Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

If you and your spouse both work (and cannot get home during lunch to walk the dog), I have a few questions:

1. How long are you gone each work day?

2. Do you have a dog walker?

3. What breed of dog do you have?

Just curious! Thanks.

We aren't in a position to get a dog right now with our work schedules... Just curious to know how people manage taking care of the dog's social and potty needs when they work FT... so we can plan for when we WILL be ready for our pup.

Thank you!

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

We have a cockapoo and are gone about 12 hrs a day mon-fri.

We feel bad for him but I think he has a pretty good life! We dont have a dog walker but we walk him as often as we can and try to go to the dog park as often as we can. He also has free roam of the house and cockapoos are pretty smart and easy to train.

He is prety much a well behaved dog considering he is home alone a lot. And he can hold his bladder! I was in a car accident one time a year ago and he was home alone for 24 hours. We had my MIL go over there to let him out and he refused to go outside!

I would def recommend this breed. They are good dogs with proper training and socialization.

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

We have a Jack Russell. She is 2.
We are gone from 8:30 till 5:30. When she was a puppy I came home at lunch everyday to let her out.
I don't come home everyday now just occasionally.
She now has full roam of the house, I leave the radio on and she gets a treat before I leave. When teh days get shorter I will leave the lights on too.

ETA: If you get a puppy you will definitley need someone to walk it during the day. Puppies can't hold it that long.

Message edited 10/26/2007 9:16:36 AM.

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

DH and I are gone for about 9 hours a day. We do not have a dog walker. Porter, our boxer/pit mix is in his crate all day. He is only 10 months old. But he LOVES his crate. It's his "safe" place. Lucky, our toy Poodle, IS kept in the kitchen all day. Once in a blue moon Porter will have a little accident but seriously once in a while.

The first thing we do when we get home is take them for a walk, then feeding time, then the rest of the time is Play time. When we go to our parents, our dogs are with us, when we go to our best friends house they come too. Even though we work Monday through friday 9 hours a day they still get plenty of our attention and they are both very happy

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

Thanks for the responses! This makes me feel better and makes me feel as if we may be able to get a dog sooner than I think. I'd prefer an adult dog b/c of the house breaking issues, but it's a tough decision. We honestly want a very large breed dog (We both have experience with and love Great Danes), so I am hesitant to get a giant breed without knowing it from puppyhood...

As you can see, we're still in the doggie planning stages.

I also love standard poodles and crosses, but I'm not sure they're my husband's thing... We shall see how it all works out.

Keep the responses coming. I appreciate it.

Right now, we're both gone about 12 hours a day. I could go into work later if I had to, but I prefer not to. We're not sure it'll work. We'd try to get a dog walker, though. I just worry about findings someone I trust who is reliable. It's not like I can run home from Manhattan on my lunch hour to walk the dog if the dogwalker cancels...

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

We have a Cairn Terrier. She was really easy to train.

Our schedules are usually:

DH: leaves around 5:30 - home around 4

Me: Leave around 7A - home around 7:30P

So the most she's ever home alone is 9 hours. Our neighbor will come over around 4 if he doesn't see DH's car to let her out.

Also, my parents live 2 minutes from us. So, if I know we'll both be late, I'll call my mom and she'll let her out, play with her etc.

I checked into a dog walker - and it was $15 a walk. So that's an extra $300 a month if you need them every day.

Right now DH is working overnights, so it's ideal. He's with her all day and I get her all night.

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

We have a three year old Weimaraner...She is alone for 11 to 12 hours a day. We don't have a dog walker, but the woman next door will come over and take care of her if there is an emergency and one of us can't get home.
We take her for a nice long walk every morning and leave wee-wee pads out for her by the back door. Some days she uses them, some not.
She was crated up until about three months ago, but she isn't destructive anymore so we are comfortable leaving her out.

Good luck!!
And BTW, not getting a puppy is a great idea - Misty was nine months when we got her and not having to go through the housebreaking stuff was a Godsend.

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

You should def look into getting an adult dog from a shelter! Most shelters will do a temperment test on the dog to make sure there are no signs of aggression before they adopt the dog out.

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

1. How long are you gone each work day? 8 - 9 hours.

2. Do you have a dog walker? No

3. What breed of dog do you have? We have a Pug & a Shiba Inu. We also have a Chihuahua and a Chinese Crested, but they are strictly indoor dogs.

Our dogs can go up to 11 hours with out a walk if needed, although this does not happen anymore since I am not working in NYC.

