Thinking of getting a dog but totally clueless

[tevion]

Hi
My 8 yo ds has been going mad for one but I really have not got a clue on how to care for them.
The dog I get will probably come from a rehoming centre and will be a mixed breed of small to medium size thats all I know at the moment.
Please what would be the best mix of breed and how much will the dog cost me to feed each week.
Do they eat dry food. wet food or both.
Also will the rehoming centre already have carried out some routine vaccinations and will the dog already be house trained.
If the dog isn,t house trained how do you go about doing it.
My biggest worry of all is that I will constantly be walking in on poo and wee whenever I have been out or been out at work or when I get up in the morning.
My sister has this problem with her 9 yo bitch who wees and poos all over the hall whenever they are out for any length of time.
Does a dog let you know when it needs to go out for a poo or wee or do you just have to let it out into the garden on a routine basis to encourage it to go.
What happens at night will the dog let me know it needs the toilet.
Will the dog need a bed to sleep in and where does the dog go at night do you let it ssleep in its bed next to your bed or leave it downstairs.
Is it a good idea to leave the dog out in a kennel when your out or is that cruel.
If I do leave it out could it escape from my garden.
Can you train a dog to only poop in one patch of garden rather than leaving poo everywhere.
I,m sorry for all of these dumb questions but I have no experience at all of owning a dog and it would all be totally alien to me.

I work 2 nightshifts a week but my ds and dp will be here.I do have another job but its only occasionally I probably only do one shift a week which is 7 hours I am here most of the time really.

tevion - I'd really recommend trying to get hold of this book. you have so many questions that I really think you need to read something like this so that you know what you would be letting yourself in for. then you can decide whether it's the right thing for you and your family.

We've just got our first dog so I was in your situation not so long ago tevion. I went to the library and got a load of books out, talked to other dog owners (people I know and asked for advice on here) and spoke to a couple of rescue centres. I also watched 872 episodes of The Dog Whisperer and, although I know not everyone agrees with his methods, I have learned a lot from it.

In the end we rehomed a 6 year-old dog who has now been with us almost 2 weeks. He is already housetrained and has had no accidents in the house at all, but in the first few days it would probably be a good idea to take your dog out (or let him out into the garden) every hour or so to minimize the chance of accidents. The rescue centre should give you lots of info about the dog you choose, including his toilet habits.

Re: sleeping, our dog has a bed and sleeps in it at night in the living room. I don't mind him coming into the bedroom, but he prefers to sleep in his own bed. It's really up to you as to where you'll want him to sleep and what your house rules will be about no-go areas in the house, whether he'll be allowed on the furniture etc. Try getting hold of some positive training books (Bruce Fogle was recommended to me by another mumsnetter) to read up on how to train your dog before he arrives. I'm finding it much easier than I thought it would be, because dogs soon get the message when they know a treat's in store for them!

The most important thing is that the dog gets plenty of exercise and stimulation, then you are far less likely to have problems with him at home. Two hours of walks per day and you can tire him out with games, training and toys that keep him occupied at home (eg a kong, which is a rubber toy that you can stuff with treats, but he has to work to get at them).

Re: costs, I read somewhere (RSPCA website I think) that you should budget for £800 a year to cover food, toys/equipment, pet insurance and vet fees not covered by insurance.

You could ask in the rescue centre for a dog whose owners are moving, as opposed to an abandoned dog or an 'unwanted pet' which mine was. He seems to have had no training at all, but is doing well (sandals and handbag chewing aside). But a much loved pet who needs a new home would maybe at least have the basics. If you had a breed in mind, a lot of them have welfare groups; small rescue places (which we used) tend to be staffed by eccentrics, and vary in how helpful they are.

As others have said, borrow books from the library, chat to other dog owners and chat to rescue centres, I've had 2 rescue dogs, my first was a 6yr old collie cross, she was house trained, very well behaved, but she wasn't great with other dogs, other than that she was great, very easy to care for. Slept in a dog bed downstairs, cried to go out at night if she had a bad tummy, otherwise slept through and didn't mess in the house at all.
My second rescue was much harder, he was a 1yr old stray, and needed house training, didn't like being left etc He was very hard work to train. But the rescue centres will be able to advise you.
My dogs have always come to work with me most of the time (I work part time as a Countryside Ranger) but if we get really hot weather (haven't had much the last couple of years) I leave them at home with access to the utility room and the garden, which they enjoy, but the garden is secure. The dog might be ok with a kennel, but it depends what its used to, and your garden would have to be fully secure.
They've always eaten a mix of dry and wet food. It depends on the size of dog and brand of food as to how much it costs.
I've got 2 dogs now, both from puppies, due to young dd, age 3. They probably cost about £15 per mth each to feed, £10-£20 per mth to insure, £60 vaccines annually, mine are covered for Kennel cough and routine vaccines, you'll also need to allow for worming and flea prevention treatment, toys, blankets, collar, tag lead, bed and what you do when you go on holiday.
Reptable rescue centres will have neutered, vaccinated and microchipped the dogs. Around here it costs about £100 for a dog, more for a puppy.
Our local rescue centre will let you register as a dog walker, where you can excercise and get to know dogs, you could also spot any great dogs that come in and snap it up, worth looking into with your local centres.