Advice needed: Dog Owners

[aznt1217]

Hey All,

I want to adopt and I found the perfect dog I've been looking for at NSAL. A Corgi Mix. He is adult and I am calling to find out his mix and his background. I have ample space but my only thing I feel is holding me back is time constraint...

I work a standard office job (usually home at about 6ish...out of the house by 7:50am) and nobody is home during that time period to take care of the dog. What do you do with your dogs during this time period?

I have a 2 bedroom and can keep the dog in one of the rooms with a few toys or something. I figured I'd walk him before I left to work. Once when I get home then play with him and tire him out and walk him again before going to sleep.

Advice needed
:splitspin

 

[Euroreefer]

You may not want to leave him home alone, because you dont know what he is capable of doing while your away. Some people say it is cruel to cage the dog for 6 -8 hours. In my opinion it depends how big the cage is... Id get the biggest one you can so that he can at least walk around in it, and not have to sit down all day waiting for you. Plenty of chewing bones and toys should keep him occupied as well as a good water bowl, and a little food. Think if you will really have time to give the dog what it needs, or consider a cat that doesnt need you as much.

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

Euro..you obviously missed the part where he said he had a ROOM to put it in..no cage, a whole room. Regardless of that though..in all honesty I would say stick to fish and forget the dog. They are a pain in the a$$, smell and rip things up. Unless you REALLY keep up with it, like bathe it every few days, groom it etc. Hopefully it's fully trained but either way it's obviously going to piss n shyt everywhere in the room all day when you are not home not to mention damage your floors and trust me your land lord will not be too happy about it. Don't make the mistake and then be stuck with the animal.

 

[georgelc86]

If you cant find someone to walk the dog in the afternoon then you may want to limit the amount of water during the day when your not there. Small dogs small bladders. However, priority number one is to find someone for the afternoon walk. That was a condition me and my girl had, if we couldn't find someone or choose not to pay for a dog walker then there was no dog. Make sure you think of all scenarios also things like travel and what not. Good luck.

 

[aznt1217]

I'm allergic to cats so they are out of the question. All very valid points and I can see many things going wrong. The biggest potential is chewing on wires... but the room he will be in has next to nothing in it.

Man I don't know, the Golden I had was an angel to the point where I can tap his foot and it would go up so I could put shoes on him so he didn't get the house dirty on rainy days. I designated an area for him to pee in IN CASE, but it wasn't that necessary. No worries for landlords, I bought my place.

I definitely won't cage him, I'd put Wee wee pads and newspapers in an area in one of the rooms.

I'm even hoping to renovate my attic so he can have a whole space to play if/when I do get the dog.

- I need more dog owners experience and perhaps Dr.Cooper can chime in lol.

 

[chanman]

negative!

 

[Euroreefer]

Oops..ok, even if you have a whole room, I know dogs who have scratched up walls/ doors, ruined carpets/ floors scratching trying to get out of the room. They get desperate to get out and wont give up easy! lol:splitspin Good luck on your decision.

 

[Widdy]

Dogs are den animals, they prefer a crate as their secured sanctuary. Just don't use the crate as a punishment tool, and they will eventually accept it as their home. Just need to start slow and leave him/her in the crate for minutes at a time and slowly increasing the duration. My lab retriever mix that we adopted from the Manhattan shelter learned this very quickly. He doesn't soil or dirty it at all. We were fortunate he was house trained from its previous owners, he's only had 1 accident in the 5 years we had him. Otherwise, he notifies us that he needs to do his business by nudging me or my wife in the arm.

What it boils down to is - guilt. If you treat your pets like a member of the family, I can relate to that leaving the dog home for long periods of time a bit cruel. We've made arrangements with a local boarding school to have our dog in doggie daycare for 3 days out of the week; every other day so he's usually resting/recouping the days in between.

Are Corgies high energy dogs? If so, they'll need a venue of releasing this energy. Be it from chasing it's own tail or ripping down your dry walls. Be prepared to handle this issue if this is the case.

We had to deal with separation anxiety issues when we first got him. We left some light classical music on for him and within a week or two he got over it. Now he's moved onto hardcore techno/trance. :lol2:

G'luck with your decision, it's great you're giving this much thought and consideration. And not returning to the shelter saying "I found this dog on the street, and would like to surrender it...".

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

Wee wee pads are still not a good idea they are more for puppies as a temp training method than for full grown dogs to use full time. It will seep through very easily and damage your floor unless you use like a ton of them. My ex's mom always used wee wee pads over her wood floor. Needless to say the floor is deteriorating and will probably cave in soon. If you want to sell your reef tank in 6 months to buy a new floor be my guest lol but I would not advise it. What it really comes down to is are you willing to take the realistic steps so the dog doesn't hate you at thge end of the day. If you do doggy day care like someone had suggested that is a possibility with ups and downs. My Ex worked in 1 and it was a nightmare..the dogs are always fighting with eachother because there is usually alot in 1 space all different kinds. So you have the risk of the dog getting injured especially since corgis are on the small side. Not only that but it is also not cheap at all. I think her place was like 60 a day? Something like that. Even if you did it every other day like was suggested that's about 180 bucks a week..that's alot of frags/fish food etc. LOL It's definitely cheaper to get a dog walker but who wants a stranger having the key to your house and walking around? NOT I. If you don't have alot of small stuff to steal maybe that's an option like I said it really comes down to how far you are willing to go to make this animal happy and if it's affordable to you. I had all kinds of animals dogs included..I have only fish now because they are the easiest they are low maintenance, quiet, they don't destroy furniture or smell (usually). I'm going to leave off saying that a dog is like a kid and if you don't want kids don't get a dog haha. I hope this was helpful to you neighbor.

