Just wondered ..... cos reading the posts on here, it seems people don't think you should have dogs if you work.  Unfortunately not everyone can stay at home watching daytime TV.  Some people have to work for a living.  Looking forward to your views.

Both my parents work full time, my brother is in full time education and I am ment to be in what is classed as full time education but have lots of time to study at home!!!! (untill july last eyar I was also in fulltime education)

Where do you get the impression that people on here are of the opinion, that if you work you shouldn't have dogs? Also not everyone who does not go to work and stay at home, sits about and watching daytime tv. I am a full time mum to my children and the only tv I watch is when children are in bed. I find this job harder than when I worked full time before I had my children.

I do have to work full time I'm afraid, but OH has two days off during the week.  When I'm at work the dog is in the garden, with his huge kennel - quite happy. :)

Yep, I work full time.  I was lucky that my OH worked from home when my boys were pups, now they have the full run of the garden when no one is home and they have their kennel.  I have to work full time in order to keep my boys in the luxury they are used to ;)

I work full-time, my partner works full time but we work opposite shifts every two weeks and are both off at the weekends.  Dogs are left on their own for perhaps 3, 4 hours in the afternoon for 5 days in every 2 weeks.  I think dogs get into a routine; during those particular hours that we are usually at work but are at home instead, they sleep.

Hi Guest, I have recently responded to a 'I work full time' post, and I think it's not whether you work or not, that is the crux of the matter. The person I responded to said they worked full time 9-5. They did not mention any contingency plans for dog sitting or dog walker coming in to ensure that the proposed puppy was cared for adequately during the day. So I went off the information provided.

I think with the right systems in place for reliable care during the day, full time workers could have a puppy. But I'm absolutely against leaving a puppy to it's own devices for 8 or more hours a day. 5 days a week.

Dawn R.

PS, I work, but not full time, my 7 dogs are alone for 2 hours a day till my husband comes home from his work.

I am self-employed and work full-time from home.

I did used to go out to work and have to say that life is much easier with regard to toilet training pups etc. now that I am at home all the time.

I work full-time but hubby is retired and at home all day with the dogs.
Wish it was the other way round though :)

I am a full time student until January of 2006, and then I will be working full time (hopefully), but my partner is self-employed, so will be able to take our dog (when we get her in a few months!) to work with him, although perhaps not every day (probably more like 4 days a week).

I work full time but there are people at home on a rota basis!  There was someone at home at all times for several months when we had pups which is the most crucial stage of development.  Now ours are older they do get left but all eventualities are covered first.

I can also take my dogs to work with me (one or two at a time!).

I've never got the feeling that people on this board think you shouldn't work and be a dog owner, only that you shouldn't leave pups or young dogs at home alone for hours on end.  They always make it clear that the early stages are crucial for socialisation and that problems can occur if small pups are left unattended.

Hi guest, :-)

I think you will get mixed responses who and where you ask.

I work full time. Part time from home and part time from an office.  my mum works for me part time 3-4 hours a day doing a bit of cleaning and attending to the dogs. She is their second mum. :-D   My OH is a joiner so is in and out all day.  I don't breed very often but when I do who better to look after my pups if I am not there.  

I think it is the care plan you put in place and how much commitment you have to the dogs and their care. I know mine are suberbly looked after and you would be pushed to ever find a poop lying around etc. It is also a regular thing for me to be grooming them at 1am in the morning. 

You will get the odd strongly opinionated person who thinks you must not work at all but they are in the minority I think and hope .If the dog was locked up all day for 8 hours I would tend to agree that the person shouldn't have a dog. 

There is the flip of the coin and one that I think at times should be pointed out as  there are some people who do work but care for the dogs or excercise them a bit more than some who don't because they faithly get them out morning , lunchtime and night time.   It is not unheard of as we know for people to have a stream of litters constantly and see this as an income. Not my desired method of earning a living nor do I see that as ethical dog ownership as it takes the reason for breeding to money and not producing beautiful examples of the breed.  

