To ask if there's any good reason to *not* get a dog?

[homeworkinghubbard]

I've been thinking about getting a dog for ages, and I just want to ask you all if your collective wisdom might come up with any reasons for not getting one. We had loads of cats when I was younger, but I've never lived with a dog before.

I'm either at home or occasionally (a few hours, once a week) in a nearby office so I'm mostly about and have time to train it, my youngest child is 5, we've got a garden, we don't travel much and generally just within the uk, thinking about a greyhound-type for quietness and gentleness... is there anything I haven't considered? Is it very expensive? And if we did get one, are there any good breeders or is it only moral to go for a rescue?

Thank you for some cooler heads!

[chickpeaburger]

You will become an "entitled dog owner"

[ThomasRichard]

The responsibility level is like having a toddler for 18 years.

People are allergic to them. If you have children, they may well develop an allergy in their teens if they don't have one already. The allergy will be severe and miserable enough that you will need to responsibly rehome or euthanise the dog.

Your house will smell of dog. Like smokers, you will stop noticing it eventually but visitors will definitely notice and some may stop wanting to visit because their clothes will stink and be covered in fur when they leave. This may be a good reason to get a dog, depending on how much you like visitors to your home.

Many members of the public will dislike your pet, especially if you fail to train it properly, let it poo/wee in inappropriate places, fail to pick up its poo or allow it to terrorise runners/ small children/ picnickers/ other dogs.

Your friends will roll their eyes as you post yet another 'fur baby' update on social media. Unlike real babies, your pet does not have a family of dutifully adoring relatives and no one cares how ugly cute it is in various poses, most of which will show its balls.

On a related note, you run the risk of turning into a 'dog person', who goes on endlessly about their pet, talks to it in a baby voice and lets it do disgusting things like share your baby's ice cream

You have to pick up its poo.

Your neighbours will dislike it barking at them when they dare to set foot in their own gardens and may call the council's environmental protection team if it barks a silly amount.

They eat other dogs' poo, vomit and dead animals

[Rantymare]

I love dogs. They're usually loyal and fun.

However ;
It's near impossible to have a clean house
They're hard and time consuming to train
They are obsessed with food
You have to pick up poo. They get ill and have diarhoa and sick all over your furniture
They're not expensive (if you're lucky and they're not prone to illness ) until they get old and need operations , treatments etc
You can't go out for the day without considering whos going to see to them
Ditto holidays/breaks
A lot of people dont like them
They often leave hair everywhere
You're heartbroken when they die
They won't leave you alone
They get under your feet and trip you up.
Forget a lie in even if your kids are old enough to get themselves up.
Etc etc :) (they're also lovely ).

[Beerwench]

Going to echo most pp's -

• they are expensive
  
• they smell and cannot bathe themselves
  
• wherever they do it, you get to pick up their shit, if you're lucky its outside
  
• they eat random crap and puke it in the most unlikely places, sometimes totally without your knowledge, until that is you find a pile of vomit with a bare foot.....
  
• and should they not puke they will get the runs and you'll find that with a bare foot
  
• and if neither of the above happens then it will cost you a small fortune for the vet to remove said random crap
  
• expect to never use a toilet again without an audience
  
• they steal all sorts but mainly food
  
• you'll need an industrial strength bin to prevent raiding
  
• you have to walk in all weathers and with all illnesses
  

-they are more tying than children as they will never become more independent with age

• when they become too old/sick to carry on you have to make a very hard decision. This will break your heart.
  
• some people will automatically think you're an entitled twat because you own a dog
  

The upside is that a dog is the only being that loves you more than himself. I sometimes get pissed off with any or all of the above, but the good far outweigh the bad for me.
I'd also urge a rescue dog, and fostering is a great idea too.
Good luck!

[WhatToDoAboutThis2017]

Absolutely the smell. Dogs (pets in general, really) make your house stink, and you become so accustomed to the smell you won't even realise it.

But trust me, your visitors will.

[MeltingSnowflake]

Ooh please please rescue!! Especially if you're considering a greyhound type - so many ex-racing dogs need homes.

The main downside I have with mine (rescue German Shepherd) is the hair everywhere. I had NO. IDEA. But still wouldn't swap him for the world

Oh also, some of them mine will eat something gross, then puke it up, then eats it again...

The smell can be handled, you just have to stay on top of it.

[WiddlinDiddling]

Noticing sighthounds mentioned a lot..

Sighthounds are often a lot LESS doglike - tending to be more aloof, often a lot less inclined to do what you say merely because you said it...

