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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

And so it begins (lockdown puppies)

310 replies

Sailawaysailaway · 06/03/2021 12:36

I’ve seen two posts this week on local Facebook/Nextdoor groups of

“Does anyone fancy walking my dog. Back to work for us etc etc”.

Quite obviously asking for someone to walk for them for free, not asking for a dog walker

I have been quite a defender on posts about lockdown dogs etc, hoping that the majority of people wouldn’t be so stupid as to get a dog with no forward planning at all - but I’m now seeing my hope was misplaced.

Not quite sure what my Aibu is - but seen yet another post today (by a teacher no less - so they were always going back to the “office”) and it’s pissed me off.

So I suppose Aibu to say - don’t get a dog if you have no plan on how to look after it when you go back to work.

OP posts:

actiongirl1978 · 06/03/2021 14:05

Arranging! Was what I meant to finish with.

WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants · 06/03/2021 14:09

@Sailawaysailaway

Last post I’m referring to is literally this (hope not MNetter!)

It’s literally this...

“Does anyone want to walk our lovely puppy (name). Maybe someone working from home who fancies getting out and about during the day, or someone retired. We are both teachers so back to work for us”.

I would post links to local dog walkers but don’t actually know any!

I'd love to do that for them, so how about you just ignore posts that don't involve you.

I'm not interested in being paid, I'd just enjoy walking the dog.

I'd love to have another dog, but unfortunately can't st this time.

I don't do FB, but maybe I should...

BMD never has anything on it here. Nor cinnamon.

dontdisturbmenow · 06/03/2021 14:13

Why would you “test the water”? If you’re going back to work full time
It might not be FT.

It's to judge others to fit one's agenda but the truth is that we just don't know strangers' circumstances.

Original poster

Sailawaysailaway · 06/03/2021 14:14

@WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants would you though? Rain or shine - that dog has got to go out. You’ve got a work meeting? Doesn’t matter dog has got to go out.

There’s a vast difference between walking a dog as an odd arrangement and being responsible for walking a dog while someone is out at work every day.

OP posts:

Original poster

Sailawaysailaway · 06/03/2021 14:16

@dontdisturbmenow

Why would you “test the water”? If you’re going back to work full time It might not be FT.

It's to judge others to fit one's agenda but the truth is that we just don't know strangers' circumstances.

Sorry maybe the word is should have used is permanently. If I’m going back to the office (or in this case school) for however many days - and need someone to walk the dog - then it’s a permanent arrangement.

OP posts:

Emeraldshamrock · 06/03/2021 14:17

My Dsis got a spaniel she is a very nervous anxious dog, I've no idea how she will cope alone 10 hrs daily from next month dogs will be very anxious.
Lots of dogs do stay home alone but going from one extreme to the other will be tough.

Original poster

Sailawaysailaway · 06/03/2021 14:20

@Emeraldshamrock

My Dsis got a spaniel she is a very nervous anxious dog, I've no idea how she will cope alone 10 hrs daily from next month dogs will be very anxious. Lots of dogs do stay home alone but going from one extreme to the other will be tough.

Please tell me she’s not completely leaving the dog alone for that amount of time!

OP posts:

dottiedodah · 06/03/2021 14:21

This is my No 1 pet hate TBH! Lots of people getting pups (hard work and commitment all the way!) and just going back to work .Did they not see this coming FFS!

Bagamoyo1 · 06/03/2021 14:21

@looselegs

Maybe they already had the dog before lockdown, then didn't need care because they were wfh, and are now looking at maybe going back out to work and are just trying to put something in place for the pet. Just a thought...

They’re teachers. How were they working from home before lockdown?

Emeraldshamrock · 06/03/2021 14:22

It is a good time to start a dog walking business.

daisypond · 06/03/2021 14:22

@LimitIsUp

I really doubt there are many people who have been told that they can work from home 'forever'

I have. All our offices in the U.K. have been permanently closed in favour of home working.

AaronPurr · 06/03/2021 14:22

@Emeraldshamrock

My Dsis got a spaniel she is a very nervous anxious dog, I've no idea how she will cope alone 10 hrs daily from next month dogs will be very anxious. Lots of dogs do stay home alone but going from one extreme to the other will be tough.

Surely she's not planning on leaving the dog alone for that length of time?

Emeraldshamrock · 06/03/2021 14:26

Please tell me she’s not completely leaving the dog alone for that amount of time! She hasn't worked it out yet. dog isn't trained well she leaps all over people, Dsis is working out which mug to ask.
I won't I took her for a night, severe separation anxiety never again.

DeeplyMovingExperience · 06/03/2021 14:27

Our neighbour's dog howls incessantly whenever the owner goes out. I've also had neighbours in the past whose dogs bark for hours when left home alone. Surely people who have to go out to work wouldn't be so stupid as to get a dog?

