please talk sense to me

[superbagpuss]

so for the first time our lifestyle means we can have a dog but would it be fair on the dog?

our DC are 5, very sensible around our cats and no longer babies
dh walks the DC to school - dog could be walked at the same time?
he only woks three hours a day so dog wouldn't be alone for a long time
my family have dogs so our dog could go there, or to other family if we went on holiday

we would love a collie sized dog, I've had dogs as a child and know about walking, vets bill and breeds. we would be looking at a young rescue animal, but not necessarily a puppy

am I still dreaming? we have a bit of a back garden and a house, and large parks really close.

the cats have a flap and complete freedom

Sounds pretty good to me, if there's a dog-shaped space in your heart then there are plenty of rescues willing to fit it

Think your dog would need more than a walk in the morning though, our bonkers mutt bearded collie cross would walk all day if we had the energy!

ok, I'm going to talk sensibly to you now....

you've got the perfect set up, go for it!

Sounds perfect for a dog, as long as you aren't going in with rose tinted glasses (we did!)

You know you'll also need to walk in afternoons and evenings too and take dog into consideration at weekends too...(that's summer and winter, rain and snow, you'll need wellies, waterproofs and a pile of towels to dry the dog)

We have our first lab who is now 15 months and although we are really loving it we didn't realise how much time a dog needs for walking, training, entertaining and cleaning up afterwards.

We now cant just grab a few things and take ds to theme park etc at weekend because dog cant be left all day (and ds doesn't like this!), we couldn't go to rest of our family at Xmas last year because this years host wouldn't have the dog and we couldn't leave all day

Your life and options change significantly when you get a dog, you need to plan more. They cost a fortune every month for insurance/worming etc/training/good food/healthy treats - we spend ~£100 month - which we also didn't expect.

We waited until ds was 9 before getting a puppy and it was the right age for us, as you need to consider the dc (and all their friends) will need lots of training in how to be around dogs too. Also expect the dc will get fed up with the 2-3 times daily walks quite quickly!

imo, though, all worth it! Love our dog!

You have to put in the work with a rescue ccollie
Would your dh take to training, do dog sport etc?
But from your op, yes you could home a

Collie

thanks everyone, just spent the weekend with my family who have dogs which was good as it reminded me

they smell

yes about going out all day, you can't just leave them

they are messy

definitely not going into this too quickly, and yes to dh being totally clued up to the amount of work a collie or similar will bring

Are you absolutely mad???

If course you must get a dog -your set up sounds perfect.

even though I have two dogs already.

Collie size is good . Collie not so much unless you can keep the dog stimulated as they really are a working breed.

Oh and you can, On occasion
, leave a dog for extended periods. Big long walk before you leave. Neighbour or family member to pop in mid way through the day to let out or walk. Sorted. Some rescue dogs might have separation issues so worth finding out about.

Obviously holidays or short breaks are issues but there are plenty of dog sitters/kennels/family to call on. Nut yes. Spontaneous weekends away are harder. We dont tendcto go without our dogs though

Collies thrive in company more than anything imo, as a long term collie owner

They don't tend o be bothered about cats either (and if you are getting a rescue they will only give you a cat happy dog anyway)

Tend not to be

I have had my rescue collie for 3 years, he's amazing. I would say though, that if you want a collie then you should really go through a collie-specific rescue or at least a good rescue who keep their dogs in foster homes. Our dog spent a few weeks in one so we knew that at 18 months old, he was good with other dogs, kids, traffic etc.