Dog owners - what do you wish you'd considered before getting a dog?

[sarahb083]

We're thinking of getting a dog soon and have started doing some research. There are lots of helpful MN threads about choosing breeds, making sure you have the time/energy to care for a dog, making sure the dog is good with kids, etc. But other than the standard advice, is there anything you wish you'd considered before getting a dog? We're planning to get a young-ish resue if that makes a difference.

That the people who laugh at you when they think you spend as much time looking after it as you would a child would not be good dog owners.

I don't mean the cutesy stuff, I mean the gettiing it up, fed and out of the house and then back in again. Packing it's ruck sack for day trips etc etc. It all takes time over and above the stuff you think about - like the hugsm the walks, the pleasant bits!

I wish we'd thought a bit more about the negative side of it. Not that I regret my dog at all but they have SUCH a big impact on your life - it can sometimes be pretty overwhelming.

• the lack of spontaneity. You can't just go out after work, or go out all day without thinking about the dog. I have to plan nights out etc. well in advance so I know someone is home to walk/feed/toilet the dog.

• how unenjoyable it is to walk the dog when it's freezing cold, pissing with rain and dark outside. Young dogs need regular walks and you can't just miss a day 'cause you can't be bothered or you're tired or feel unwell. It's especially not fun when you then have to go home, get changed and leave for work again!

The amount of beds that you don't really need but end up buying anyway.

Our dogs follow us into every room and I felt bad watching them nap on the floorboards. They now have a bed each in every room... Thankfully they're only small!

Same with toys really.. Constantly tripping over them in this house.

Also, they are the best possible remedy for a bad day.

Exactly like kids - the guilt, the love, the joy and the heartache.

I totally agree with you, the trauma of losing our dog was immense, it doesn’t help that some have the attitude it’s just a dog. We were absolutely heartbroken, we had him 13 years, we also said NEVER again, and have stuck to it, in fact I said to DH if I ever say let’s get another dog, please remind me of today (the final trip to the vets) no way could I go through that again.

I wish I had realised how attached/in love I was going to get and how devastated I would be when he died.

Feeling guilty on the rare occasion they haven't been put first. Anxiety over their welfare especially when they are poorly or times like firework season and they are terrified.

The cost of vet bills and eye watering insurance monthly payments especially as they get/got older.

The lack of freedom. No going out for longer than 4 hours, no overseas holidays only dog friendly UK cottages.

The mess and general tide of filth in the house that I spend a ridiculous amount of my time dealing with.

If you rent the difficulty in getting new rentals.

It sounds like I hate having dogs, I don't, I adore it but life is much, much more complicated

How different having a dog as an adult is to having a family dog as a child/teen/young adult.

You are totally responsible for an animal that is very much like having a hairy toddler. You cannot underestimate the impact on your life if you want to be a good dog owner.

How long they can be old, smelly and not that well but not ill.

You miss the little bugger for a long time when they're gone.

The utter heartbreak when they die. Am facing this with a terminally ill dog at the moment, having only just started to feel relatively normal two years after our last dog died.

The shedding! Double-coated Labrador and the shedding is crazy.

Poor sausage is old now & has a tumor in his snout that the vet won't operate on. I'm thinking it's time to make a hard decision because he seems down & im worried he's in pain. Still eating but that's labradors for you...

He's the sweetest boy though, I'm feeling all sorts of emotions, worry & guilt.

After our old boy died I swore never again, 2 and a half years later we ended up with prettypup….
Giant furry toddler describes her....and I cant imagine life without her...

But I do miss thinking , 'cant be bothered to cook, lets go out'...prettypup has separation anxiety...and having to check anywhere we want to go is dog friendly

and the fur!!! Dear god....the.fur.

The flatulence. Oh dear lord the flatulence. Greyhound. Love him to the moon and back.
Separation anxiety is tough too.

First two dogs were winter pups and toilet trained in winter:/ early spring.

Ddog we have now was born in late spring summer. Guess which dog was much easier to coax outside and we didn't have to stand out in the dark and rain as much with.
Total accident and it was only later that we realised how well it worked out.

Slightly different perspective here. We took on my parents' dog when they couldn't cope with her anymore. We always had dogs growing up and I thought I knew what I was letting myself in for. The dog herself was amazing - lovely temperament, brilliant with the children - but the responsibility and the restrictions of dog ownership weighed heavily. We were loved her to bits and were all very sad when she finally died of old age, but I knew I would never want to do it again.

You should consider that your dog may have some or any of the awful problems you’ve heard of, but chose to ignore. Separation anxiety, no recall, biting, attacking other dogs, extreme fear, impossible to housetrain etc
Nobody gets a new dog expecting any of this but it happens. Don’t get a dog if you know you couln’t cope.

A well trained, obedient dog is a happy dog.
Put in the hours and train your dog and you will never regret it.
We currently have two spaniels and my husband has put in many many hours training them.
I can’t tell you how often we go for a walk and they are walking to heel, or sitting and waiting where he told them, and other dog owners are being towed along by their dogs or their dogs aren’t responding to recall, and the owners look at ours and say “oh I wish my dog was as good as that”. Well they could be if you put in the time.

Every day is a training day. Makes the walk more fun if the dogs have to do a bit of obedience along the way. They love it and are constantly looking to see what their next task is.

And this isn’t just spaniels, other breeds like to learn and love to please.

That’s sad that people wouldn’t give a home to a dog who no one loves, because of previous heartbreak. Their lives are 100% worth the devastation.

I’d recommend that anyone who has a kid and is already struggling with money, or the drudgery of wiping arses, constant germs, finding childcare, doing chores, etc. best not add to it all by bringing a dog into it. Something has to give and it’ll probably be the needs of the highly intelligent, extremely emotional being, whose only ways of expressing fear, loneliness and terror will often result in the poor thing being closed in a porch or chucked outside before being discarded at the local kill pound. (Yeah, sure, plenty of people with a kid can also cope with a dog, but thousands do not. As documented by the swathes of them in kill pounds and overflowing rescues)

Fur.. Mess.. Flexibility with going away, being away for so long in a day. Expense and potty training, although he was a good dog.

Biggest one is loss, our dog, our only dog we've ever had together passed 2 years ago when I was pregnant and it fucking broke my heart. I've never grieved so hard for an animal, or a person. It was so unexpected. Don't ever take them for granted, prepare for the fact they will never live as long as you.

I still can't have another dog.

Which Hoover could cope with the fluff.
I would not be without my dogs, especially my collie. Don't care how much mud there is on the carpet, I love them so much.

They are very tying, the costs can be very high, fur, neediness,

The damage to my house, kids toys, wires, toilet paper, floors, kitchen table...the list goes on lol! However my dog is now 15 & had been there through bringing home each of my 3 young children, house moves, hard times, happy times, birthdays, christmases and the puppy years were short thinking back & I would never regret her. She sleeps most of the day now & my heart will be so so sore the day she passes. Longterm they are worth every bit of early hassle x

Agree you need to put in a lot of hours training them, but all dogs are different and some dogs are easier to train than others such as workinh dogs who were bred to obey. At times my dog listens to my every command, he can walk to heel, sit and wait, perform party tricks like play dead and speak on command. Every walk is accompanied by treats and practicing recall. Yet when he decides he does not want to listen to me because he smells prey or sees a cat/dog then the four years of training goes out the window and that is why he can't be let off lead in most places.