To think in MN land no one should have a dog?

[bluesapphirestars]

The only acceptable dog is a rescue, with a few exceptions, and rescues won’t rehome to people who WOTH or who have children, so that immediately rules most of mn out.

The only other acceptable alternative is to make the dog more than a pet, it’s a lifestyle, involving intensive breed research and so on. Again, not conducive to homes with children.

So in short - the verdict on MN is no dog.

(Semi light hearted!)

But if you do get a dog it must be on the lead at all times unless you can 100% guarantee it will walk beside you robotically and on no account pay any attention whatsoever to any one else’s children or dogs. Perhaps not even raise its head so as not to upset said children or dogs. Sort of the animal equivalent of the hand maids tale.

Absolutely

Rescues do re-home in the situations you've described. Plenty will rehome with families that work, but if the dogs going to be left 8 hours a day without anyone there then that's not acceptable, for a rescue or puppy.

Most rescues will rehome the right dog to a home with children, but understand that dogs and children are not a safe mix as neither can be fully trusted with the other.

As with a puppy - many people buy puppies on a whim with no understanding of the breed and no research into raising a puppy. This is why there are so many dogs in rescue centres or pounds. The dogs in rescue centres are the ones that weren't so fucked up by their owners that they can actually be rehomed...

YANBU. A lot of rescues also won't let you have a dog if you don't have a self enclosed garden. Whilst that's ideal, you aren't a bad dog owner if you don't have one (providing you still take the dog out for exercise etc).

The fact that rescues are overflowing and puppy farms are a thing suggests lots of people who have dogs shouldn't tbf.

I'd never heard of people sending dogs to doggy day care until MN.

Oh bad Mumsnet calling out irresponsible pet owners. Shame on Mumsnet.

Absolutely I don't comment on pet threads because I don't agree with keeping animals alongside the work 24/7 suburban lifestyle that so many people have. Dogs particularly need constant company, plenty of outdoor time and of course shouldn't be left in kennels with strangers and unknown dogs as it's ridiculously stressful for them.
Because I love dogs I won't have one.

Seriously hula I think it’s another MN myth, or if they do there is a difference between ‘they will’ (in theory) and ‘they will’ (in practice.)

Of course a dog being left 8 hours a day isn’t acceptable but that applies to children too. People are capable of making arrangements for their dogs and children that don’t involve hours and hours of being alone, particularly true if someone works say 2 days a week, they arrange for a family member or friend or paid dog walker to exercise the dog. This is where it gets a bit daft: people do work, there are very few people who quit work aged 30 and never go back to it.

The breed thing again is a good case in point, some breeds are tricky and some breeds need specialist knowledge, but in all honesty a lot of them have more in common than they differ, in temperament if not appearance. Greyhounds are pushed on people a lot here but they are firstly massive and impractical for a lot of family homes and they really aren’t the laid back animals they are made out to be on here. On the other hand, people are hounded (deliberate pun) for wanting cavapoos etc which are normal family pets: quite small, friendly and so on.

Again I don’t disagree - people do sometimes say see 101 Dalmatians and think all Dalmatians are like that and of course they can be a difficult breed. People do need to do their research. But I do get frustrated when someone says something like ‘we are considering a Lab, spaniel or collie’ and get shouted down for daring to ‘not research the breed.’

Doggy daycare is a thing. I never used it personally but have used dog walkers.

There’s irresponsible and there’s having questions because someone hasn’t done it before.

People who shout at others to rescue clearly haven’t tried to rescue recently. Rescues are full - Of bull breeds, mostly. For the most part (and I accept there are exceptions) cavapoos and spaniels and so on aren’t there.

Doggy day care, isnt that an American thing on here?

Rescues do re-home in the situations you've described. Plenty will rehome with families that work, but if the dogs going to be left 8 hours a day without anyone there then that's not acceptable, for a rescue or puppy

Not in my town. I’ve tried 4 different rescues, only work part time and none will accept me despite growing up in a family that rescued many dogs. This is despite a reference from my vet a large garden with 6 foot fence all around.
I think it’s ridiculous

I tried to get a rescue dog. I have 4 kids. No one would even talk to me about it.

Went to dogs home alone, they were all over me. Must have been 40 dogs. As soon as i said I had kids they literally told me non were suitable and disappeared.

@D4rwin

Absolutely I don't comment on pet threads because I don't agree with keeping animals alongside the work 24/7 suburban lifestyle that so many people have. Dogs particularly need constant company, plenty of outdoor time and of course shouldn't be left in kennels with strangers and unknown dogs as it's ridiculously stressful for them. Because I love dogs I won't have one.

I wish there were more people like you. Dogs expected to sleep all night and then be left all day while their owners commute and work infuriates me.

@vodkaredbullgirl

Doggy day care, isnt that an American thing on here?

