hours to justify getting a dog. If you see?
FWIW, there are breeds which, on the whole, are slightly more "OK" with being left for long periods of time. Or rather, to put it the other way round, there are breeds which will probably exhibit behavioural problems as a direct result of boredom and/or separation anxiety due to be left alone for long stretches of time, and there are breeds which are less likely to manifest behavioural problems due to same.
Of course, one solution is to get two dogs so they keep each other company, but in your scenario, OP, my opinion (!) is that it's not fair. 10 hours every day, five days a week is a long, long time. 50 hours a week on my own, with nothing to do but sleep and eat? No thanks!
Not as a wherewithall for people without a dog and who work long hours to justify getting a dog. If you see?
FWIW, there are breeds which, on the whole, are slightly more "OK" with being left for long periods of time. Or rather, to put it the other way round, there are breeds which will probably exhibit behavioural problems as a direct result of boredom and/or separation anxiety due to be left alone for long stretches of time, and there are breeds which are less likely to manifest behavioural problems due to same.
Of course, one solution is to get two dogs so they keep each other company, but in your scenario, OP, my opinion (!) is that it's not fair. 10 hours every day, five days a week is a long, long time. 50 hours a week on my own, with nothing to do but sleep and eat? No thanks!
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