First Puppy Experience

[Hope202204]

Dear dog lovers!
I’m looking to hear real experiences and honest advice from people who’ve raised their first puppy while working full-time. I’m at a stage in my life where Im ready to get my first dog. I’m taking my time to do as much research as possible especially for real life situations.
About me - I work for a good company 4 days a week 9-5 in office with extra 15days a year given as WFH and 26days AL plus BHs. It's just me and my cat in good size end terrace house (I own my home) with secure garden at the back. My town is in a beautiful countryside so plenty of green spaces all around.
Unfortunately, I don't have my family close by for support so would love to hear what other options you used, especially crucial first 6 month. And is there anything you wish you'd known before getting your first puppy/dog?
Happy to answer any specific questions and thank you very much for sharing!

You're not in a position to have a dog. Four days a week in the office full time is too much. Even working from home full time you'd really struggle to meet the needs of a puppy, train it, and work.

You can’t leave a puppy for a full working day, let alone 4 days a week

I work full time from home and got my puppy in June last year. He’s 15 months old now. I took a couple of weeks off when I first brought him home and moved my set up in to the living room and worked from downstairs thereafter which works well. I live alone also. It worked well for us and still does but I don’t think it’ll be possible for you to raise a puppy while being out of the house all day for four days a week. It’s like having a child, they require a lot of time and effort!

Definitely can’t leave a puppy all day alone! What about a retired greyhound? Although no dog should be alone for more than 4 hours a day ideally

@chickencurry123 I was going to say a retired greyhound also. Agree with the not leaving them alone too long but I read something (I think it may have been on the doghouse actually) that said being in a loving home, even with being left alone longer than is ideal, is better for them overall than being in a rescue centre. I’m not sure how true that is but it was a compelling argument nonetheless.

Thank you all! Just to be very clear I never mentioned leaving anyone alone at home for long periods. I specifically said as I don’t have family for support im researching many other professional options that available for both puppies and dogs in general and asked who had experience with them.
Millions of individuals are successfully balancing dog ownership and full time jobs including starting with a puppies, it is about careful strategic planning, using resources and support systems specifically designed for it. I’m simply researching what would work best in my situation, hence me asking for similar experiences.

It's not just a case of packing them off to doggy day care four times a week (which will also cost an absolute bomb). Interactions need to be carefully managed, otherwise your pup will end up overly social with other dogs (assuming they don't get a fright - this is the best case scenario!) and then their recall will be crap and they'll charge and mob every dog they see when out with you.
People do get dogs when they live alone and work full time, and those dogs won't die, but they won't thrive and many will end up being rehomed. It's not an ideal scenario at all for any dog, puppy or adult, to be brought home into.

I agree with @Notsurenotsurenotsure on this. There’s a lot to consider here. How long would you be able to spend at home with your pup before using any other type of professional care? At least until fully vaccinated? But even then they’re so young still, using a doggy day care wouldn’t work for reasons mentioned above. It would be far too overwhelming for such a young puppy. A dog walker once a day wouldn’t be enough. I don’t know about professional sitters that could spend the entire day, 4 days a week with your pup but that would be extremely expensive if such a service exists, not to mention the lack of consistency with training etc between you and any other individual. And what if they were ill and couldn’t come? Can you work from home with short notice and would work be sympathetic that you’re not going in to the office because of a puppy?
For context, I have been to the office once in the whole time I have had my dog (just over a year now) and that was only for a short meeting and I came straight home again. He is 15 months old and doesn’t have separation anxiety but I still wouldn’t do a full day in the office with just a dog walker popping in even at this age. Puppies are hard, adolescents are harder (in my limited experience) and I think they need calm, predictable and consistent environments to get the best out of them.

Honestly - don’t. You don’t have the lifestyle to support it. Especially a puppy. I t wouldn’t be in the dogs best interests
Hiwever if you are absolutely determined, you will have to choose an older rescue dog who wants to sleep a lot AND hire someone to walk/care for it at least once a day for an hour at an absolute minimum.
And even that is sub optimal for the dog. Just because lots of people do it, that doesn’t mean it’s in the best interests of the dog. Most rescue centres would refuse your application as unsuitable- for very good reason

You already have a cat which is suitable for a full time worker as cars don’t need i interaction- but not a dog - sorry - I work full- time and I would love a dog but it would be unfair on the dog to be left alone 4 days a week - I am getting one when I semi-retire

