Hey all

I'm thinking of getting a dog, but have come across a problem and wanted to know your thoughts and advice.

The +'s:

Reasonably sized enclosed rear garden.
Could have a dog flap fitted into back door.
Can walk a dog every morning and evening and obviously over the weekends, holidays etc.
Can afford vet fees, insurance etc
Have a woods, park nearby.

The -'s:

Have 2 cats.
The dog will be left at home during the day on it's own.
Can't afford a dog walker every day.
RSCPA won't let us have a dog unless someone can walk it during the day every day.
We've never had a dog before.


I've heard of many people who have dogs whilst working, so the dog is left alone all day. Is this just cruel or okay if you adapt the dog to this kind of lifestyle?

Let me know your thoughts!!

I have a dog and me and the people i live with are all out during the day, we do leave it at home during the day but didn't when it was younger. As far walking it is concerned if it was a small dog you could get away with one walk a day for about half an hour whenever is convient but at the same time every day so the dog realises that it would be routine but in my case we have a golden retriever and have to take her twice a day as she really does need it. I don't think leaving our dog at home during the day is cruel but if I had choice i woul not want to leave it at home. I don't like the idea of dog walker's, if you have a dog its your responsibilty to walk it,lol
I hope this has been some help to you.

When Brude was a pup I didn't work

When he was a little older, I had a part time job, then went full time but came home at lunch time. Now I can leave him for 9 hours.

Perhaps you could take time off when you get a dog? And get an older dog, maybe one that has already become accustomed to a working family.

We saw an older (15ish yrs old) dog available recently, he was small, seemed chilled, quiet and perfect for our situation. However the RSPCA are not happy with him being left at home all day.

Does anyone know of places that have older dogs for adoption that would find our situation acceptable?

I think you'll be fine Briano, once the dog has ajusted to your lifestyle. And my family have always kept dogs and cats together without a problem.

You could definitely do with adopting an older dog though - one who is already used to being left alone during the day and has lived in the company of cats.

The main issue of course is bladder control - you might be wise to put newspaper on the floor in a corner of the room for the first few days in case of any 'accidents'.:|

A friend of mine recently adopted a dog through word of mouth. It was an older dog whose owners were divorcing, and he's settled into her lifestyle brilliantly because he's used to his old owners going off to work every day.

The other alternative is getting a puppy but making provisions to either come home at lunchtime or get a neighbour to call in for the first few months, until it is toilet trained and used to your daily routine.

Different breeds require different excercise - eg our beagle only needs one or two good walks a week, so a mountain walk or a bomb round the woods for a couple of hours of a weekend leaves him asleep 'til Wednesday.

Other breeds need more shorter walks.

Arguably a beagle wouldn't suit you though, because they are destructive if bored (which happens easily) and enjoy human company to the point of clinginess.

Brude has been to work with me on many occasions ;)

Originally posted by JBee
The other alternative is getting a puppy but making provisions to either come home at lunchtime or get a neighbour to call in for the first few months, until it is toilet trained and used to your daily routine.

An older pup though. Toilet training can be impossible if you aren't available every hour on the hour when they're tiny :(

Breeders sometimes have six month old pups available if they don't shape up for the showring :thumbsup: