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As for many people not working and being able to afford to keep a dog, yes there are plenty of retired folk but most people of working age do go out to work. I didn't think 'Kept' women still existed

How dare you say that, you dont know me or my situation, I have been married for 30 yrs, worked bl**dy hard in the early days, before I had children, to help set up our life style and I still work BL** DLY hard keeping a family home together, 

You made a stupid statement on the benifits comment, and an even bigger one on on the kept woman one, 

news flash,   the term "partnership"  is what it is,

Does that mean all woman who choose to stay at home to bring up their families become "kept woman"  

Many people dont work, they dont dont all fall into the retired /benifits  catatoryy,  some people choose to stay at  home to bring up the family, some choose to go out to work,  some have no choice, they have to work.

But it is what you put into the care of your pets that counts , not how much money you have.

I agree 100% Jackie.I must say it never ceases to amaze me that some people  catogorize women simply as "kept" or "working" and it seems to me that women are the worst offenders for doing this.So much for the sisterhood :rolleyes: Whether you are paid or not doesn't indicate how hard you work and certainly shouldn't be part of a debate about keeping dogs.

Muffymoo,
I have no objections to anyone working and having a dog, but not working full time.
I wouldn't knowingly let a puppy go to an home where no one is home all day it's just not fair on the puppy.

I have only bred my bitches once and wouldn't breed them again, the hardest part of all is finding good homes, asking loads of questions is the only way to find good homes.
My mentor gave me loads of advise on this, I must admit at first I did feel as though I was prying into peoples private lives but after a while you get used to it and I only had the puppies best interest at heart.

I am glad to say that I think I made good choices as ALL the puppy owners still keep in touch.

Thanks for your reply Sadie.

I do work full time but as there are three of us in the house the dogs aren't left for more than four hours.

It must be awful to find good homes for puppies ( I couldn't do it) but sometimes peoples circumstances change and they have to go back to work full time and don't want to give up their dogs.

I think we all need to remember.......a dog should fit into our lives and not fit our lives around a dog.....be it working full time or not.

Of course there should be a balance but to my mind, the important thing to remember is that we choose to have the dogs, not the other way round and therefore it is our responsibility to give them a happy and well cared for life.  To say a dog should fit into our lives and not fit our lives around a dog could be used by some to put their own desires ahead of the dog's needs when deciding to get one.

My dogs fit into my life and not the other way round, it doesnt mean they are cared for any less.  Yes I work full time but they have my undivded attention when im not working, at weekends we do breed shows, agility shows and cani-x.  I take them to the beach or to other nice places to walk (even though I live in the middle of the country surrounded by nice walks) in the mornings I go jogging with them evenings I go biking with them.  Or if I dont do either of that they always get 2 hours exercise a day.  We also agility train twice a week, if I play netball they come down to the courts to watch.  BUT if I want a night out, I wont feel guilty, I dont go out much so it doesnt hurt them once in a while.  And if I want to go on holiday without them I wont feel bad, they get to spend the time either with my parents or with a dog sitter but even if I had to put them in kennels im sure they would be happy, they are well adjusted dogs, and thats what they are - dogs, yes they are like family members and my best friends and I love them to bits. Their every need is pandered to but I dont let them rule my life.

If we all waited until we retired we could be dead by the time the dogs two!!  Known to many people to die shortly after retiring from work!

Gosh if I waited until I retired it would be another35 years, aggghhhhhh!!

Anyway, I'm going to say no more I know that my dogs are happy, content, live to a long age and that's all that matters.

we all waited until we retired we could be dead by the time the dogs two!!  Known to many people to die shortly after retiring from work!

Gosh if I waited until I retired it would be another35 years, aggghhhhhh!!

Anyway, I'm going to say no more I know that my dogs are happy, content, live to a long age and that's all that matters.

Good for you.

I didn't say dogs should rule our lives.       

neither did I, I said I dont let mine rule my life.

We have a 4 hour max rule in our house and I can't remember when the dogs were left for that long.  Both Oh and I work full time but we are quite lucky in that respect as OH works alternative shifts to mine every other week and I work round the corner so I can pop home to the dogs at lunchtime, tea break etc, etc if he's not there.  I can also do flexi time which comes in really handy if needed.  Been like that for the last 12 years.

We keep a minimum of 2 dogs together, (we have 2 at the moment).   Dogs are happy, well adjusted and stress free and I can say that confidently as both were rescue dogs and it took years to rehab one from being a nervous wreak.  I find dogs like routine, time for walks and human interaction, time to eat and time to sleep and chill without being disturbed.