Questions about owning a dog from a non doggy person

[blushingmare]

Me and DH are not really doggy people. We've never had dogs and tbh, find a smelly, drooly, jumpy up kind of dog a bit off putting (I know this will be met with distain from "real" dog owners, but bear with me!) But we are animal lovers, love the outdoors, live in the country, have young children and want a really great family pet and know that nothing really beats a dog for a family pet. But I just have some questions about dog ownership that I really need to consider before going any further. Is be so grateful for some honest answers as need to know if a dog would really be for us!

1. Lifestyle. I work 3 days a week and on work days am out of the house 8am-3pm. Could I leave a dog that long or would I need to get someone to come in to walk it? Would I need to walk it before I left in the morning? We have a large garden that could be dog-proofed. Should a dog be left inside or outside?

Also, if you go out on a day trip which isn't suitable for dogs, what do you do if you're going to be gone all day? We recently house sat for a family with a dog and felt quite restricted by what we could do on our holiday because they'd told us we couldn't leave the dog longer than 5 hours.

1. Children. Our children are 1 and 3. Is this too young to introduce a dog, both in terms of them not being gentle enough with it and already being quite busy running around after young children - would it be silly to add a dog into that mix?

1. Chickens - will the dog chase the chickens?!!

1. Is it best to get a puppy and train yourself or get an older dog? I'm not bothered about the "cute" factor of having a puppy. If you got an older dog, are rescue dogs the best bet?

1. If the above lifestyle is doable with some types of dog, can anyone recommend good breeds to consider, also bearing in mind we'd like a breed that is less likely to be smelly, drooly etc

Apologies if these are really awful questions to be asking of real dog lovers, but surely best to be honest in our research about whether a dog is for us!

Many thanks.

Thanks everyone. That's really great to get experienced opinions. It's definitely made me think we'll think again about getting a dog once the children are older - think that's the main issue for us, both in terms of fairness to the dog and making life more complicated.

Just to reassure. We do like dogs, and all animals, just not so much the really stinky ones that are stinky all the time, not just when they've rolled in fox poo I've had horses all my life (though not now ) and am used to animals with a long commitment, lots of work and expense, so understand that. But unlike horses, dogs need people around a lot more so that is something we'll need to work out when we reconsider in a few years.

Thanks again for your help and for not totally slating me for being non-doggy and yet thinking about a dog!

Thank you for asking sensible questions BEFORE getting a dog!

I absolutely agree with you - a dog is a great addition to a family.

The leaving has been covered - I don't leave ours for longer than 4 hours, a couple of times this may have stretched to 5....but if I think this is a possibility, or if we are doing a non-dog activity, I will book him in at the home boarding place he goes to when we are on holiday.

Having a dog with young children - we got ours when my youngest was 2, he was 7 months - so I didn't have to do the toilet training....however he is a giant breed and weighed 45kg. We spent a lot of time and researching breeds and we couldn't have asked for a better addition to our family.

What I would say to start with is the hardest is when its pelting down with rain and you have to walk the dog and the kids have to come......though hhat I would say is mostly me....my kids now don't think about the weather....there is no such thing as bad weather....just the wrong clothes. So wellies, snow boots, plus really good raincoats , and various weights of jackets have become essential in our house. We have great woods nearby and its all about hunting out the goblins and orcs........

But you need to be committed and see it through....you will hate the mud, hair and water tracked into the house to start with - and then you don't see it......

I would say try and avoid the puppy stage, but I think that will be hard with the age of your kids (may rescues won't re-home to families with young children)

Then my other piece of advice is don't even consider looks when you are looking at what dog to get. Temperament and exercise requirements should be top of your list (maybe along with how easy they are to train....particularily toilet train)

Some great replies and advice but I thought I'd add my two pence worth.

1.We don't ever leave our dogs, either DH or I are always with them or they come with us, but were not in the UK so our situation is a bit different.

1. No, I don't think so, provided you choose the breed and the individual carefully. We have a toddler and three giant breed dogs (weighing fifteen, seventeen and eighteen stone respectively), DS has never been knocked over, pushed out of the way, mouthed or anything of the sort. All of our dogs are extremely gentle and careful around him.

1. We own a ranch and whilst we had to make it clear to them that chasing the stock was off limits, they all picked it up very quickly and we didn't have any carnage on our hands. Again, though breed and the individual play a part here.

1. We've almost always had adult rescue dogs, though ddog3 is only 12 months old, and as I don't like the puppy stage my preference would be an adult rescue, but you need to know its history, vices etc, and if I was a first time dog owner I'd be tempted to get a puppy as you have young children. Rescues have puppies too though, so it may be worth phoning your local ones.

When I walk the dogs, I put DS in a wrap sling on my back and that makes life soooooo much easier.

I think what you want, is a cat. Or wait a few years!

You've got great advice here.

From my reading of your post though, I think your question is answered in the first two sentences of your OP. I would not bring a dog into a set up with two little children and two adults, neither of whom are really that into dogs.

A useful question I find is not simply to list what good a dog would do to your family- but rather - what good will this family do to this little animal? If you are absolutely convinced that you, your partner and your lifestyle and likes and dislikes would be a good choice for a dog to spend the rest of her life, through all the poo, pee, drool, chewed up stuff, old age, incontinence, diarrhea, paralysis - then get one. If not, and if the sole reasoning is to get a family pet because I looks like the right choice for the humans, then don't.

If you won't be there from 8-3 you will need someone to come in because puppies under 6 months need 3 meals a day not 2. Therefore someone needs to feed it dinner. Also planning a family day out not suitable for the dog is where you have to think about lifestyle change- either the dog is part of the family or it isn't. Your life will change if you have a dog and as someone unthread said- what can you do for the dog not vice versa. Agree with the cat suggestion!

• up thread not unthread! Sleep deprivation due to puppy!!!