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Original poster

If you are thinking of getting a dog please.......

66 replies

GertrudeCB · 26/09/2018 07:52

Consider the needs of the breed / breeds you are getting, excercise , training etc.
In the last 24 hours I have met a couple who bought 2 adult labs on Gumtree and were baffled as to why my lab was " slim and well behaved" ( their words) and theirs were obese and hyper. They had been told by the seller that 10 mins playing in the garden was sufficient excercise 😤.
We had a good chat and I pointed out that my dog was not slim but a healthy weight and that without a couple of hours excercise a day could be an arsehole. So I am pleading with anyone considering bringing a dog into the family do your research .

OP posts:

Aprilshowersnowastorm · 26/09/2018 07:54

Can I add please don't get a husky and tie it up in the garden or plan on keeping it on a balcony....

Original poster

GertrudeCB · 26/09/2018 07:56

Exactly Aprilshowers
Or get a rabbit and leave it on its own in a hutch

OP posts:

Needhelpasking4help · 26/09/2018 07:59

Completely agree! Way too many dogs bred and sold by and to incompetent thundercunts! Boils my blood.

Also...Pick up the poop!!!!

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Dogs

TillyVonMilly · 26/09/2018 08:04

Dogs are social animals, they need company, exercise, food and medical treatment. If you can’t afford time and money DO NOT get any breed of dog unless it’s a stuffed toy

Howtodeal · 26/09/2018 08:05

And please don't get a shar pei if you can't afford the extortionate insurance cost! So many of these lovely dogs dumped and in rescue because of their health problems or escalating insurance costs, often in a sorry state already.

ParanoidGynodroid · 26/09/2018 08:09

This annoys me no end. It's so selfish.

There was a depressing recent thread on here where a poster was wondering if she could have a dog despite she and her OH both working full time so the dog would be left alone for 8-10 hours per day. The worst of it was that so many posters were telling her it wasn't ideal but was OK.

It really fucking isn't.

tlmummy · 26/09/2018 08:14

Yes yes yes op! This engages me! I'd love a lab, grew up with labs and think they make truly lovely family pets, but I know at this point in my life I wouldn't be able to give it the time it needs and that wouldn't be fair on the dog.

Also agree with pp about people who get a dog and then leave it locked up for a full working day! If you can't afford a dog walker you shouldn't have a dog!

GoldenGumballs · 26/09/2018 08:16

And please don’t buy French bulldog puppies off amateur breeders that have to be put to sleep at 5mths due to multiple health problems

ParanoidGynodroid · 26/09/2018 08:17

It's not just a dog walker that's needed, tlmummy, dogs need company too.

Dontgiveamonkeys1350 · 26/09/2018 08:39

I had a springer spaniel. I got up every morning and took it for a two hour walk in the woods. Did his training there as well. I went even when it was snowing.

I took on a springer knowing this would be what I would have to do.

Dogs take hours and hours to look after. Man I miss those walks so much.

Met someone with a springer who kept it in the kitchen all day and was getting fed up by the damage and how hyper it was. He was an idiot. Even little dogs need exercise. And that’s not just a walk round the block

TheFaerieQueene · 26/09/2018 08:45

I couldn’t agree more. I have a lab and she has two long walks a day in the woods whatever the weather. I don’t always like it, but that is the choice I made when we got her. She is never left alone for very long either. It is restrictive, but her needs are a priority. The result is, I have a happy and healthy dog who is well behaved and friendly. She is getting older now and I dread the day she isn’t here anymore.

ParanoidGynodroid · 26/09/2018 08:47

Springers are huge dogs in small dogs' bodies, Don't give! They're like Duracell dogs.

Heartbreaking to think of one stuck in s kitchen all day.

CherryPavlova · 26/09/2018 08:51

You’re right. Our Dalmatian is on his third home now for this very reason. Luckily he’s settled and gets an eight to ten mile run each day or trots alongside a bicycle over the same distance but he still needs a couple of shorter walks too.
His first family had five children in a tiny house with no garden. He rarely went out but changed from a tiny Disney lookalike to a 38kg very big, strong dog who ate sofas and mattresses out of boredom.
He dislikes children still but they are drawn to him.