No. It's a hugely popular industry here in the UK.

Dog ownership is hard work.

But a lot of people seem to think they're entitled to a dog even though their lifestyle isn't set up for it. Then they wonder why the dog is destructive, barks a lot and has behavioural issues - but instead of accepting it's their lifestyle that's the problem, they keep the dog anyway

It upsets me when people write about leaving their dogs home alone five days with no company or even a break midday. A few hours here and there is totally different to being out of the house 40-50 hours a week and expecting your dog to just lie their happily and wait for your return.

It's also largely irrelevant that you're home all weekend and can take the dog on lovely trips - it's still stuck inside on its own for the vast majority of its life.

I do agree with that vanilla but I suppose I’m thinking more of the sorts of We are thinking of getting a dog. The DCs are 10 and 8, I work two days a week and on those days we will arrange a dog walker. We are looking at labs and possibly spaniels. and then they are promptly made to justify their finances, what would happen if the dog walker couldn’t turn up, what about when the kids are teens ... drives me mad!

@reikizen

But if you do get a dog it must be on the lead at all times unless you can 100% guarantee it will walk beside you robotically and on no account pay any attention whatsoever to any one else’s children or dogs. Perhaps not even raise its head so as not to upset said children or dogs. Sort of the animal equivalent of the hand maids tale.

The Handmaid's Tail

@bluesapphirestars

I do agree with that vanilla but I suppose I’m thinking more of the sorts of We are thinking of getting a dog. The DCs are 10 and 8, I work two days a week and on those days we will arrange a dog walker. We are looking at labs and possibly spaniels. and then they are promptly made to justify their finances, what would happen if the dog walker couldn’t turn up, what about when the kids are teens ... drives me mad!

Yeah, in that case I do think people are being silly. But those people are few and far between - they're just vocal!

Very! but it is off putting to new dog owners. We were all new to this once!

I got a rescue 3 weeks ago and unfortunately he did a couple of very Un Mumsnetty things - he chased a runner 😱

And then took exception to a dog and managed to get away from me and jump up at him and bark in his face

I had no idea he was a bit reactive until then

So we're working on it and have a behaviourist lined up if I need help

But dogs are dogs - sometimes they need a bit of help 🤷‍♀️

Mine do daycare a few mornings a week - they love it

There was a funny thread about a dog barking recently, despite the owner being present and being able to time the barking sessions (I think it was three 1-2 minute sessions per day). Some posters insisted that the owner must have missed several barking sessions and the dog was clearly barking all day.

Yeah, on MN dogs bark all day and their owners have such profound hearing impairments thay we don’t notice it!

Some of the doggy hate brigade would die if they saw how much puppies bite! I’ve been savaged by mine twice already today.

@LaurieFairyCake

I got a rescue 3 weeks ago and unfortunately he did a couple of very Un Mumsnetty things - he chased a runner 😱

And then took exception to a dog and managed to get away from me and jump up at him and bark in his face

I had no idea he was a bit reactive until then

So we're working on it and have a behaviourist lined up if I need help

But dogs are dogs - sometimes they need a bit of help 🤷‍♀️

Mine do daycare a few mornings a week - they love it

Thing is if he barked in most dogs’ faces, the reaction you’d get if you explained would be “Ah, poor boy. Hope he gets better”.

They (nearly) all chase runners, they think it’s a game. I automatically slip the lead on when I spot one.

@reikizen

But if you do get a dog it must be on the lead at all times unless you can 100% guarantee it will walk beside you robotically and on no account pay any attention whatsoever to any one else’s children or dogs. Perhaps not even raise its head so as not to upset said children or dogs. Sort of the animal equivalent of the hand maids tale.

Also, we're all to rescue dogs, but you're 100% responsible for ensuring that dog doesn't put a paw wrong from day 1, even if DDog arrives as an untrained emotional train wreck (I speak from experience here).

Children are allowed to be scared of dogs and scream about it, but dogs aren't allowed to be scared of anything and bark about it. If a dog bites a child (even under provocation, and having given plenty of warning) the dog is always at fault.

And apparently in the park at this time of year, DDog is meant to be able to differentiate between groups of young adults picnicking who desperately want DDog to come over and be stroked, and other groups, also picnicking, who don't want DDog to come within 10 yards of them. Somehow we manage to offend both groups - usually passes picnics about 1-2m away, and isn't interested in cuddles from strangers, but is too close for the anti-dog brigade.

Meanwhile, at Chez Avocados, I'm just happy now (rescue) DDog mostly does a good impression of being an acceptable member of society. Squirrel chasing, rolling in awful things, twatting about with other dogs in the park, sniffing dog bottoms and all the rest of it are just part of the joy of being a dog.

Yes dogs should not bark at all (rolls eyes).