You may remember a couple of weeks ago, I posted for advice about managing a dog in a flat. Thanks to everyone who replied with their suggestions and stories.

You may also remember I added a 'PS' that my next door neighbour, also in a first-floor flat, has a Staffy X and a Dalmation. Well, sadly she and her partner have just split up [$ as she works full-time, she was faced with the prospect of having to rehome Scooby the Dalmation (her partner has taken the Staffy X with him). We found this out purely by chance when we stopped to chat on the street a few days ago. After some discussion & thought about it, we have come up with a compromise that suits all of us. My neighbour works in a DIY store which means she works day shifts one week & evening shifts the next, on an alternate basis. My husband, who works from home, will dogsit Scooby for a couple of hours in the middle of the day - take him for a good walk, play with him etc - and I will do the same when I finish work on her evening shift weeks. This means we get hours of doggy contact each day/week] Scooby gets plenty of attention and will be left for no more than 3 hours max at a time (most days it will be less than that), and my neighbour gets to keep her dog. We've already taken him for a walk this weekend so he starts to get used to us, and it was marvellous to be out with a dog again!

We're going to have a trial period of a month to make sure it works. The pitfalls we can foresee could include: Scooby having divided loyalties (although he's a big soft lump who loves everyone indiscriminately anyway); our neighbour either finding it difficult to cope or finding it difficult to share; us getting too attached to him and thinking of him as 'our dog'; my husband not getting enough work done (!); us disagreeing with our neighbour's care/training methods, which within reason we will have to adopt so as not to confuse Scooby (although there's no sign of that so far). Hopefully the fact we are aware of what may go wrong can help us avoid it doing exactly that. After a month we will all assess the success or otherwise of the arrangement and will make a decision about whether we feel we can continue long-term. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Good luck - it sounds as if this could be an ideal arrangement for everyone.
:)

Hope it all works out ! Scooby is a lucky dog !

Lucy

Hi,
My friend does this with her dog :), their retired neighbours wanted a dog but were worried about vets bills and whether they could cope fulltime with a dog, my friend and her hubby work 8 hours a day and didn't want to leave a dog that long but were desperate for a dog, so the neighbours dog sit for them and its worked really well. My friend has found a good kennels for emergencies and when their neighbours are on holiday, but they are rarely used. :)

Dill