Dog owning

Im sure there are plenty on here who have dogs. Well tonight me & Gem have been to see a little Westie pup which my uncle currently owns. Its only 11 weeks, I think he's bought it without thinking about it really. The dog is a pedigree and has the pedigree with her.

We're seriously thinking of buying her, however we're not 100% certain whether our occupations cause problems with owning her.

I work shifts, meaning 5 days a month I'm out of the house from 7-5 and she's away from 8:30 til 5.30. This means that the dog is potentially at home between 8:30 til 5. Ive been asking my mam whether she wants to look after the dog on these days (she is a previous westie owner) however I dont want to burden her with having her.

Outside of that, Im at home a lot, and find myself bored a lot of the time. On the flip side, we're only 26 & 24 and wonder how much of a sacrifice of owning a dog will be.

Anyone help me on this one?

5 days a month ?

nice job.

Right then mate, I have a 5 year old golden lad (Holly). Myself and my now ex fiancee have only recently parted company. Holly is left 5 days a week for up to 8 hours. She copes fine with it. However the thing with ure potential pet is the age. Being so young I imagine it would be likely to chew. This is a natural thing for the dog to do even when not left alone. If you were to want a dog I would recommend getting an older rescue dog, however these can have completely new issues all of their own! Although a dog can make a great companion and even be part of the family. There I have had my say and managed to help, not at all!

Have 6 cats and 2 dogs a Sheltie/Boarder Collie cross and a Fox Terrier/Border terrier cross both under a year old I work shifts and the wife works in a local school, they never get left for more than between 8.30 and 12ish but they can cause a lot of problems if they get bored.

Yeah Warren i meant 5 day shifts a month - the rest of it is either backs or nights!!

Thing is this dog needs some care & attention. In the short time that my uncle has had her, I dont think she has been given the love & attention she needs and that is swaying my decision (even though it shouldnt).

I think the reality of the case is that while you are not at home the pup for as long as it is a pup it will cause minor damages they do chew and will chew on anything and everything you can imagine. if you are prepared to accept this then you should have no problem at all.

i am at the same age as you and I can tell you the dog does mean sacrifices. you wanna go away for the weekend you need to find someone to look after it or take it with you at a dog friendly b&b. there are plenty so don't worry but if you wanna go abroad you will have to leave it with someone or put it in a hotel.

If I understood your work arrangements correctly you are only away 5 days a month and the rest at home. I'm sure for those 5 days you will find someone to look after her. all in all you will get great pleasure of owning a dog....in terms of responsibilities it is the closest you will get to having a kid at this age )

about rescue dogs....I have my own and if you choose right you can get one without many or even any problems. I know mine is afraid of shiny big things like end cans )) but that's it really.

best of luck - i'm sure others will come to help

My shifts mean I work 6 days in 10 but it works out that I only work dayshift 5 days a month. Otherwise I work 2-12 5-3 or 10-7 which means that the dog wont be left as long (4-5hours) There is a possibility of containing her in the kitchen, or possibly putting her in the garage with a dogflap (dont know whether this is very secure option though)

[the_lone_wolf]

you want a challenge? try a 3 year old rescue border collie who lived with an elderly guy suffering from dementia, never been socialised with other dogs or people, never had a routine, and towards the end the guy tried to strangle her with a dressing gown cord. she has a phobia of brooms, and that extends to throwing herself under street sweeping trucks if you're not paying attention

however, one year later and she's a different dog, wouldn't swap her for the world and never thought of doing so. dogs are awesome creatures and give back so much for a little love and attention, just be sure you know what you're letting yourself in for in terms of time and money (vet's bills are more than you think, no matter what you think they will be...)

Yup, vet bills, the bane of every pet owner. I have looked into Pet insurance but theres still a £50 excess on that so you're looking at that for starters. When my parents had a dog, vet bills seemed to be few & far between until it reached double figures in age. After that it seemed to get silly

[dizzyblonde]

for two years I worked 12 hour shifts with my chap.Honey never bothered and was always good as gold. However last year I found BOB THE DOG at 12 weeks old in the middle of our street and kept him. After eating his way through my house and peeing and pooing everywhere I decided to swap shifts, so now we're on the opposite shift. IM indoors stays at my house when we're at work and BOB is now more grown up. Funny it never bothered my other dog as i always got my gran or neighbour to let her out when at work. BOB was really hard work, but now apart from gassing us with his green mist farts is a great dog. In a way its like having an extra child around, you've got to be able to manage properly