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Original poster

Are dogs and cleaners "must haves" everywhere,or does it depend where you live?

74 replies

Fizbosshoes · 20/10/2020 14:57

When I grew up (1980s, London suburbs) I think maybe 1 school friend had a dog. Having a cleaner (I dont think) was a common thing, although my mum used to do cleaning for an older lady we knew, alongside apart time job.
Now I live in a commuter town. There seems to be an unwritten law that you'll get a dog (mostly cockerpoo/cavapoo/other-poo variety) when your youngest child is between year 3 and year 5.
And I think I have 1 other friend who doesnt have a cleaner.
Is it a generational thing, or defined by area? (I guess the area I live now is "naicer" than where I grew up)

OP posts:
BernardsarenotalwaysSaints · 20/10/2020 15:56

@randomer

Are the dog and the cleaner connected somehow?
Yes, they get the dog & then during its first moult the hair blowing about alerts the cleaner that their services are needed.

I have a dog, I don't have a cleaner.

Foxyloxy1plus1 · 20/10/2020 16:03

I’ve never had a dog and there are very few in the immediate area, but because we have fields and a lake nearby, plenty of people descend to walk their dogs.

We had a cleaner for a few years when I worked full time and didn’t want to spend the weekend doing it. A lovely husband and wife couple, who were more like friends. Not any more though.

Milkshake7489 · 20/10/2020 16:07

UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme

Not necessarily. I work from home so am pretty much always with my dog. Of my friends and family who work outside the home, some use family members as a kind of informal daycare and others employ walkers or use official doggy daycare for times they are out of the house.

I'm sure there are people who leave their dogs home alone but I don't know of anyone (although when I was growing up this seemed much more common).

I haven't noticed much barking in my local area and most dogs I meet at our local parks and green spaces are polite. Occasionally see dog poo but it's not a huge problem.

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MilkandWater · 20/10/2020 16:07

@randomer

Are the dog and the cleaner connected somehow?
Yes, I wondered this.

I don't have either. I think the idea of pet ownership is weird and a bit ethically dubious. Our old cleaner retired years ago, and the shambolic teenagers with dramatic personal lives we've been sent from some of the big services since made me decide to do without the whole thing.

wonderstuff · 20/10/2020 16:09

I'd imagine it very much varies. I'm in a nice village commuting distance from London and I've got 2 friends with dogs and 1 with a cleaner. Most friends work part time. I don't have either, although considering both depending on time and money available when we get ourselves straight (dh just been made redundant after furlough so we're in limbo atm).
My parents a cleaner when we were growing up, in the 80/90s both worked fulltime. Dogs in my youth were generally mongrels and not many people had one. I read recently the average age of dog ownership has dropped dramatically in the last decade.

GiraffeNecked · 20/10/2020 16:10

Grew up in the midlands in the 70s - we had a cleaner (well a lady 'that did'') and a succession of dogs.

We now also have cleaners and a dog.

bengalcat · 20/10/2020 16:14

We always had and still do have cats . DD asked for a dog age 8 so softie that I am went to look at the puppies she’d found on the internet after pointing out their needs ( and knowing full well from childhood experience it would fall to me ) and the bonkersness of it as I was at work and she at school - hound now 11 years old

Are dogs and cleaners "must haves" everywhere,or does it depend where you live?
thedaytodayyesterday · 20/10/2020 16:14

We live on a council estate so dogs - yes, cleaner - no. Most of us are cleaners ourselves. My husband is a gardener, so out side cleaner? Lol

2Kidsinatrenchcoat · 20/10/2020 16:14

No dog and no cleaner here, most people I know have dogs but no idea how many have cleaners!

NeverTwerkNaked · 20/10/2020 16:18

I think it's a class/two working parents thing thing, my parents (both lawyers) always had a cleaner, my Grandparents (doctors) always had a housekeeper, their parents the same... So it just felt normal to me.
But DH was a bit unsettled by it when we first got together as he never had one growing up. But he has realised how indispensable they are when we both have very pressured jobs.

mumtotc · 20/10/2020 16:19

A number of my friends have cleaners and so do I. Once every two weeks and she is my luxury. I usually work long hours and it's so nice to come home to a clean house on a Friday, knowing I don't have to worry over the weekend. I'm on mat leave now as I have a four week old but I have no intention of letting my cleaner go as I have even less time at the minute! Neither my DH or I are high earners or would consider ourselves "middle class" we just budget for her.