There are so variations of working and caring for dogs.

You have to do what is right for yourself and with real consideration for your dog's welfare. If you do that then there should be no worry.

I keep my numbers below 6 ( baring in mind I show)  as I know between myself , my family and paid help we can manage very well and the dogs are 100% loved and well cared for. All of my spare time is spent with my dogs also.

Hope this helps.

Good post Blue!

I work full time (allegedly :P ) but I split my time between home and office. My dogs come into the office with me when I have to be there. ( I have a very understanding boss who happens to love my dogs, he's also related to me, so I'm very lucky ;) )

But up until very recently I didn't have to work in an office at all, I worked from home all day so had the pleasure of being a bit lazier and spending more time outside with them.

I think if you are dedicated enough, you will alter your routine to suit your dogs needs and I have found that ultimately, it is me that misses out on *ME* time now, the dogs lives, if anything, is more varied and interesting for them and as their responsibility mainly falls onto my shoulders I don't feel that my change of routine has affected them one iota :)

Of course there will always be people that think you shouldn't work when you have dogs, but providing the dogs don't suffer and alternative arrangements are made for when you can't be there all day, There shouldn't and very often isn't a problem. I have known people that don't work at all, yet their dogs never get a walk or time spent on them. 

intersted to know did those of you who work, also work when your dogs were first brought into your homes as young pups, as im afraid i would not let anyone have one of my pups who didnt have someone at home all day until the pup was at least 6 months, am i being too over protective?

"am i being too over protective? " well I say it is your pups you do and set your rules. :-)

I personally  (even though I work full time) do not tend to sell to people who work full time  , infact so far I never have because I know my religious routine with mine and I do think most people are not as fortunate enough to have such good work arrangements as I do.. If someone did then I would happily sell them a puppy but I haven't as yet.   I have sold pups to people who work part time though with no problem.
 
I wouldn't sell to someone who was at home all day either if they had a houseful of very young kids they would have less time that someone who worked to be honest in my opinion . We all have our own criteria.

BUT WHAT I WILL Stress is I don't think someone at home all day always offers the best home. Each person needs to be assessed. I would rather have someone who works part time or at least partly from home that enjoys the dog, has it out and about , interacting with it that someone who perhaps doesn't work and the dog gets popped out in the garden every little while but no real interation with the dogs.

I think like anything in life you have to set boundries and in turn making sure you are not turning away possibly better homes .Just make sure they are practiced or being measured effectively and that they do not come back and bite you in the Bum :-D :-D

Well said, hairypooch.

Both the OH and I have to work full time. I would love not to but financially, at present, we couldn't manage on any less income. I do have flexi-time and the OH also has flexible working hours with the ability to work from home sometimes which helps. Our oldest dog was 'rescued' from a family who kept him locked outside in the back yard all day & night. He had little human contact and no training or socialisation and was 6 months old when he came to live with us. We got him knowing that, even with being away for up to 8 hours a day, we could give him a better quality of life than this. Now he gets about an hours walk before we go to work and longer in the evenings. We also have a puppy (shock! horror! full-time workers with a puppy!). Having taken time off for the first few weeks to get her settled etc, we gradually built up the time we would be away and she has adapted well to our routine. I think having our older dog has helped in this process as they keep each other company and play together. Admittedly, I probably wouldn't have got her if she was going to be totally alone all day. The breeder was fully aware of our circumstances and was more than happy to let us have our puppy as she could see for herself how healthy, happy and well-adjusted our older boy is. I know many would say this is not ideal (and I would probably agree to an extent) but it works for us. I think it could be almost detrimental to be at home full-time with a puppy for the first 6 months or more and then expect it to adapt to being alone for prolonged periods of time. I have a friend who was at home for about the first year or more after getting her Yorkie puppy and made no effort to get the puppy used to being alone for any length of time at all. The result is that she now finds herself in the position where she has to work but the 3 year old dog cannot be left alone as it sufffers terrible SA and so she constantly has to try to get dog-sitters.

