Day to day life with a dog

[dimsum123]

Hi, we are researching getting a (rescue) dog. Neither DH nor I have ever owned a dog before. I was wondering what the dog does on a day to day basis?

Eg today, DD and DS are at home, doing homework, on playstation, just lounging about, I popped out to the shops for about 2 hours, DH is at home but in his office in the loft.

What does the dog do while all the above is happening assuming it's been taken out for a walk in the morning?

This evening we'll have dinner at around 6.30, then watch a bit of TV, then I go up and read in bed at about 9pm, DH usually stays up until 12/1am watching TV downstairs. DCs go to bed around 9.30pm

When would the dog go to bed? How many hours sleep do they need?

Tomorrow I'll be up at 6am, have breakfast, drop DS to bus stop at 7.30, then go to work at 9am, back at 11.30am. DH will be working from home. DCs home from school around 5pm. What time does the dog get up?

What does the dog do while I'm at work and DH works in his office in the loft?

Sorry to ask such basic questions but I have been wondering about this for a while.

Mine: two walks a day plus a bit of mooching about in the garden
Lab: sleeping, unless someone goes into the kitchen, in which case he hauls himself up to go and wait patiently to do his job of hoovering stuff off the floor
Terrier: sleeping, sitting on your lap, loves to watch tv. Sleeping on the laundry. Trying to kill the cat or hoover.

Has anyone pointed out the obvious flaw in your plan OP?

That you are planning on going to a rescue centre next week and yet not get a dog until Xmas? Basically impossible! Especially when telling DC, then asking them to wait 8 months, they might report you for cruelty & have a point! If you go to a rescue centre, even on your own be prepared to get a dog much sooner!!

Just sayin’, they melt 💕❤️!

Minster, we will not be telling the DC about our plan until October at the earliest. I am going to a rescue centre on my own tomorrow! But even if I do fall in love with a dog tomorrow, we simply cannot get a dog until October at the earliest as we have 4 holidays booked between now and then.

I am very very excited though!

We have just got our first dog. She is an 8year old rescue.
We have had her 10 weeks and at first followed us everywhere, be prepared for the dog to anxious and want to sleep with you at first. Our dog hates closed doors so has free range of the house,. She now has settled and sleeps downstairs on her own.

She loves to play and to chew, we have bought lots of Kong toys but did not overwhelm her with them. A trainer advised Kong Bones to give her food in, instead of bowls. This makes her work for it and stops her gulping. She likes intelligence games, like hide and seek, also hiding kibble in a box full of brown paper. She is a terrier so loves hunting for food. She is ace at football and catch so lots of balls of different sizes are really good. We throw things up the stairs and she reaches after them.

She has Lily’s kitchen food and is fed 3 times a day plus kibble and sausage treats. We avoid biscuits and crappy treats as she has a very delicate tummy. All dog are different with regard to how often and when to feed. The hardest for me was knowing how much to give her.

She does not bother us when we are eating or cooking. She looks longingly but does not mither. She is walked 3 times a day but we are retired so that is easy for us. She sleeps loads and poos at regular times each day. Again each dog is different and will adapt to your own routine.

We have had some expensive mistakes, buying worm and flea treatment from the vet, biting unnecessary equipment, but we are wiser now.

I would recommend the easy fit Harness, which has a loop on her back and one under a chest. This allows freedom of movement but restrains her from lunging. She is totally reactive to people, cats, dogs and traffic, so we have had some guidance from a local trainer.

She has bought a massive amount of love into our lives.

Doris she sounds lovely. I do like Yorkshire terriers, is that what you have got?

Have been researching rescue centres. Will be visiting them over the next few weeks.

Are there any particular questions I should ask or things to look out for when visiting?

She is a PatterdaleXterrier. I think I would be very wary about approaching Rescue Centres too soon before you are ready. There is a good chance you will fall in love and then find that thr dog has gone elsewhere. That is not too bad, but if the dog then stays in the shelter for months on end, you will likely fret about it.

At our Rescue, you could not approach them until 7 days before you were ready to Rehome. I found out that this is quite common in smaller shelters. They had a very good website and you could watch the dog by video and photos as well as read up on its progress. They seemed very honest about their dogs, but, of course, it is hard to tell really.

We really wanted a bigger Terrier and also we wanted an older dog. I googled Terrier Rescue and actually found her on the first look. This was early November when she had only just gone to the Shelter. I could not have her until Boxing Day as we were away for Christmas. It was agony, watching her, and I lost nights of sleep worrying that we would not pass the assessment. This is our first dog and I wondered if they would say we were too old.

My advice is to start with learning a lot about Rescue dogs, researching breeds and agreeing the age and size you want. Puppies are hard, teenage dogs even harder. If you would like to PM me your address, I can send you some books that I bought, which were really useful.

My (sadly now deceased) Staffies were quite self reliant, they liked a cuddle on the sofa in the evenings and in the day often slept in the garden if the weather was warm and sunny. They get used to a routine and know when it was walk time. One of them liked to get up quite early and would bring his lead upstairs and play with it as if he was catching a snake, the other liked to lie in until about 10am if he could. One of them was very keen to be with our sons if they had visitors, sort of like being one of the boys. They are all individuals and behave differently, but most mature dogs don't need constant entertainment and spend a lot of time asleep.

RE Timing- The two rescue organisations we used - Many Tears and Rescue Remedies would not engage with you if you were not ready to take a dog straight away.

I didn't realise that about the rescue centres. We're in London so I was planning on going to Battersea. From their website it seems like it is OK to just go and visit but I'll double check.

I do understand about falling in love with a dog on the first visit to a rescue centre though. I just felt like it would be good to visit and talk to the staff first as we really have no experience of looking after a dog.

Doris, your dog looks adorable!

I don't know if I can wait until October tbh but we have no choice as we are away so much before then.

Make sure you feed good quality food as well. A lot of dogs have skin and digestive issues as a reaction to grain in their food. A low quality food can also affect their behaviour.
There is a site called all about dog food which gives ratings based on ingredients,protein content, price etc, making your research a lot easier.

As previously said all dogs are different and there will be a couple of accidents as you work out your dogs 'I need to go outside' body language and as it settles in. A puppy of course you have to train where you want it to toilet just as you would a child and there will be some regressions just as there are with children.

One of my dogs whines and scratches at the door to tell you they want to go out. The other stands with his head down looking like Eeyore and just stares more and more intently at you.

Be consistent. If you don't mind the dog on the bed, fine. Just don't let it do one thing one day and then not allow it the next.

The whole family needs to get involved with training so there is consistency across the board and you aren't all using a confusing mix of your own commands for the same task not realising the other family members do it a different way. That's not to say you can't use your own unique commands, just that everyone has to use the same one for the same action.

Keep them as much mentally stimulated through play as they are physically and make training as fun as possible too. They thrive on positive reinforcement a lot better than being scolded.

They sleep a lot!

They also mooch about, look out of the windows, sometimes have a bit of a play or a bark if someone comes to the house and, if there are people at home, they tend to move from room to room with the humans.

If they're puppies, they chew anything they can get their paws on.

They play fight with the hoover/steam mop.

They kiss you awake at 6am because they need to go outside/want breakfast.

They give so much love.

They steal a big piece of your heart.