Getting a dog advice

[crappyday2018]

I've been desperate to buy a dog for a long time now and hope to get one next year. I'm already trying to do as much research as possible so I'm prepared.
My working hours would mean I would be home by 3.30 (Mon-Wed), home by 6pm on a Thurs and my oldest would be home by 2.30pm on a Friday.
I intend to get a dog walker to come in around lunchtime every day (even on my short days).
Do you think getting a walker to do a 30 minute walk at lunchtime will be enough if I take it out in the morning and then straight after work too?
I'm looking to get a Labradoodle.

My 'rescue' dog is absolutely perfect with my son and always has been since he was a baby. Rescue dogs are assessed whereas if a puppy will require your hard work to make it a family pet.

People who breed poodle crosses generally don't give a shit about the parents temperaments they care about making money and the majority of them come from puppy farms - however they dress them up (they will have a 'naice' family to show them you - they will only be breeding one litter etc). I do know a couple of nice labradoodles but they are old now so bred were bred before the madness started. The one in our street goes for my 'rescue' dog's throat every time we pass it.

My dog would be absolutely fine with the hours you describe - I won't recommend one you can tell what I have by my name as everyone eye rolls when they are recommended on here (they're recommended as they make excellent family pets especially for working families) actually the days you are back at 2/3.30 I wouldn't need to get the dog walker in.

I wouldn't say you shouldn't have a dog but I would certainly rethink the type and age.

Miss. I’m after a transit.

Wolfiefan, you should get a life

Puppy is 5 months old (20 weeks at beginning of April)
No way could it be left for longer than 1.5 hours morning and 2 hours afternoon. That is with me in the house, observing its sleep patterns over last three or four weeks. So we have nap from 9-11.30 and 1-3. In between there is a lot of mooching around, toileting, playing, needing attention. And my pup sleeps a lot, and is in a crate for its sleeps. You have to imagine your own life too, walking it before school, dealing with bitey demanding puppy when you get in. For quite a few months once you go back to work. I've got the pup used to being left for those hours, and if I went out he wouldn't probably notice (but I'm recovering most of the time from the mayhem he creates and the sleep deprivation caused by a puppy that mostly sleeps through from 11-7 (so not that bad, it was far worse in early weeks)

I know people with young (under two years) cockerpoos and labradoodles, who work and they all have someone coming in at 11 if they leave at 830 and from then on there is someone looking after dog, either in day care or home siting or dog walk for at least two hours if not longer. And that is on the presumption that someone is back home by 4.30pm from school!

I have a poodle cross puppy btw, and they need "people"...very intelligent and people orientated, bark if left for too long too.

sorry that first bit should read 9-1030 not 9-11.30

at the moment there aren't any puppy snuggles because puppy would be biting if I had him next to me on the sofa.
Long walks are quite difficult until they are older, as you cannot actually tire them out without over exercising their joints
there is pee and poo everywhere all unless you are provide hawklike guidance and supervision for the first four months

basically it is everything that is difficult [and lovely] about a five year old (forever), and you cannot bring them to a restaurant or cafe or shop when they are little if ever..

I would invest in doggy daycare/petsitter for first year and then see how the situation develops. Then you will have a happy calm well socialised dog that might cope better with being left for longer

@crappyday2018 At the risk of being reported to the RSPCA by some who have commented, I'd like to share how we're getting on with our six month old cockapoo - with me and my DH both working full time (Prepare for rambling post, but I just want to share as much as I can with you! Like you I longed for a dog for so long!!)

We selected a chilled out pup from a litter from a reputable breeder who we had met. We had also met the mum & dad dogs - lovey dogs, also not highly strung.

We didn't take time off work when pup came home at 8 weeks - not full days anyway - as we didn't want her to think that 24/7 attention was the norm and would only cause issues when we went back to work. We split visits / had a dog walker visit at least twice a day / had family pop in but only for short durations so she could toilet, etc. She slept a lot. During the early weeks she had her crate inside a large pen with the crate door left open. When we got home we tired her out again with play & training.

I should say we had and still have a camera to watch her throughout the day.

Once she was allowed out for walks, our dog walker took her out for 2x 30 minute walks. I would take her out for 10 mins on a morning and again on the evening sometimes. At this point the pen was gone as she had learnt to climb out of it!!

She now goes out for 1x 1hr walk a day with a group of dogs and runs round like a mad thing with them. When she gets back she sleeps until we come home. When we get home she gets another hour (at least) walk.

We leave toys in her crate to amuse her (nothing she could choke on). She has about 30 toys that we rotate in the crate with her. Kongs are also great to amuse them. As she's now a well behaved doggo we're leaving her out of her crate for half a day at a time so she has more space, etc. Eventually she'll have the run of the house all day.

From 8 weeks she went to puppy socialisation classes once or twice a week. Then she went to obedience classes once she was old enough. Now we're finished with training.

She is a well adjusted dog! Entertains herself with toys even if we're in the house. Gets plenty of cuddles when we're home. Is not distressed / depressed / vocal when we leave her. Everyone comments on what a happy & loving dog she is.

This is only my experience and maybe we got lucky, but as you say, there are plenty of people who work full time and have dogs!!

Just make sure you budget for the walks / day care / etc.

@JoJoSaysHello thank you for sharing your experience. Its a nice positive story.

and you cannot bring them to a restaurant or cafe or shop when they are little if ever..

Sorry, but this is definitely not true! Mine came into cafes with me from as soon as he could come outside. As a result he's now one and will settle by my feet on his lead while we have a meal. Yes, he has a chew to occupy him but he's very good and happy to be ignored so long as he's had a walk before hand.

