Yep - there are plenty of those around. :)

Not many of those here in Europe unfortunately.... many people would love to stay at home, but what can we do. As I said, different cultures different life styles ;).

I also wouldn't generally home pups with working full time owners.  I have broken my rule twice in over 20 years for couples whose life IS their dogs outside their work and they make excellent provision for their dogs during the day.

" If she was strict about that she'd be sharing her home with 10 crazy Labradors right now "  Exactly! :rolleyes:

Exactly Val and I think this is ChristineW 's point also.. :-)  

I to "generally" don't sell to  people working full time but full time has huge variations also..

People IMHO sho NEVER say NEVER, each situation in life should be judged on it's own merit.   It is just as well people were not like that with me.   Like you Val, people I have bought from have assessed the situation and level of commitment probably by getting to know them over a bit of time.

If everyone had the same opinion then people would resort to lying , then breeders who were not open minded would have bigger troubles on their hands.  If someone says the don't work full time I wonder just how many of the breeders who said " NEVER" could actually prove they don't and if they actually do.  A few phone calls won't be enough to prove anything.  Circumstances change all the time also after people have bought pups.

I work full time, partly from Home and partly from my office.  My dogs are out all the time ( I don't mean in the garden either I mean walked, exercised and training) and I have someone who works for me 4 hours a day part doggy person and park time domestic help.

EDITED to as this thread will be a puppy farmers dream ;-)

Perhaps it would be better to use the time "full-time empty house" rather than "full time worker owner" because I would not class home worker, shift workers, or "help" employers in the same category as those that are leaving their dogs alone for the majority of the day.

ChristineW can i ask how you manage to fit in 4 walks a day PLUS work full time? :) How long are your walks? :)

I dont get what having champion dogs has got to do with working full time.Shows are held on weekends, are they not?

Well im extremely glad there are dog breeders out there who will sell to people that work full time...because if there wasnt then i wouldnt have the dogs that i do...then again im in a different boat to most full time workers, im a security dog handler, and im lucky enough to be able to take my dogs to the places that i do...and i mean all of them, ive been known to turn up on a site open the van and 3/4 dogs jump out, this normally has every1 in stitches,and that does include a new puppy if i have one...and no before anyone asks i dont take any puppies that havent had their jabs to work with me, if i purchase a puppy i tend to take the time off till they have had all their jabs and can venture outside...most other dog handlers cant understand why i would want to take that many dogs to work with me, simple , why should they be left at home, even if OH is there, when i am in a fortunate enough position to bring them with me, we all have great fun, spending most of the shift playing, training, sleeping(them not me)...as ive said i know im one of the lucky ones.

Nicci

As I said in the post above I am no longer going to use the term "full time worker" as there are people like you that don't fall into the category of leaving dogs alone all day which is what I am really excluding from buying my puppies.

Think that is it Isabel and what I think Christine, Val etc were trying to say  There is a variety of working patterns. You have rightly and thankfully said also you would look at each situation.

Are they?  I thought Christine was saying full-time, as in out of the house full-time, ought to be considered.  Val said she would consider poeple that would dedicate their lives to their dogs but I think she is still talking about actually full-time (out of the house) workers.  Personally I wouldn't, so I think you are maybe being thankful too soon ;)

Hi Isabel,

Apologies and a big slap to me for thinking you were being reasonable and not generalising ;-) :-D I was giving you credit for acknowledging that being out of the house full time is different to working full time or making care arrangements.

When I mentioned Christine and Val I was meaning that I liked the fact  they didn't necessarily zone in on the actually hours or the wording full-time BUT that they judge each case on it's own merit and by the people FIRST not the jobs or hours they worked or that is how I interpretated it.    ( both are big enough to slap me if I a wrong).  If Val has such a cut and dry "no way" attitude then 2 wonderful owners would not have her dogs. I know her criteria is very strict but not so strict as to be silly in my opinion of course.

I didn't like to read people don't take things into consideration and are not flexible.  To me it sounds very judgemental.  Both Christine and Val didn't say, " I would never".... that is what I liked and respected about their posts. The open mindedness of them.

