New dog ...

[pingu748]

I work away 2/3 days a week ... we have a 9 wk old baby ... wife due to return to full time work in Jan ... big garden / live in the country ...

How fair or unfair would it be on the dog (labrodor size, from rescue home) to leave it in the house with access to the garden during the day ...

Would i be better off with a pup as it wouldnt know any different ?

PS wife is ok with the idea of walking it 2x a day when I am not around ... !!

[IzzieQ]

I'd say that it isn't really fair on a dog to leave it home alone all day, even if it does have access to the garden.

[pingu748]

even if walked 2x a day ?

[IzzieQ]

Dogs are sociable by nature and it doesn't feel right to me. I don't have a dog at the moment for this very reason - but it's just my personal opinion. I would guess that many people have this arrangement and it works fine. I would think it also depends on the 'personality' of the dog.

Good luck.

[kita1]

With a 9 week old baby would you REALLY have the time to spend on a dog? A pup would be even worse - house training would be a nightmare (baby nappies etc.).

I would wait a while until you have more time on your hands, the baby will be your priority at the moment (rightly so) and taking on any dog really would not be fair (even with 2 walks a day).

Also if you are away from home totally 2/3 days a week then your wife would be left alone with the dog and the baby! When the baby is waking up in the night (over winter especially) the last thing you need, believe me is the dog waking up and demanding to be taken out!! What is your wife going to do with the baby when the dog needs taking out? What if it is pouring with rain, dark and cold? I do not have children but I imagine it is not easy to prepare to take a baby out in the middle of winter!

Let everything settle down over the winter and get into a routine with the baby and your wife going back to work etc. If you both feel the same in spring next year then look again at getting a dog.

[Eric Git]

HI, I've got two dogs and wouldn't be without them. We got our last one two years ago as a pup and house trained it before I started work again. Once I was back at work, I would walk both dogs first thing in the morning and then shut the up stairs of the house off to them, leaving them the rest of the house and the garden (make sure that your garden is secured, i.e decent sized fence, over six foot tall if having anything bigger than jack russell sort) and then I and my husband would take them out in the evening when we got back, and of course threee or four times a day at the weekends. It is not the ideal solution but a dog enhances your life and your families, children growing up with dogs have better social skills and the family is more balanced. If you do get one then make sure that you don't just suddenly leave it on it's own, this will terrify him/her and that's when the trouble starts. Here are plenty of books out there to help you with this, but if you could take the dog to work with you, it would be better,
Good luck

[Pea Pod]

Dogs from rescue homes have too much history to be having one with a new baby. A puppy plus a new baby is dam hard work. A dog left at home all day would be pretty miserable. I think I`m trying to say dont bother.

[kita1]

One alternative if you are really set on getting a dog is maybe if your garden is really big, purpose build a PROPER kennel and run and get two dogs (company for each other) that are used to living kennelled outside (sometimes breeders retire older dogs to pet homes) or maybe two ex-racing greyhounds that are used to kennel life.

That way you could probably bring them in the house sometimes when you are there, but they would be perfectly happy living outside most of the time. Greyhounds are often happy with shorter walks as long as they have space to run sometimes if they wish to, they are also very easy pets to have around.

Good luck.

[maggie01]

Not a good idea in my opinion. Your wife will be shattered when she comes home from work and it will be hard enough looking after a young baby let alone a dog as well. I would wait untill your baby is older or untill your circumstances change. I have two dogs and work part time, and believe me sometimes it is hard going. I wouldn't be without mine but I don't have any young children. Mine are all grown up.

[eyeshade]

I agree with Maggie here Pingu, what would be the point of having the dog in the first place? Remember also that there are dog thieves out there who will find their way into your garden in order to steal the animal for their own monetary gain. It may also bark all the time when you are out especially if it is young and not trained and not fair at all on the dog or neighbours (if you have any). I would personally wait until more time can be spent to socialise with it, they are sociabale souls and love company.

[pingu748]

OK OK ... i get the message !! (said smiling !!)

Thanks for your input ... guess I shall be waiting !!

PS ... kita1 ... he sleeps 11.30 till 6 regular as clockwork !!

[johnbjohn]

We have a labrador, both my wife and i work during the day, and we get a dog walker to take our dog during the day because we think it is not fair to leave the dog for a long time as dogs to get lonely.