Negatives of having a dog

[Sleepdeprived42long]

So, we are considering getting a dog to join our family which is currently me, DH, DS11 and DS9. I’ve had cats my whole life but not dogs. DH and DS11 are most keen but I’m definitely not against the idea!

We’ve had some bad luck with pets in the past so I really want us to make this decision with our eyes open not just to the positives (which we know) but also the negatives.

Just by way of background-if we did go with a dog, would probably dog like cockapoo/cavapoo or similar. We both WFH and enjoy family walks-we don’t see this changing in the next few years. We do sometimes go out for whole days at the weekend (although normally to the beach or similar) and go on holiday quite a lot (4-5 times a year for at least 2-3 nights but sometimes up to 10 nights). We could afford a dog but would have to make sacrifices on other luxuries (possibly a holiday or two!). My mental health isn’t great-I struggle with anxiety and depression at times.

So, for those of you who have dogs, can you tell me your honest negatives of dog ownership?

I think the hardest thing is you won't know the personality of your dog until you have got them .

Ours is quite anxious when he doesn't know what is happening and doesn't like travelling in the car . He has a very high pitched bark and barks constantly when travelling . He also isn't good at sitting quietly under a table in a pub.

When we first had him we took him away on holiday with us, but over the last couple of years have decided that the negatives far outweigh the positives in terms of him coming with us so we leave him at home. The same for days out .

He is, however, quite happy to be left at home alone for a few hours and just sleeps. He is equally at home with me and DH or adult DS, so that's not a problem . We also have found some lovely kennels he seems happy to go to.

I recall the puppy days as being quite overwhelming, but equally don't recall the toilet training as being an issue . May have been because we had him in the summer though . He was quite destructive as a puppy, and a second period around 6 months when he destroyed the kitchen . He's fine now - although he still attacks anything coming through the letter box .

And yes - the cost is far more than we originally budgeted .

That your expensive trainer suggested!

The biggest negative for me was what I expected and what I got were different. Don't get me wrong I love our dog with all my heart but I guess I thought I could shape her personality. I expected to have a dog that would come dog friendly places, chill out in front of an open fire in a cozy bar, ride in the car, enjoy boarding at kennels while we holidayed and be all snuggles. She is well trained and walks great off the lead, great recall, etc but she hates crowds, pubs, the car and will only stay with my mum comfortably. She was MY dog but prefers to snuggle with DH. She's great and I wouldn't change her now but keep in mind they all come with their own wee personalities. She's so different from our previous dog who was raised and trained the same.

@Sarn1234 my Jack Russell does the night time thing too - pretends he wants a wee then runs around outside in circles on the back lawn barking .

The smell
The hair everywhere
The farting
The dribbling
The picking up of poo constantly

I’ve had dogs all my life.

bad points…

the cross breeds your looking at take a lot of grooming !

dogs are a huge tie especially when puppies

you’d have to consider how you’ll board them when on your holidays and if it’s fair to have that many holidays

if you want a day out you’d need to be clock watching/pay someone

puppies/dogs chew and have accidents

hair - don’t underestimate the amount of hair they create !

when you first get a puppy it’s like having a new born and they wake/cry often and obviously need house training which is not did similar to potty training

they need walking daily regardless of the weather

BUT

they’re great company, get you out walking :)

Things to consider:
Dirty at home - hairs, sand, ticks, other unpleasant situation.

Expenses - vet, food, grooming, ...

Time - holidays, unexpected party after work, business trips

Change of opinion - ILs have two large dogs, FIL agreed for MIL, but he resents the dogs now, doesn't like having the dog at bed or licking his face, but it is a standard in their home now and MIL is unwilling to see his discomfort.

Visits with other people - do you often stay in someone else's homes? Do other people stay with you? Would this need to change? Allergies, other pets, difference of opinion?

Our 10 year old black labrador died a few weeks back - miss him 💔.

We did our usual annual deep clean/shampoo of the carpet - living room, hall and stairs two weeks ago and I am amazed how infrequently I need to vacuum now and how good and bright the carpet still looks 2 weeks on.

