Mrsconsequence has been informed that one of the trained prison service dogs might be up for adoption towards the end of the year, he’s a lab and is a trained search dog… about 8 years old and is an ‘outside dog’ (trained to live in a kennel outside most of the time).

The biggest barrier to us getting a dog has always been the time commitment, we both leave the house by 7am and no chance of either of us getting back home until 5pm earliest weekdays. So the dream dog that’s happy to chill at home all day and doesn’t need training seemed like an impossibility. However this dog is already trained to a very high level (to the level where it wont approach a human unless its approached first) and as the current owner has another drug dog he takes into the prisons most days, the lab sits at home in his kennel 90% of weekdays anyway.

I could walk him every morning before going to the gym… waking at 5:15 instead of 5:45 wont be difficult for me and we’ve got ideal woodland less than 5 minutes from the front door. evenings walks would be easy due to how close the woods are etc.

Our landlord, despite the tenancy conditions stating no pets, allowed the previous tenants to have a cat and those tenants were a nightmare apparently… we’re definitely on his good side and I have a feeling if I called him he’d be fine with it providing we made good any damage as normal. There are local cats down our road but the neighbours either side of us don’t have any.

Being a lab, for some reason I’m expecting him to be on a decent diet so there will be cost implications for food, vets bills, insurance etc etc… but it’s been years since I lived with dogs so I was hoping some of you lovely people could list all the stuff I’m forgetting and tell me why its a brilliant or a stupid idea 😀

Thank you!

we both leave the house by 7am and no chance of either of us getting back home until 5pm earliest weekdays

just because you really want a dog, it doesn’t make this alright.

7am to 5pm is probably too long based on my experience of owning two dogs. Yes, they do sleep most of the day but that time frame is too long without toilet breaks unless you’re planning on keeping him outside all day with an enclosed area.

thats exactly the reason why we haven’t gone and got a dog jam bo. the only reason i’m even considering (and asking for advice/opinions) is because this lab has already been trained to look after himself all day and has for years, our routine wouldn’t be any different for him.

i’m only going on what information mrsconsequence has been told by the owner so far and there’s no rush as he wont be retired until later this year so any decisions will be based on me getting much, much more information over the next few months.

EDIT – apparently he currently spends all day outside in his kennel allowing him to go to the toilet as and when he likes

philconsequence – Member
So the dream dog that’s happy to chill at home all day and doesn’t need training seemed like an impossibility.

Which it is really Phil, you seem like a good bloke generally from what I’ve read here, why would you want to keep a dog locked indoors for what 22 out of every 24 hours of the day of every week? Then when you want to go away, kennel fees etc? It’s ok having a dog at home if the bread knife is there for company, or you can take it with you to work, or even out on the job and in a well ventilated van if you have that sort of job.

It’s not much of a life for it, it sleeps all night has half an hour then is expected to sleep all day…

Don’t do it dude it aint really fair on the fella..

Have to agree with other posters – the dog may be used to having no company all day most days, but doesn’t he deserve better in his retirement?

Used to have a ex police dog, we had him at 8 years old, best dog that ever owned me, loved to swim, could hunt out water from a mile away 😉

I used to have a job back then where I could have a dog with me during work & he never left my side & was very loyal.

rip Toby

New job means I cannot own a dog any more, but if you can, its all good.

that’s what i’ve been telling mrsconsequence via email since she started getting excited about it! i’m not happy to take a dog unless we can give it a good/better life.

deep down i think i was hoping this thread would either go in the direction its going allowing me to present such opinions to mrsconsequence to show its not just me who thinks this way, or if by some miracle everyone said yeah that’s awesome go for it, then at least i’d have a list of intelligent questions to ask the current owner!

EDIT – there’s a small possibility i might be able to bring him to work with me, we’ve got a big garden at work and the only thing that would stop me is the MD who due to the culture/country he grew up in.. isn’t the biggest dog fan.

I would feel very guilty leaving a dog alone from 7 to 5 every day, it would be so lonely : /

I agree with the above posters. I have a lurcher who loves to sleep about the house, but still feel guilty if she is left for 4-5 hours. Unless you have a large outdoors kennel with shelter and a large run, it sounds like a very bad idea. I’ve wanted a dog for as long as I can remember, but waited years until my life suited a dog.

