Recommend a dog for a family with 2 yound kids and 2 working parents

[Anonymous]

I WAH and my dogs are rarely alone more than 3-4 hours. One of the reasons I have not gone back to office work full time is that they would be so lonely. Are your hours really that regular that 4 hours will not turn in to 6 or 8? Have you considered getting two adult dogs who could at least keep each other company? That is what my neighbors did, and they have a great dog walker who comes every day. I have a small (cavalier) and large dog (golden) and find the large dog more mellow, but she is older so perhaps not a fair comparison. If you would consider goldens, and we have had several, I highly recommend GRREAT.org for rescues. I highly recommend against a puppy in your situation for reasons others gave given. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Surprised by all the naysayers. I don't know anyone who is home all day with their dog. Everyone I know does what I'm proposing - but with a larger do. I had dogs growing up that stayed home alone all day. I'm not looking for something as small as a Chihuahua, thinking 25ish lbs.

I'm not sure how my post was interpreted as ignoring the dog all day. The dog could go out in the fenced yard in the morning for 45-60 minutes, have an hour long walk with the dog walker, and another hour long walk in the evening. So the dog would be alone for 4 hours at a time.

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Me too. I had a dog who stayed home from 9:00 to 4:00 while everyone was at school and/or work. I walked him morning, after school, evening, before bedtime. Also surprised at some of these comments.

[Anonymous]

While I agree that you don't have to dedicate your life to a dog, I just want to say OP that my family is you except with one kid. We got a dog. He's the easiest dog in the world, beautiful, and really sweet with our toddler son. But I regret getting a dog. There are only so many hours in the day and I regret having to spend 30 minutes or so of mine, feeding our dog, letting him out and dealing when he occasionally barks at the wrong time etc. Little kids are really all consuming.

If I had it to do again, I'd wait until my kids were old enough to help take care of the dog, maybe 8 or 9.

And if you do take the plunge (but you were warned - not by the crazies in this thread but just the reality), a Bernese mountain dog is an excellent choice.

[Anonymous]

My dog is home alone from 8-4 each day too...but when I come home at 4:00 it is devoted doggy time to try to quell some of the energy and mental spazziness. We go to the dog park for an hour for her to run around if the weather's right, we go for a long walk in the woods behind our house, or we work training games and behaviors (one night a week we go to training class for agility).

45 minute walk before work, 1-2 hours exercise or mental stimulation when I get home, and another 20 minute potty walk before bed. On days that I know we can't provide that, she goes to doggy day care.

Some dogs don't require so much. Some do. I feel like if you get a dog, you have to be prepared for the "worst case scenario" and be happy if you find out the dog needs less. We adopted a dog we were told was a mellow dog good for any family. We found out that at 3 years old, she was quite the handful for our family. I'm glad we had the time/schedule to give her what she needs. Now at 9 years old I can skimp on the exercise a couple times a week and she doesn't make me pay too badly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While I agree that you don't have to dedicate your life to a dog, I just want to say OP that my family is you except with one kid. We got a dog. He's the easiest dog in the world, beautiful, and really sweet with our toddler son. But I regret getting a dog. There are only so many hours in the day and I regret having to spend 30 minutes or so of mine, feeding our dog, letting him out and dealing when he occasionally barks at the wrong time etc. Little kids are really all consuming.

If I had it to do again, I'd wait until my kids were old enough to help take care of the dog, maybe 8 or 9.

And if you do take the plunge (but you were warned - not by the crazies in this thread but just the reality), a Bernese mountain dog is an excellent choice.

+1
That's what we have, and we love him. Also have 3 young kids, and it's working out for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We would like to get a dog, but want to get one that fits into our life style and that we can give enough time too. We have two kids (3 and 5) and we both work full time. We would be able to let the dog out in the yard in the morning and take it for a walk after work. We would also be willing to hire a dog walker for an hour during the day.

We would like a small, friendly dog that is good with kids. Any suggestions?

rottweilers are very kid-friendly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We would like to get a dog, but want to get one that fits into our life style and that we can give enough time too. We have two kids (3 and 5) and we both work full time. We would be able to let the dog out in the yard in the morning and take it for a walk after work. We would also be willing to hire a dog walker for an hour during the day.

We would like a small, friendly dog that is good with kids. Any suggestions?

Review links on this site and you might get on lists for an adult miniature poodle. I would contact them for a rescue-perhaps an older person who can no longer care for the dog.

http://washingtonpoodleclub.org/rescue.html

[Anonymous]

And considering dogs sleep 16 hours a day on average - yes, 16! Working during the day is not a big deal. Particularly since most dogs sleep for most of that period.

At one point we had in home cameras and my dogs would just move from one location they weren't supposed to sleep on to another (sofas-- ).