QueenOfLabradors · 06/03/2021 14:27

[quote Greenmarmalade]@QueenOfLabradors how can you tell if owners are doing the training? We are training our lab daily but she’s still not great on a lead.[/quote]
I always start a potential new customer with a walk with new dog, owners, and a couple of my utterly bombproof regulars. They get to see what I do, I get to see how the pup gets on, we all chat. If it was you and your Lab, it would be pretty clear during the course of the walk that you were genuinely working on recall and training and I'd be talking with you about how I'd be reinforcing their work going forward. Of the three I turned down, two showed strong signs of anxiety around other dogs, and the third seemed a nice enough dog but the owner kept talking about getting her training advice off some american youtube channel that sounded like a snake oil sales pitch. I told them that I didn't think my dog walking service would be the right setting at present for their dogs, and I referred all of them to a good local dog trainer.

Emeraldshamrock · 06/03/2021 14:30

Surely people who have to go out to work wouldn't be so stupid as to get a dog? If only 😂

fitflopqueen · 06/03/2021 14:34

I have a 1 yr old spaniel sat next to me now, she was relinquished to a charity as her owners hadn't realised the amount of exercise and attention she would need. Anxiety levels are now improving after a couple of weeks of routine, companionship and lots of outdoor activity, she is a sweet girl and any future owner will have to ensure they are the centre of her world going forward. Makes me feel very sad as there are so many dogs who just need a bit of company.

Original poster

Sailawaysailaway · 06/03/2021 14:35

Surely people who have to go out to work wouldn't be so stupid as to get a dog?

I don’t think it has to be mutually exclusive but you do need to have the money to cover footy daycare/walking.

OP posts:

WaxOnFeckOff · 06/03/2021 14:37

I've been working at home throughout. We would love a dog. We need to wait on clarity as to what my future work situation might be. DH will be retiring (at least partly in a couple of years) so we'll just have to wait until either I know what is happening or until he retires. What is worng with people?

I know it's possible to have a happy, healthy dog if you have a working household but that generally requires outside help, most of which has to be paid for (dog walkers/doggy day care). If that's not been factored in then people are really really stupid. I see no reason not to call that out.

rawalpindithelabrador · 06/03/2021 14:41

So many also paid thousands for the dog and want to recoup their money.

Saw one the day before lockdown began again, a so-called breeder, someone had pulled out of the deal to buy a pup and she just had to leave the next day for a remote island and had a toddler, so was trying to flog the pup for £1500. Right after Xmas. Was not entertaining giving him to foster care, no she wanted the cash. People told her off and who knows what happened.

sunflowersandbuttercups · 06/03/2021 14:41

@Emeraldshamrock

It is a good time to start a dog walking business.

I would actually completely disagree with this.

An inexperienced dog walker with no qualifications, knowledge, experience or insurance can cause far more harm than good. I really wish people would stop seeing as it as an easy job that anyone can do.

I've seen so many people set up as a walker and get fed up within a few months. They soon realise that going out to walk dogs in the driving wind and rain isn't actually that much fun

It's also not that easy to have control over multiple dogs if you don't have experience or knowledge of what you're doing. Picking up a load of dogs and just letting them run loose in the park is not dog walking, but many people seem to think that's all there is to it.

TooExtraImmatureCheddar · 06/03/2021 14:42

Queenoflabradors, have you got an influx of young partially trained dogs? Mine is 6 months and recall is quite good but not 100%, but she’s started to suddenly decide someone walking towards her is a best friend and jumps up at them and won’t come away until I catch up and grab her collar. I’m not currently looking for a dogwalker but I don’t think she’s well-trained enough yet to go out in a group - and particularly not if there were a lot of similarly young and unpredictable dogs in the group! I wondered whether that might be a problem for dogwalkers atm, skewing the balance of their groups towards young excitable dogs and making them harder to handle en masse.

(DH was 60% home working pre-lockdown and has already been told that the meetings he used to attend far flung across the country will now all be held over Teams to save money, so it’ll be more like 80% at home, and I worked 1 day at home anyway and it’s likely to be 2/3 at home after the summer, so we’re sorted for dog care!)

SlothMama · 06/03/2021 14:44

YANBU
Some people are too short sighted, there's going to be a lot of dogs ending up in rescue.

Original poster

Sailawaysailaway · 06/03/2021 14:45

I guess the untrained dogs is a bit of a symptom of lockdown - less training classes etc.

OP posts:

boltfromtheblueblue · 06/03/2021 14:46

I really doubt there are many people who have been told that they can work from home 'forever'

You'd be surprised. There are entire offices that are letting their buildings go, and lots of companies planning to extend WFH indefinitely. It can save them a fortune so why wouldn't they?

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