Much like Hairypooch, I have found that I no longer have the 'ME' time that I used to as this time is devoted to the dogs and taking them on interesting and varied walks so they can have a range of experiences. We do manage to get away on the odd holiday because my parents come and stay at my house to keep them in their usual routine. I understand this option is not open to a lot of people but, like I've said, our arrangements work for us. And I also know of many dogs whose owners are at home all day but get much less time and attention devoted to them than our dogs do.

Does this post not echo of one posted a month or so ago but in a different section

Thomas-the-Spot
I posted some of these details YESTERDAY in response to a different OP who was looking for reassurance that they're dog would be ok while they are at work. Can't comment on posts from a month ago as I wasn't a member then. Apologies if you feel I shouldn't have repeated myself but I felt I had something to contribute on both threads.
Apologies also, everyone, for the length of my previous post. I do try to be concise but generally fail miserably :-(

Shaynlola, normally my posts ramble on, they are neither concise or in some cases, to the point :rolleyes:  so what........ don't beat yourself up about it, this is an information exchange after all :) :)

Actually Shaynlola it wasnt your post I was refering so the words oversensitive spring to mind.  The comment about sitting watching daytime TV were exactly the words used a little while ago by a previous poster.

It occurred to me after I'd posted that you might not be referring to me!! And you wouldn't be far wrong with the over sensitive remark. Wouldn't usually be but am just having one of those days. Sorry!!:-)

DH and I both worked full time when we got our 8 week old puppy in May 1993.  I took a week's vacation immediately and then was able to work the evening and weekend shifts all summer till she was 6 months old.  I also forgo putting in our usual large vegetable garden that summer, in order to concentrate on puppykins.  On the days we both worked she was alone, crated, for about 3 and a half hours.  Once I had to return to regular hours DH worked close enough to zip home on his lunch break.  My full time winter hours were 10 hour days meaning I got 3 and a half days off each week.  Shift work does have it's benefits.

Friends who also got a Lab puppy shortly after we did were not able to arrange their schedules as we did but were lucky enough to have a puppy loving, neighbouring dog owner who willingly provided puppy day care while they were at work.

So, I think it's not just whether you work full time but how you arrange your hours and provide day care that counts.

I work full time, live on my own and have two dogs at time, all of which have been trained to an extremely high standard and won well in various disciplines.

As someone said, some people may be at home all day but give their dogs diddly squat training or exercise.

It is not an ideal life but as none of my dogs have any anti social habits I think they have a good life.

No such thing as an "ideal home" pets, like children have to fit in with our lifestyles as long as their health and well being is not compromised.

I work full time and so does my OH. Our 11 year old staffie is fine at home all day on his own as he just sleeps all day. When we get the pup next week, I am taking 2 weeks off and will then be coming home every lunchtime. I leave the house at 9ish and back at 5.45pm, but OH is home about 4 ish (from Sept he will be home by 3pm). We are moving house in 3 months and then I am only 3 mins drive from work. At the moment, I am about 15 mins drive away. If I could not get home for any reason, then there are plenty of dog walkers in our area

From next year, I only plan to work part time.

I plan to take her to puppy classes from next Friday to get her socialised and then to other training classes after that. I agree that as long as they are well trained, and given lots of love then why should there be a problem if you work.

I used to work 9-5 Monday to Friday and my OH works shifts so my dogs were never left for more than 4 hours a day.
However, 2 years ago one of my dogs developed epilepsy. Grand mal seizures. There was no way I would leave him at home for 4 hours alone and there was no way that either myself or OH could take him to work with us. In the end, I gave up a very successful career in order to stay at home and ensure someone was always there for his twice daily meds and to monitor his seizures.
Now I work on an agency and only book shifts when my husband is off/on the opposite shift. Money is tighter, I miss my career...but my dogs welfare comes first. I was lucky I was able to do this - not sure what I would have done otherwise.