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

We have a Golden Retriever who is now 3. When she was a puppy, we crate trained her and my DH at the time worked close to home so he used to come home at lunch time to walk her.

Once she was about 1.5 yrs old, we gradually let her stay out of the crate for longer periods of time and now she has been out of it for about a year or so.

I work close to home now, so it's not such a long day and occasionally I come home at lunch, but even if I don't she is fine for 8 hrs.

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

Im an accountant so my hours vary greatly depending on time of year. On average, Im gone about 9 hours a day, if I were going to be gone more than 12, I would get a dogwalker (plan to do this during busy season) we dont keep him in his crate anymore, but we cant trust him with free roam of the house, so he has the master bathroom (its pretty big) to stay in. We havent had any accidents (knock on wood), and dont have a dog walker. He gets walked at least once a day for about 45 minutes, longer on the weekends. If he doesnt get exercise he is not the easiest dog to live with.

We also got a little older dog (8 months) when we got Murphy since we knew a puppy wouldnt be able to hold it. Now he's a little over a year and doing great.

Good luck with your search and your decision.

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

I am gone from 9-5:30

I don't have a dog walker, i either go home during lunch and walk her or i leave a little later than 9 so that she can go til after 5 (I own my own business, so for me this works)

Shihtzu

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

1. How long are you gone each work day?
I work 6 to 2pm. I walk the dog at 5:30am.

Danielle leaves the house at 7am and walks the dog before. I am home by 2:30 and Danielle gets home by 4pm.


2. Do you have a dog walker? No. Tiny has become very good at holding it in.

3. What breed of dog do you have? Chihuahua

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

1. DH sometimes works from home, but the days he's on-site, we're gone about 11 hours.

2. We do not have a dog walker.

3. We have shiba inus.

We have a dog door to the backyard so they can go out when they need/want to, and then we walk them around the neighborhood when we get home before making dinner.

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

1. How long are you gone each work day? i walk them before i leave, and my dh gets home before I do usually so he walks them when he gets home. About 8-9hrs.

2. Do you have a dog walker?

No.

3. What breed of dog do you have?
A 3yo labradoodle, a 10yo lhasa apso, and a 1-3yo mix of something (pom, long haired chihuahua, pap) really not sure.

But the littlest one and the labradoodle are still crated and none of them have accidents all day.

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

2 dogs: cavapoos (both of them 1.5 year old)

Gone 10.5 hours
No dog walker

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

We have a 3 1/2 mo old miniature schnauzer. We are gone for about 10 hrs a day (8:30 - 6:30). Our walker comes at 1:30. We take her out 3 times over 3 hrs in the morning before we leave (we are currently transitioning from pads to outdoors) and at least twice in the evening. She has pads in her area during the day.

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

We have two dogs.

Rottie/Chow mix almost 7 yrs old
and a puggle who is 1.5 years old

They are usually alone up to 12 hours. We don't have a dog walker. Very rarely do they ever have accidents.

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

1. How long are you gone each work day?
We are both gone 8 hrs

2. Do you have a dog walker?
No, two are house broken and our puppy is in a crate all day.

3. What breed of dog do you have?
Two mutts (1 is a pit/shepard mix; who is 5 years old and the other is a pit/terrier mix who is almost 2 years old) and 1 German Shepard who is 5 months old.

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

I'm in the same boat. I would love to get a doggie but we are gone aabout 11-12 hrs a day. It would have to be an adult dog.

I love large breeds too. A Golden or a Rottie I would adore!

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

I used to come home everyday at lunch to walk my dog--until she was 8 months--Now she goes the whole day from 8:30-4:00, never having an accident-she has the whole house now--I leave the radio on, blinds open, and I always give her a treat :)
I still feel bad leaving her, but coming home everyday was too much!!!

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

We have a weimaraner and a mini schnauzer. We are gone anywhere from 8-12 hours a day. They never have had accidents. They keep one another company and probably sleep most of the day. We do not have a dog walker.

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

Rudy is 2. My dh comes home for lunch to let him out. He probably could hold it but I feel bad.

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

Scruffy is almost 4...
He is a Yorki-shu...

He is spoiled with 2 walks in the morning (1 when we wake up and once the second before he leaves)

When we get home from work afgter 8-9 hour day...

Maybe once in between home and sleep and right before we go to sleep.

Re: Dog owners - if you and your spouse both work...

Message edited 1/30/2009 11:43:23 AM.