What dog do we want?

[WillowPups]

My boyfriend and I are looking at getting our first dog together. We have recently moved into a flat with a garden and our work schedules now align in a way that I think this would be the perfect time if any.
I finish work at 4pm-5pm, and my boyfriend starts at 2pm, so they will only ever be alone for 3 hours tops.
Ideally, I would give them a 30ish minute walk in the morning, then leave them with a kong with my boyfriend once I leave for work, my partner will then walk them again around 12, probably for a big run about for around 45mins-1hour, then leave them with another kong when he leaves. Then once I return home from work, we will go on another long walk (there are tons of lovely walks around here). A training session in the evening, and dinner on a snuffle mat before bed.
Basically, a dog who enjoys their exercise yet will happily snuggle with my boyfriend in bed once we get home, willing to be trained and likely to be social with friends dogs.
I work with dogs, so I have lots of experience with them however I want to make sure we do this right.
We are open to adopting.

Totally agree, our rescue greyhound was the laziest couch potato, he was very happy with two short walks a day and chilled/snoozed the rest of the time.

He was completely uninterested in going much further and would stage a sit down protest the times this was attempted.

They can be big dogs, but they are very gentle and calm, after a while I forgot how tall he was.

I do really look at threads like this and despair.

No wonder so many defective and unhappy dogs end up in kennels with such severe issues when you have such muppets recommending people in flats, who clearly know nothing about dogs - despite their claims to the contrary (2 weeks to settle in a new puppy. And in particularly a breed known for suffering from extreme SA and thinking a kong will satisfy a dog for several hours, multiple times a day) - get a cocker spaniel puppy or a Labrador puppy. Incredible.

People need to be realistic when choosing dogs. Flats? That means low energy, low maintenance unless you’re bloody Wonder Woman. Not able to properly settle in a dog? That means you wait until you can.

Dogs are living creatures - they deserve better than ‘oh well my dog was fine being left alone for eighty hours from day one and he’s X breed yours will be too.’ There is a reason different breeds exist- because they have been bred to have particular characteristics and attributes and that means they are particularly suited to particular homes. Just because the odd dog deviates from the typical characteristics doesn’t mean they all will and suggesting otherwise is just so typical of mumsnet it drives me potty

Toy/Companion dogs though are bred to be companions and love being with people. They absolutely hate being left alone. I would never be able to leave my bichon/shih tzu for 3 hours. We've slowly slowly built up to half an hour and that is possibly the max he will be able to be left. I think OP needs an older dog that has a proven record of being happy left alone. 3 hours is a long time and I guess that will be the very minimum and when you factor in day to day life - traffic, finishing something at work, nipping to shops on way back it's actually likely to be longer. That's a long time for most dogs to be left every day.

I am looking at Spaniel Aid, their website is great as it lists all of their information in detail for each dog, including their ability to be left home alone. Obviously, I am not going to jump straight into leaving them for 3 hours off the bat, but an adult dog who has previous history and has been tested at the rescue whether they are able to be left alone or not, is not going to struggle with this set up. Yes, it would be great if I could work from home and be with them constantly, I would absolutely love that, but a very small percentage of dogs have that life. A rescue dog will appreciate 3 long walks, being taken wherever we go other than work, (obviously will speak to the rescue to find the right dog for this, before anyone jumps on that!), food puzzles, fun training sessions and a nice cozy bed with two adoring parents.
I think the comments I’ve gotten about leaving a dog for 3 hours between mine and my partners shifts are absolutely ridiculous. Of course you’re entitled to your own opinion, but accusing me of lying about my job because I am interested in getting a dog and not being with them literally 24 hours each day is crazy!

As per usual @LandSharksAnonymousI 100% agree with you.

I am thinking of asking MN if they'd consider renaming The doghouse as The madhouse.

