Young children, job and a dog. Do able?

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I'm considering getting a puppy.

I'm at work two days a week where the dog would be left from 8 til 5-6ish. I would pay a walker to take the dog out for an hour and then walk again after work. I'm a part-time teacher so this arrangement would be term-time only.

We have two young children Reception and Preschool age, so spend lots of time outdoors already. I also have my parents local who would be happy to do occasion dog sitting if we go out for a day and the dog can't come.

My main concern is the days I'm at work and the fact that I won't know how the dog will cope with being left until it's here. I would plan to get a dog at the beginning of the summer holidays (next year) so I would be home every day for the first 6 weeks.

Does this sound workable?

No.

The gamble with puppies is that some take to being left quickly but others can easily take a year or so to get used to it.

Is there a way you could use a day care facility - at least while the puppy is young and you have to work? Even then, many won't take a dog that young because it is so intensive for them to watch one dog closely all day (as puppies need) and because young puppies don't always do so well with the variety of adult dogs they might also have.

That said, you might get lucky and find a home boarding scenario where someone local to you is a bit more flexible about the dogs they will look after in their home.

It's also hard to get a puppy to order exactly on the date you want it. This could mean the puppy is ready for a new home later in the summer holidays and only gets a couple of weeks or so with you before work starts again.

Did you especially want a puppy vs an older dog?

I don't think it sounds workable. I have two dogs, one is 9 months old and the other is 3. The 9 month old could not possibly be left that long, so I don't think the summer holidays would be long enough at all to get you past the puppy stage (although perhaps you don't mean a puppy). Even then, the 3 year old could be left, in theory, but he would be utterly miserable to be left for that long, even if someone came in to let him out for a wee or walk him.

I don't know what other people think, but for my dogs, the walk is less important than company. I could walk my dog for two hours first thing and he'd be miserable being left. If for some reason I don't walk him but he has company all day, he is far happier. He doesn't want to be on his own.

So I think you'd need to find some kind of daycare for the dog. Also, I had youngish children with the first dog and it was really hard work, there is a difference between being outside and taking a dog for a walk. It could depend on the breed, but I found one of the hardest things was having to drag the children out for every walk. It's better now because they are old enough to leave at home, but that was difficult to start with.

the dog wont be able to walk for an hour until its around 9 months old but will require almost constant supervision and entertainment for the first 18 months. if you have to work, get a dog sitter to spend the day with it and do the shorter multiple walks.

I really wouldn't OP. A puppy is a lot of work and needs full time attention. You have two small children.
Leave it until the children are older.

So you're assuming you would have a small puppy completely house trained in 6 weeks and then you're planning to leave, what is essentially a baby, alone for up to 10 hours every day with an hours break in the middle of the day.

Would you do that with a human baby and think it was all right?

Hopefully not. And it's not going to work any better with a puppy.

Puppy will still need to be taken out at regular intervals for training at that age, and the distress you would cause to a puppy by leaving it alone all day at that age would be severe. You're going to end up with a very trouble little dog.

Your life is not compatible with having a dog of any age, let alone a puppy.

I work 2 days and have 2 young children and a dog. On the days I’m at work my dog walker comes and gets my dog for the entire day. Could you find someone who does the same?

Small children and Puppy = lots of bloody stress.

On the days I’m at work my dog walker comes and gets my dog for the entire day. Could you find someone who does the same?

Yes I think so (dog walker is a friend who has just started her own business), but maybe a puppy isn't ideal.

Thanks for all the comments, lots to think about.

“I would plan to get a dog at the beginning of the summer holidays (next year) so I would be home every day for the first 6 weeks”

Unless you’re happy supporting bad breeding practises and potentially buying a farmed puppy then you can’t plan to get one to tie in with school holidays, good breeders don’t have litters available constantly, they’re ready when they’re ready.

Also a 14 wk old puppy is very unlikely to be fully housetrained... leaving it at that age all day means it’s going to be a very long time if ever until it would be, are you ok with an unhousetrained dog?

An hour a day with a dog walker is simultaneously too much exercise and not enough time through them day with company for a puppy, so you’d need full time care, until it’s at least 6 months old, but probably more like a year old.

It's doable with an older dog, but it's the fact they are so little when they will first be being left. We got a puppy when I was in maternity leave so by the time they were being left when I went to work they were 10 months old. We had built up to being left for four hours by that point. I only work one day a week but the dog walker takes him out from 7-3 on those days and then he's on his own til 6, and he is fine.

The other issue is that a dogwalker won't be able to take a puppy on an hour long walk. They are only supposed to have short bursts of exercise until they are 1, so you will need specialised puppy day care.

It is out there however. We certainly had cracked toilet training within 6 weeks so I think you could really concentrate on that, and find an all day dog sitter/puppy day care. It may be expensive but it will only be for a year or so, and then they would be OK with a dog walker.

