Mabel snuck into my room and POOPED ON THE BED while I was in the shower last week because I wouldn't let her outside to chase squirrels and eat her own poop.
My first two did not need lots of activity but she is crazy. I send her to doggie daycare 2x a week to get out some of her crazy and my husband has been taking her on 4 mile runs on the weekend when it's cool out and she is not even tired after. She DOES crash in the evening at least but won't even sit in our laps and snuggle us. What did I do to deserve all this? lol.
O.M.G. what is this Pug sorcery?!?! LOL
it has been a big change from 13 year old blind and deaf pug to a puppy, lol.
Bring them to school drop off some morning, I want to see them!!
Soon I promise! One is fearful of cars, so we have been trying to get her a bit more accustomed to the neighborhood in general before attempting the blvd.
Post by DarcyLongfellow on Dec 18, 2022 0:55:29 GMT -5
I guess I'm in the minority because I really don't think my dog is any trouble at all. I mean, he eats 4x/day and he needs fresh water, all of which takes maybe 3 minutes of my attention total over the course of a day. We have an electric fence, so he goes out on his own. We aren't militant about walking him -- DD1 and DH both enjoy walking him amd aim to every day, but there are plenty of days he doesn't get a walk and he's fine. Honestly, the most annoying thing is that we're all his Personal Labrador Door Openers -- he wants to rotate between inside and outside constantly. He also barks when someone comes on our property. It's not awesome, but honestly I don't mind a little bit of fear in people when they hear a big booming bark coming from my house.
He was obviously more work as a puppy, but having an adult dog is just so much a part of my life I don't think of it as any work at all.
If you truly need a low maintenance dog from the start, getting an adult dog can be great. I'd be very specific about what you need if you go through a rescue. Fostering first is a good idea. We got a springer spaniel years ago who the foster mom swore was super chill. Turned out he was just still traumatized. That dog was the wildest thing I'd ever met once he felt comfortable in our home 😆😆😆
My dog rules our life. He has health issues so takes 3 different types of meds. One needs to be filled by a compounding pharmacy. He rolls in dog shit at doggy daycare so has to be bathed often. He wakes us up between 2-4 am most days.
Dogs ownership isn’t easy. Our life revolves around him and it’s hard. We love him dearly and I would never change having a dog but I tell anyone on the fence to not get one.
I wanted a dog more than anything and got one when I was about 20. She’s not alive any longer. She was my baby and I loved her more than anything. But she was also violent despite a slew of meds, training and behavioralists, and I was on constant alert whenever she was around people or at night when DH would wake up (and accidentally step too close to her). I do not miss having a dog in the slightest. It was a lot of stress. And not sure if anyone mentioned, but it is SO much easier keeping the house clean without animals - for that reason alone, I can’t ever envision bringing another animal into the house. I really have issues when I go to people’s houses now and return covered in dog or cat hair - it is really repulsive to me.
1) February in a cold climate is IMO a great time to potty train because most puppies don't want to be outside any more than you do, so they get the idea pretty quickly about what you are out there to do, get it done and are ready to go back in, which is what you want at that age.
2. OP, there is a big difference between getting a dog and a puppy. Pros and cons to both but puppies are about as much work as a human infant if you are doing things correctly for several months. I have a 9 month old puppy and she's a fantastic dog, but it takes time and a LOT of effort to get there and it's better to be in it with your whole heart because sacrifices will be made. (I also have a 4 year old who I raised from a puppy and have raised 4 dogs from puppies as an adult, plus our family dogs as a kid.)
3. I have made no other investment in my life that has more return than my dogs. They make me happy every day and I never doubt their place in our lives. But I am very lucky to not have to consider cost in their care and even the healthiest dog has costs. At the end of her life, our second dog, who died about a year ago, had more medical costs than all three humans and the other dog combined that year. A friend just paid more than 10k for her dog's ICU stay. The alternative for her dog would have been death, so you know, it's a life you are bringing into your family. That decision has consequence.
Although I think dogs are the best, I don't think every person should have one. Have you considered fostering for a while? If you live on a farm, I bet a rescue would be thrilled to work with you. Lots of great reasons why a farm is a good place to socialize a younger pup.
I am in the camp that not everyone needs to have a dog and like with having kids both adults need to be 100% on board. Sometimes you cannot get home to feed/walk etc or take to the vet and it’s going to be your partners responsibility.
I grew up with dogs and we had one that probably no other family would have kept - like would have put Marley to shame. We had to strap our fridge and freezer shut and latch out cabinets. I totally thought readjusting your life for a dog was normal. My H grew up getting a dog for 3-6 months and having it yanked away from him when it became too much work. That happened with 3 different dogs. It was very upsetting for him.
