Hi,

Myself and my OH are considering getting our first dog early next year. We are researching at the moment and looking for any advice we can get. Our situation is as follows:

We are currently building our first home which is due to be finished around xmas time. It will be a 3 bedroom bungalow with a small/medium garden. The garden will be fully enclosed. We will have one room specifially for the dog during the day so it will not be able to destroy the whole house!

We both work full time but are able to come home at lunch times so the dog will not be left for a whole day. Also my mum is a delivery driver during the day and so may be able to pop in and check on the dog mid morning. We will be at home weekends. I am willing to give the dog a short walk in the morning and a longer one in the evening. We would also like to be able to go to training classes with the dog and be able to take it to the beach, on boat rides etc.

We would prefer a smaller dog breed. So far our research has shown that a pug or whippet may be most suitable for us. We currently have no children but are thinking about having some in the next few years. At this point I plan to leave full time work.

Does anyone think any other breeds may be suitable? Or does anyone have a pug or whippet and would be prepared to share advice?

Many thanks,
Rachel

All I will say with pugs is that they do have a few health problems and so you would want to make sure the parents were health tested if you went for a pup, just to make sure it had the best chance of being healthy

I've seen your thread in General Chat and you sound like you would be a great dog owner, I think you could pick from a large number of small breeds, but they aren't my strength as I have a golden retriever!

If you did want a rescue, you could always go around a few rescues, find one you like and take a couple of the dogs for walks once in a while. Then nearer the time, you may just come across a dog who is *the one* and you have to have, might not know exactly what breed but there are lots of lovely staffies/staffie crosses, labrador, labrador crosses etc and you can often get a young dog from them.

Otherwise I would think breeds likes Shih Tzu, Bichon Frise etc could work too! You could always have a look on Champ Dogs or the Kennel Club and search for breeders in your area, then you could ask about their breed and they may have a litter planned for the year you want a pup

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Thanks thats very helpful.

I will contact local rescues but I am a little unsure of doing so as I know they dont often rehome to people who work full time. But I will ring a couple to enquire nearer the time and see what they say.

Thanks

You can generally find a rescue who will let you adopt or through the breed clubs they tend to have good breeders as members. I wouldn't recommend a pug personally they like being with people too much to be left alone even for a few hours. I would say whippet or maybe bichon

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"A dog is not "almost human," and I know of no greater insult to the canine race than to describe it as such."
John Holmes

Owned by Buster cairn terrier mix and Leo netherland dwarf mix bunny

i wouldn't get a cavalier or a cocker spaniel, as these dogs are very people-orientated and wouldn't like to be left alone during the day. I would suggest maybe a terrier. Most toy breeds wouldn't want to be alone during the day as they were bred as companions and crave human attention.

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I OWN A CHOCOLATE ROAN COCKER SPANIEL
RIP David xx Run free at the bridge. Love you always xx 19th February 2011
RIP Jack and Mickey xx Run free at the bridge. Love you forever xx 20th June 2011

Just to say, OP said in another thread she will be at work from 8.45am, but back home for lunch and will be home completely by 4.30pm, so it could be worse time wise

Rescues can be wary of rehoming to people who work fulltime, but the labrador rescue near to me has always let my godmum adopt because she makes a point of them always being let out to play etc at lunch time, some may be a bit more cautious about it than others but you never know

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Certainly the labrador rescue I volunteer does rehome to people who work full time, BUT, many rescues don't, and those that do are limited to the dogs that they will offer. It must be remembered that the reason a lot of dogs end up in rescue is because the dogs are left all day and not happy, so it would be unfeasible to rehome into the same situation they have come from. That said, there are some dogs that come into rescue that are used to being left all day and these could be rehomed to full time workers. It must be remembered though, that they are few and far between so you may have a wait. I would suggest you contact a number of rescues and see what their policies are. I would also suggest that you don't consider a puppy yet, unless you can get a puppy sitter in for some months to come. While your situation would be fine for an older dog, a puppy should not be left for these lengths of time.

Good luck with your search.

Thanks for the advice. We would ideally be looking for a young dog, but not necessarily a tiny puppy as I agree they arent good to be left. I would prefer a dog aged around 1-2years but these are few and far between in rescues! Especially as we would like a small dog. I do check my local rescue sites every so often and they are always full of staffs and large dogs, which just arent suitable for us.

However if we were able to get a dog from a breeder etc I have been told that as long as puppies are gradually left and get used to it they are fine. A friend of mine has a pug and he is ok to be left as it is all he has known since a pup.

I will contact rescues in my area but this is limited to very few due to where I live.

We would also consider getting a cat instead of a dog as they dont require the same attention but we would really prefer a dog. But obviously it goes without saying that the needs of the dog are first!

Have a look at this rescue site, I haven't used them personally but have heard good things about them.

Home - The Little Dog Rescue

We got a cat in the hope that it would stop me wanting a dog, but even though I love our cat dearly, I was still desperate to own a dog so now we have the dog and the cat!!

Good luck...

i think you'll be fine to get a puppy as long as you get a few weeks off work at the start so that you can toilet train it and get it gradually used to being left. Once you go back to work, the puppy will be about 3 months old and should be able to last the time between visits.

what time would you get back at lunch and how long would you be able to stay with the dog?

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I OWN A CHOCOLATE ROAN COCKER SPANIEL
RIP David xx Run free at the bridge. Love you always xx 19th February 2011
RIP Jack and Mickey xx Run free at the bridge. Love you forever xx 20th June 2011