I think that highlights an important issue, Colliecrew, what do other full time workers do if their dog is elderly or develops a chronic condition that needs rather more attention and goes beyond being able to knock off sick themselves for a few days.
I worked full-time when I got my first dog, my husband worked shifts at the time so it amounted to a full day alone about once a fortnight.  When he finished doing shifts I knew she would probably cope but I felt it was not a good enough life for her.  I know not everyone will agree but I do feel that when the OP points out that some people have to work it does not necessarily follow that people have to have dogs.  Prior to my husband working shifts, when we both worked full time we went without a dog.

The reason I have chosen to get a dog now, is beacause I feel I am in a good situation to own a dog, and it has taken many years for both myself and my partner to get into this position, and previously we did not have a dog as we didn;t feel we could offer a dog a fair home or a fair life. We previously lived in a flat, which in my opnion was not a good environment for a dog (and I in no mean intend to insult or upset people who do own dogs and who live in flats, it is just that for me, I didn;t feel it was a good situation). Although both my partner and I were full-time students, we were rarely home because of having to commute in and out of London on top of holding down part time jobs and voluntary work. We have now moved into our own home, we have a nice garden, live close to dog friendly local parks and conservation areas (also dog friendly) and we are in a financial position wereby we can afford a dog. We will be getting our dog next month (an 8 week old puppy) and I will be home with it, working from home) until she is around 7 months old. My partner is self employed, and will be able to take our dog to work with him whenever he can. He also trains alot and runs every evening, so once our dog is old enough she will enjoy exploring the forests and footpaths my partner uses for his running. It isn;t as ideal a situation as if both of us were at home full time, but not many people our age have the opportinuty, or the financial security, to do so. I think it is a very tough call trying to make working life and dog ownership work, but to be honest, not many people can live the perfect situation of being at home 24/7, and it is just a case of making the best of your situation, and if you feel you can't provide a good home, or adequate time (as myself and my partner previously felt) then it probably is better to wait.

God, please excuse my bad typing - I am working from home on writing my university thesis and I type all day and come the evening it really has degenerated!

>I know not everyone will agree but I do feel that when the OP points out that some people have to work it does not necessarily follow that people have to have dogs.  Prior to my husband working shifts, when we both worked full time we went without a dog.<

True Isabel :-)

Yesterday I can remember if I read or heard :-D that pet ownership is at it's lowest for 8 years. First time it has dropped down below 50% of the population.  This is a reflection on people working lifes now, and life style.

>what do other full time workers do if their dog is elderly or develops a chronic condition that needs rather more attention and goes beyond being able to knock off sick themselves for a few days.

It think in this situation you would do whatever you can, I know if this happened to me I could work from home in my current job for short periods (eg a month or two) or if it was more permanent I would have to look for another job, but I think you would do what you can as animal lovers your pets come first :)

Couldn't agree more. When my dog had spinal surgery, there was someone with him 24/7 for 4 months.  I work flexi time so I can adjust my hours to suit.  I think the majority of animal lovers are sensible and would work out a plan to ensure that their animals received 24/7 care in times of sickness or old age as and when needed.  Where there is a will, there is always a way.

My working hours are totally geared to the dogs (as they were to my children when they were young). I work 26 hours a week over 4 days. I start work at 8.30, have 1 1/2 hours lunch so I can walk the dogs and finish work at 4.30. If I couldn't do this, I either wouldn't work or wouldn't have the dogs :)

Daisy

I work full time & my dog comes with me.

However I currently have a litter & have taken time off to be with them.  :)

Wouldn't it be fabulous if we could be with our dogs all day without having to earn a living to pay the mortgage, bills etc.,  Unfortunately life ain't like that and people do have to work to keep themselves, some full-time.  I personally work from home and make time during the day to be with my dogs (i.e. quality time).  This often means that I am working until 9pm at night but that's a price I am willing to pay.  I don't think it necessary goes that if you work full-time, you can't have a dog but, as previous replies have highlighted, its all about making adequate provision for the dog(s) when you are out.  If I know I am going to be out for more than 4 hours, I will always make provision for the dogs to have company and be walked.  That might seem a bit OTT for some people but, because my dogs aren't used to being left, it just means that I can go to appointments/meetings without having to worry if they are annoying the neighbours.  I think at the end of the day its about the arrangements you make.  As previously posted, just because you are working all day it doesn't mean that you can't have a dog but similarly, it also means that you don't have to have one.  If you generally consider that you need to be around 24/7 then don't have a dog.  Hope this answers your question.

