Thoughts please

[carrottopper]

We have been considering getting a dog for over a year. I feel like everyone will say the only option is doggy day care but surely not everyone uses doggy day care!!

Wednesday-Sunday someone is at home all day. There is a lot of open fields and walks around us, and a huge park behind our house so on those days, lots of play and exercise would be shared with the dog. Monday and Tuesday we are out from 7:30-5/6. What are our options? Would a walk at 7 and then a dog Walker coming at 11-12 be an option?

Feel like I'm going to be shot down but we desperately want to welcome a dog into our family. I know lots of people probably do this and it doesn't make it right

All depends on the individual dog.
A puppy- no
A new dog - unlikely

A grown dog with no separation anxiety, acclimatised to being home alone- would be fine.

My dog would hate doggy day care. I leave at 8.45am, dog walker middle of the day (1 hour walk but out the house for about 2hours total), home at 5-5.30pm.

Remember MN is not real life. There are 10million pet dogs in the U.K., they don’t all go to doggy day care

What do you have against doggy daycare? For a puppy I'd say it's definitely your only option, and even then someone will need to be with it constantly for the first month or two before it can go. For an older dog, you might get away with a dog walker but twice a day instead of once. 7.30-6 is a looong day.

We use doggy daycare. We love it, pup loves it, she gets to play and be social and get cuddles all day instead of lying about the house bored, or worse, destructive. It's not right for every dog but if you can use it I'd recommend it. We pay £20 a day, it's peanuts and absolutely worth it.

Totally agree with Archer.

We have a Lab puppy and I am always home 24/7 lately. I couldn't imagine her being ok with just 1 midday walk, she is nearly 9 months and really needs more than 1 during the day. It would depend on the age and breed you're getting too.

She is a high energy dog and I felt like just me and training and walks wasn't cutting it. During homeschooling I couldn't give her the attention she needed so booked her in the local daycare 2 days per week. Do you dislike the idea of daycare for any particular reason? Honestly I did too at first, thinking it wouldn't be right for her, but it wasn't fair on her or my kids not giving full attention to everyone so it was my only practical option and thankfully it suits her.

Since she started daycare she seems much more happy and fulfilled (I know, I know, I'm projecting!) But now she can see and play with other dogs naturally, whereas on walks she used to be desperately pulling to get to another dog. She couldn't socialise previously which I think was frustrating her, but there she has learned how to play and interact nicely. They also do games with her like scent work, have new toys regularly, practiced her commands (within a week or so she had nailed 'drop' for the staff, whereas for us she just was not getting it, despite months of training!) Quite honestly it's been the best thing for her. Plus she's tired out afterwards so has started chilling out really nicely around us, whereas behaviour she was always 'on' and bouncy and my kids were very wary.

Every dog is different, and so are walkers and daycares! Some are fine with a good Adventure Walk in the middle of the day, we encourage our clients to use nannycams to check how dogs are coping when they're alone so that if they are clearly not happy with a dogwalker regime we can all agree a plan to move them into the daycare option. Adventure Walks are 60 minutes off lead in small groups of mutually compatible dogs and even the most active dogs seem to sleep for several hours afterwards. We do have a couple of clients who book two of these - an early and a late of the eight or so a day we normally run - if they are going to be out for a really long day's work.

And my lunch break is now over... back out with the hounds!

Thanks everyone. We are looking at getting a cavapoo or maltipoo which aren't particularly high energy I don't think. So what would you suggest as a puppy, and then what age are they not classed as a puppy?

Puppy will definitely need daycare IMO. Our dog is now 2.5 and still wouldn't like to be left all day. It's not just the exercise it's the lack of companionship.

Mine used daycare and has done since he was very young (think around 13/14 weeks old). Daycare is by a dog walker in her home.

You don't know how much the dog will tolerate being on their own. They may be fine but equally they may be loud and destructive.

Plan for the worst with daycare and then review when older and settled. You may be able to drop down to a walker in the middle of the day but better that way then having an anxious dog trying to find a daycare to suit them.

A puppy cannot be left.

@carrottopper

Thanks everyone. We are looking at getting a cavapoo or maltipoo which aren't particularly high energy I don't think. So what would you suggest as a puppy, and then what age are they not classed as a puppy?

All puppies are high energy. Also some breeds are more prone to separation anxiety than others so it's not just exercise needs you'll have to consider.

