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AIBU?

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Original poster

Is it possible to get a dog when everyone works full time?

166 replies

DontBiteTheBoobThatFeedsYou · 08/03/2020 14:36

We would get a dog walker, but is it possible especially in the first few weeks when the puppy or rescue dog settles in.

How do people do it?

Or do people tend not to unless they do short days etc?

OP posts:
TabbyMumz · 09/03/2020 10:43

Dont do it. I work from home sometimes and my poor neighbours dog barks all day long. It must be exhausted by the time she gets home. They dont walk it either.

Fr0g · 09/03/2020 10:43

It's possible - but very unfair on the dog,
Only a very self centred, unthoughtful person who views pets as commodities would contemplate this.

CilantroChili · 09/03/2020 12:02

Get a cat. I got one. In fact I got two because I didn’t know much about cats then and thought they’d be pals. (2 rescues from same shelter - not sibling)
They weren’t pals. They tolerate each other now.
Cats are solitary, adorable, great company and fun. Get just one though

percheron67 · 09/03/2020 12:17

It is possible but, certainly unfair on the dog.

MaryLennoxsScowl · 09/03/2020 14:30

Could you and your husband request flexible working or to work from home regularly? This would give you more time with the dog and cost you less too.
I got a puppy last year and I work from home twice a week, my mum has him one day, and he goes to daycare the other two days. If we have occasional times where some of that doesn’t work my husband works from home, but he’s just started a new job and can’t get a regular wfh day. I used to have a great arrangement where I paid someone to look after him in her flat rather than sending him to a big daycare when he was tiny, but she moved away - luckily just as he was old enough to enjoy daycare. He runs up to the van and jumps up at the door!

MaryLennoxsScowl · 09/03/2020 14:31

NB, we arranged for one of us to be there constantly for the first 6 weeks he was at home.

Fluffybutter · 09/03/2020 14:36

@Poorolddaddypig so it’s ok because the alternative is starvation and death ? Nice

Sacredcauses · 09/03/2020 14:38

Dogs are pack animals. They need companionship for mental wellbeing. Being left for a couple of hours is fine. But not all day every day. Plus 8 hours every night. It's just too much time on their own, and is simply not right for them.

motherheroic · 09/03/2020 14:42

You need to think extremely carefully about this. I got my dog when I was working from home, that is no longer possible so now I have to do a combination of doggy day care and my mom.

Every single thing becomes an issue. You can no longer do things on a whim. Can't go to the cinema. Can't go out to eat. Can't do overtime at work. Can't get after work drinks. Can't decide on the Friday that you're going away for the weekend.

Love my dog, but if I had a do over I would definitely get a cat. And probably won't get another when he passes. He is only 5 years old so I could be locked into this for another decade.

StampMc · 09/03/2020 14:47

I have a greyhound x who is left 4-6 days a month for 6 hours with a dog walker at the early end of that. I wouldn’t like to leave him every day even though he does sleep absolutely loads when I’m in.
I have some issues when I need to take him out early as it takes ages to chivvy him along. Longdogs don’t seem to do mornings. If you really, really want a dog, I’d get 2, and I’d get older greys or something of that ilk. I wouldn’t go near any kind of retriever/collie/spaniel/terrier types. Personally I couldn’t justify the expense of a daily walker (2.5k/year) but that’s a personal circumstance issue.

morriseysquif · 09/03/2020 14:54

I don't think it is fair on the dog, even with a dog walker, bordering on cruel. Imagine them at home alone barking and whining. Sad

CoffeeHere · 09/03/2020 15:47

There's a very good day care near us - we don't use them but the dogs have a huge field, a large shelter with a protected fire and sofas. I'd be happy to send a dog there daily but it would be about £150 a week.

mencken · 09/03/2020 16:13

I've long since stopped caring about the barking dog up the road, but I do care about the noise nuisance. Perhaps the great abroad has more tolerance of hours of barking, or is stone bloody deaf.

THAT is why you don't keep a dog if you aren't around. And the usual fuckwitted comparison to kids can be ignored - it is an animal, it will never grow up, clean up after itself, become more intelligent or be less dependent on you. 15 years of restrictions - sign here or don't get a dog.

SusanneLinder · 09/03/2020 17:10

I personally wouldn't get a puppy and leave them all day even with dog walkers. It will really hamper house training because they need out a LOT.

Most good rescues won't let you adopt a dog if you are at work all day and are going to leave them for more than 4 hours. DH was a shift Worker when we got ours, so weren't left much as he only worked 3/4 days and I worked from home a couple of days so usually someone was in.
Mind you, we have lazy lurchers and they sleep a LOT. So days DH was on night shift, they got a run in the morning when he came in, slept ALL day till I came in, got fed, another run and slept at night too.

MaggieAndHopey · 09/03/2020 19:03

@Fluffybutter that's a bit of a simplistic way of looking at it. The problem is, 'perfect' families with someone at home all day every day don't seem to be queuing up to adopt stray dogs. Therefore, rehoming charities often consider that a loving home where the dog spends a few hours a day alone is better than no home and an uncertain future.