I think you’d be perfect dog owners and there are so many rescue dogs that would love a home, good luck with your search, do update when you’ve found one. ❤️

Also to comment - people on here saying this won’t work, that won’t work, they have clearly thought about it, do have access to a garden and the time to love a dog, no wonder there’s so many rescue dogs sitting waiting for a home , there is no such thing as a perfect home, even if you wfh you still have to work and the dog still has to be left alone at some point, that’s what training is for ?

You build alone training up over times - months or even years in the case of particular breeds - not in two weeks. If you rush too quickly and miscalculate you can end up with a dog that either causes serious harm to itself, or ends up with severe behavioural issues (and then will get dumped off at a rescue). Most sensible, knowledgable, dog owners recognise this - and almost all rescues operate on the same principle. Which is the point multiple posters have made and which OP is resolutely ignoring (aided and abetted by posters who really don't know much about dogs...)

Lots of people have given OP very good advice (that a greyhound would be a good choice). But, as OP has decided to go to Spaniel Aid (who absolutely will not give her a dog if previous experience - both through friends and family and anecdotally on mumsnet - is anything to go by) it's sort of moot point anyway seeing as she has about as much chance as getting a dog through Spaniel Aid as I do of becoming Queen of England.

We have two Labradors, one we had from a puppy and we then adopted a second.
They are super chilled at home, and although my husband works from home they are left for periods during the day, eg if he goes to the gym, or if we both go out somewhere at a weekend, for a few hours with no problem. They have their main walk first thing for a good hour/hour and a half mostly off lead around farmland or the beach near home, then rest during the day. They then have a little outing later on.
They are great dogs, easy going and definitely love a cuddle

Omg the replies on this thread are mad. We have a springer. He's nearly 1.
We live in a house with a garden but he's only allowed downstairs so not sure how that's different to a flat with a garden.
We work. My husband is out 7:30-4:30 m-f. I'm out 8:00-6:00 3 days a week, different days each week. We are both home at the weekend but do also go out. The dog is able to be alone for up to 5-6hrs. On days where we both work, we have a dog walker come in during the middle of the day and she takes him out for 1hr on a 1:1 walk. He loves her. He also gets a 15min walk in the morning and 30min to 1hr in the evening. Weekends or days when I'm not working, it's usually 1hr in the middle of the day or 2 30min-1hr walks am and pm. We also play in the garden and train.
When we are out he goes in a pen with his water bowl and bed and can also go in his crate. I don't personally like leaving him with a Kong unsupervised as I've heard of dogs getting them stuck on their jaw. He happily goes in his pen and it signals time to switch off and settle down.
When we first got him, the first month was really hard with crate training and working up to leaving him alone plus really intensive training on all aspects e.g biting, potty training, obedience etc. but once we cracked leaving him alone for short periods we were ok. Started with half an hour out of necessity and it was a disaster but once we'd done that, he took to it really well and we worked up slowly from 30mins to now, 6hrs. After 1.5months of having him, I had to start leaving him for work and that's when the dog walker came. She did 2 visits of 30mins each at first, until pup was 6 or 7 months. So he was only left for 2-3hrs at a time. Then we changed it to one longer one.
Honestly he just sleeps when we are out. Has a normal amount of energy when we are home. Has a good run around when we go for a walk. He chills out when we sit down for the evening around 9pm and sleeps on the sofa and then goes to bed in his crate when we say bedtime at around 11pm.
Everyone says springers are mad and honestly he does have a lot of energy when we go out for walks but at home he's generally pretty chilled and is happy to be on his own for a period.
The amount of exercise and companionship you are offering is more than enough for almost any breed I would have thought. It's certainly enough for my springer.
Just as a side note though, he is from parents who were pets, not working dogs, although he is working type rather than show type. And he did specifically choose a snuggly, chilled out puppy from the litter, rather than a hyper one.

Just one of the spaniels on spaniel aid.

@WillowPups But how long is that going to take in a new home?
Also, as I said before, you've not factored in travel to work times.
It's more than 3 hours, it's got to be, and that's if everything works out and nothing extra crops up in the day or at work.
I think you could offer a dog a reasonable home but not with the approach you are taking now.