Christine works very very early hours so to her dogs I am sure she is only out the house a few hours ;-)  I have never met many people so dedicated.  A non worker would have to go something to out shine her care to her dogs.

I personally have found in my experience it is the families with woman at home with kids not coping are the first to rehome dogs. I have helped rehome a few dogs in these circumstances. 

Whilst I share the concern about selling to full time workers and I personally haven't yet myself ,I again just don't like and didn't really like the " I would never" posts when each and every person who said it has no 100% guarantee that people are not working or situations haven't changed. In this day they often do.

I have never met many people as dedicated as Christine either :)

>I personally have found in my experience it is the families with woman at home with kids not coping are the first to rehome dogs

Me too, I don't home to families with young children either.  The one time I tried to be "open-minded" and listened to their individual story of how they planned to manage it was the one time I have had a puppy returned so back to rigid on that one too :)

Ok you want to know.

I walk my dogs for 35 mins at 5am in the morning.   When I get back from work, they get 1 hour+ around woodland & loch (Just 6 miles from me).   Then after Eastenders/8pm they get half hour road walk and before bedtime, they get 15 minutes through the park.   Does that satisfy you enough? 

Or am I the elusive person who likes to make sure their dogs are well exercised and doesn't judge a person who what hours they work rather on the individual themselves?????????

Well if I was to judge you I would say you sound an excellent owner, Christine :)  The trouble is how typical are you.  Don't all start clammering at once! :p I know we have several posters who work full time and are clearly just as dedicated but think about it, this is a message board for dedicated dog owners.  How typical is it of the average family with all the other demands of a full working life to keep up this level of dedication.

Shows have nothing to do with working weekdays but to show your dog, you have to have your dog (Or at least it should be taken into consideration) in peak condition and thats more than feeding it on a good food and shampooing/brushing it.

Just off to walk my poor neglected dogs now who will no doubt cower or attack any other dog we meet because they have been so under socialised due to me working full-time.

I dont get what having champion dogs has got to do with working full time.Shows are held on weekends, are they not?

Hi Sara,

The point being made was that a few people would be only too pleased to let someone who would successfully campaign their stock have a puppy they bred - not regardless of how they keep it - but they might make allowances.  I, however, would not.  I do wonder how people who live on their own and leave the house all day cope with going to shows aswell though... the dogs are left 5 days a week and (if they haven't made arrangements for someone to come in and spend the day with them) the unentered dogs would be left again while they were at a show!  Believe me - it does happen.

I did let someone who had a fulltime job have a puppy from me, but their partner worked shifts so the dogs weren't left for long periods every day.

As I said before it's personal preference.  There are people who happily sell their dogs to someone who would leave them all day (I don't regard being let out for a wee at lunchtime acceptable company for a dog but that's just me) so the people that work all day can buy their dogs from them :) 

Each to their own :)

Debs

More and more people work from home at least some of the time. I certainly havent had problems finding homes where there is one person only working part time or from home.

Me neither, I live in the North of England though and purposefully look for as rural homes as possible for my pups which maybe increases the chances of the sort of person dipping out of the rat race :) 

It is possible it is a North South divide.  Living in the South on one wage is near impossible unless your OH has a very good job.

I don't think it's just cost of living, house prices are pretty steep in many areas up here to.  I have lived in the South as well and two of my siblings still live there and what I see is an aspirational difference,  my sisters both work full time but what that extra money gives them is bigger houses and bigger and better cars whereas I am happy to have one car between myself and hubby, in fact only our third in 25 years, my sisters would regard that as squalid :)

There is pretty steep and there is very steep.  An average house down here could easily be 50k more than one the same even in the midlands.  50k extra on a morgage is a lot of money to the average wage earner.

Then instead of the same one perhaps they could settle for a rather smaller one or one in a less attractive area or perhaps they simply cannot afford to have a dog :). Maybe some people do have to work but nobody has to get a dog.  I did not get one until I could give up work about 3 years after I set up home with my husband even then we went without much of what would be regarded as essentials by many.