Greyhounds - ex racers are basically institutionalised morons - which makes for a sweet but often rather dim pet, however you get to see them blossom and figure out life and as long as your kids are not hurtling about screaming blue murder and are of an age where they CAN do as they are told.... should be fine.

Greyhounds oftne DONT understand personal space, which is the same as with puppies, but a fully grown big greyhound boy probably weighs 40kg and if he thinks he needs to be sat on your head for safety... that's disconcerting to say the least. They can also be clumsy, they've never had to thinka bout personal space or where their bodies are in relation to furniture, small people etc.

Do take that into consideration - however I've had some absolute smashers in the past and I'd have one again - and if you want an easy going dog, a dim dog that doesn't have an enquiring mind and doesn't need masses of mental stimulation is EXCELLENT! (I have a Deerhound who meets that criteria too! Shes fabulous).

Lurchers however.. are NOT the same.

Lurchers are bred to do a job - catch the small furry thing, bring it back, you kill it, take it home, everyones happy.

There are lots of types of lurcher, depending on what quarry they are bred for and terrain they need to cover - so a greyhound/deerhound/collie might be an easy going and biddable dog.... a saluki/bedlington/whippet might be a ferrari speed dog with an evil genius mind (yeah. I have one.) Then theres the bull x lurcher - athletic long legs, racy body, jaws that could crush a moose (actually they are quite lovely to live with but they can get themselves into trouble REALLY fast!).

So do not fall into the trap of thinking that greyhounds and lurchers are the same - they really really are not.

I am camp Dog.. so I say go for it - but go eyes wide open and be clear with rescues about what you want and need from a dog as well as what you are willing to offer!

[Framboise18]

Best way to put it is do you want a child / baby for the next 15 years or so ?

[cricketballs]

Agree to a lot

• lots of poo to pick up (given she only ears twice a day she shits a lot)
  
• dog farts are even worse tban DH's (ddog is even disgusted with the smell!)
  
• lack of understanding of human personal space (I would have thought now DS2 is 17 I would be able to go the loo on my own...)
  
• not being able to tell the time and thinks smacking me with her paw whilst I'm snoring away (never DH only me) is appropriate
  
• not knowing where a parcel is as obviously the card put through the door belongs to her
  
• having to wash shit of her and her harness as its apparently fun to roll in it
  
• not ever being able to wear black
  
• the cost of having a dog who has allergies to grass when you live in the country
  
• never being able to have the full bed to yourself
  

But...

• coming home from a crap day to have that unconditional love for you
  
• the listener
  
• the calmer for DS2
  
• the finding of glorious places undiscovered walks
  
• the joy of uncomplicated holidays in the UK as a complete family
  
• the complete family

[user1482079332]

They don't live long enough and will break your heart

[Headofthehive55]

life changes as your children get older. You go from uk holidays, beach, which are dog friendly to more weekends away, children doing activities at the weekend and not having time for a dog.
It might fit in now but in the future it might not.

[gigi556]

Think most relevant things have been mentioned... But I will add that a dog is for life. What I mean is, there are different stages of hard depending on age of the dog and what's going on in your life too and you can't predict these things as the life expectancy of a dog is 10+ years. My yorkie recently passed away and the last couple of years living with an elderly dog that required more and more Vetrinary care was stressful. Much harder than having a puppy.

Also, I previously lived near/with family and help with the dog was easy for many years. Can you take dog for the weekend? No problem. I'm running late. Can you take the dog out? When I moved, I was constantly aware of needing to get home to the dog. New situation meant couldn't take her with me as much either. I had previously taken her to work...

That said, my dog was a part of my life aged 20-34... Wouldn't change it for the world and would definitely consider another in future. I understand greyhounds and lurchers are great companions but also echo - research the breed and make sure fits what you are looking for.

[Middleagedmumoftwo]

Yes, they cause more housework. Yes, you have to walk them, feed them, and pay the vet bills. But despite at times regretting getting married, taking a particular job, even regretting having kids occasionally, the one thing I never regretted was getting a dog. Be prepared to put the time in at the beginning with socialising/training, and you will never look back.

[HollyJollyDillydolly]

The smell
Bin raiding
Puking after aforementioned bin raiding
Eating said puke
Picking up poo
Having to hunt for poo before letting dd in garden
The barking at 5am
The commitment
The cost
Fur gets everywhere
Pinching food from worktop
Pinching oven gloves/tea towels/items dropped from laundry
Chewing of kitchen cabinets
Digging in the garden

This is our 3rd dog and he's by far the worst.

[thethoughtfox]

Never get a lie in. Every morning, when it's cold and miserable, you have to force yourself to get up and go for a walk. I don't understand that mentality. Unless you are one of those sporty people I admire who actually enjoy that sort of thing.

