AIBU to ask who can own a dog then ?

[Troublewaters2021]

I have been seeing a lot a lot of owners recently on social media as well as people looking at getting one.

The general stance is seems to be only is you are not out the house for long periods / as in work full time.
Have enough money to feed and loom after dog as well as pet insurance / vet fees.
Surely there is very few people who don’t have to work out of the home full time for 10 plus years who also have enough money for a dog ?.

Question though - what is doggy daycare? Dog walkers I have come across. Kennels obviously. But not doggy daycare?

I think it's like a nursery or creche but for dogs? There is one near us called dog creche.
A friend uses it occassionally but she says her dog doesnt really like going.

@Lancrelady80 it’s exactly what it sounds like.

I drop my dog off in the morning with a packed lunch
There are between 50-70 dogs give or take each day.

They start out in kennels/crates until the drop offs are done and staff arrive ~8:30am
They are sorted into groups based on size
They play until noon (inside during the winter and outside in the summer)
Have lunch and a nap
Get sorted back into their groups
Play until about 4pm
*every other Tuesday she will get pulled from group for about 15min to have her nails trimmed and then right back to playtime
Go back to their kennels/crates
I pick her up at about 4;30/5pm
If anything unusual happens they’ll let me know (she had a slight limp, she didn’t eat lunch, she slept more than usual, etc) or tell me a funny story about something she did during the day.

I bring home her lunch box

I do get see her having fun on Facebook. One of the workers does some great videos too.

She’s currently snoozing restfully next to me and will be snoozing most of tomorrow, then tail wagging and ready to go back after a day of rest.

Mine’s been going for about 8 years since she was 12 weeks. It’s her second home.

I mean, it’s a brilliant business model, the dogs entertain themselves, the people who work there get to play with dogs all day. And they are hard workers who genuinely care about my dog.

Sorry.. I realized that sounds weird... there are staff when we drop her off, but not full staff.

Crikey our dog daycare is about 10 dogs tops! They have a big covered play area, a walking field that they get taken into a couple at a time a couple of times a day, and an indoor bit with loads of sofas. I think certain older dogs that want to sleep most of the day are allowed into the office area too....they do dog grooming and also dog walking from your home too so it's someone from the same four or five staff whichever service you're using on that day. I like that it's nice and small but big enough that they can manage if someone is off ill, they cancel grooming appointments of they have to so they can still do the daily welfare stuff.

@Iwant2move

Don’t forget it needs to be a rescue greyhound and god forbid it’s a poodle cross, says the cat and guinea pig owning owner of a Standard poodle crossed with a standard poodle/golden retriever cross. He is the best dog I have ever owned.

I read that as cat crossed with Guinean pig crossed with poodle.

We bought from a breeder. We knew we wouldn’t be approved by a rescue and we wanted a puppy so shoot me

We got him at the beginning of the school hols so older DC were with him for three months solid. Lots of drama about how you can’t possible leave a dog for more than a couple of hours so then a mix of dog walker/working from home/taking dog to work etc.

Then lockdown and we’re all at home and discovered that after dog gets walked he doesn’t do anything all day but sleep!

I think some people have absurdly high standards.

@LemonRoses

Who should be allowed to have a dog? Someone who can ensure it is living a healthy and happy enough life. That means walking, exercising, training and not leaving for hours on end. Someone who has sufficient motivation to train it to behave in public, to not pester other dogs or people. Someone who can afford to give it preventative healthcare such as vaccinations and reasonable treatment or humane destruction, if they are unwell or injured. Someone who can protect them from over boisterous or unkind children. Someone who doesn’t allow the money to bark excessively and disturb neighbours and who cleans up if they foul anywhere. Much as a good parent, someone who considers and meets the dogs needs.

This.

It's quite simple to be a good dog owner. Just a shame that there's quite a few that are too stupid to be able to do it.

There’s a couple of great doggy day cares near us. The dogs love it. Unfortunately our dog hated it, shaking when we got there.

Also ve5 said be careful as he’d seen a lot of cruciate ligament injuries from puppies and immature dogs who had been runn8ng round like loons rathe4 than having rest.

The good doggy day cares encourage napping.