My breed is such that pups rarely go locally - I have just homed to London, Surrey and Worcs and the new owners are either one partner working part time, work mainly from home or can take dog to work, so it doesnt appear to be "north/south divide" Wherever people live, mortgages are based on earnings so those "up north" still take out maximum mortgages for their incomes. Just as many people in the north need two incomes - the point is if they dont consider that a pup needs more attention than an hour at lunchtime, they dont get a pup from me wherever they live. 

I work full time in a demanding job - have 7 dogs of a high energy breed - show - do agility and have bred 3 litters. The secret is in commitment - there are always ways around any problem and as long as you 'think dog' to it IS possible to fit in full time work and a life in dogs.

Yvonne

Absolutely Yvonne, I agree, it is all down to commitment.

I don't think it's just about money either. It's about having your own stability, your own career and your own financial freedom ;). With the percentage of divorces in western society I can't afford to depend on anyone.
I do work work for myself (for those who think that a woman with career can't have a dog ;) ), so my dog is with me most of the time....

ok, going to put my head on the block...... you says that "any" dog must have some one at home full time? my dogs are "stable" enough to cope with time alone quite happily, they dont have any separtion issues. they are well balanced & i believe this is because they can have time out by themselves .

i dont believe that dogs "need" to have fulltime human company....why cant they be happy without us for a few hours?

id love not to have to work...but believe my dogs do not suffer from it (or i wouldnt have them) & actually believe they MAY benefit from it

Not sure who you are addressing your post to Michelled :)  Has anyone said dogs must have someone at home full time?

not addressed to anyone....just general musings!!!!!!a disscussion topic!

Okay Coky :)  I'm sure they are fine for a few hours just can't imagine they benefit from being left for a whole day, everyday :)

they arent, but because they are reguraly left for "abit" they cope well IF i ever need to leave them for longer.so i think they do "benefit" from being left for a few hours on their own each day.

maybe its just the breed

Yes I agree dogs benefit from being left a bit.  I certainly regularly leave mine for an hour or two for shopping, recreation etc even up to about 6 hours on occasional city shopping trips.  I can't imagine many stay at homes don't.

But how long is 'a few hours'? 3 or 4 hours total owner absence during the day would be acceptable - but for me not 3 or 4 hours in the morning, a short break, then another 3 or 4 hours absence in the afternoon. There will still be the long solitary hours of the night as well. If the pup ends up on its own for more than half of a 24-hour period, then it's not having a very social existence.

i  take holiday & shortened hours for approx 2months, from being fully with a new pup at 8 weeks, to being back full time after 4 months. (this contines with popping home in the day,other people in or out.) but "sometimes" my dogs are left for 4 hours then another 3 hours. never ever had a problem.
clearly i get up EARLY so we have quite a few quality hours before work & activites/walks etc to do after!

my breed although is high drive,do seem capable of settling.

It is if you put the effort in when you are not working.

If breeders hadn't sold me dogs over the years knowing I was working full time.  My dogs and myself would never have toured the country at weekends at dog shows, meeting other like mind people and having a great time.

My dog and I would never have experienced competing at Olympia and Crufts at Agility.  My dog and I would never have won two CC's in breed.  My dog and I would never have competed at Obedience competitions most weekends in the summer.

I can put my hand on my heart and say my dogs have never suffered through me having to work.  Like Michelle, I have never had separation problems with my dogs and they have always been well adjusted and well socialised through the effort I have put in.

At times when I have had a pup I have put it in the car and taken it to work.  It had a nice bed in the car, I let it out at regular intervals to toilet, it got into a routine and was perfectly happy.

must be the breed sandrah, maybe BCs are happier just to settle down!

I reckon it is the owners Michelle.  It takes a certain type of person to understand the mentality of the breed ;)

Seriously though, most of us on here are not first time owners so we can appreciate and anticipate the pitfalls before they happen and have the knowledge to work around them.

id never leave them if i thought they suffered
when i breed my ob litter,(lol dont even have a bitch yet!!) i will quite happily sell them to people that work full time,if i think they will be great owners!

