Not been on this section before so be gentle with me, I know how emotive the subjectof pets are!!!!!

I grew up with an English Springer and then later a lab and have always wanted a dog, I have to say I think my parents were quite lazy and didn;t walk the dogs as much as they should have done and they also weren't well trained, i.e I couldn't walk them onthe lead - too strong for me, and I woudln';t have been able to get them back if I let them lose. They were both beautiful dogs though and I missed them loads when they died.

Have not previously been in a position to give a dog a home but we're getting close to it now, so I'm really looking for advice.

We're probably looking at getting one maybe next year but just looking for some advice really as to whether we should or leave it a bit longer.

DH works from home 2-3 days a week, I work part time (3 days a week) so generally there will be someone in the house most days.

We have a garden (will need to be fenced in properly though before we even consider getting a dog) We would be able to walk the dog but not an hour a day! With the exception of at weekends.

I would ideally like a dog that doesn;t shed too much though I accept that dog hair and smells go with the territory and if you don;t like it don't get a dog!

I also am no keen on the smaller dogs (sorry to those who have and love them), they're jsut not me or DH.

So are we unreasonable in thinking of getting a dog? If not are there any books you can recommend that we get in the mean time and what breeds would you suggest?

Have you looked at rescue greyhounds? They like a couple of short bursts of exercise a couple of times a day and are happy to snooze for the rest of it. Quite big, very elegant (IMO) and there are many poor souls in need of a loving non-racing home. You'd need to fence in the garden, and check out the local furries but they do apparently make excellent pets.

Try here
www.retiredgreyhounds.co.uk

I think the best source of realistic dog-owning info is probably people in a similar situation who've taken the plunge fairly recently. (Too long ago and they forget the first fortnight of panic; too soon and they'll probably try to persuade you to take their puppy!) In my experience, once you get beyond the initial shock of how much your life does have to revolve around the dog (daily walks, feeding, not leaving it alone too long, extra housework), it settles down into a routine, and really isn't so bad. The rewards of the company, and love, and the sheer pleasure of seeing your dog bouncing back to you through the autumn leaves more than makes up for any hair.

My view would be that if you can't walk a dog for an hour a day then I would think that a dog is not the right pet for you just now.

Most dogs need a two good walks a day my labs have two hour walks a day plus training time and play time. The Collies have more! the spaniel never gets enough even if he has 24 hours a day!!

Even if you got a dog that required less exercise eg a greyhound you would still need to give them an hour a day attention. eg training, playing walking, hoovering up after them etc.

Thansk Wildfig, a couple of people have mentioned greyhounds before but I'm not sure if I like the look of them, but I am willing to look.

Qucik question - whats a furrie?

Please don't flame me for the above comment, I want to ensure we get the right dog for our familyu and that has to include one I like the look of. If in our current circumstances there is no 'right dog' then obviosuly we won't get one.

We have a dog that can get by on less than an hour of walking a day, especially when the weather is bad.

I walk the DC to school, so she has about 45mins there and the rest of the day she can go out and play in the garden.

We do longer walks at weekend, but as often as not it is in town.

It really depends on the dog though. A springer or collie would be miserable with so little walking.

Greyhounds have lovely eyes - they always remind me of deer.

What sort of dog do you like the look of though?

I'm a bit short on suggestions because my own is a standard dachs - big in one direction only but good dor not shedding much, remarkably unsmelly and doesn't need an hours walk a day (though can happily climb mountains at the weekend)

An hour's walking a day is the minimum for most dogs, but a greyhound would be happy to split it into two half hour bursts, unlike a spaniel or a lab - could you fit that in? But, yes, Minimu is right: if you can't commit to an hour, most dogs, especially bigger breeds, would be out. Am assuming that attention when inside goes without saying.

Furries = next door's guinea pigs, cats, hamsters, anything a sight-prey-drive dog would be tempted to chase and possibly despatch!

Well I adored my spaniel and lab but know that they would not be the right dog for our family and would be miserable so would not get one.

I did read one book that said german sheppards make ideal first dogs as they love to be trained and make great pets - not sure though, love the look of them but worry that it would be too big for me (I'm only little!)

So I suppose I tend to like the look of the mid to large sized dogs.

Mum and Dad later had a Rhodisian RIdgeback who was beautiful and needed hardly any exercise but I know they are far too big for me!

We have one of the small dogs that don't need a lot of walking, a Maltese Terrier/Cavalier King Charles. When we started looking we actually wanted something slightly bigger but I am so happy that we got her. She suits us very well.

You say you can't do an hour a day so how long can you do - realistically?

You say someone is in the house most days, how often is there no-one and for how long - be honest!

You need to look long and hard at things, imagine yourself into the worst case scenario and see if that is still condusive to having a dog - ie what happens if dh has to work in the office/you have to go full time?

I fyou are talking about being able to do 20/30 minutes walk in the morning and 30 minutes at night - every day then I second a greyhound, the level of exercise is about perfect for them. An older greyhound will be more likely to cope with being left than any other dog too - they are a bit like cats in that they like a warm pkace to snooze and a bit of time to stretch their legs out every so often. Being short haired they are less messy than other large breed dogs.

Another reason behind the greyhound suggestion... there are not many medium or large breed dogs hwo can cope on small amounts of excercise like this almost all breeds over a year old (of this size) will need a good hour plus another morning or evening walk as a minimum, some considerably more. Of course a lot of small breed dogs are like that too!

Furries, cats, rabbits etc. Some greyhounds don't bat an eyelid, some would kill them as soon as look at them and have no hope of chinging and some can be re-trained succesfully, it is something you need to consider (potentially having to mussle on walks if there are neighbourhood cats) but a greyhound rescue will tell you all about it and will have tested their dogs for this. IME greyhound rescue tend to be the most thorough at checking the small furrie relationships of their dogs - simply because these dogs are trained to be furry thing obsessed in order to race.

Would you consider a cross breed? If so then you could approach several rescues and explain you are looking for a low energy medium dog, they will probably find you something just right - but it may take time!