OT-Puppy

[mak79007]

Hey guys, I start medical school in July. I am moving on my own for the first time and I always wanted a dog. Has anyone here had experience witih dogs/puppies alone and busy? Is it possible? It would be nice to have a companion while I am away from home. Anyone have any experience with this?

[sillygirl]

Crate training works really well! I would definitely suggest getting someone to keep you company. I got a dog because my husband works really weird hours so a lot of times he wouldn't come home until 11:00 at night and I hated being alone all of the time. It's best if you are able to come home to let the puppy out halfway through the day, but it is definitely possible. You might consider talking to a trainer (there are some at Petsmart that you can just talk to without paying anything) and they can probably give you some good advice on ways to train them or the best breed for your situation. It might be best to get a dog that is about 6 months old and already hopuse broken if you won't be able to train very much. But puppies are so cute!

[aguerra29]

Dogs are awesome.

There are a couple of things you need to ask yourself before you even begin.

How much time are you going to have to play with the dog?

DO you live in a house with a yard or an apartment?

How much money do I want to spend?

If you live in an apartment and plan to be pretty busy you should look into a less active breed of dog. Definitely no Labs.

If you don't care about purebred, Rescues and Shelters are the best place to look for a dog.

We did alot of research before we got a dog. We wanted a dog on the large side, that had low to moderate activity levels, was crate and potty trained. We adopted a Boxer from a local rescue. He is about 67 pounds of pure love. He can play if we want and he will lounge around. We had him in a condo and he did great. He was already crate and potty trained - awesome. I put him in the crate when I leave for work and take him out when I get home. I promise the crate is not cruel. A dog will not soil where he sleeps, so he does not have "accidents" in his crate.

If you want a smaller breed dog, there are plenty Rescues out there for them too. There's even a barkless dog.

Dogs can be so great if you choose the right one for you and your lifestyle. When you hear people complaining about dogs is because they didn't do any research into what breed woulf fit them best. I cannot emphasize enough - DO NOT GET A LAB. So many labs are in these shelters b/c people got sick of the chewing or whatever. Labs require ALOT of play time.

Anyway, I hope I gave you some helpful information.

[sillygirl]

If you live in an apartment and plan to be pretty busy you should look into a less active breed of dog. Definitely no Labs.

So true! I live in a condo and we have 2 labs and I want to move so bad! We had decided that we wouldn't get any dogs until we moved out, but we both wanted one - then we ended up with two! I don't think it bothers them as much as it does us. They wrestle and play inside and outside, but the worst part is having to walk them to do their business. I would love to just be able to open the backdoor and let them go!

[mak79007]

thanks for your input guys. The type of dog I definatley want is an american bulldog. I have been searching. Still nothing. Thanks for the advice. I am still on the fence a little, but I am leaning toward buying one.

[bexcelica]

my
parents have a dog - and its a LOT of work, especially if you're not
around. i have a cat (i never was a cat person) but i LOVE HIMMMM so
much now, he is so easy to take care of and if youre not around that
much, you dont have to worry about letting the dog outside, the cat
goes in his little box dogs are GREAT, but i would suggest that if
you are going to be busy a lot and want a pet - get a cat, they are
just as loving as dogs and just as much fun, with half the worry</span></font>

[japa]

A compromise would be to get an older dog; you don't need to do the housebreaking as much, and they are sometimes less active than a new puppy. I did this because I had roommates, and it worked out well. I love dogs and really wanted one.

[Scattycat]

I used to have a dog (my ex got custody when we split) but they take up a lot of time. I think it's cruel to have a dog and not walk them regularly and I just don't have the time as I have a full and part time job.

Now I have 2 cats who I think the world of. They have a cat-flap and come and go as they please. The other night I woke up feeling really nauseous so I let my cats in and gave them some fuss and it really calmed me down and stopped the panic.

Dogs are superb companions but I wouldn't swap my cats for one!