I've just had the exact same scenario, and as lovely as the lady was I have turned her down, I'm sorry but I just don't agree with leaving a pup for any length of time.

Dogs adapt very easily to a routine.  I have only found problems when that routine has been changed through circumstances beyond my control. 

It is difficult to work full time with a puppy, but it is not impossible once the routine has been established. 

when i got my 2 girls, neither breeder even asked if i was at home all day!

Once on a walk (stay with me :D) I spotted a young lady with a staffy and two children.  She had NO control, her kids were pretend barking at the pups face (which was getting very agitated by this point) and this woman was close to breaking point.  I tried to calm her down and chat to her.  It was a fairly new young dog that didn't get on with the children (and I couldn't blame it) and she was already thinking about getting rid   She had an enclosed garden and stayed home all day....Does this automatically qualify her to have a pup from those breeders that say "I will never sell a pup to anyone that works"  Because IMHO this doesn't qualify her for ownership any more than a full time worker should be disqualified from ownership!!!  Please dont rule someone out because they work full time - there is so much more to consider.  I work full time (so does my partner) I have successfully reared a well balanced and very bright Afghan hound who was given appropriate socialisation training, obedience training and isolation training.  She is 2 1/2 years old and I spend £200 a month on training/activity fees alone (we do a lot of stuff :D) she is soon to take her KC Gold Award.  I have also taken on a rescue Afghan who is approx 8 years old.  He was beaten for most of his life and is very much still struggling to gain his confidence in the human race.  The RSPCA would see me as unfit to take on a rescue because I work full time.  Luckily my friends at Afghan Rescue were sensible enough to identify us as ideal carers for this hound who has really come on in leaps and bounds - simply because we can provide a knowledgeable, caring and quiet home where he will want for nothing :)  My whole point being that granted - not everyone is going to be appropriate or good enough for your pup but that shouldn't be based on whether or not a person works full time!  Rather rehome a pup to a good home that works than do a bad home that doesn't ;)??
Talk to this person, find out the future regime, their activity levels, knowledge and most importantly their commitment to your pups.  Good luck!
Sarah
PS When looking for my first pup there were breeders who said no to me because I work.  This is a shame because I'm a good owner and a good person.  Its even more of a shame when I find out 2 years later that one ended up in rescue - after going home with someone that didnt work full time.  Such a shame :(

>Does this automatically qualify her to have a pup from those breeders that say "I will never sell a pup to anyone that works"

Of course not!  You have got hold of the wrong end of the stick entirely if you think any non working home will do.

And Isabel, so have you - if you (or anyone else) think any working home would NOT do ;)

I can't get hold of the stick wrongly when we are talking about my criteria.  I know the rules because I set them. :D

Well then we shall steer well away from YOUR criteria.  Lumphy is the original poster and I am offering my view on whether or not he/she should sell a pup to someone that works full time.  This is going to go down the road of breeders criteria for rehoming pups - which of course is away from the original query.
So I will spare you the need to get argumentative with YET ANOTHER person.

>I am offering my view on whether or not he/she should sell a pup to someone that works full time

Please do, I did not ask you to discuss my criteria.

>This is going to go down the road of breeders criteria for rehoming pups - which of course is away from the original query.

Is it?  I don't recall any mention of that, wouldn't it be the same as a breeders original criteria?
and last but not least :) :-

>So I will spare you the need to get argumentative with YET ANOTHER person.

I believe it was you that took issue with my criteria, I feel pretty mellow about what anyone decides to do with their puppies :)

Weird.

All breeders will have their own criteria for selecting who to sell their pups to - some breeders, no doubt due to their own experiences, are stricter than others. That doesn't mean they're either right or wrong - but they're perfectly entitled to set their own rules for homing their own puppies.
:)

I think I need help :D  When did this become about me critisising breeders criteria?  I gave a different angle for the OP to consider as a full time worker with dogs.
All I am asking is please dont rule someone out on the grounds that they work full time.  If as a breeder you want to do exactly that then that is up to you but you could be losing out on an excellent home for your pup....Thats all.