Dogs will never learn how to behave in pubs or restaurants unless you expose them to it when they're young. I've found plenty of dog-friendly places are MORE than happy to allow a young pup to come in for fusses practise. Mine always gets plenty of attention when we take him out and about!

@adaline I've gone with friends and their dogs to plenty of dog-friendly pubs and cafes so I know this isn't true. I fully intend to adjust the places I go to ensure they are (mainly) dog friendly.

Crappyday - glad to see you're still on this thread

JoJoSaysHello did you say your puppy is six months old and you have finished with your training as she is a well behaved dog?

JoJoSaysHello just to warn you that my puppy was lovely at 5 months old but from 6 months we started to hit the adolescence phase. A lot of people only ever hear about the puppy months but the teenage phase which can last until 2 years for big breeds can be just as bad. That's because they are fully grown but a bloody stubborn teenager. They 'forget' all their training especially recall and can still mouth and chew and regress. Mine peaked in shitness at 8-9 months of age but as he is a small/medium breed he started to settle down again at 1 year. During the teenage phase you still need to reinforce the training you did. Don't be fooled into thinking that it's all over.

I think that's why you see a glut of puppies but also lots of very young adult dogs in rescues because the owners weren't prepared for yet another difficult period which can last a long time.

@Booboostwo @BiteyShark What I should have said is we have finished classroom / paid for training. Of course I still train her at home. I just felt the courses weren't benefitting us anymore. She's also becoming a fly baller. I'm fully aware of adolescence in a dog, etc. Thanks for your concerns.

JoJoSaysHello phew . The only reason I responded to you is that the OP is mostly acknowledging the positive posts which is completely understandable as that is human nature when we want something badly. I just didn't want them and you (which you don't) to think that once they stop being a puppy things are easy when they can often get a whole lot worse with a strong stubborn adult dog. Mine drove me to hell and back at times.

@BiteyShark Thanks. Her recall did deteriorate for a while, but chicken saved it. I know there may be more / worse to come.

I did paint a rosy picture in my first post and it's not all rosy of course... When she was a pup there were nights that I cried because I just didn't know what to do with her (and she definitely wasn't the worst pup in the world!). You're right that it's not easy at various stages. I wouldn't be without her though!! Even if she does become a rebellious teen.

Same as above, I picked on that bit of your post JoJo because the OP is concentrating on the positive stories. Also, are you doing fly ball with a six month old puppy? This is very, very risky for her joints. At this stage she should be having 30 minute walks only - now you might want yo be lax about this as she s not a large breed but fly ball is excessive. Personally I don’t start jumping and climbing agility exercises until 1yo and would wait a bit longer for fly ball.

My experience (have been assisting at dog training clubs since 1997j is that it takes about a year of training to see what kind of dog you have and most people benefit from also training in a formal environment during that time. With breaks for holidays, an 8 week puppy class, an 8 week beginners class and an 8 week intermediate class take about a year to complete anyway. At 2yo you have an adult dog which is a better known entity.

@JoJoSaysHello your dog is very young to be having such long walks and to be doing activities like flyball.

Most professional clubs won't let them even try it until they're at least 12 months (ideally 18) so their joints are formed correctly.

You're risking doing a lot of damage to your pup.

She is not "actively doing Flyball". We are meeting people from the local club, etc as I would like her to compete in the future. I'm just trying to give OP options for when she gets her dog and how to keep the dog stimulated!

Thanks for everyone's concerns.

Like with children, people have different methods of dog parenting... I'm only trying to do the best that I can for my dog.

JoJo your dog is doing two one hour walks a day, that is far more than is recommended. You said she’s becoming a fly baller which implies some kind of training activity.

She is becoming.. Not she is.

I posted to give OP some input; not to justify my myself.

But your input was misrepresentative and the whole point is that the OP is already only looking at stories that confirm what she wants to hear. You meeting up with some people who do fly ball is as close to your dog becoming a fly ball dog as me becoming an Olympic dressage rider by asking one for an autograph.

There used to be a poster on here who emphatically told anyone who would listen that puppies can settle at home on their own while their owners work full time. She dismissed anything to the contrary said by other posters, even people with years of experience training dogs, volunteering at dog training clubs or at rescues. Eventually after many months of this she told us she only had one, very very young dog - that was the sum of the experience she was sharing.

Similarly, you have one very young puppy that you are overexercising. You haven’t even been through the teenage months, yet you feel this is a positive story to share. Look at the rest of the dog threads. At any one time there is at least one person struggling with young DCs and a dog, and one struggling with a dog with behavioural issues due to their lifestyle. Rescues are full of unwanted dogs, your optimism is unwarranted.

It is also rathe sad that you are refusing to hear that you are risking your puppy’s health and you are focusing on feeling defensive instead.

No need to belittle me re Flyball - it's not like I've said my puppy is a Crufts champion

Up to this point I do have a positive story to share though. I understand what you're saying, I'm not denying that people struggle with dogs, I'm not saying the teenage period won't be difficult.

All I'm saying is that if OP wants to get a dog and she understands what she is committing to, she should.

There will be lots of people reading this thread wanting to share their stories who are in a similar position to me, but they won't for fear of these types of replies.

This is only my opinion - as previously stated I am one person who may have got lucky and may have worse to come. But for now, I have a positive story to share.

Regarding my dog's health, of course I do not want to damage my dog as I care about her greatly and would like her to continue to be healthy for many years to come. She has been to the vet for check ups and next time we go I will be sure to discuss her joint health, etc again. Please be assured that I am hearing what you're saying