How would my life need to change to get a dog?

[wem]

I really really really want to get a dog at some point. It's not feasible at the moment as I have two small children and have never owned a dog before so I know at the very least I need to have older children and the energy to bring a dog into the house.

So, looking five or so years into the future, what would my circumstances have to be for a rescue centre to consider letting me rehome a dog? I'm a SAHM at the moment. When the children are at school my ideal is to be a WAHM in my own business, but it's possible that I'll have had to return to some kind of workplace. We have a smallish 3 bed house and a smallish enclosed back garden. Surburban with nice parks close by.

I'm trying to think what else might be relevant, but I guess that's the point of the thread. We've barely been on holiday since DD1 was born and I haven't particularly missed it.

I'm asking as DH is a little resistant to the idea, and generally falls back on the fact that our circumstances aren't right atm. He thinks our house is too small. He has a point in that we agree it would definitely be too small to have another child (not that either of us want another), but he thinks that extends to having a dog. So I want to know what I should be aiming for so that eventually we can get a dog, and hope that DH doesn't come up with another reason not to.

Your problem is not the size of your house and garden it's a DH who obviously is not keen . I always wanted a dog and it took me over 20 years to get him on board , so my advice would be keep working on the OH and as soon as he weakens get the dog before he changes his mind. If you are really keen you can overcome all the other little issues.

Thanks LemarchandsBox. The problem is I've totally fallen in love with a friend's sandy/brown border collie and would love to have a dog that's similar in size/temperament, and I doubt border collies squidge in quietly anywhere :)

Another thought I had when pondering life with a dog - do they need walking absolutely every single evening? What happens if one of you wants to go out and the other is tied to the house looking after children? Probably a minor point, but I really know very little about owning dogs (would obviously do serious research before committing - this is lighthearted research...)

crossposts Floralnomad - I agree, DH is a problem. He has sort of agreed in principle to having one at some point in the future, but is definitely not overly keen.

Dogs do require commitment. As long as there is space for them to have a bed somewhere quiet, many breeds don't need big houses. Some friends of mine are a big family crammed into a tiny house and they have 2 rescue greyhounds!

A walk in the evening is needed, but on the odd occasion our dog has to make do with a turn in the garden for her business. Something like a collie though (as far as I know) is quite a high energy, highly intelligent dog so would need both mental and physical stimulation to be happy. A happy, well exercised, mentally healthy dog is much less likely to chew, bark, be destructive etc.

I found having a dog (when DH was unavailable for walkies) really hard when DD was tiny, but much easier now she is old enough to come on walks too.
Holidays - well, sometimes (depending on the dog and the venue) you could take your dog, otherwise find a decent kennels or friend to look after your dog.

You can do their walk whenever you want to - 6 in the morning if that's when it suits you, but yes they do need a walk every day and out two or three times on top of that to go to the toilet.

I've seen what happens when collies don't get the stimulation/exercise they need - PiL's neighbours had two that they didn't let out of the house/garden. The poor things charged around the garden like crazy, barking and growling at anything that came close to the fence.

They are super dogs if properly looked after. Our neighbour has 3 and they are a delight - I think our dog would dearly love to go and live with them

The one I met was soooooooooo lovely. Really friendly, but calm with it. Sniffed me out, let me stroke her, put her paw in my hand and her head in my lap. In fact I don't think I want a dog, I want that dog :D

The owner has done a lot of work and training with her from an early age and you can really see the rewards from it.