I'm also single and work full time but I have 4 dogs who keep each other occupied then when I'm at home my whole life revolves around the dogs :d  There's just not enough hours in the day to do what I'd like to do with them though.

Can someone pleeaaase tell me where one can get these work at home gigs,what a dream come true this would be for thousands of people.

I dont work at the moment,however sometime in the very near future i will have to get a job,the one reason i am procrastinating is because of my dogs,there is no way i would get a full time job,it would be too hard for them to go from having me around every minute from the day they came to live here,to being gone for 8-9 hours a day.Even thought there are 4 of them,they can only keep themselves company for so long,i'm afraid that i am the highlight of their lives,every step i take i have four bodies right behind me and 4 little faces beaming up at me :D

I am so broke at the moment and i have only enough money to scrape by each week,this is mostly my fault as i spend alot on my dogs food etc. and i tend to buy too much for my kids,however when the time comes to get a job  the dogs were here first and i will be sure and keep their best interests first!

I thought I would just add the following to my previous post. 

I am sure there are dog owners who do sit around all day watching television but I think you will be hard pushed to find one of them on here.  The people who post on this forum have a real interest and love of dogs and understand there is much more to dog ownership than board and lodgings.  There is grooming, hygiene, exercising and training to name but a few.  I am sure that the dog owners who do sit around all day watching tv will not be taking the time to become involved in what I consider to be real dog ownership.  In my view that means a way of life.  As you can see there are people on this forum who work full-time but I can bet their dogs are healthy, happy dogs with full and interesting lives.  Don't mean to sound harsh but that's the reality.

I work full-time but then again Im a dog groomer so I have the bestest job in the world!
My 15 year old b/c still needs a lot of exercise so my uncle comes to the shop & takes her out mid-day then at home time we go for a nice walk. Sometimes its hard for me to keep up!
I am blessed by my job.

i work full time so unfortunely my dogs are left alone during the day, i am currently building a 'bruce-proof' run so that they can stay outside during the day. My dogs do however occassionally come to work with me (with the exception of tess as when at work she makes too much noise - non stop barking all day). as at the moment i dont have a car the dogs dont get as many off lead walks as i would like as there are too many roads near us, but from 5.30 in the morning they are out in the garden playing until 8.30, i take my sisters to school come back they have a final run about at 9.30 they are left again until 4.30 from which time they have run of garden and house until i go to bed normally about 1am. i do feel bad that they are left for so long but when i have transport from work i do pop home to let them out, we did try to have a neighbour come in and let them out but bruce wont let anybody in that shouldnt be :) but we do know for a fact that they sleep all day as our neighbour said they bark all day, so we videoed them all day everyday for 2 weeks and the only time they got up to bark was when the postman came. But to echo everyone else, it does depend on what you can do obviously if i worked for longer i wouldnt beable to have hte dogs, to add as well they are only left for 4 days off the week as i have a day off during the week and work the weekend when mum is home,, when we're home the dogs have the run of garden and house but again they sleep during the time that 'we are at work' :) as they are used to this routine.

tanya

Oh dear i feel i have to stick up for those of us that are fortunate enough to be able to not have to go out to work or work from home,when i had my last dog i had to work part time and he had loads of attention when i was at home,unfortunately when i no longer had to work i had very little time with him left,and always wished i had been in my posiition now a lot earleir. 3 yrs on i have my beautiful puppy who gets lots of attention,excersise,socialisation and training as  for watching daytime tv i dont have much time to do that clearing up behind 3 men and a puppy,i have to limit my time on CD unfortunately so as i can get the household chores done,but when i have them done,i get time for what i want till time to cook tea.I think as everyone else says if you have to work full time you are entitled to keep a dog as long as you dont neglect it. 