I rehomed an older dog because it suited my lifestyle better. There's many great reasons to rehome an older dog (they can often be amazing dogs) but be aware that they may not be used to being left and therefore need this building up, after they've settled in. My nearly 8 year old big dog could only tolerate being left two fuller days a week (in my case 7 hours with a dog walker in the middle) despite enjoying a really good nap. Any more and I could see his behaviour begin to slide, luckily I work part time and partly from home so could work around this. Also not all rescue dogs (or indeed other dogs) can cope with or enjoy daycare. You also need to consider things like hot weather as your dog can't be walked in the middle of the day, do you have the flexibility to come home? Also think about your evenings and weekends - if your dog has been left during the week it's not (in my opinion) fair to leave them at weekends. Similarly, if you're out during the day, it's not fair to then also leave them in the evenings. I also didn't feel it was fair for my dog to be separated overnight when I was out during the day so he was allowed to kip in my bedroom. I get wanting a dog, I wanted one for years before I got one. But think really long and hard about it because you're responsible for its happiness and well-being. And dogs are the best so they deserve a great life.

@Hope202204 I don't think your setup is suitable for a puppy.

But that aside, what is it you can offer a dog?

I did work FT with 4 adult dogs. Here is some really check: I get up every day at 5pm to get dressed and walk the dogs. My dogs want to go out and don't care if it is dark, or cold or rainy. They still need their food and go out if I'm in bed with a tummy bug or have a hang over on Sunday from the night before. They don't care if I have taken a weeks worth of AL and I want to have a lie in. They are used to me getting up at 5am - if they are generous I am allowed to sleep until 6am. Sometimes they say nothing, but one in particular, leaves a lovely present to remind me that I got up to late. Dogs are creatures of habitat and thrive on their routine- they know the time! Sometimes they get bored when I am out for long hours. They entertain themselves as only dogs can do: wrecking the place! (Mine have a thing for skirting boards, but I know of others that prefer curious or carpet or the settee. )
My DH will let them out at lunchtime, they go doggy training 2x week- obedience & agility. We often compete at weekends. I walk them first thing in the morning and as soon as I get home from work. I'll mention the cold dark mornings and evenings for 6 months a year again. I thought they had an ok life with me. But 4 years and it's been relentless! I work less now, and some of it from home to save on the skirting boards.....

I got a dog last year. I’d waited nearly 30 years before getting a dog because I knew I couldn’t meet a dog’s needs until then. I run my own business, work from home and adopted a nine-year old dog. It’s taken all my resources - time, energy, etc to make it work. I love my dog and she is thriving but if I’d got her sooner or got a puppy or had less flexibility with my job then it would not have worked.

i adore dogs which is why it took me so long to get one.

That doesn’t sound like a suitable set up for a puppy - sorry OP!

People underestimate how hard puppies are. They can’t be left alone for long at first and time alone has to be built up slowly so they adapt to it gradually and don’t develop separation anxiety or other undesirable behaviours such as being destructive in the home or a nuisance to your neighbours.

Older dogs are more resilient as long as they have had a solid puppyhood so have become well balanced dogs who know how to settle nicely alone for a few hours because all their emotional and physical need are met.

We didn’t get a dog until my Partner was not working anymore. Puppies are heavy lifting for 6 months then you need to keep going with all the social stuff. I work full time often at home. No way I would be able to manage her needs unless my partner was around and not working. Wait until you retire.

Working full time in the office is the exact reason you’re not in a position to get a dog.

Even if you can afford regular doggy day care, puppies need plenty of time to settle in with their new owner, not be shipped off elsewhere every day.

"Millions of individuals are successfully balancing dog ownership and full time jobs including starting with a puppies"

I'm not sure it's true that there's lots of people getting puppies when they work out of the office full time and live alone.

I know plenty of people who got puppies as full time workers (including myself) but they either wfh the vast majority of the time, are a couple where one works shifts so only a couple of hours of alone time to work round, can take the dog to work with them or have 'daycare' from a family member.

Our pup went to daycare since he was 13 weeks old. It’s wasn’t every day however at most maybe twice a week.

He couldn’t have gone prior to that as needed his vaccinations. So someone was at home with him all day every day. He is very polite with other dogs as a result and very well socialised.

Honestly however I wouldn’t have got a pup if I didn’t work PT and my DH work from home 1 day a week. I don’t think he would have coped with everyday at daycare.

In all honestly I think you would be better rehoming a sociable older dog who is independent and happy to be left in a daycare environment.

You don’t have the lifestyle for a puppy. Maybe an older rescue dog with a dog walker coming in at lunchtime would be better.

My dog is three, and I'm just starting to be able to leave her for a full day with a dog walker in the middle, and come back to all furnishings intact. She doesn't get on at all well with genetic doggy daycare, though she can manage ok with one other familiar dog on a walk. However, she's ok in (expensive) holiday kennels.