[CowParsleyNettle]

This is why:

theoatmeal.com/comics/dog_paradox

I think this is the most perfect thing ever written about dog ownership.

[HouseworkIsASin10]

CowParsleyNettle

So sad My dog is 15 now and I've sworn never to get another when she's done, couldn't go through the heartache again.

[HouseworkIsASin10]

gone

[scaryteacher]

Enid ...and will do their shits in everyone else's garden so you don't have to deal with it. Afraid not...mine both come in to use the litter tray. They'll be out basking, and then wander in, do a dump, and wander out again to resume basking.

[Siwdmae]

Greyhounds apparently can have really crap teeth which need lots of attention when older.

Big downside for me is the unexpectedly awful feeling of loss when the dog dies. Probably quite mad of me, but I've never recovered from the death of mine some years ago. I think it's worth it, but the amount of love I felt for him was ridiculous and his death was and still is incredibly hard to deal with.

[Figmentofmyimagination]

They live a long time - 15 years plus on average - so you need to be in it for the longhaul - unless you rehome - have you looked at eg the charities that take in pets when their owners go into residential care?

[aquashiv]

Dog shit. So ensure you think big dog big shit.
The puppy stage is hard work t was a lot of work training and care. Wor th it though.

[user1480459555]

Not all dogs shed fur - my dogs don't. Not all dogs smell. My don't and, no, it's not because I have got used to it. Firstly my mother in law would definitely tell me if it did smell and would take great pleasure in doing so. Secondly a lot of my friends have dogs and most of their houses do smell, the ones that have the same breed as me do not smell.

I have had afghan hounds for around 40 years and have never had one that got fleas, possibly because of the long hair. I haven't used flea prevention for years and even with owning cats my dogs have not got fleas.

I feed my dogs raw and they may occasionally burp but they very very rarely fart.

Most of my dogs have been rescues so house trained when I got them but my present dogs I got when puppies and house trained one of them in a week (he was 9 weeks when I got him) and the other, who was 7 months when I got him, I trained in about 2 weeks. So no, they do not pee and poo all over the house.

Yes you do have to walk them in torrential rain, snow etc unless you have a dog that doesn't like any of those things and plenty of dogs do refuse to walk when it's raining or snowing. I have never had a set routine for my dogs so they don't expect a walk at a set time meaning I can have a lie in if I want. If it's a hot day though I walk them around 6am and 9pm so it is reasonably cool.

The main drawback is that they are a tie but with planning you can get round that. Me and OH never leave our dogs for more than 4 hours. Sometimes they go to doggy day care, sometimes our nephew comes and sits with them or at least comes and lets them out and spends a bit of time with them, sometimes a neighbour calls in.

The absolute worst thing is when they die. You cannot be prepared for how upset you will be. I did vow after one dog that I was particularly attached died that we were not having any more but the house was just so empty and (I agree with a previous poster) not a home that we got another

[Barrytheunicorn]

The training, if you want a nice sociable dog, with good recall you can't just hope it happens you have to put a lot of time and effort into it.

The walks nice in summer an utter ball ache in the rain and cold

Picking up dog crap while you're on a walk and having to carry it round with you until you find a bin

The initial pooing outside training, especially if you have children who go in the garden so want your dog to poo in a certain spot.

If you don't manage poo in a certain spot finding 'surprises' in your slippers while you're pegging your washing out, even when you think you've got rid of it all.

The vet bills that always manage to come in just below the insurance excess

The cost of insurance, food and treats they can cost a decent amount

Being tied to days out and places you can take your dog or having to arrange kennels for holidays

The chewing especially puppies they chew everything and anything

That's everything I can think of.

My mum and dad always had dogs while I was growing up and still do and while I love/d them I couldn't have one myself.
I'm constantly borrowing my mums dog to take on walks as it gets me out but I'm glad that I don't have full responsibility for a dog.

I think you have to REALLY want a dog before buying one because otherwise the novelty would wear of quickly, which is probably why there are so many dog rehoming centres.

There's a page on Facebook called walk my dog or something like that where you can walk and pet sit dogs who belong to people locally. It saves them paying people to walk their dogs and lets people walk dogs and not have responsibility for ownership, you could try that first to see how you find it if you're unsure.

I feel like my post is negative it's not intended to the positives are that they do become part of your family, have their own personality and are lovely company

[BitchQueen90]

I don't have a dog and don't fancy the idea of ever owning a pet. Too much added expense and way too much of a commitment for me. My parents have a dog and every time they go out they have to consider the dog, how long he can be left alone before they have to rush back.