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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think owning a dog is not as hard work as everyone makes out?

139 replies

FidoAndHisBone · 08/05/2012 21:28

I had a dog until I was about 25 and I found it pretty straightforward. I lived abroad and often where I lived people don't keep their dogs indoors but mine was.

I suppose the hardest part was not being able to leave him alone, I didn't ever leave him alone for more than about 3 hours but to be honest that was the only difficult part, apart from when he had to be put down, that was devastating.

I am now married with 3 DC and we are planning to get another dog but every single person I've mentioned it to (funnily enough none of them dog owners) has told me what incredibly hard work it is... I am a SAHM so will spend most of my time with him and I love long walks. Obviously I am more than happy to put the time in to train him too!

OP posts:

WorraLiberty · 08/05/2012 21:29

My dog's no trouble at all

Olympia2012 · 08/05/2012 21:31

What happens if he gets sick ( diabetes in my dads dogs case)can you afford the £££

Or if you have to find employment?
Or move?

Or he's a 'barker' and neighbours complain lots?

I loved our family dog. I'm too nervous to get one just yet though. Good luck!

SeaHouses · 08/05/2012 21:32

DD and DS have just been outside shampooing one of our dogs that had rolled in a cow poo. Both DS and DD have managed to get soaking wet. The dog now still smells of poo but is now also wet. I have now found that DD has allowed it to get into her bed and under the duvet.

So I'm not inclined to say that dogs are not work today.

WhereMyMilk · 08/05/2012 21:33

Actually,it is hard work. Especially when juggling with kids, stopping puppies biting etc. How old are your DC?

Plus DC are more easily transportable for holidays etc too. Dogs are more of a tie.

Lac365 · 08/05/2012 21:33

My family thought I was CRAZY when I got the dog.
Of course she brings extra work but is so worth it.

wheremommagone · 08/05/2012 21:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

GingerWrath · 08/05/2012 21:33

I love my puppy, it took us three years to get over the loss of our last two, but I am regretting buying a pale rug for the dining room when that's the first place he goes to from the back garden, when he has been busily digging in the mud and wants to eat his paw towel filthy creature cute pup that he is!

Olympia2012 · 08/05/2012 21:33

Yeah, fog owners homes do have a distinct smell!

Olympia2012 · 08/05/2012 21:34

Fog?? Dog of course!

Lac365 · 08/05/2012 21:36

Yip, our house smells of dog.
I don't care. It's our house. Dog is part of the family.

imnotmymum · 08/05/2012 21:36

My dog not hard work and i have a springer which people say I am mad but he really is not in the house -outside mental yes ... If you have time to walk that the main point

GingerWrath · 08/05/2012 21:36

My pup smells all lovely and earthy at the moment, but he hasn't discovered the joys of fox poo yet!

NettoSuperstar · 08/05/2012 21:36

I grew up with dogs, loved them, but my parents made a meal out of dog ownership.
It's put me off ever having one.

DazR · 08/05/2012 21:37

£129 vet bill today for painkillers and arthritis tablets for elderly lab - she's a great dog but vet's bills or insurance is expensive.

StandingAlone · 08/05/2012 21:37

We got our dogs way before we had the DD's, one dog is now 13 and the other will be 12 at the end of the year and I can say that they are really easy, quite laid back dogs. Much easier than having DC

I don't think this house would feel 'right' without a dog,so we will probably always have one. Things like spare cash for vet bills (or even insurance) and kennels if you have no one to have them while you are on holiday does have to be taken into account though.

I'm not much keen on having to hoover twice a day due to the hairs but I would much rather have the dogs than not IYSWIM.

Good Luck.

gamerwidow · 08/05/2012 21:38

I think if you're a SAHM then a dog isn't hard work but if you're out at work all day and you have to fit the dogs walks in before and after work then they become hard work,
There is also the issue that they limit what you can do outside of the home and you have to plan around them in order to go away for more than a few hours.
e.g. Me and DH go to visit my PIL every 6-8 weeks with DD and we wouldn't be able to do this if we had a dog.