And in fairness, the woman who owns the doggy daycare we attend also runs a dog rescue. She, however, is not a crazy person and does actually adopt dogs to people who; work, have children, aren’t attached to their dog 24/7, are older, have other pets, and otherwise lead normal lives.

So there are rescues out there who aren’t hoarders in disguise, the problem is they generally don’t have a lot of dogs, because they actually allow them to go to homes!

@forinborin

I lived in several countries during my life, and honestly - only in the UK have I seen this strict requirement to book a doggy daycare every time you want to go out to a shop.

Everywhere else dogs seem to be toilet trained early in their life so they can wait for their morning / evening walks, and taught discipline around the house about chewing / wailing and so on. People keep dogs in tiny flats in massive flat blocks, are working full time and there seem to be less issues than here, where they often have free access to a garden.

I lived in several countries during my life, and honestly - only in the UK have I seen this strict requirement to book a doggy daycare every time you want to go out to a shop.

Not overly surprising when the RSPCA was founded about 60 years before the NSPCC!

@forinborin

I lived in several countries during my life, and honestly - only in the UK have I seen this strict requirement to book a doggy daycare every time you want to go out to a shop.

Everywhere else dogs seem to be toilet trained early in their life so they can wait for their morning / evening walks, and taught discipline around the house about chewing / wailing and so on. People keep dogs in tiny flats in massive flat blocks, are working full time and there seem to be less issues than here, where they often have free access to a garden.

That's all about the convenience to the owner, not the needs of the dog.

Dogs shouldn't be left alone more than 3-4 hours in any one day and ideally not everyday but lots of people work part-time or have hours that fit with their partners to guarantee dog welfare. Those that don't use dog walkers and doggy day care. Fortunately, it is a tiny minority of people who leave their dogs home alone for 8+ hours a day - they don't always have their houses trashed by the dogs but they sure deserve to!

We have rescued from Romania because of the fact we have a 4 year old. It mattered not that she's been around dogs her whole life it's just a blanket no!

The main criteria over and above costs and attention paid to said animal should be whether the walker is able to bag up dog poo in public areas without feeling the need to dangle aforementioned in a tree en route.💩

This is why we don't have a dog. Can't guarantee ten years of work free being at home all day.

I also can't understand anyone but retirees or SAHP being able to own one.

We have a dog and both of us work full time. My OH works solely from home with occasional travel. I work 20-30 mins from home in pre/post Covid times, however have been working entirely from home for the past year (And will be for the foreseeable). The times when he travels, I work from home so our dog isn’t home alone all day. Seems to work very well!

What I would say though is our dog does not give a stuff whether we are there or not. She sleeps the entire day (Aside from waking up to bark at cats or birds in the garden or the postman) or sun baths in the conservatory if the sun is out. The most we leave her is 4 hours if we go out of an evening and we leave her in one spot, come back, and very often, it’s obvious that she hasn’t moved. Also have a camera that we use to check on her to see what she is up to - Generally sleeping!

What I would say is that she is a 3 year old Jack Russell cross who we’ve owned since she was 8 weeks old and have trained her ourselves and paid for training from a professional from day one and I credit that very heavily as to why she is okay with being left alone for short periods (Most we’ve ever done was an emergency where she was left for 6 hours - She was fine, nothing chewed, no accidents, she was just jolly relieved to get out in the garden for a wee!). She is showered with love and affection when we get home and gets treats and play time with us when we come home, no matter how long we are gone for. She is also walked 30 mins in the morning and at least 30 mins, usually 1 hour plus in the late afternoon/early evening which I do think takes the edge off of her energy levels. She comes on holiday with us (We holiday in this country - I don’t like flying particularly and OH travels abroad for work and worked away for 15 years so no hankering to travel to far flung places) and she comes with us - She has been up and down the country in her 3 years so far and adores nothing more than a zoom on beaches, long walks across hills and up mountains. What I’m trying to say is that how you train them accounts for so much of their behaviour.

OH and me were ruled out of rescuing by 7 different charities and were tbh, treated like shit by two of them for wanting a dog whilst working full time - Despite OH working permanently from home. Between us, we earn well in to 6 figures so no issue of affording dog walkers or day care for the dog if OH ever changed jobs and didn’t work from home but this still wasn’t good enough. Own our own home with a 2m high fence the entire way around our 80ft long garden. We’ve both had dogs in our families for our entire lifetime so are experienced, knowledgeable people yet this still wasn’t enough. I don’t know what more rescue centres want in all honesty but it does beg the question, realistically, what do you have to offer to be an ideal dog owner!