Cleanerswinagain · 26/09/2018 08:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ShirleyPhallus · 26/09/2018 08:58

I’ll also add people who want a dog rather than thinking that they could give a dog a good life

It makes me sad to think of dogs sat in apartments for hours on end with no company or just the tv on - owners always say “oh he’s fine”. No.

CherryPavlova · 26/09/2018 09:18

Yes, it’s company and stimulation as well as exercise but they are dogs not humans. Working dogs often live in kennels outside and have lovely lives. Beagle packs live in accommodation separate to humans and are generally happy beasts.
Pet dogs need the company of another dog or their humans. We rarely leave ours but very occasionally he goes in his crate for an hour or so. If we’re out all day he goes to daycare and if my husband is away we have a dog runner.

NameChangeMagee · 26/09/2018 09:24

Also, people who get puppies when they have a baby. Why?!

Original poster

GertrudeCB · 26/09/2018 09:25

I'm hopeful that my advice was taken on board as they were both asking the right questions, but the situation makes me really sad.

OP posts:

Babyroobs · 26/09/2018 09:32

I have two dogs and they get a lot of exercise. Due to a change in home situation , there is one day where my cocker spaniel is left for 5 hours but does have a dog walker come in to take him out. I feel terribly guilty about that one day a week and make sure I take him out before work. However I know others who leave their dogs all day and don't seem bothered at all. I have a young collegue who leaves her two dogs all day every week day and then sometimes they are out most of the weekend too.

vampirethriller · 26/09/2018 09:43

I have a little poodle x jack Russell who belonged to a family who didn't realise she would need walks or anything beyond a quick wee in the garden. She was on her own 12 hours a day. They didn't feed or water her after 8am because if they did she needed to go out too often in the evening! They were going to have her put down on the ground she's deaf... So she came to live with me. We go everywhere together where possible. She gets 2 hours walk a day and we play in the house. She comes on holidays with me. She didn't even have a collar or lead when I got her. Makes me so angry. They're living creatures, not toys.

Breezebutter · 26/09/2018 11:11

Thank you for starting this thread OP! My neighbours have 3 dogs that have never been walked and just make a mess all over the place. The houses are way to small for them it’s so unfair. My DM got a labradoodle who is what more lab than poodle! So energetic but they’re at work full time so she rarely gets any play time or attention. Still using puppy pads and gets shut in a crate at 2 years old it’s just cruel

Feckitall · 26/09/2018 12:17

I know someone who has just got their 3rd dog in 8 years...once it is past puppyhood they will get rid of it like they did the others... It makes me so angry...

They wont train it...they have 4 DC ...they have a garden the size of a postage stamp...the dog is a giant breed cross.

FairfaxAikman · 26/09/2018 12:52

Fat labs have become so common that folk think that's how they are SUPPOSED to look. So much so that I've been accused of starving my workers - it's depressing.
I know someone who runs a rescue for a Gundog breeds and so many of them are surrendered because people don't realise that they require so much walking. Yes they love to lie in front of the fire, but only if they've had a five mile yomp first.

steppemum · 26/09/2018 13:03

Springers are huge dogs in small dogs' bodies, Don't give! They're like Duracell dogs.

this made me laugh out loud.
We have a springer. He was an accidental rescue, we were fostering for a dog charity and he kind of stayed
But we knew that taking him on meant 1-2 hours walking per day.
he's gorgeous, but duracell dog is about right, total nutcase.
I meet a lot of dogs out walking, including quite a few springers. Every springer I meet bar one is over weight, and every single lab.

If he doesn't get a full quota of walks he is naughty through boredom. Not his fault.

MrsCar · 26/09/2018 13:03

I know someone with 2 dogs who spend 22 out of 24 hours a day in a small/medium sized run (cage basically) on Monday - Friday.

They are loose for longer at weekends and walked only then.

She works FT and leaves them loose in the garden for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening.

It's really really cruel and sad

I know her quite well and she's a really lovely, respectable, kind person (professional). I have no idea how she thinks it's ok

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