And you can't necessarily say oh by 2 years old he won't be a puppy so we'll be able to leave him. All dogs will be different, 10.5 hours is a long time to leave any dog though.

We would suggest doggy daycare as a puppy, but for some reason you seen really against it but haven't answered why. So nobody can really help you unless you elaborate. Anyway, agree with everything @BiteyShark has said.

I'm not against doggy daycare. I just think, as someone said before, doggy day care is an option but not every single person uses doggy day care.

You can’t say any cross with a poodle won’t be high energy , poodles are high energy dogs . I’m realistic about dogs being home whilst people work ( not that mine is as I don’t work) and my dog would hate day care or a multi dog walk but most if bought up with it would probably be fine . That said you can’t leave a dog in a cage for all those hours with only a walk at lunchtime so you need to factor in where you are going to actually keep it .

If your work schedule requires you to be out of the house for 10 hours, then you need to find alternative care for the dog. A dog walker popping in for an hour just isn't enough.

My dog is three and wouldn't be at ALL happy with what you're proposing. I don't think many young dogs would be. They need company. Daycare is a good option, or seeing if the dog can go to family. My in-laws are retired and they have our dog while we're both at work.

I'm a dog walker myself and none of my clients do what you're proposing to do. None of them. They all work shifts around each other so the dogs are generally only left a maximum of 5-6 hours, and I pop in halfway through and take them for a good hours' walk.

I have some young dogs who go to daycare on long working days, and on the others, they have me coming in - so there's no reason why you can't use a mixture of both. When the puppy is older, half-days at daycare could be an option, so you leave home at 7.30 - daycare collects at say, 9.30 and drops off at 2.30, then you're home at 5.30pm. But I wouldn't recommend that for a dog under two years of age.

@carrottopper

I'm not against doggy daycare. I just think, as someone said before, doggy day care is an option but not every single person uses doggy day care.

That is because some older dogs tolerate hours at home with a good walk in the middle. Usually this is built up over a very long time so you need a plan for the early months whether that is an older dog or a puppy.

Others (humans) tolerate unhappy neighbours from noise and or destructive behaviour.

All dogs are different. I have two daycare settings as I have a backup for my main one. The reason for recommending going for this initially is that you don't know what type of dog you will get and it's far easier to have that planned than try and find one retrospectively because they can only have a small number of dogs.

Well looks like we won't be able to get a dog then.

@carrottopper

Well looks like we won't be able to get a dog then.

Why does that negate getting a dog? If you were thinking of a dog walker then why not daycare initially?

I’m not sure what you were expecting people to suggest. You cannot leave any dog at any age for over ten hours a day. An old dog you many get away with having a Walker in 2-3 times a day, though it is still cruel as they’ll be lonely in between. There’s absolutely no way you can leave a puppy that long. You couldn’t even get an older dog from a rescue as they wouldn’t give you one as you will have to leave it for so long. Unless you place it in doggy day care or with family/friends for the days that you are out, then it’s just too impractical

@carrottopper

Well looks like we won't be able to get a dog then.

Nobody is going to say it's okay to leave a puppy for ten hours a day

If you were happy to pay for a dog walker, why can't you pay for daycare?

You can't leave any dog alone for ten hours a day. You need to make proper arrangements so it isn't lonely. One hour halfway through the day is inadequate and cruel. If you can't make these arrangements then you should not really have a dog. Little dogs need company and exercise the same as larger dogs.

We've just got a puppy and I cannot believe how hard it is. Even after all my research it was a shock. There's no way I could leave him alone for 10 hours a day, even if it was only 2 days a week. You'd never toilet train it for a start, and that's before you even get to whether it would howl the house down or destroy your furniture. Plus you can't send it to day care or have a walker until all its jabs are done so you need to be home then at least. I wfh now and on the occasions when I might have to go to the office or on holiday etc in future we'll use daycare or my mum.

I think it's a bit like children: some people have a childminder, some a nursery, some have very willing relatives, or work flexibly or overlapping shifts etc etc. There's no right way to arrange it but you have to have a plan for when you're out of the house for long periods. I don't think day care is that expensive so could be just what you need if it's only for 2 days.

You can get dog sitters who take the dog into their home (rather than a big official set-up) - try borrow my doggy and Pawshake. And puppy walkers who come in twice a day instead of once and play with the puppy when it’s too young to go for long walks.