Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 109 total)
  • Dog – how do they change your life??
  • Bushwacked
    Free Member

    On the verge of getting a dog (7 month old puppy which needs rehoming).

    My wife has suddenly got cold feet and is concerned it is going to change our lives massively. We’ve already got two young kids (6 and 9) so we’ve already got used to being tied to the house and responsibility.

    Can anyone share their thoughts on how a dog will change things – positively and negatively???

    loddrik
    Free Member

    Subscribes to thread….

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    massively for us but we don’t have kids. Life is better with a dog. I have to get up earlier and take him out in snow, rain and freezing fog but no matter how bad my day has been, no matter how grumpy I am and no matter how busy everyone else is, he’ll always welcome me home like he’s not seen me for a year.

    That alone is worth it.

    dogman
    Free Member

    You have to get up earlier in the morning for nice walks even when it’s dark and raining
    No one exept you picks up the shit
    Dog insurance goes up at least £1 every year
    But on the plus side your dog will Always be happy to see you when you get home from work
    And will be your best mate
    I love my dog !

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    Picking up warm dogshit, a tongue thats just wiped an arse licking your face, flea/tick infestations, vet bills, stinky dog food.

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    double post

    wrecker
    Free Member

    And enough about cats…..
    Seriously, there is no way on earth my dog could lick his arse, he’s never had fleas, only 2 ticks and vets bills have been a few hundred quid in 10 years.

    dogman
    Free Member

    On a cold morning put warm shit in pocket !

    bruneep
    Full Member

    Because they are great company 🙄

    Rorschach
    Free Member

    this thread is useless without pictures of cute/awesome dogs!!!

    tinribz
    Free Member

    Days out really are days outside, dogs mean year round picnics, dog sitters for hols. +s outweigh all that though.

    5thElefant
    Free Member

    It’s the ultimate piece of exercise equipment. Not only do they force you to walk, the most tedious exercise invented, but they actually make it a pleasure.

    Ming the Merciless
    Free Member

    Sith Hound

    Junior Sith Hound in training.

    Yes it’s extra work but you will be fitter and they will be your best mate.

    gravitysucks
    Free Member

    they walk into your shed whilst your working on your bike for no other reason than to drop an air biscuit…

    Despite that i’m still glad we have our 5 month old puppy.
    The Mrs says he completely changed the dynamics of our family for the better. we have a 4 boy and six year old girl (homosapians)

    martymac
    Full Member

    im not especially a dog lover, and i dont have one.
    but i would say the +s outweigh the -s.
    the welcome home after a day at work is worth it alone.
    you will be out for a walk every day rain hail or shine.
    downsides, you have to pick up warm shit.

    piha
    Free Member

    I recently had the pleasure of looking after this chocolate coloured tsunami of chaos for a week.

    Just great to have about the house, taking for walks etc and would have a dog full time if work commitments allowed.

    sandwicheater
    Full Member

    Having to walk the dog on cold cold days with driving rain and the smell are the only two things I don’t like.

    It’s happy face. Walks on lovely days when everyone else is in bed. Watching your kids play with it so you can have a beer. Being able to post photos of your dog on STW

    amplebrew
    Full Member

    Dogs do take time and effort but the rewards are massive.

    They give you back so much love and the highlight of my day is getting in from work and seeing them.

    They can also offer security and reassurance when at home, wanting to protect the whole family or the other members of ‘the pack.’

    Insurance can be dear and I pay just over £40 a month to cover our two, but as per ‘Mastercard’ what you get back from them is priceless.

    I think it’s really important to study the breed characteristics and choose a dog that will fit in with you. Whilst you can train a dog up to fit in with your lifestyle, breeds do have character traits that will always be present.

    I’ve got Rossi the Springer and Oli the Tibetan Terrier…..


    DSC00058new by Ample Brew, on Flickr


    DSCF0078 by Ample Brew, on Flickr

    gravitysucks
    Free Member

    Nice warm bath after freeing my nuts off after a cold, wet, muddy walk.

    Thrustyjust
    Free Member

    Nearly 3 weeks in for us. Wife gets up early, to get Rosie into our routine. She isnt walking yet, as jabs still not had enough time to innoculate. But this weekend, will be her first walk, although not too far to start. Yes, so far its been hard work. Lots of training, almost house trained. Never had a dog before, but seems a great friend so far. Do it. I had very cold feet, but the family convinced me to do it, although has cost a fortune, with having to get a car we can use for her today !! Still she’s worth it so far.

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    The biggest change is less free time (walks etc.) Also needing to be home regularly unless you plan on leaving the dog at home all day on his own. You can’t be as spontaneous in your plans either (but with kids that probably isn’t such a problem.)

    Also they can be a pain when it comes to holidays and weekends away as you’re always having to look for dog friendly pubs/hotels/B&Bs (although baby Blobby jr is far more likely to trash somewhere than our dog.) There are plenty of dog friendly places about but does need a bit of planning.

    Having said that, I love my dog and wouldn’t be without him. Get a lot of pleasure from seeing him run about having fun on walks.

    Picking up dog shit will not bother you at all either if you’ve had kids.

    Edit: My one recommendation would be to get a good dog walker (unless you really do have a lot of spare time.) We had an excellent one who would have our dog at her home for the day when I had to be in the office, and would also have him for weeks if we were away. Was good to know he was somewhere he was happy and getting well looked after. Unfortunately she left for a new life in NZ and it’s been a bit of a pain since.

    Bushwacked
    Free Member

    I think we’re worried we mightbe tied to the house even more than we are currently, but the fact so many people have dogs makes me wonder if we are getting too concerned about it all.