My dog was on the streets, where as far as we can tell she spent all her time on her own: scavenging, running from threats, trying to find safe places to hide and rest. Now she's with us she spends most of her day sleeping whether we are home or not. She has no trace of separation anxiety when we're away and clearly feels safe and secure - at last.

In an ideal world we wouldn't have to leave her ever but I have arranged things as best I can: I work from home one day a week and there's someone here at lunchtimes on the other days to give her a cuddle and let her out for a wee or a bijou walkette if she will permit (we're gradually persuading her of the benefits of recreational exercise) Kids come home from school by 3.30pm.

You could read this post and think 'poor dog', but I am pretty sure she wouldn't agree. She'd been waiting for months for a home when I saw her picture. Should she have waited longer?

cobwebfew · 09/03/2020 19:12

I strongly suggest you take a week or two annual leave to help the pup settle. But yes you can have a dog with everyone working full while with the help of a dog Walker.

Doubletrouble99 · 10/03/2020 00:51

It's a complete no no as far as I'm concerned. Apart from the problems leaving a puppy the other suggestion is to get a rescue dog. I'm afraid no rescue would let you have a dog in these circumstances.

Writersblock2 · 10/03/2020 00:55

I wouldn’t. Only works in our household because we do opposite shifts so the dogs are rarely alone.

BretonKitten · 10/03/2020 01:02

My neighbours both work full-time and have a pug they leave at home alone from about 7am until 4.30pm.

They walk her in the evening and she has a doggie door so she can go out into the back garden which has a high fence/hedge round it to stop her escaping into the car park (teacher’s car park at school).

Poor thing spends half her life running round in ever decreasing circles, barking her head off in the back garden. She’s so stressed. If anyone parks alongside the hedge, she’s beside herself.

Maladymaker · 10/03/2020 03:19

Sounds like op will be getting a dog despite the resounding now on this thread.

Very sad.

WhatDoIDooDIoDtahW · 10/03/2020 03:29

I used to work part time, so we got a dog. Eventually I wanted to start working a bit more so did 4 days a week and DP does 4 days too. Even that makes me feel extremely guilty leaving him. He doesn’t have separation anxiety thank god. But he loves us and it never feels nice to say ‘see you in a minute’ which actually means 6-8 hours.

We’ve thought about giving him to DP’s dad as he has dogs that our dog plays with and he would enjoy him too. But we’re attached and DP gets upset at the thought of ‘giving up on him’- while I just think he’ll be happier with the other two dogs playing every day and always having someone around.
I’m on MAT leave at the moment, and with a baby now I don’t think I can afford a dog walker to come in every day.

So personally.. from experience. Don’t get one if you both work full time. It’s emotionally hard work just as much physically.

Flowerpot26 · 10/03/2020 04:31

I think it's possible if planned properly, walked in the morning evening, dog walker or someone popping in at some point, have you got a neighbour or some family that could pop in?
I think a rescue not a puppy would suit you best. We both worked full time but I was shifts so it was fine and now I'm a sahm tho my dog likes her space. Walks morning and evening and stimulation toys, snuggly bed, and a dog walker a couple of times a week, holidays that include the dog and lots of love is always better than a dog being stuck in a rescue centre for along time I think anyway. Tho defo lots of planning and commitment required.

maneandfeathers · 10/03/2020 07:00

I don’t agree that walking is enough for a dog, dogs want to be with you as much as possible. I don’t think it’s all about the walking, yes they need walks but it’s the company and bond they crave. Being part of a family or a unit. To me hour walk with a walker is not a substitute for being with family and company. Mine don’t really do much through the day but I’m in and out and they do follow me everywhere and look to me for reassurance if the door knocks or they can come and tell me and I can let me out to the toilet, that sort of thing. My dogs are fine alone all day but I don’t think it’s nice for them even if they do behave well.

Yes people do get dogs and leave them all day, some dogs are fine and some are not but it does not might it right in my opinion. I have worked my shifts so that my dogs are rarely left for any long periods of time but I’m not sure I would have dogs if I had to leave them all day every day with just a walker for an hour.

BossAssBitch · 10/03/2020 07:28

If you are a dog lover you won’t do it. We have two gorgeous dogs, but my DH works from home. On the odd times when they have been left (for no more than 4 hours), I have looked in on them on the Furbo (camera for dogs) and they look so bored and fed up. It made me us both feel so guilty, despite the fact that they have each other and adore one another ...and when we are home all they do is play together and they never look bored and fed up !

Now when my DH has meetings he never has them back to back like he did pre dogs, he will arrange his day so that they aren’t left for more than a couple of hours, and this is always max only twice a week. We also have a dog walker that comes twice a week for his busiest days at home, as even when he is there, if he is too busy with work, he won’t have time to interact with them as much as they might like.

Honestly, don’t do it, you will just feel too guilty, and rightly so.

Piglet89 · 10/03/2020 07:41

What @paastumho said. Our neighbour has two small dogs and regularly leaves them alone. Relies on parents to look after them when she’s not in but that’s not always possible. Locks them in the house and they bark and whine.

It’s cruel to animals and a bloody nuisance.