Considering getting a dog but not sure

[KeepSmiling83]

Hi

We are a family of 4 with two children (4 and almost 8) and are thinking about getting a dog. I didn't grow up with pets so have no experience and as a result have always said no to a dog because of the responsibility it involves. However my husband had dogs growing up and is desperate for one as is my eldest child.

I work part time (every morning until midday) so would be home in the afternoons while the children are at school. However we have after school clubs and things so would be in and out during the week and Saturday mornings. I would never get a dog and then leave it alone all the time so don't know if our life style would suit having one? My friend is a dog walker and boards them so I know she would have the dog when we go on holiday abroad (1-2 times a year).

I know puppies involve a lot of time and training but don't know how long that period lasts? Do the positives outweigh the negatives? I read so much about how they become part of the family which makes all the hard bits worth it but having never experienced it I'm finding it hard to make a decision. Basically I'm looking for a balanced view about getting a dog!

I am not thinking about doing it immediately - maybe in the next year so have plenty of time to research and think it over.

Any views gratefully received!

I did lots of research before having a dog and now I have 3. Would I do it again? Probably. Is it hard work? In the early days yes. But worth every bit of hair and slobber. I would not have considered a rescue because of kids and their ages when I got my first. Youngest was 2 and one breeder was reluctant to sell to me because she said people don’t realise how hard it is to have them. The pup often took my 2 your old by the furry jacket and pulled her across the garden on the belly. It was hard going but persevered and it all worked out in the end.

I love my dog, I had never had one before whereas my husband had.

We both wanted something fairly big and prick eared and wanted a German Shepherd but ended up with a farm bred border collie instead.

She is absolutely wonderful.
Super easy to train and lovely and tolerant with children.
She is super calm and lazy in the house but as you might expect from her breed will run for miles on a walk and is near impossible to tire.

In fact, too much exercise, particularly excitable things like ball throwing or agility training actually makes her overstimulated and agitated and whiny, so I only do ‘excitable’ activities in small doses.

She does have one problem which is that she can be aggressive to other dogs.
She started out super tolerant and friendly, got attacked, made massive improvements but never to her ‘old’ self, she became very quick to growl at rude dogs which I wrongly thought was okay because she was just correcting rude behaviour then it just escalated from there...
She is much better now though.

I would get another dog, I made mistakes with my collie and if I did it again I would:

• train ‘heel’ straightaway and not allow a single step of pulling outside from day 1.
• train to settle in one place calmly when guests arrive instead of running about trying to sit on people...

I’ve done this now and it’s wonderful, I wish I did it years ago.

• teach to ignore other dogs when walking on leash.
• never allow overly excitable, rude behaviour either from them or other dogs, remove your dog straightaway before they feel threatened enough to growl at the other dog.

I didn’t personally find the puppy stage too bad really.

Few accidents but toilet trained quickly.
I didn’t get up in the night, she was put in her crate and any mess I just cleaned up in the morning, I would take her for toilet late at night, get up around 7, it didn’t take long for her to hold it through the night.
She chewed one pair of shoes (my DHs fault) but nothing else, we just watched really closely and every time she went to chew something said AH sharply at her and shoved her chew toy in her mouth.
She wasn’t excessively bitey like some pups are but she did go through quite an unpleasant stage of running and jumping up to bite and put holes in pretty much clothing item I had...

I don't find mine too restrictive BUT:

• we pay for daycare, which allows us both to work full-time, and which also means there are three days a week we don't need to walk the dog at all, as it's all taken care of by his daycare.

• We live in an extremely dog friendly area and everywhere allows dogs - pubs, bars, restaurants, shops and cafes - so we don't need to worry about wanting a day out and not being able to take him.

• our hobbies were already dog-friendly - walks on the beach, exploring new places, wild-swimming, biking - it means we can just do what we always did, just with the dog as well. It was slightly restrictive for the first year while he was growing but now at 14 months he does everything we do.

• we split his walks between us so we both get days off each week. It means we both get time off from the dog, and don't need to get up early or go out late at night every single day.