    Kato
    Full Member

    My carpets now smell of dog wee, but she’s only 13 weeks old and hasn’t quite worked out that the carpet isn’t the garden

    She is hard work, but she is worth it

    unklehomered
    Free Member

    I just got home, Angus rang rings around me with his excitement overspilling as a high pitch noise. Then he had to pick things up to bring them to me, raggy toy, both my garden gloves, but its too much to pick up in one mouth easily so I have to wait while he shuffles it al along the floor trying to get it in, then he manages it and its laps of Unk for another 5 minutes. I was gone 3hrs.

    I love my hound.

    butcher
    Full Member

    If you already have kids it’s just more of the same, perhaps with the need of a pup sitter when you go on your hols. Dogs are great though.

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    I think we’re worried we mightbe tied to the house even more than we are currently, but the fact so many people have dogs makes me wonder if we are getting too concerned about it all.

    We don’t typically leave ours on his own at home for more than about 3 hours. Get an idea for how long you can leave your dog on his and see how this fits in with your life. Also it is harder to take dogs most places than it is kids.

    Thrustyjust
    Free Member

    If you already have kids it’s just more of the same, perhaps with the need of a pup sitter when you go on your hols.

    Weird how since we have had her ‘all’ the neighbours want her to stay with them, if we need a sitter !!
    She met Murphy, next doors black lab this afternoon. He’s 40 kg of big dog. She was crapping herself, but in time they will be mates and a walking buddy.

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    Oh to have neighbours with dogs!

    theotherjonv
    Full Member

    11 weeks old now. She’s just about house trained, very few accidents inside unless she isn’t put out and someone comes visiting, she has a tendency to do an overexcitement wee.

    But the mouthing!! Mostly she’s good, but occasionally she gets besides herself with excitement and will grab at feet, ankles, hands pushed down to get her off your feet….. nothing hard, so far hasn’t come close to leaving a mark but we’re trying really hard to put a stop to it. She won’t do it to me – she’s ‘respectfully scared’ and rightly so – but the wife and 9 and 7 year old girls are still fair game. I know it’s puppy play and will pass but some days it’s 2 steps forward and 3 back.

    But already the waggy tail and happy face when I come from from work is fantastic.

    At 5 weeks old

    and just now, test driving her new travel den.

    bjj.andy.w
    Free Member

    One of the good things about dogs is that they force you to go out walking them. Ok some days it’s crap due to the weather but the good days far outweigh the bad ones :

    Teetosugars
    Free Member

    You can have the crappest of days, and you come home to a wagging tail, and, well, it all seems a lot better 🙂

    Love my two to bits… Wouldn’t be without them…

    They’re just as happy spending 10hrs out in the fells, as they are fast a kip.

    Sandwich
    Full Member

    This explains it all

    This is the first part, the rest is here

    user-removed
    Free Member

    My life didn’t change a huge amount – I work from home and used to force myself out for a walk or quick ride every day, just to get away from the computer. So the dog merely complemented my habits and lifestyle.

    We don’t often take foreign holidays – it doesn’t take long to find dog friendly accommodation once you get a few directories saved on the favourites bar, so holidays haven’t changed much either.

    So I suppose the answer is; it depends on what your life is already like 🙂

    Oh, and gratuitous dog pics…

    Bushwacked
    Free Member

    Cheers, the life wehave is both my wife and I work from home, one of us is around most days for the kids andif there are days where we are going to be away all day (never longer than from 8-5.30) then we’d get a dog sitter/walker to come round. We dont go away on holidays that much but the breeder who lives nearby has said she will happily board the dog for us.

    One on the concerns is will the dog be active all day while are trying to work. The breed we are getting is a Vizsla and everytime we meet them they have loads of energy but we’ve not seen one when they are not excited to see us, butI know I’ve met a number of owners with similar life setups and theyhave been very positiveabout them.

    Also, we’ve been offered a 7 month puppy now which needs rehoming due to his owner emigrating or a puppy puppy in 3 months time, I should mention I’ve just handedmy notice in am am going to be on 3 months gardening leave so a new puppy is goingto clash with a new job and theoldpuppy fits well now, but will we miss much with the puppy puppy stage or will we luck out with an older dog?

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    That poor fella who’s being rehomed, give him a second chance at a forever home. It’s a no brainer.

    Bushwacked
    Free Member

    Onza, I’m totally for the older dog, but need to convince the kids that a big dog is better and my lovely wife that going straight to insta-dog we will cope with the step change rather than a gradual aclimatisation. I’m ideally after pros and cons here 🙂

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    Pros
    Aleady house trained
    Fits in well with you giving notice
    Better chance of any health of behaviour issues coming to light.
    7 months old, there’s still more than enough puppy left in there to enjoy.

    Cons
    For a little while, you might feel like you didn’t get a “new” dog.

    Have the family all met the 7 month old? Might be something to try if not.

    northshoreniall
    Full Member

    I’ve had Digger ( Mr D.) for 13 years now, rescue dog, been in kennels 6months before I got him. Yes they are a bind with getting away now and again but wouldnt be without him.
    He has been the only thing that’s kept me sane during tough times, and the done the same for wife too couple of years back. Unconditional love from him, and my best buddy.
    Thinks hes a little lap dog though 🙂

    Bushwacked
    Free Member

    So far just me and the wife have met him – didn;t want to take the kids in case the breeder wasn’t keen on us having him / we didn’t like him and the kids got their hopes up too much. Next step is get the kids to visit if we decide we are happy with the 7month old.

    samuri
    Free Member

    Think about how ace your favourite child is, now double it.

    That’s how ace a dog is. It does change your life a lot and it is some extra responsibility but thoroughly worth it.

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