YABU it’s not a right to own a dog, you need to ensure you can meet their needs and that includes not leaving them alone all day, being able to afford their food, vets and insurance if you can’t do these things you shouldn’t have one. Saying that I know plenty of people who work out of the house full time and have a dog however they either have family members/neighbours who come in and look after them come home for their lunch hour or they pay for a dog Walker or send the dog to doggy day care. So I think it’s more of a case of if you can’t do it, you need to be able to afford for someone else to be there for you.

YANBU

I'm DDog's fourth owner, and have outlasted the lot several times over. Trouble is, on paper it shouldn't have worked. In fact, I wasn't even looking for a dog - I like to say he was "accidentally acquired".

At the time I was in my mid 20s, working full time, commuting into central London, and living in a tiny shared rented flat with a "no pets" clause. I love dogs, but I wasn't in a sensible position to get one. No breeder or rescue in their right mind would have given me a dog.

However, I had about as much choice in the matter as someone who suddenly finds they're 8 months pregnant and had no idea. It was a bit of a done deal.

He's been with me far longer than any previous owner, even the ones who looked much more sensible on paper. I outlasted the family with kids and other dogs who got him as a puppy, and the WFH one with an active lifestyle (I believe Dogs Trust placed him there - they lasted 6 weeks). We've even made massive progress on his behavioural issues. He'll be with me for life.

Still, if he'd ever fallen into the RSPCA's hands (which he nearly did) they'd have put him down before they'd have rehomed him to me.

It doesn't have to cost a fortune, but vet insurance got when they're young and have no claims is worth it and not that dear.
As for the rest, it's not fair to regularly leave a dog alone all day, but there are options from dog walkers to neighbours helping, or nipping home a lunchtime or someone coming home earlish from work etc.
Or one adult doing a later walk in the a.m. for doggy if you're going to be back later.
TBH if you have primary age kids you're probably around enough anyway. But yes, you commit to one adult coming straight home from work to walk, feed, play with dog if the other adult is going to be going for drinks, or commit to organising something for the pup.
You commit to getting up early to let them out/walk them/feed them even on holidays and weekends.
You commit to treating them as part of the family and thinking about their needs and while there'll always be times when they have to be left longer than would be ideal that's the exception not the norm.

There is so much wiggle room that rescues don’t take into account. When I am not working my dog is constantly with me, she sleeps with me, comes visiting (non corona times) with me etc.

How is me leaving her while I work any different to owners that leave their dog downstairs/crated overnight?

My current dog (and previous dogs) have had happy healthy lives... but I am forced to buy from back yard breeders or dodgy rescue “shelters” that have a 14 day policy (my local one has shut do no idea where I will get my next dog)

With correct support and training, dogs are amazingly flexible and fit in happily with most schedules. I just wish rescues would realise this!

We got our dog from a rescue... we both work, although I am home by 4:30/5 most evenings... my dog is a jack x Dalmatian and is happy to sleep all day... although we did cage her for the first couple of years as she liked chewing the skirting boards

Dogs are pack animals and shouldn't be left on their own for more than 4 or 5 hours. They can't tell you that they are lonely and stressed, but vets and animal specialists all tell you not to leave your dog for longer. Cats are great if you need an animal but also need freedom. I've had (and loved) both. If we needed to be out for longer than 4 hours, our dog came with us or a neighbour 'borrowed' her. She died aged 11 and I miss her so much.

We looked at a rescue for cats but they wouldn't let us as we work.
We ended up getting 2 kittens (now 6) from a lady who had an indoor cat accidentally get out and get pregnant. The cats go out more than we do 🤦‍♀️

Yep , denied revoking guinea pigs due to our garden looking 'more like a children's play area' WTAF?!

@blackrimmedspecs

Yep , denied revoking guinea pigs due to our garden looking 'more like a children's play area' WTAF?!

It's a bit ridiculous isn't it. We got some in the end and they lived long and happy lives, doted on by DC, nice hutch and a decent run to roam in. They did not need central heating or an indoor extension on the house! Just seems a shame because I know we could've given the rescue ones a good life too.