Needless to say we are all in on our dogs, our first managed to tear her acl during each of my pregnancies resulting in thousands in unexpected surgery expenses and time rehabbing etc. she passed away when our kids were 2 and 4. After she passed, we only wanted to adopt a puppy because the kids were young and we were concerned about adopting an older dog that could have issues with kids. She’s been great, she’s 5 now. But she is physically incredibly strong with an insane prey drive so the kids simply cannot walk her. I worry having my parents walk her when we are gone due to their age and they have 2 enormous labs. Just last night my H took her out bf we went to a holiday party and she wrenched his back bc some deer ran across in front of them.
Dogs add another layer of logistics/complication to life and while we think it’s worth it, for many families it just is not and that’s ok too.
Post by ilikedonuts on Dec 18, 2022 10:44:49 GMT -5
Finding someone to watch our dog when we travel is our only real issue. Our dog is 15.5 years old and completely deaf. She’s lazy and sleeps almost 24/7. She is part pug and is on special food, daily medication and has had lots of vet appointments for kidney, heart, breathing issues. But none of that even phases me. It’s things like my in laws bailing on watching her 2 days before a 12 day vacation. We were only in town 4 weekends (my oldest has an absolutely packed sports schedule) from Memorial Day through late august. So we needed coverage for her all those times too.
But we adore our old lady dog and she’s been with us since I was in college and my husband and I would sneak her into my apartment when she wasn’t allowed in there 😂 we call her our original baby. She’s amazing with our kids too.
Post by yourmother on Dec 18, 2022 13:32:04 GMT -5
I talked my DH into adopting our puppy in 2020. I’m 100% responsible for the dog, which isn’t a big deal now that he’s no longer in the awful puppy stage. But I will say that it was nerve-wracking and brought a lot of tension and resentment from both sides for a while.
I’ve spent so much money on training and my dog is just a reactive dog. My DH hates loud noises and gets really annoyed when my dog starts barking for a squirrel outside.
All that to say, I’m glad I didn’t give up. He’s very much a part of all of our lives and family. My DH DOES love him and plays with him. I’m just the one happily carrying the burden of walks, feedings and nighttime potty breaks. It’s worth it to me.
My advice is to find a good doggy-daycare/boarder. This will make life 100% better.
We are getting a dog but probably it’s two years out. My youngest is three and I need her to be at least five before I’m in board. My DH and kids are 1000% on board with getting a dog. I am the one holding out because I know what hard work it will be especially at the beginning. DH and I both grew up with dogs so I feel like we are fully aware. My dog actually passed when DS1 was four but by then she was such a mellow dog.
I talked my DH into adopting our puppy in 2020. I’m 100% responsible for the dog, which isn’t a big deal now that he’s no longer in the awful puppy stage. But I will say that it was nerve-wracking and brought a lot of tension and resentment from both sides for a while.
I’ve spent so much money on training and my dog is just a reactive dog. My DH hates loud noises and gets really annoyed when my dog starts barking for a squirrel outside.
All that to say, I’m glad I didn’t give up. He’s very much a part of all of our lives and family. My DH DOES love him and plays with him. I’m just the one happily carrying the burden of walks, feedings and nighttime potty breaks. It’s worth it to me.
My advice is to find a good doggy-daycare/boarder. This will make life 100% better.
How do you do daycare/boarding with a reactive dog? We are going to look for a behaviorist in the new year. Even our dog walker doesn't walk the dog, we have them play in the yard. His reactivity is the absolute worst thing about him.
Post by yourmother on Dec 18, 2022 18:18:55 GMT -5
dochas, I found a daycare that worked with him and earned just trust. They do a great job of separating dogs that don’t get along with each other. My dog git used to going to daycare and now goes without issue. However, we learned the hard way that he needs to be carefully introduced to new staff. He bit one of them about two months ago. Ugh.
I’ve met with about 4 trainers and settled on one. He stayed with her for two weeks and did improve. She did say that his personality/breed could very well just be what it is and while we may be able to iron out some behaviors, he may just be a reactive dog.
I work with him on his manners and nothing really seems to help. I may take him to a behaviorist but it’s $$$$$. I spent $2k on the trainer and hoped that would do the trick.
He’s very possessive of me, so I am very mindful of that. He can no longer sleep in the bed with me.
dochas my dog is reactive, and finding a doggy daycare that is a ton of land is what helped him. I use to take him to a place that was mostly indoors with a small outside play area, and he HATED it. Like he wouldn't even go in the room I guess he would just stay in the office lol. They closed so I was forced to find this place, but it's worked well. They separate by size obviously, but they have a ton of land so the play areas are so big he can go be alone if he wants.
My dog also cannot be crated. He'll chew himself bloody trying to escape, despite months and months of attempting to crate train. So if a place ever tries to crate him it's an immediate no and he will freak out ever going there again.