Does anyoneo/did anyone regret getting their dog?

prepschoolreject · 28/03/2012 07:37

I didn't, but my DH did.

Having had DDog for 6 Years, DH finally put his foot down and said (very strongly!) he didn't want the dog.

DDog now lives with my parents, where he is very happy (as are my parents) and I'm finally (2 years down the line) getting used to the idea that Ddog isn't mine anymore.

I've never forgiven DH for making me get rid of Ddog, even though I can accept it's actually best for everyone.

ditavonteesed · 28/03/2012 07:39

NO, wouldnt be without my dogs for all the money in the world. took a lot to convince dh that we needed a dog (sanity purposes) and he is softer than me with them.

hattifattner · 28/03/2012 07:41

I think there are days that I regretted having her, but that was more due to inconvenience - so having to find minder for her or having to make special preparations for when we went away for a weekend.

But on balance, I dont regret having her, and now shes gone, I miss her companionship.

EasyToEatTiger · 28/03/2012 09:01

Dog #1 was lovely right from the start and very easy although she was/still is a sneaky food theif. Dog#2 was a total nutter, completely physically and mentally unbalanced, and for about the first 6 months of having him we really wondered if we'd done the right thing taking him home. 11 years later, he's still with us and I love him dearly. Dog#3 is a sweetie temperamentally, but he had a bad habit of legging it. It is so awful being responsible for an animal who is completely out of control. Lots of hard work and questions later I think we are pretty much in the driving seat now! I guess that if we had too many regrets we wouldn't keep adding to our canine family. They are all fabulous in their own sweet ways!

noinspiration · 28/03/2012 09:05

One of my dogs was very difficult at the beginning, and there were days when I thought that he really was a mistake. BUT, of course he wasn't, he was just a challenge, and we got there in the end.

Dogs, kids, family... they all have their moments

belindarose · 28/03/2012 09:08

I cried every night for the first six weeks or so. I couldn't believe how my life (and not DH's at all!) had been altered (disrupted, it felt like) by something I'd always wanted. Much harder than the first six weeks of being a mother for me. And he's a great dog and was from the beginning. Never up in the night, crate and toilet trained in a day, just great.

6 months down the line, I'm very fond of him and he's beginning g to be the asset to our family that I'd expected.

allhailtheaubergine · 28/03/2012 09:17

Hooooo yes.

Our last dog was fab. Well trained (by me), sweet natured, placid, reliable, a complete angel and a perfect addition to our family.

Our new dog is a bloody liability. She is not right in the head. She craps and wees all over the house, destroys everything, is aggressive with other dogs, has no sense of attachment to the family, can't be trusted with the children, hurts my 3 yr old, won't stay off the furniture, is bizarrely random in who she adores and who she attacks, barks at babies, digs up my plants, has no recall, barks constantly... she is completely wrong for our family. I think she would do well with a single owner or a couple with no children who were good with dogs and had masses of time to devote to her. That's not us.

We console ourselves that at least we cant possibly have a worse dog than her. We have hot rock bottom early on in our dog owning career and every other dog in the future will be an improvement.

Willowisp · 28/03/2012 10:07

If that's the case, who don't you rehome her ? Especially if she would be happier somewhere else...?

BeerTricksPott3r · 28/03/2012 10:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

AllergicToNutters · 28/03/2012 10:23

allhailtheaubergine- goodness me! That sounds dreadful! Poor you and poor little dog too . did you have her from a puppy? What breed is she? I wonder if you could post on here to get some dog training tips and information.....

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feesh · 28/03/2012 10:34

Honestly, I regret getting our dog. I love her to bits, but I do wish for my old life back. Bit different for us though as we didn't set out to get her - we rescued her off the streets and nobody else would take her. Also we live in the Middle East, which makes dog ownership extremely challenging. But I do resent the way my life now revolves around her in all honestly, especially not being able to leave her more than once a day and for a max of 4 hours at that. Also I can't go back to work now and I've had three job offers in the last week!

Original poster

AllergicToNutters · 28/03/2012 10:46

feesh - I can totally get that. My only reservation about dog ownership is that I am totally free to come and go as I please at present and that would change. It doesn;t put me off as such but it is definitely a major consideration.

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canistartagainplease · 28/03/2012 10:56

I regret getting our dog.
in spite of everything weve tried (so called behaviour experts, ordinary dog groups), we have a bright ,and house trained dog,that we are fond of,i feel responsible for, but i can not walk (she either pulls me over or goes on sit down) and dh can only do so where we are garenteed she wont meet anyone else. She goes crazy when people walk past the house, and we dont get visitors so she will never get used to people.
In four years we cant go anywhere, unless we put her into kennels.
Owning her was a mistake.

Original poster

AllergicToNutters · 28/03/2012 11:07

canistartagainplease - flipin eck. Sounds nightmarish. What sort of dog is she?

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iseenodust · 28/03/2012 11:16

Nope. He's just gorgeous.

daisydoodoo · 28/03/2012 11:16

its stressful being a dog owner sometimes.
I have three dogs, two are fine and lovely, walk off lead and come ack when called unless playing and take a bit more of a sterner call to come back. plod along nicely down by the river and freindly with other dogs.
the other dog, is a nightmare he pulls on his lead (tried all types of leads and harness and behaviourists) will bark at other dogs and growl, will warn them off by advancing towards them growling and snarling (never bitten and not given the chance to as only walked on the lead now), but at home is the softest dog ever, will lie down with the children andtry and sneak into bed with them. puts up with younger children playing with his ears and tryiong to ride him. We of course dont allow that behaviour and tell the offending child to stop or remove them, but hes so placid at home, i just wish walks were less stressful. (hes a black lab, the other 2 are a springer spaniel and a cairn terrier)

sb6699 · 28/03/2012 11:43

I'll be totally honest - when my boy was about 9 months old my thought was that had I realised how much work he was going to be I never would have got him!