You can't get a pup exactly when you want unless you buy from a puppy farmer that's churning them out.
Some young dogs can't cope with being left.
RSPCA says dogs shouldn't really be left more than 4 hours. But 8-6 is 10. Even with a dog walker.
You may not have a pup toilet trained in that time and it will probably still be at the chewing stage too.
Doggy daycare is great but they won't take a young pup.
You wouldn't fit a walk in before you go off to work? Not fair at all.
Don't do it.

I got a pup at 8 weeks old and found someone to do daycare from around 15 weeks (I took time off work for 5 weeks to settle him in) but most have a minimum age of 4 months. It is doable if you can find daycare BUT it costs. I pay £20 a day.

Many won't take unneutered dogs though and that's way too young to neuter.

I can and would take leave from work to cover the time between getting the dog and the beginning but of the summer, as would DH. I had already thought about that.

'Doggy daycare' is new to me, but sounds much better than a walker.

I grew up with dogs. We had our first from puppy until she died and my parents' current dog is 10 years old, but I have little memory of either of them as puppies.

Thank you for all your comments, I clearly need to do lots of reading about raising a young dog.

“I can and would take leave from work to cover the time between getting the dog and the beginning but of the summer, as would DH. I had already thought about that.”

But there really is no way to tell when a bitch will come into season, the breeder can give a rough estimate, but it might end up being out by months and months.

I waited over two years for a pup.
Are you after a rescue or pedigree?

But there really is no way to tell when a bitch will come into season, the breeder can give a rough estimate, but it might end up being out by months and months.

But I wouldn't reserve a puppy from a breeder until I knew when the litter was due. If I was on a waiting list and the timings didn't work then I wouldn't have one.

“But I wouldn't reserve a puppy from a breeder until I knew when the litter was due.”

Then you’re back to puppy farmers, waiting lists for decent breeders puppies usually start about a year before the breeding happens.

But a waiting list doesn't mean you will definitely be able to buy a dog, just that you are interested.

That would be reserving a puppy and paying a deposit for it.

I would forget the puppy thing. Puppies aren't cute and fluffy and quiet and trainable. Well, they are, sometimes... the rest of the time they're naughty and destructive and anxious and excitable and aggressive. They take a HUGE amount of patience and energy, and the children need to be old enough to respect it - no pestering it when it's in its bed etc. I don't want to be negative, but just look back at all the threads on here entitled 'I need to get rid of my puppy' and you'll see what I mean.

How about an older, steadier dog, and doggy day care as opposed to a walker who just pops in? If you say where abouts you live maybe someone on here can recommend somewhere?

There is a middle way between puppy farmers and exclusive breeders with years long waiting lists. We found a fab breeder who is a dog trainer/handler for TV, and had a two litters from her cockapoo for financial reasons, then had her spayed. She has 10 dogs of various breeds including a couple of really famous dogs. She is incredibly experienced and knowledgeable and our dog is fabulous. A friend got her dog from a farmer (sheep) who breeds two litters from his "good" spaniel bitches as part of the economy of the farm..... small scale, knowledgeable, responsible and pragmatic breeding done with a lot of love for the dogs involved.

“But a waiting list doesn't mean you will definitely be able to buy a dog, just that you are interested.”

No, but there’s no real way of knowing when that litter you’re on a waiting list for us going to be born until you’ve been on it a considerable time and even if you manage to find several good breeders, the chances of you finding several more if they’re all the wrong timing are fairly slim.

To get a puppy at around about the right time of year for you could mean you’re waiting years for a puppy.

That’s great if you’re willing to do that, just thought it’s something you should be aware of.

You can't leave a young puppy all day, it's just not doable. Ours is fourteen weeks and hates being left for even five minutes. We can leave him to go the bathroom or nip upstairs, but otherwise he just cries and howls. He's just a baby and wants to be with us.

If you can't take him to work, then you need to book him into doggy daycare or get someone to watch him for you all day. He'll need regular toilet breaks (we take ours out every hour during the day), regular meals (four times a day) plus stimulation. Mine is currently asleep but he had a short work this morning and we've played fetch in the garden too. He wouldn't get any of that if we left him alone.

What about an older rescue dog? You still can't leave them all day, but you won't have all the issues associated with settling a young puppy, sleep training, toilet training and commands. It's hard work!

Aclearshot I agree.

I'm amazed that some people seem to think if you haven't waited 2 years for a puppy then the puppy has come from a puppy farm. How bizarre!

I bought my first puppy from a working farm. The breeders are extremely knowledgeable. They have 8 dogs, all of who know their name and are certainly not locked up. They have the run of the farm, except when they have puppies, obviously. They greet the breeder with affection and they receive affection in return. I was well impressed with the set up, the condition of the dogs and the puppies.

I was also happy to answer the many questions about our lives and our intentions as to raising the puppy. . The breeder has kept in touch throughout.

I am going to pick my second puppy up on the weekend. We have been going back and fore the farm to see him since he was 3 weeks old. We have never needed an apt and was told to just turn up whenever we wanted. And we have, everytime. No problems with our breeder whatsoever. And definitely not a puppy farm.