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Should we get a dog? Advice needed...
DH and I have been looking for a rescue dog for about a year off and on. We actually adopted one last fall, but only had him for a week before we determined he was not a match, and we returned him to the rescue. He was a 7-month old Golden Retriever / Border Collie mix, and he ended up needed 2+ hours of vigorous exercise a day, and we just didn't have time in our routine for that. His foster said he would have been fine with 1 hour of exercise a day, but we found that was not at all the case.
After failing with the first adoption, I have anxiety about adopting another dog because I don't want to fail again :-).
The challenges with our situation are that we live in a condo, and DH and I both work full time during the day. Our condo is actually quite large (2000 sq ft), but there is zero yard, so we will always have to walk the dog to do his/her business.
We could commit to exercising a dog up to 60 minutes a day, and are now restricting our search to dogs age 3-4 and above only. The dog would likely be alone at home 9 hours a day on weekdays when we work.
DH and I don't have any children, and we are both very happy with our relationship and home life. I had always thought we would have a dog or two, and I can't decide if having one would enhance our relationship or be an additional burden right now. The week we had the rescue dog, I remember feeling really stressed and wondering why people say that dog owners live longer.
Any thoughts, advice?
Re: Should we get a dog? Advice needed...
I have a 3 year old Kelpie/GSD mix and a 7 year old Lab. They have both been left at home for 9+ hours since they were 20 weeks old, and are both well behaved, 100% house trained non destructive dogs.
Our Kelpie requires as much exercise as you will give him. And some days, or weeks in the winter, he literally gets NO outside time other than straight out to go potty, and straight back in, 3-5 min MAX, 3 times a day. We will play with him inside, but we live in the midwest, and in the winter, we are not devoting any time outdoors to our dogs. They have come to adjust to this, and are both just fine.
Our lab is lazy, and won't exercise more than 30 min 2 times a day. Maybe look into a senior dog, or one that is known to not require much exercise.
I think this is ultimately a very personal decision, but hopefully others' experiences will help you make it! It really comes down to whether you can commit to providing for the dog and whatever its needs are. You can certainly look for dogs that are lower energy and so would fit your schedule/lifestyle better, but in the end, you can't always predict what might come up, and you have to be willing to be flexible sometimes.
We got T as a 13-week-old because I was in law school and could be home most of the day and/or come home between classes to take him out. I didn't work full time until T was 15 months old (and we knew that would be the case), so having a puppy worked great. When we wanted to adopt a second dog, we were both working FT, so we looked for an adult dog (age 2+) and ended up with S, who was almost 4 when we adopted him. He was 100% housebroken but didn't have even the most basic obedience training (didn't know "sit"). That was ok with us, though, because training classes are something we did with T and planned with any new dog, trained or not.
Would you be able to get a walker so the dog could go out for some exercise while you're at work? It's not necessary for all dogs, but I love having a walker because it gets the dogs out in the middle of the day and guarantees that they're ok if the weather is bad at night, I have to work late, DH and I want to go out, etc.
Figure out what is best for your family, and go with it. My dogs are one of the greatest joys in my life, so any negatives (less flexibility, time commitment, etc.) are far outweighed by the positives, but that's not true for everyone. GL!
I definitely recommend a walker. Even if it's not to get exercise and it's just to let the dog out to relieve itself. I can't imagine holding it for 9 hours...or being alone somewhere for 9 straight hours...I don't know. We have a Kelpie (insane unbelievable high energy genius active herding dog) and a greyhound (literally the exact opposite), and we have a guy let them out in the middle of the day into our yard to pee.
Anyway...if you're looking for something 3 to 4 years old, that makes a great condo dog, that is well adjusted and requires minimal exercise, definitely consider a greyhound. They are bred/trained to be sprinters. They race once, maybe twice a week for 30 seconds, and they spend the rest of their time sacked out in their crates in the racing kennel. We have been fostering them for a while now, and all of them get bursts of energy and then they're done. Like, 5 minutes of zoomies in the yard, or a half hour walk, and then it's time to sleep more. Our 6-year-old greyhound lays around and sleeps alllll day. We get home and let him out in the yard, and he relieves himself and then lays down in the grass, like he had a really hard day of napping or something. However, most greyhounds enjoy being active, so if you like long walks, they'll do it with you. They just don't *need* it like my Kelpie does (Kelpies are bred to work long days in the Australian heat, and are known to run 40 miles a day...there is no way I will ever fully exhaust my Kelpie, ever, no matter what I do with him).
Northern Lights Greyhound Adoption is a well-regarded group near you, and they have a few dogs available right now. I happen to be partial to the black boys (they take forever to get adopted because people want the little, fawn, adorable females), and I think Liquid Steel (here) is super handsome.
Good luck with your search; it is definitely better to be well-prepared than to make an impulsive decision!
My Lunch Blog
Try these websites to see what breed would fit you best:
http://animal.discovery.com/breed-selector/dog-breeds.html
http://dogtime.com/matchup/question/1
We adopted a 14 week old lab while I was not working so I was able to train her to be house trained. I will have to say it was a lot of work in the beginning until we got into a schedule and pattern. Now she is 14 months old and DH and I both work full time. She is like others have said able to hold it for 9 hours but we have a dog walker come 3x a week and my DH goes home the other 2 for lunch to let her out.. Just to get out, she doesn't exercise at that time but at least gets out. We try to take her to the park at lease once a week. We also have no yard but are able to throw her ball inside and have her fetch and get some of her energy out. Try doing some research on the best breed for you. Good luck.
I think a lot of it comes down to your own personalities, lifestyle and hobbies.
I see so many people that get a dog and dread having to take it outside or for a walk. We've always had a dog because we love going for hikes and being outside. We don't take our dog for a walk, we go for a walk and take our dog. If that makes sense.
And just on a side note, many people think labs don't require exercise because they see all the obese labs laying around in their neighborhoods....big misconception! Our lab goes for a 5 mile run with me in the morning and needs another hour in the evenings....she could run for days!
We do have a pretty active lifestyle, and in many cases we would simply be bringing a dog along when we go hiking, walking, running. We also ride our bicycles on fairly long rides (20-40 miles), so that would be too far to bring a dog along.
I have considered a dog walker, but it seems expensive. Most places in my area charge $15-18 for a 15 minute walk, and doggie daycare is $28/day. I wish it was less. I also have the option of working at home occasionally, and it would be possible for me to leave work early and work at home for a couple of hours.
Last night we met a rescue dog who might actually be a good fit. According to his foster, he likes to walk 3 miles a day, and that would be completely doable for us. He was a smaller dog (only 15-20 pounds) and had nice personality, not too velcro and not too independent. He is with a really great rescue and has a wonderful foster, who has had him for 3 months so she knew a lot about him. We have never had a smaller dog, so it is interesting thinking about having one.
Its crazy how labs are full of energy, I don't think I have ever heard that labs don't require a lot of exercise. I think they are known for being insane! lol mine definitely is
Good luck in your search. Hopefully that one will work out for you.