All the dog walking boots, jackets, towels, toys, beds etc are all tidied away now. ☹️

A dog home is a dirtier home but also fuller of ❤️

They make your house stink despite dog owners denying it and often dog owners are covered in hair and it just looks dirty and gross.

If you have a busy life now, owning a dog will take it to a whole new level. Most kids/ teenagers don't want to walk the dog once novelty has worn off, so it will be all on you. Every single day including Xmas day dog will need to be walked, it soon becomes a chore. Plus dog walking now is extremely complicated, see dog threads on here, many people want dogs on leads all of the time, if you let your off lead you can get a lot of abuse, many people hysterical around dogs, a lot of beaches etc don't allow dogs, it's not a very enjoyable experience anymore.

This! This is how I feel!

Negatives

• the new puppy months - toilet training, broken nights, teething - they are land sharks at that age, and exhausting
• never having a lie in again
• the mud in winter, the grass seeds in summer
• they're a tie, no more spontaneous trips out (DS is the same to be fair :-))
• barking: alert barking, or attention barking, or reactive barking...it's all loud
• hunting up the laundry basket and bringing me their finds while I'm on work Teams calls (I have spaniels)

But the love and their joy in life outweigh all the downsides.

Don't get a cockapoo unless you've looked closely into both poodles and cockers and would be happy with either breed. Same principle applies with any cross breed. You will get the physical features and temperament traits of both parent breeds in a totally unpredictable combination, which could bd all the bits you like least from each breed. Popular crossbreeds also have more than their fair share of puppy farmers or at best, breeders who aren't bothered about improving their breed or about good health and temperament, just producing saleable puppies in popular colours. If you can, go to a event like Discover Dogs, or local shows, find out about different breeds and what would be a good fit for your family.

Meant to say too - the daily discipline of taking them out for a exercise and training is a bind but has been good for mental health in this house. Fresh air and exercise are well known to lift your mood, and the dogs force me to take that medicine. I always feel better for it.

Our experience as a family with a dog-

Positives: great to have a happy “waggy tail” to greet you each day as though they haven’t seen you for a year! Snuggles and more snuggles 🥰. Get’s you out of the house walking (even if you can’t really be bothered). Great “doggy sister” for my son. Fun to have around and I’d say she generally adds enjoyment to our lives!

Negatives: depends on the dog but we’ve had separation anxiety with ours which is a pain and not what we anticipated. Some dogs are more prone to this than others (we have a cockapoo). I think poodle mixes are prone to this. To get round this we pay for doggy daycare when we are out at work during the day (having a dog walker wasn’t enough attention for her) - so it is expensive. We have built her up to be left for 2-3 hours at a time but it took a lot of trial and error. Holidays - you will also need people who can take care of the dog - again can be expensive if you pay for this. Days out which are not doggy friendly - so can be limiting / you have to plan in advance.

In hindsight though we wouldn’t have made a different decision - the positives far outweigh the negatives for us!

Oh one other thing to consider as a negative is the general costs - grooming every 6-7 weeks if you have a poodle mix, pet insurance, food, spaying/neutering, regular worm and flea treatment - it all adds up.

we have a lab and she’s not really tying at all. Happy to be at home alone if necessary, loads of fun, we were already a family who like forest walks and plenty of holiday cottages are dog friendly, as are pubs and hotels. She’s just fitted in with what we were already doing as a family.
yeah muddy paws sometimes, hoovering up hair, got good pet insurance but she’s very healthy touch wood! Worst for me is we feed raw and it smells, but the butcher gives her free bones too :) deffo fitter from walks and met new people too.

@Blanketpolicy sorry you lost your lab. 10 is no age really is it ?
totally agree, my house looks like a bomb has hit it sometimes but oh, the love ❤️❤️

Tbh the massive negative of dog ownership for me is most of the other people in charge of dogs. For the most part I hate them and avoid them as much as humanly possible.

Also, dogs are mortal.

That's it tbh. I love everything about them.

Negatives -,you're tied
You don't know what you'll get
The smell
The mess
The accidents
The hair

Just coming to add... a lot of the posters here... the negatives are easily avoidable by doing 10mins research and then finding a decent breeder not a back yard breeder.