He was destructive in the house, chewed everything he could of, his recall was non-existent, he could open doors and windows if they weren't locked, would barge into other dogs and jump all over complete strangers in the street.

He was diagnosed with hip dysplasia and we were constantly in and out of the vets and our bill was thousands ( thank.god for insurance!).

As he had such a lovely temperament we persevered and nowadays at 3 years old, he is a pleasure to own. Has lovely manners, great around people, children and dogs and his recall is 100% (just about). He even ignores sheep and horses. He no longer chews and after his walks is happy to just sleep unless he's playing with the dcs.

He's very much part if the family and we couldn't be without him.

I understand what folk are getting at when they say they can't just go out for the day or go on holiday but we just go to places where the dog will be welcome, parks, beaches, etc and holidays are pretty much taken in caravans in the UK.

allhailtheaubergine · 28/03/2012 11:44

Unfortunately where we live there are no behaviouralists and no rehoming possibilities. It's us or get shot in the street. She's better off with us.

She's okay. We've made the garden lovely for her and she spends a lot of time there quite happily. We keep her apart from the children unless heavily supervised. We pay someone to walk her daily. She is healthy, well fed and has company and exercise. She doesn't know that she's a pain in the arse and she has a pretty good life for an abandoned bin dog.

Ephiny · 28/03/2012 11:44

When we got our second dog, I did have a few moments of thinking 'what have we done'. Unlike our first dog, who was in good health and came from a happy family home and settled into life with us fairly easily, OldDog had been abused/neglected. He wasn't fully house-trained and for a while I despaired of ever getting it sorted. He nipped/bit me when I tried to touch his collar, he stole food and growled/nipped when I tried to take it back. He had health problems including some incontinence, and bad legs. My younger dog took a bit of time to adjust to another male in the house. I thought I'd taken on more than I could cope with, and that he deserved a better home (not that there were homes queuing up for an old Rottweiler with his issues :()

We stuck with it though, we felt we'd made a commitment to him and we would find a way to make it work. Also, he was a truly lovely dog, very affectionate and gentle when he wasn't stressed or frightened. Things have improved a lot, he's put on weight and got stronger on his legs, learned to trust us, calmed down around food now he knows he's actually going to get fed regularly. I love him more than I can say, and I'm so glad he's part of our family.

We would never really have given up on him, but I guess it's natural to have these thoughts when things are difficult.

sb6699 · 28/03/2012 11:47

Should have added that although he hasn't mastered the art of walking nicely on the lead and can literally pull me off my feet, we use a halti which helps massively and he doesnt seem to mind it.

canistartagainplease · 28/03/2012 12:30

Allergic-Shes a lab x, and in theory she was the right dog for us.

I wanted one that would walk with me, and h wanted something that he could walk further afield.
We took her to all the classes, and lapped up all the crap we were told,(do not go near dog behaviourists- licence to print money) but its my belief that shes is tempermentally a headstrong farm dog, and weve never got over it.

havingsaid all that, we do feel we have to keep her, unless i can find a better offer (farm with other dogs, well away from people,cyclists,joggers..).
I do feel very isolated though, and she was supposed to be a solution.

I genuinely think if the dog goes back,then dh wont be far behind.

CalamityKate · 28/03/2012 13:20

Certain moments stick out.

When she took months to housetrain because she was kept in awful shitty slightly less than ideal conditions as a pup and just thought everywhere was a toilet including her bed.

Every time she rolls in stinking things.

When I have to pay for kennels at holiday time.

Other than that, never.

TwllBach · 28/03/2012 16:06

Like a PP, I spent the first month or so crying every night. I had begged DP for nearly three years to consider having a dog and in a moment of weakness he finally said yes. I picked the first dog I could and then when I got her home it was terrible.

This poor little scrawny dog that I had bought from a farmer and had already been bought and returned once, who had never lived in doors and had now been bought by rookie dog owners absolutely broke my heart because I suddenly thought "I DON'T HAVE A CLUUUUUUUE"

I didn't like her and all I could see was this awful 10/15 year period stretching ahead of me... but nearly three years down the line, she is my best friend. I don't know what I would do without her at times. I'm 100% sure that I am only an adequate dog owner at best, but I love her with almost all my heart and she appears to be happy, so I think I will be content with that for now

Original poster

AllergicToNutters · 28/03/2012 18:54

a real mixed bag! You tend to hear an awful lot of negative stuff when you mention to people that you are considering getting a dog. The all react with "but they're such a tie", think about the mess and hairs," "Do you really want that burden for the next 15 years" etc. But you come on here and despite some having problems and difficulties, for the most part none of you would trade your dogs for anything. Heartwarming

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CiderwithBuda · 28/03/2012 19:08

Yes. Definitely. Apt timing for this thread too. I was reading thread as DH realized ours had managed to get hold of a pigeon in the garden.

Yuck.

I hate the lack of freedom, the dirt and dust, the kennel fees, not being able to get a job, how they have destroyed the garden. We have two labs and they both pull. One not so bad with a halti but the other one is a bit of a nightmare - jumps on top of the other if something spools her. Tries to chew her way off the other dog's lead. So I hate walking them. So I don't. So we have a vicious circle.

Can't rehome as DH adores them.