NeverTwerkNaked · 20/10/2020 16:20

In fact my grandparents had a housekeeper a gardener and a nanny so I think my mum felt very hard done by having to "make do" with a cleaner and an au pair Grin

FreeButtonBee · 20/10/2020 16:32

No dog; I have not yet got over the nappy years and have no desire to pick up more poo. But youngest is only Y1 so maybe there is still time!

No cleaner at the moment; stopped due to cover and the house has just been too full to really get someone back. I really miss the cleaner even though she had been a bit rubbish for a few years. But it's so nice for the whole house to be tidy at the same time once a week. I think I will stay til next spring and then get a new one. We both work (DH 5 days, me 4 days).

81Byerley · 20/10/2020 16:37

@Ladywinesalot

Prob those that can afford too?

Designer dogs are very common these days...

Mongrels, you mean, @Ladywinesalot!
Fastforwardtospring · 20/10/2020 16:40

We have DDog, sadly no cleaner as we got DDog when I worked less hours, now I work more we have a dog walker, currently glaring at DDog thinking how easy my life would be if we didn’t have her and I had cleaner instead! I guess she saves me a gym membership as keeps me fit and I love her dearly so will let her stay.

Original poster
Fizbosshoes · 20/10/2020 16:41

I suppose I'm just nosey interested because it seems different to how I grew up and I wondered whether it was a generation difference or geographical difference.
I have neither a dog, or a cleaner but I feel like a minority (I'm not in a hurry to get either! I have cats though)
The things arent (neccassarily) related, they're just 2 things that I thought seemed more common....I'd never heard of professional oven cleaners before I moved here though either! No idea if they were around in the 1980s in areas outside london.

OP posts:
StillMedusa · 20/10/2020 16:45

Cleaner and dog here and live in the Cotwolds ..I'm a walking cliche Grin
However we only got the dog last year and the cleaner this..after I threw a strop about being the only one apparently able to wield a mop and hoover in a household of five adults... !

I love having both, but coming home from work on a Friday to a nice fresh house is bliss! (Dog not left alone either.. we only got her when we knew someone would always be in)

BoulangerieBabs · 20/10/2020 16:52

I was born in the 60's and grew up with dogs so having a dog is normal to both me and dh. My dm had a mother's help growing up who cooked and cleaned up after us.

We did have a cleaner and will get one again once the C word is under better control. We both work and both hate cleaning.

Fink · 20/10/2020 16:57

IMO having a dog depends on having:
a) family/friends to mind said dog when you go away
b) no aversion to putting dog in kennels every time you go away
c) to adapt lifestyle drastically to only go where dogs are allowed or
d) the sort of lifestyle where you never go away anyway.

None of those are a given in any social class.

Cleaners are more reliably an indication that you have both money and a lack of time. Sometimes money and plenty of time. Occasionally a lack of time and not much money. But most often plenty of money and not enough time.

HavelockVetinari · 20/10/2020 17:04

Most people round here have a cleaner, but not everyone has a dog (we don't - they're nice but a lot of work!).

LBOCS2 · 20/10/2020 17:06

We're London suburbs and I would say that at least 50% of people I know have a cleaner, but probably only 20-25% of people have a dog. Which goes with the money but not time aspect - dogs are an extra commitment who do need time spent on them.

JoJoSM2 · 20/10/2020 17:12

I’m in London suburbs and have a cleaner, gardener, window cleaner, lawn treatment guy etc as do most of the neighbours. Probably half of our neighbours have dogs.

Pipandmum · 20/10/2020 17:12

Most people i knew had cleaners where I grew up (suburbs) and many had dogs. Most of the people who have dogs now had them growing up.
I wouldn't have a dog in the middle of a city, but I would always have a cleaner if I could afford it. M

JoJoSM2 · 20/10/2020 17:14

Which goes with the money but not time aspect - dogs are an extra commitment who do need time spent on them.

Quite a few people have dog walkers too.

quelquechose · 20/10/2020 17:30

@81Byerley - I also love that mongrels are now 'designer dogs'. The legitimisation of cross-breeds by updating naming conventions was the greatest 'I saw you coming' marketing idea ever!

I live in a 'naice' area and see a few dogs around that are introduced as a blah blah-a-doodle and in my head I think 'wow, you paid a lot of money for a mongrel from Gumtree/Facebook'. As kids we used to call them Bitsas - ie a bit of this and bit of that..bits 'a everything

I have two dogs, a true mongrel (rescue) and a pedigree ....I don't have a cleaner....

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