We can go out spontaneously, my pup I've now had 28 weeks, my baby is 19 weeks old. We can still go on days out, nothing in the house has been destroyed, only ever had one accident in the house and it was 20mins after arriving home.

So for me-

Positives: companionship, love having a dog around, gets me up and about, love having my little shadow and makes me more sociable

Negatives: hoovering and/or brushing fur and teeth every day (no dog is hypoallergenic, just fyi)
Costs a bit for daycare and boarding as we go on holiday a lot

tbh there's 99.9% of the time a list of people wanting to have our pooch for the week, as for whatever reason they can't have a dog, and we have a house with a hot tub and view in the lake district in return for looking after our adorable, well behaved 10mth puppy who doesn't need walks every day (trained not to have a routine like that, because... look at all these people who have created something they see as negative?)

Overall, I don't trust people who don't have or want a dog... but, I also wouldn't go for a Cockerpoo etc as to me it shows you haven't done your research as 99.9% of them you meet are horrendous, and have the issues everyone on this thread are saying are the negatives of dog ownership

The worst bit is them being tying. If you don’t have a dog sitter easily arranged then you’re stuffed, especially if you end up not being on board with dog kennels.

We have a Cockerpoo and we’ve been immensely fortunate with her demeanour and she’s no trouble, a perfect pub dog and easy to take out with us. If she had been anxious or reactive we’d be miserable. We don’t have a regular dog walker because we are generally only out for upto 6 or 7 hours which she is used to, but if we get held up for whatever reason I do worry about her needing a wee and end up having to rush home as we have noone to pop into let her out.

We had a cocker spaniel when I was a tween and my mum ended up giving her away after a couple of years because she was an anxious dog who cried all day if she wasn’t literally standing next to you. She was a nightmare and I understand this completely but still I have never forgiven my mum for giving her up. So don’t take the responsibility of pet ownership and children lightly!

I have a cockapoo. My boys were super keen to get a dog, but the novelty soon wore off. They were 10 and 8 when we got the dog.
We got a puppy as hard to find a rescue that is ok with children.
It's taken a lot of training and patience through the puppy and adolescence stages but he's golden now. Worth the effort.

Pros - a doggy companion on my walks, always happy to see us, has helped the boys learn respect of animals
Cons - the biggest is the tie and lack of spontaneity having a dog brings. I can leave him for upto 6 hrs but know I'm lucky, a lot of dogs of his breed can't be left this long.
If you can afford to factor in doggy day care once or twice a week or know someone else with a dog that you can do reciprocal dog care then that can make a huge difference to dog ownership

Wouldn’t not have a dog now…. But:

• cost, very significant portion of monthly income. I earn £66k and the dog costs a big chunk although partly because we pay dog care for two days and have no family to have her for holidays plus I live alone. Insurance is 3x more than my life insurance each month. Routine vet/ preventive bills £20 per month. Food £60 per month for decent dog food with some meat based treats.
• Planning - less of an issue for us because ours can be left for 5 hrs after a good bit of exercise. If she has proper separation anxiety I would be a prisoner in my home.
• holidays - hard to be spontaneous
• csn be noisy, ours isn’t, but some yap a lot which can irritate dormant teen children and adults alike.
• training takes up quite a lot of time and energy, don’t underestimate that or think it is done with when they are puppies. I’d say an hour a day when small and 20 mins a day to keep them liveable with when older.

So expensive. Vaccinations, kennels, time. No more.

I will simply donate to dog sanctuaries when my current batch of four dogs have left this mortal coil.

I got a cocker spaniel who guarded everything, food toys even his space and was aggressive with it. It is quite common in cockers. Whilst I know lots of people with cockapoos and cocker spaniel’s who are lovely. I wouldn’t risk getting another. I currently have a minature labradoodle and a cavapoo. Both have a nice nature but my labradoodle is the friendliest dog out them. My cavapoo is very needy also

I have a cocker spaniel and a friend has a litter mate and they haven't shown any aggression yet hopefully it's rare.