 

[DrCooper]

6-8 hours is FINE for a dog time be alone.
Dogs LOVE crates and its a safety place
Seriously, I leave my dogs alone ALOT longer then that and they are fine

If that is the only thing holding you back go for it, that is no reason in my eyes. As long as you exercise the dog and give it all the other things it needs it sure beats living in a shelter!

 

[mr_X]

or dying in a shelter.
we work a similar schedule. we pay someone to come around noon and walk the dogs for 20 minutes around the block and let them crap. dogs are awesome and better family than...family.
some even protect the home...

 

[Euroreefer]

Nice dogs!

 

[SaltwaterKitty]

I think you can do it as well. I have a small dog (chihuahua/toy fox terrier) and he has a bladder of steel!! They bring so much joy into your life and are very easy to mold (train) to your schedule. I think if your heart is in the right place, it will work out. Good luck!!

kat

 

[aznt1217]

Well bad news. I called north shore shortly after. He got adopted within an hour of posting lol. There's always next time.... But seriously great advice. Many pots put mr at ease.

 

[E.intheC]

6-8 hours is FINE for a dog time be alone.
Dogs LOVE crates and its a safety place
Seriously, I leave my dogs alone ALOT longer then that and they are fine

If that is the only thing holding you back go for it, that is no reason in my eyes. As long as you exercise the dog and give it all the other things it needs it sure beats living in a shelter!

+1. The dogs in my family and my future in laws are all home that long. Even my brother's chocolate lab (who's still a puppy at just over 1.5 years) is home that long and does fine (95% of the time, lol).

Dogs are great. If we were allowed one in our apartment, I'd have one right now.

That being said, you have to be ready for one. (And sorry to hear about your potential dog not being there)

Keep at it!
Good luck man!

 

[Awibrandy]

Sorry you missed out on the one. But cheer up, another is waiting just for you. I also want to commend you for looking in the shelters for what will be your Best Friend!!!!!
Dogs are great!
I agree with the good DrCooper! 8 hours a day is no biggie for a stable dog. Walking him/her before you leave, when you come home, and just before bed time is fine, especially for a mature dog. It gets a little more tricky with a puppy as they cannot hold their body functions as well.
Be aware of the individual breed you choose though. Some require alot more exercise then others - ESPECIALLY the working class breeds.
The only issue I find with dogs is their destructiveness, and even this has it's remedies. For instance out of the 3 we share our home with we have one that can, and is destructive. That destructiveness I attribute to my son's neglect of his dog. Poor baby has had a ruff time in life. He is a wonderful dog, the problem is that my son did not live with us for the dog's first 3 years where the dog was not cared for as we care for all our animals. He was subjected to lonely long days while my son & gf were at work, sometimes 14 hour days. He was good during those long days, but he had medical problems due to the lack of sufficient water, and the opportunity to relieve himself. Which is why I am against the "control their water intake to keep them from peeing all over the place" mentality. Poor thing was constantly having blood in his urine, and consequently having to be on antibiotics. Another problem was vacation times. I normally kept him for my son, but on one of his vacations he left the dog w/an acquaintance. We do not know what happened during that week, but the dog has not been the same since. What ever happened it has left us with an unstable dog where it comes to strangers. So when the grands or strangers are around the dog gets ostracized to the basement. I say my son's fault because it would be so much better if he would just spend a little time with him, as well as to take his dog up to his bedroom instead of forcing us to send him to the basement where the poor dog takes out his frustration on the walls, bed or what ever he can get a hold of.
We fixed the destructiveness by buying him a huge monster beef bone that he gnaws at instead of my walls, or his beds.
So what I am saying is that you have be prepared to work with your dog. You cannot expect the animal to tell you what he/she is feeling, or what to do for him/her. You need to be able to kinda of be able to think like a dog yourself in order to make them happy, or at least content.
My 2 dogs are fine regardless of what goes on in the house. The most destructive behavior is my girl which loves to tear up tissues.lol Oh yeah she has the unfortunate happy/excitable bladder syndrome.
So there you have it. They are great, they can be destructive, but most importantly they are THE BEST MOST LOYAL LOVING FRIEND you will ever have!!!!

 

[xvinny631x]

Get a shiztsu! Lazy and easy to train... You cant go wrong!

 

[xvinny631x]

 

[nminunni]

Ted,

i am just going to throw this out there.....

Can you give the dog a better life than it would have in the shelter? If yes, I say adopt. Dogs, like people, get used to whatever schedule they are set on. If you take care of the dog the right way (walk in the morning and when you get home, exercise them regularily and treat it right) I wouldnt be as worried about leaving it while you are at work. It just gets a little tough if you want to go out after work, bc that can make for a long night for the dog. Then again, if you can put it in your spare room with food/water/toys/ wee wee pads you are probably going to be fine.

Also, I happen to know that your complex allows pets up to a certain poundage.

 

[aznt1217]

Yea my complex is fine. Interesting point on the schedule...didn't think about that for some reason.

My neighbor a few doors down has this German Shepard Puppy... mind you I know they are training it incorrectly, but that thing is getting big FAST. All the dogs I want are small ones anyway. Only big dog that I would get is a Lab retriever or a Golden.

I like having smart dogs and am prepared for all that energy...besides it'll help me lose some weight. I like the Pembroke Welsh Corgi and have been doing research for 6 months.