Thinking about getting a dog - help me decide

[Anonymous]

43 year old, never had a dog. Thinking about getting one when we move to our new house in H street area, both for protection and companionship.

But I’m worried it will be too much work. Is it worth it owning a dog? I‘ve heard so many stories about surgeries and / or behavioral issues, which is what give me pause.

We would do a rescue, in which case, how would we know how big it will get? And whether it would be good for protection? Also, we have an adult cat, so will have to get a dog that will be compatible.

[Anonymous]

they are a lot of work and a lot of money and you shouldn’t get one unless you really, really want it for yourself and not for protective purposes.

We have a rescue and he is significantly larger than we were told he would be and a different breed. It’s a crap shoot. He’s amazing though!

[Anonymous]

You could get an older dog, even at 1-2 years- so you know temperament, size, and whether he’s good with cats. Older dogs at two or three plus years are also calmer than puppies, which means less work

[Anonymous]

If you get a rescue puppy, you have no idea how big it will get. Rescue may have mom, but 99% of the time dad is a mystery. You have to be okay not knowing the final size. If that makes you uncomfortable (it would for me!) you may want to adopt a 2+ year old dog, so temperament and size are more stable.

As to whether it’s worth it? Only you can decide that. I love my two dogs and they bring me immense joy, but they also have caused a lot of stress and damage over the years despite being very well trained.

[Anonymous]

I grew up with dogs and knew I wanted one but still was unsure if we were ready for the lifestyle responsibilities. We started fostering, and fell in love with our dog and adopted him. It’s usually a minimum 2-week commitment but they handle vet bills and help coordinate overnight care if you travel. You just pay for food and toys. It’s a good way to see if dog ownership is for you, try out a few dogs and see what kind you really want, and potentially adopt one you’ve already fostered. Most are not puppies so you’ll have some idea their final size. We volunteered (and adopted) with City Dogs whose office I think is near H Street now.

[Anonymous]

My dogs are both rescues. They bark really loud but are small and not good for protection.

If you want a trained protection dog, I think that requires a special need/training and breeding.

But most dogs are great companions and you should do it - very rewarding. I couldn't imagine living without my dogs, especially when we are nome so much.

[Anonymous]

We’ve had our 6 month old rescue for the past two months and I would say it’s not really that enjoyable at all. Lots of cost on training and having everyone in the house train him the same way. It’s actually pretty exhausting. People tell me this time will pass but I have no clue why we did this to ourselves. I blame it on the quarantine! We have older kids who can help but now that summer is going to be over soon, that help is going to be much less. It’s a lot to manage with young kids or if both parents work from home. Determine how flexible your schedule is and how much outdoor time the dog needs. There is a lot to consider.

[Anonymous]

We have a 5 month old puppy that we have had for 3 months. It was much more exhausting than I realized at the beginning but it is now pretty easy. We put a lot of effort into crate training and housebreaking. I was lead and did 90 percent of the work for the first two months and I had moments of regret or “what have we done” but the chewing everything is slowing down, the Puppy biting is not really a problem any more and we have a routine that my kids (teen and tween) and DH help out with. I take him out in the morning for a walk/play with other dogs in the park. He gets a smaller amount of running around in our yard midday and then a longer walk/rousing game of chase the ball (not so good at bringing it back yet) at night. The rest of the day is napping or chewing in the house, we make sure he gets a break in his crate every day and we go out as we are trying to avoid separation anxiety when the pandemic ends.

He is housebroken but we make sure he gets out every 4 hours or so at least. It was every 1–2 hours in the beginning. He is a great sleeper, sleeps from 9:30-7:30 most nights.

We have a corgi and he is the best, the whole family adores him.

Getting a smart breed helps with the housebreaking and crate training is invaluable as a sanity tool as supervision is constant in the beginning when outside the crate.

[Anonymous]

Not sure how you’d know about protection unless it was an adult trained dog. I think you get a dog to hug, love and have adventures with.

[Anonymous]

Honestly I think you need to really consider if you want a dog. Agree that you should foster first to get an idea. No one gets a dog for protection that is a true dog lover. Those people tend to wind up with aggressive dogs because that is what they wanted. The world does not need more aggressive dogs. Get a dog because you want to enlarge your family and are ready for the responsibility. If you have young kids, you need to make sure that you dog is very friendly. You have to protect your kids as well as the kids who come to your house. If you misquoted yourself and meant protection as meaning a dog that would bark if house was getting broken into. That would be basically any dog including the little ones.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, OP, you don't really sound like a great candidate to get a dog.

We got a rescue puppy a month ago (not our first dog) and unlike PPs, I haven't found him to be a ton of work at all. But there is definitely work to put in if you want a healthy, well-behaved dog, and you don't really sound like your heart is in it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’ve had our 6 month old rescue for the past two months and I would say it’s not really that enjoyable at all. Lots of cost on training and having everyone in the house train him the same way. It’s actually pretty exhausting. People tell me this time will pass but I have no clue why we did this to ourselves. I blame it on the quarantine! We have older kids who can help but now that summer is going to be over soon, that help is going to be much less. It’s a lot to manage with young kids or if both parents work from home. Determine how flexible your schedule is and how much outdoor time the dog needs. There is a lot to consider.

NP here. I'm genuinely sorry to hear that you have not enjoyed your 6 month old rescue. Maybe you should think about taking the dog back to the rescue or finding it another home yourselves. The average life span of a dog is 11 to 12 years, that's too long to be unhappy with an animal in your home.

[Anonymous]

I have had 3 rescues now. Youngest one was 10 mos and was puppy like but not a chewer.
I love having dogs, I love that they make me get out of the house and exercise. I love that they have helped me meet people including neighbors. I love snuggling them, the list is endless lol.

Look at Petfinderm the show dogs in shelters and with rescue groups in your area. If they are with rescue groups they are in foster homes and some will have been cat tested. It will say under the dogs bio if they are good with cats and or small kids and other dogs.

www.petfinder.com

[Anonymous]

Dogs are wonderful, but also a huge investment of time an energy. Particularly if you are compassionate responsible dog owner.

Do you work? Does your partner? If so you are leaving the dog all day, you need to get back let him out to use the bathroom, get a good long walk in. Makes it a lot harder to go anywhere after work. Most behavior problems come from lack of exercise and stimulation (food puzzles, training challenges, something to do).

It costs very little in some ways and an absolute ton in others.
You can spend as much as you want on food, but if you go with something basic with meat as the main 2 or 3 ingredients you are good.
Vets are expensive and not very good around here. Everyone has pet insurance which is practically a scam and that drives prices up dramatically. Vet offices are pretty and polished with designer interiors and email lists instead of the basic boxes with linoleum floors that keep costs down they should be IMO. I ended up going to to west virgina to get a very common orthopedic operation on my dog, 3000 instead of 6500-7000+ around here and vastly superior service. Vet gave options run down, his opinion on best path, cause, recovery and PT. Vets (plural) refused to give any real info around here, wanted 800 for just an xray, some would not quote price for procedure without a 300 dollar office visit. Ridiculous.
Boarding is very expensive and quality can be very poor depending on your dogs needs. At around 45-80 dollars a night be prepared with a couple hundred dollars extra for any weekend trips or vacations you take from now on. My dog being very active could not take being stuck in a cage for weeks at a time with little more than a walk a day like many places around here do.

[Anonymous]

Nice old rescue dog who will just love you. Nobody better.