When we were looking for our dog we stumbled across a rescue centre, who would not under any circumstances all you to adopt a dog if you worked full-time.  My OH thought it was quite amusing, saying to me 'if you don't work full time, how are you supposed to pay the £120 adoption fees?!'

Thats a very good point Keeley :-)

It is very achievable on one salary if you are prepared to make sacrifices.  I have had 3 cars in 20 years, never a new one either :).  I am not badly off now but when I first gave up I travelled to the supermarket on the free bus and darted ahead of the pensioners that it was probably intended for ;) to grab the cut price cuts of meat etc off the slicing counter.  By cooking all our meals from cheap cuts etc I saved a lot on the convenience items we tended to use when both working, I never borrowed anything or bought on credit to avoid ever paying any interest charge and, every other luxury was scaled down or cut out all together it just depends what you want out of life really :)

Keeley, the rescue I help with will not rehome to anyone who would be out for more than four hours a days, and this is very common.  The reality is that many dogs are being rehomed BECAUSE they are left all day and not happy.  Dogs are social animals and thrive on company.  There were a number of years when I was without a dog because I was at work and not able to give it the time it needed and deserved.  That's not to say it cannot work, but the priority has to be the dog.  I did recently rehome a couple of dogs where both partners worked, but they got a dog walker to take them out during the day, and devote their time after work to their dogs.  On the financial side, £120 is nothing compared with the annual costs - vaccinations, food, wormers, de-flea and either insurance or vet fees.......  Not cheap, but again it depends on priorities.

Please don't have a go, it was supposed to be a bit of light-heartedness, not an attack on the re-homing centre :rolleyes:

Keeley I wasn't having a go :) - just trying to explain why they don't usually allow it - not necessarily for your benefit, but others who may be reading - you'd be surprised how many people approach us and think it ok to leave a dog all day while they work and then wonder why they have problems.  I help with breed rescue, so it may differ from the re-homing centres, but a large percentage of dogs are rehomed because a change in circumstances means that the dog is being left during the day, for many it's hearbreaking to have to let them go, but they know they will be happier in a home where they will get more attention. 

I looked into a rehoming few years ago and it seems the same across the board this one was 5 hours max for dog to be left on its own.

Gosh, hello Guest.  This a subject that really gets me annoyed.  I work full time, I have three cats, a parter who works full time and we get our Lab puppy in 2 weeks. (we're taking a week off, have a mother in-law chomping at the bit to get her hands on the puppy and have spent a fortune on an outdoor kennel and more dog stuff that you can shake a stick at adn walk out of our front door in to the woods).  Our new baby will be loved so much, she couldn't be going to a better home than ours!

Whether you work full time or not is immaterial, what matters is the provisions you make for the puppy/dog when you're not going to be there.  I think a puppy could potentially go to a better home with someone who works and has taken the time to plan for the new arrival and make provisions to make sure the pup is cared for when they are at work.  Just because you are home full time doesn't mean you'll be a better owner - you might not have a clue about owning pets and might be really mean to the puppy....

You will always get responses from owners sayign it's the wrong thing to do, etc, etc.  I think you will know in your heart of hearts whether getting a puppy would be practical for you (and it).  Go with your gut feeling - if you already think it isn't practical, then it probably isn't.

Good luck with whatever you decide.  You're clearly responsible by asking advice from this site.
Kind regards
Nicky

Dear Nickyxh, couldn't agree with you more.  Incidentally I am interested in what outdoor kennel you have.  Did you make it yourselves or buy it??  I'm interested cos I'm getting my house ready for my new arrival (lab) in a few weeks time when we get back from holiday.  PS.  we also work full time and like you, our puppy/dog will have a wonderful life with us.