LtEveDallas · 08/05/2012 21:41

If you like going out for long walks, then no, having a dog isn't that hard. The people that have the most trouble are those that get a dog thinking 10 minutes round the block is OK. What they then get is a dog with too much energy who is a nightmare at home.

Take my neighbour. She got a Husky that is now coming up to a year old. I told her not to. I told her to do some investigating into the breed. I told her that a husky really WASN'T the right dog for a first time, house proud owner.

She didn't listen. I have never seen the dog walking for more than 40 minutes. As a result the back garden is torn to shreds, the dog barks and howls constantly and has broken the fence between our gardens 3 times trying to get to play with MuttDog.

All I hear from the dad is how much he hates the dog, how the dog has ruined the house, ruined his garden, keeps pissing on everything and chewing everything.

I've told them till I'm blue in the face that the dog needs a good 3 hrs a day - but they won't listen. I am beyone pissed off with them.

So to neighbour, having a dog is hard work.

I find MuttDog a bit of a bind at times - I sometimes miss being able to be spontaneous - but that's a small price to pay for the love she brings. She is walked 3 times a day, luckily I enjoy it. She toilet trained in about the right time and she picked up commands really well. I think if you put the effort it then it is easy, but not if you don't.

Lizcat · 08/05/2012 21:42

I love my dog I would not be without him, but he is and has been hard work. I think that with dogs you get out what you put in. I have put in hours of training and now have a well trained competition level agility dog from whom I gain a huge amount of pleasure from.

imnotmymum · 08/05/2012 21:42

LtEve agree exercise and stimulation the key. Also depends where you live if you can have free running daily so important

Hippymum89 · 08/05/2012 21:43

We got a second hand lab a year and a half ago, he's wonderful
I'd recommend getting an adult dog who's past the house-training and toy (and everything else!) chewing.
Go for it.
Plus our old collie used to roll in poo, but Max the lab doesn't. So research your breeds, you don't want a yapper either there are 5 Yorkies next door

babybythesea · 08/05/2012 21:44

I love my dog and wouldn't be without her. There are days when it's lovely and dd and I wander outside for hours, having been motivated to get out for a walk because the dog needs it, enjoying the sunshine and exploring nature and naming wildflowers and generally being perfect!
Then there are days when it's peeing with rain, the dog still needs a walk, dd is tired and grumpy and resents being kitted out in waterproofs, gets tired halfway round and stages a sit-down protest and I have to carry a cross, heavy child for half an hour, and then dry both dog and child off when we get home. On those days, having a dog is major hard work.

And this weekend we are going to stay with some close friends who live five hours away, but who can't have a dog in their rented house so we are adding an extra hour on to our journey to drop the dog off with my sister, costing us time and petrol.

Still love her though. And dd adores her and has a lovely relationship with her.

toboldlygo · 08/05/2012 21:44

Some are harder work than others. I've completely changed my lifestyle to accommodate my dogs - for the better, IMHO, but others would see it as a dreadful tie and relentlesss commitment.

squeakytoy · 08/05/2012 21:45

It isnt so much hard work, if you enjoy it, but it is a commitment. OP, you sound as though you know what that entails, so YANBU.

coffeeinbed · 08/05/2012 21:45

All dogs are different.
Some are hard work, some are laid back and easy, some need lots of exercise others hate it, some eat a lot , some shed, some are big some are tiny..
I would't dream to skip any of the usual walks though - I arrange my work accordingly, I ask friends or pay a dog walker.
I look after the dog, I hoover, I wash the floors, I dust. My sofas are a disaster area, my bed's all scratched, the skirting boards corners all chewed, I lost more shoes and socks and knickers than I care to remember. I'm out in rain or hail. I wear out a pair of hiking boots yearly.
My car stinks of fox poo.
It's hark work, but I don't mind any of it.

backwardpossom · 08/05/2012 21:45

Depends on the breed/individual personality of the dog. We have a springer and believe me, he's hard work! We have also, however, had a springer who wasn't quite so crazy. If you've got the time to spend with a dog, it needn't be hard work. I think it's only really hard work if you can't afford the time to give them the attention they need.

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