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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to keep wondering about getting a dog while working FT?

55 replies

majorstress · 24/04/2007 11:39

no one is home from 7 to 5 most days.

Could I send it to a dogminder? We live in London, there must be lots of crazy people who do that judging from the professional dogwalkers I see.

dd1 is deperate.

OP posts:
Hopeitwontbebig · 24/04/2007 12:07

Justustwo - I'm speaking from personal experience. I also know lots of people that have dogs and work full time. I think it's a great idea having a dog walker. I see lots of dog walkers in this area and the dogs have a ball, all running around playing together. I wasn't suggesting that it is ok to leave a dog to sleep itself to death with boredom. I am a responsible dog owner, it is a very important decision, one not to be taken lightly.

Hopeitwontbebig · 24/04/2007 12:07

By the way, I am at home full time, and my dog still sleeps most of the day.

piglit · 24/04/2007 12:09

Totally unreasonable imvho. Dogs need exercise and company. I'd be suprised if anyone would let you buy one from them if you're out all day. You certainly won't get one from Battersea/RSPCA/a decent shelter if you're going to be out all day.

Dawnybabe · 24/04/2007 12:09

I am on the committee of a dog training school and it is a firmly held belief by all of us that if you work full time and there is nobody else to look after a dog for you, it is cruel and unnecessary to leave a dog at home on it's own all day every day. How would you like it?

And don't even think about getting two to keep each other company. Who do you think they'll learn off? Each other. Not you.

Enid · 24/04/2007 12:10

no I think bad idea

can you take it to work with you? dh will do this when we, inevitably , get a dog

mamhaf · 24/04/2007 12:10

I asked the same queston on MN a few years ago and had the same sort of responses.
We went ahead and got a dog and I have to say it's one of the best things we've ever done...she's much less work than children and so grateful for everything we do for her
It means we've discovered some lovely family walks around where we live, and there's something very calming about having her curled up in her basket while we watch tv in the evening.
She's a crossbreed rescue dog, very quiet, now 3 years old.
We converted the kids' playhouse in our (secure) garden into a kennel for her and has the run of the garden when we're out...but I think she sleeps most of the time.
However, we're not out of the house as long as you are and both DDs are old enough to walk her when they come home not long after 1530 each day - so she's on her own from about 8.30 until then.
Sounds callous, but I only agreed on condition that we got a rescue dog which would have to go back if there had been problems like barking and destructiveness.
Don't know if I'd have been able to carry that through though once she was with us!
It does depend on the dog - if you do go for it, don't get a puppy and try to assess its character. Definitely employ someone to walk it in the middle of the day and try to take it out yourself before work too.
We also took her to dog training classes which were very worthwhile - it's important that the dog knows its place!

BrownSuga · 24/04/2007 12:13

i figure 2 dogs can keep each other company, and totally wreck the house while you're out

StripeyKnickersSpottySocks · 24/04/2007 12:16

My neighbours work fulltime and got a dog a while back. I thought it was a bad idea but obviously bit my lip.

It was great fun for about first 2 months for them. Then it got sent back to the rescue. They said they hadn't realised how much effort it would be getting up every morning to walk it before work and then have to walk it again when they came abck . I feel sorry for that poor dog. It was obviously bored as it chewed all their carpets and they had to throw their sofa out as it was chewed so badly.

piglit · 24/04/2007 12:17

Exactly BrownSuga! And they'll be a pack with the house being their territory.....

wannaBeWhateverIWannaBe · 24/04/2007 12:17

it's not fair on the dog, especially not a puppy as no rescue centre will let you have a dog if you're working full-time.

Hopeitwontbebig just because your dog sleeps all day while you're at home doesn't mean that's what it does while you're out. Mine both sleep if I'm here - one 12 yo lab and one 2 yo lab retriever cross, but I know that lab can be destructive if I go out and leave her (she's retired guide dog so gets bored as mind not active any more) and the cross barks if we shut him in diningroom for instance.

Dogs are social animals, and IMO leaving them for hours and hours at a time is cruel and irresponsible.

Dawnybabe · 24/04/2007 12:20

"so grateful for everything we do for her"????? Why do you think that was? Possibly because she was lonely all day. And as for getting one from a shelter purely so you can take it back if there's a problem - don't get me started!!! Because then there will be a problem and it will inevitably get shoved back to where it came from, learning nothing but not to trust humans in the process.

A dog may be easier than a child but usually because it has been brought up in the same way to start with. Dogs need just as much effort to begin with. Training, socialising, learning it's place in the household, all these things need teaching properly. A lot of the dogs in the shelters end up there because some idiots buy the cutest or biggest dog they can find and expect it to come already well behaved. Then when it goes mad with boredom, chews up the house, bites the children and doesn't hear a word you say, off it goes. Sorry to rant but we see so much of this.

Do some research. Find out what breed would suit, look into training it, and finally, either give up your job, go part time or find someone else to actually look after the dog for you.

Hopeitwontbebig · 24/04/2007 12:20

I did post that I am home full time now and my dog still sleeps most of the day.