Our previous dog was happy with a quick wee surrounded by a couple of three-hour snoozes (and walks morning and evening), gentle on the furniture, loved people indiscriminately, but was a clingy homebody and was never ok in kennels.

A friend's rescue dog has a cast iron bladder and can be left for hours, but hates everyone outside the family so cannot be dogsat at all.

It's quite hard to recommend a bombproof solution that doesn't involve homeworking or a kennel maid!

"Millions of individuals are successfully balancing dog ownership and full time jobs including starting with a puppies."

Yes, they are. Most of them either WFH or have flexible working schedules.

In the last litter I sold, almost all my buyers were retired or had a person WFH full time. The only person who wasn't...was me. I would have turned you away the second I found out you worked in an office full time...and so would all the good breeders I know.

Honestly, if you do press ahead and get a puppy, the only people who will sell to you with your circumstances are puppy farmers. Which means you'd be supporting animal abuse as well as getting a puppy that was riddled with issues...

Even my rescue and the one DMum adopted from (Spaniel Aid) would turn you down based on the above. They get too many 'perfect' would be adoptees to settle for second best - sorry if that sounds harsh, but it is true. Greyhound, maybe. But honestly I wouldn't count on it.

Sorry, OP. But just because you want a dog doesn't mean you should have a dog.

I've only read the first few posts. I have always wanted a dog, but have worked FT in an office. COVID happened and we moved to hybrid so I finally became a dog owner.

I don't know how to emphasise how much of an emotional and physical toll it can take on you having a puppy for the first time. I love my dog immensely, that was never an issue but they are hard work and you need to be dedicated.

I have a larger crossbreed who is now 4. I was a wreck for the first few months and I had support (I had a teenager and young adult living at home who helped with training, walking, playing etc) and my parents absolutely loved him. I had friends too, with their own dogs who helped me socialise him.

But at times, I cried and often wondered what the hell I had done bringing this monster into our lives.

Training is constant, your house gets wrecked, they go to the toilet on your carpet. They chew, they bite, they jump, you have to teach them absolutely everything and one wrong step can be damaging. It's intense.

Mine has slept in bed with me from day one and has always slept through the night. But I know many people don't like this and sleep downstairs with them etc.... most puppies wake a lot in the night. Add sleep deprivation - I know I wouldn't have coped with no sleep.

My job is extremely flexible. I took annual leave for my office days for a month. The other 2 in the house had a day a week each with him and then when he was 16 weeks, he could go to daycare (he still goes once a week as he loves it there). We have an excellent routine and I spent a lot of time teaching him to settle so I could work properly.

Dogs are expensive, they are tying. I can't just book a holiday. I can't have a whole day out of the house without really planning for it.

I would not change him for the world and he is an absolute star NOW ... but the journey to get here was tougher than I ever imagined it would be.

Thank you to all who shared their actual experiences, very helpful! To answer a few questions - I can take 4 weeks of annual leave, followed by 2 additional weeks working from home. The puppy will be 10–12 weeks old when it arrives. During that first 6 weeks time, I will establish a routine for sleeping, toilet training, rest, and gradually becoming comfortable spending time alone. I fully understand it is important to introduce alone time slowly through training and a consistent routine from an early age.
Once I return to work, the puppy’s routine will not change. Dedicated support will simply continue the same balance during my working hours, providing consistency and maintaining the structure already established.
Financially, I fully appreciate that owning a dog is a significant commitment. This has been a main considerations from the beginning, and I have already budgeted for all expected costs, including ongoing care, additional support and professional training, insurance, etc so on finance side I’m more then comfortable.

Interestingly, I posted the same question on several dog-specific forums, and it is amazing to see how many people shared so much positive experiences of successfully raising happy, well-adjusted dogs while working full-time. That also included professional breeders, who gave practical advice on the challenges to expect and how to manage them. I’ve spoken with a few directly, which has been incredibly valuable.
It’s so wonderful to see that so many people in similar circumstances have raised such happy dogs!

This forum seems to have a rather outdated view, both in terms of the support available today and the general mindset around working dog owners. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion. In my case I’ll continue using more dedicated dog communities as I prepare for welcoming my future love!

Aka —— I want to ask people who agree with me 😂😂
Some of us here are actually very knowledgeable professionals in the industry. But you’re obviously going to do whatever you want anyway and came here with your mind made up. 🤷‍♀️

Good for you, OP! Ignoring the advice from knowledgeable people on this site who, you know, might have the potential dog's interest at heart. You do you! Puppy farms often sell 'em cheap btw. Why not see if you can grab yourself a bargain?