A rescue dog. Always. And as an aside it's fine to leave a dog for 3-4 hours once they're settled in.

He has been left with other dogs though, so that's not a good indication of how he will be left on his own.

I have a rescue springer. I was told she was fine to be left home alone. The first time I went out she was so stressed, she knocked the stair gates down and was in a right state when I got back. And that was with being left with one of my other dogs.
It took about three weeks for me to be able to leave her at home with my dogs and about three months to leave her home alone.

Well quite. But OP is going to plunge on.

Fact is, Spaniel Aid almost certainly won't give her Milo - only a complete and utter arsehole would keep a Springer Spaniel in a flat (and the fact is it says he needs a secure garden to run off energy - and a flat with a garden, which is almost certainly shared and no decent person lets their dog off in a shared garden, is not going to cut the biscuit with Spaniel Aid).

But OP will continue along this ridiculous path because she wants a dog, and her desire trumps everything else.

I feel so sorry for anyone who asks for advice about getting a dog here, potential owners are never good enough.

People always reply with ‘adopt don’t shop’. OP replied saying they want to adopt. Now that’s not good enough either!

My only input is not to get a spaniel as energy requirements are too high. Rescues are full of lurchers and anything with hound in will be a better match.

It's when OPs ask but don't listen that people get frustrated @Stellaris22 as is the case here.

Do you think a greyhound/lurcher would enjoy meeting friends with their dogs, going to sit outside at a cafe occasionally, beach days in Brighton etc?
We used to have a greyhound when I was younger, he was extremely anxious of being left home alone, meeting dogs, being outside for too long etc etc.
He was gorgeous and so lovely though

The whippets I know are absolutely fine being left alone for a few hours. In my experience lurchers can be wary and aloof but perfectly sociable with people and other dogs.

I have a scent hound and her favourite thing is meeting other dogs and people. But if you’re rescuing then the traits in older dogs will be known by now.

My greyhound loved people and was just indifferent to other dogs la, he was five being left for a few hours, wasn’t destructive abc only barked once in the house the entire time we had him.

WillowPups · Yesterday 20:08

Menier · Yesterday 18:07

We are in a pets allowed flat!
Thank you

That’s great. In that case I’d probably steer more towards an older dog as other people have mentioned, also try and have a back up plan worked out in case of change in circumstances, what would you do if you split with your partner for example.
I have a mini schnauzer which I wouldn’t recommend for you as they can be especially noisy (high pitched bark) which in a flat could be a nightmare for you and your neighbours.

While I think MN can be a bit extreme when it comes to dog ownership, I would have to caution against any kind of rescue spaniel for a first time dog. They are hard work even when raised from puppies - but rescues often come with some pretty severe behavioural issues that require experienced handling. Not what you want to worry about as a first time owner.

I would also caution against relying on kongs multiple times a day to provide enrichment - while they are a great resource, dogs would much rather get their enrichment from the outdoors and from their walks, not a bone shaped piece of rubber.

I also know many dogs (my own included) who would be bored shitless at given a Kong every day - he just doesn’t see the point. Once in a while is okay, but not everyday and certainly not multiple times a day.

That’s certainly not to say that you shouldn’t get a dog or anything, but just give it a bit more thought - especially the enrichment aspect. A morning sniffari or training walk would be much more enjoyable for the dog than a plod and a kong.

I really don’t think that living in a flat or working should preclude someone from having a dog. Experience helps and what is key is to be committed to making it work, getting to know the dog and working out ways to support him/her to settle into your life. A friend of mine lives in a city with no garden but her dogs have a fabulous life and several walks a day. I have always had to work and have always had rescue dogs. They have all settled well, been happy and flourished. I remember when I applied for one of my dogs, I explained that I worked and the person from the dogs home said, “Well you can give her a lot more than we can.” She was only out of her kennel for half an hour a day there. It’s wonderful if some people never have to leave their dogs but I don’t think it’s a problem if you do if you are exercise them properly and provide for their needs.

Bedlington Terrier!!!