Considering getting a dog

[CatHammock]

My DH and I have been considering getting a dog for a while, and I think I could really use an independant logic check with regards to our situation and possible breeds.

DH works from home, and I can work from home when I choose. We live in a house near the middle of a city - we're close to a lot of really good parks, both big open spaces as well as interestingly overgrown woods - but we don't have a garden. We have a tiny yard, but it's not somewhere I'd be happy leaving a dog for more than a few minutes, though we could use it while house training a puppy. There's a nice green at the end of the road that we could use for daytime breaks, and two-three nice long walks a day is an easy commitment. They could have full run of the house and there's plenty of space in DH's office for a dog bed. We also have two massively spoiled cats.

Where we disagree is breed. DH's mum occasionally breeds her spaniels. I'm not a fan of spaniels - we had a King Charles cavalier when I was a kid and he kind of put me off the breed type in general. I'm also unconvinced by the temperement of her dogs - though I'm not sure if that's the breeding or (lack of) training. They are, shall we say, not calm animals. I also had Labradors and lab crosses growing up, and I love the breed. DH doesn't. Quite firmly! In general, I prefer medium-large dogs. There's a litter of lab-collie puppies available via a work colleague and they are the most beautiful things, and their mum has a lovely temperament.

What to do? I can understand DH's feelings about wanting a puppy from his mum's dogs - the current breeding bitch is, I think, the granddaughter. But I have my reservations about the breed and the line, and how a puppy from that line would manage with our cats. I can also see his point about a larger dog in our house - would it be fair to a lab to not have a garden to themself to play in? I'd want to take them to puppy classes and so forth so that we could get recall and manners good enough to go to the green and have a playabout without worries even before they're big enough for properly long walks. Should we be considering a different breed, am I being silly worrying about the manners/training of MiL's puppy, should we even be considering a dog when we can't offer a garden?

Arg! Any advice appreciated!

I would think long and hard about the effect a dog might have on your cats ,how old are they ?

i don't think you should get a dog if you don't have a garden.
dogs need exercise.
your cats might up sticks and move to another household if a puppy is introduced.
why don't you join 'walk my doggy' or somesuch where you can look after other people's dogs?

The cats are about 3 years old. They've met dogs before and are happy enough around them - we dogsat for a friend and by the end of the weekend they were sleeping on him (but that was a very old and chilled out dog). MiL's dogs however, were so excitable (fair enough, new smells, new place and all) that after one wagged tail send one flying halfway across the room, both cats took themself off to sulk in the bedroom and wouldn't come down until long after the dogs had gone. Bah, I don't know that my expectations of them and of a new dog are reasonable.

The garden is neither here nor there really.

Gardens are useful for house training, training in general and a bit of exercise if they're unwell or in season or something, but they absolutely shouldn't be where a dog is getting most of it's exercise.

Walks are way way more important than a garden, I've had large breed dogs in flats with no garden, I currently have a rottie and a tiny garden - it works fine.

Breed choice is a bigger one though if calm matters to you, while yes it is partly to do with training...I would also avoid labs and definitely avoid a lab collie cross as calm isn't a trait that's really prevalent in either of those breeds.

No to any type of collie cross!

I don't think small garden is an issue at all. Very useful for house training but if you have open spaces nearby that's fine.

Have you thought about cost? Food, vaccinations, neutering, Holiday/illness cover etc. It can add up? It also means a certIn lack of spontaneity when wanting days out which aren't dog friendly. And a commitment of 10-15 years!

Also, you shouldn't be swayed by the fact that your MIL breeds. Depends what she is breeding from and if you feel that temperament of her dogs isn't great, then avoid. What about a slightly older dog, a rescue which has been in a foster home with cats. In London and Home Counties you have a huge number of rescues. Facebook groups for those rescues are usually more up to date. Join groups, talk to rescues about your situation and be prepared to wait a bit for the right dog.

I would also agree that labs are not calm as puppies (well mine isn't anyway!). At 10 months old we are also still working on recall, so attending puppy classes won't guarantee a fully reliable recall, it takes ages! Maybe do some research into different breeds? I've met some puppies who are similar age to Dpup and they've seemed much calmer.

Maybe too small for you ... but he's very sweet! ALFIE