Hopeitwontbebig · 24/04/2007 12:22

Oops, misread post sorry!

wannaBeWhateverIWannaBe · 24/04/2007 12:28

sorry but getting a dog from a rescue centre so you could take it back if it didn't work out is outragious! It's not a car that you can try before you buy - it's an animal! Do people not realize that the more times a dog ends up back at the rescue centre, the less chance there is of it finding a permanent home - and what happens to it then?

piglit · 24/04/2007 12:28

We got our lab when she was 8 weeks old and she was just as much work as my dses! It's a full time job having a puppy. Lots of training, exercise little and often and constant house training. And lots and lots of attention. She's 3 and even now I never ever leave her for more than 2 hours and only do that twice a week max. It's simply not fair on her.

mamhaf · 24/04/2007 12:46

Lots of people have dogs and work FT. I'm not saying it's ideal, but at the end of the day, it is an animal, not a person.
As long as it isn't being badly mistreated and the owner is satisfied it's ok and not annoying the neighbours, personally I can't get too worked up about the dog not being thrilled about being left on its own.
There are lots of things I'm not thrilled about in life in general, and the dog we rescued would have been put down if someone hadn't taken her.

Original poster
majorstress · 24/04/2007 12:47

oops, didn't expect this much controversy!

I didn't intend to leave it at home more than an hour or two at a time, and that would be an adult dog not a puppy, which I wouldn't leave alone at all.

It's true that it would think it was the dogminders' own dog, probably.

Though I had a cat that clearly considered herself "mine" though mum fed her and had her all day while I was at school.

DD1 keeps saying-"but so and so got a puppy and they are out all day"-I just say I don't agree with that, myself. So, already dissing another parent, who I have never met-hope they don't come round and punch me!

OP posts:
Original poster
majorstress · 24/04/2007 12:48

I wondered if there really were "dogminders"? Maybe they should be registered!

OP posts:
Hopeitwontbebig · 24/04/2007 12:50

Majorstress, I totally agree about teh puppy thing. Ours was very destructive when he was young. Good luck

princessCROComel · 24/04/2007 12:52

Only read the op. I think that it would be very unfair to the dog and not a good idea at all.

Yes there probably is some sort of dog nanny but wouldn't that cost the earth?

dionnelorraine · 24/04/2007 13:08

I havnt read whole thread. I work in a veterinary surgery and I see this all the time. The problems you could have with leaving a dog for 8-10 hrs at a time are. Non stop barking and howling, neighbours complaining, dog destroying house and belongings out of boredom, 'accidents' in the house, behavoural problems, depression from being lonely which can lead to loss of appitite and laziness which can lead to further health problems. So in my honest opinion it would be cruel to keep a dog cooped up for that long. If you can get and afford a dog sitter (rather than just walker) Then that could be ok but the dog maybe confused as to who its 'boss' is, hence more behavoural problems. I know your dd is desperate but until there is someone in the house for at least half a day every day it wouldnt work imo.
sorry.

Original poster
majorstress · 24/04/2007 13:08

I expect it would cost the earth to have a dog nanny. Would they be self employed, or would I have to register as their employer. Maybe the government could bring in dog vouchers?

Just kidding .

Thanks experienced pet people you have brought home to me the important issue-the happiness of the dog-it's natural for a non-dog owner to first worry about your furniture/neighbours etc. rather than seeing that as a sign that the dog isn't getting what it needs, but it's not surprising that SOME dogs are ok with being left, esp as they get older.

Years ago, I actually had a dog and took it with me to work-all it did was sleep there under my desk so not very stimulating either.

OP posts:
dionnelorraine · 24/04/2007 13:12

mamhaf.. I totaly disagree with you! Just because its and animal and not a person that does not mean it should be stuck on ist own for hours at a time! it is classed as cruel and can sometimes lead to RSPCA calling round and taking dog away, which I have seen happen very recently. Dogs can suffer from depression. Its not fair on them! They crave a relationship witha human, a leader, someone for them to look up too. Being cooped up all day deprives them of this!

wannaBeWhateverIWannaBe · 24/04/2007 13:24

"at the end of the day it is an animal, not a person". lesson of the day... the bleeding obvious.

Of course it's an animal, but that doesn't mean you can buy one and coop it up in the house 24/7 just because that's what you want. If you're taking on a living, breathing animal then that comes with responsibilities, and one of those responsibilities is to look after the welfare of said animal, and by leaving it locked up all day every day is not doing that IMO.

Majorstress there was a dogwalker on 5 live the other week and she was saying she gets paid £10 an hour. So perhaps, with that kind of earning potential you could quit your f/t job and do 8 hours of dog walking instead and charge people for the privilage .

dionnelorraine · 24/04/2007 13:30

I agree WWEIWB! If poeple cant handle the responsibility of having a pet then they shouldbt bloody well have them!! What is the point of having a dog if your out all the time?? Dont get it! It comes down to ignorance at the end of the day!