Personally I would say no for two reasons, firstly the dog will be left alone for too long, secondly at eight years it is heading towards it’s twilight years. You will have time to fall in love with it,a few good years and then it’s probably heartache city.My pooch is only three, but I still can’t help looking to her future.

The answer to leaving a dog at home all day is two dogs. 🙂

(I have a dog that is kennelled most of the day. As I know how these threads turn out I won’t go into it on here but feel free to email me any questions)

How is the dog kept now? I wouldnt leave a dog inside for that length of time but outside with warm kennel and some space it could well be fine. Our lurcher is three now and has often been left for similar lengths of time with no problems. Neighbours can see into garden and report that in bad weather they dont see her and if its sunny she takrs some bedding out and lirs on the decking. A well exercised dog with a good routine and some love will be fine as long as her current routine is similar. Lots of hand wringing about leaving dogs alone is daft. Working dogs are often the happirst and they get left alone all the time.

I agree with anagallis – if the dog is already used to living outside in a kennel/run and you can do this then perhaps for the warmer months this would be practical, so long as you can walk before and after work. The winter months may be a bit more difficult though.

+1 phil.w,

two dogs in a proper kennel, with a run is fine.

it’s an ‘outside dog’ apparently, spends all its time in his kennel.

i’m not even going to consider it properly until i’ve met him and the owner. mrsconsequence knows i’m not willing to have a dog unless we could look after it properly

EDIT, definitely 2 walks a day, possibly more as permanently unemployed friend who LOVES dogs would probably want to drop round each day to take him for a walk lol.

i’m not keen on the idea of him being in a kennel all day but that’s how he’s grown up and been trained. according to the owner he’d be ok living in the house but might have a couple of accidents the first couple of days because he’s used to going when he wants living outside ‘n all

Dog like a labwould be plenty warm enough outside in this country.

I also have a dog which is left at home 2 – 3 days a week (in the garden with a kennel). She gets 2 x 1hr walks (morning and eve) then 15mins at night. I usually manage to get home for 15mins to play ball in the middle of the day. She travels with me (for work) two days, which TBH is worse IMO as she has to spend a lot of time in the car, and has a day at home with the MIL. It is all ok – but it does mean that I ensure that she gets two good (longer) walks at the weekends, either with us on foot or on (gentle) bikes. It is also big weekend commitment.

If you can break the week up, taking him to work a couple of days, maybe have a friend (or dog walker) calling in one day, or look at ‘doggie daycare’ (there is a place near us that charges £10 for you to leave your dog for a day – they all run together in a large area of well fenced woodland) then it might be feasible, but are you sure that you can give him the time he deserves at the weekend?

My thoughts;
1) If I were to get a ‘pre-owned’ dog, I think an ex-police dog would be great
2) You and your wife are out too much/the dog is let on its own for too long to be healthy…. unless you get two dogs and they have a very good sized run.
3) If you get two ‘older’ dogs in a few years time you will have two old dogs and I can tell you form personal experience that isn’t the best way.

That said an older dog isn’t going to be as demanding in terms of walks, etc.

Lots of hand wringing about leaving dogs alone is daft. Working dogs are often the happirst and they get left alone all the time.

Possibly, but this is very nearly a retired dog. And working dogs are out for large parts of most days with stimulation and exercise whilsy they, err, work. All dogs obviously have very different tempraments but I suspect ANY dog would be happier having company and comfort for most of the day, especially an older, retired dog.

if you get a trained drug search dog can I borrow it please ?

Phil – I think you know the answer and (disappointingly) its probably the harder of the two I’m afraid (based on what you have said and the type of dog). I have two retrievers and am not sure they would be happy with a run as the only option during the day – unless you have a big area to create the run of course!!!

Very hard decision but you are obviously being very responsible (hope that doesn’t sound patronising!). Good luck either way!

Your friendly walker needs to be available every weekday or have a substitute. If he’s willing to spend an hour every day then it should work fine.

He may even find he has a business opportunity as others may want to use his services.

dont worry about sounding patronising 😀 there’s a reason i’m on here asking for opinions!

mrsconsequence finishes work by 12 on fridays so it’d only be monday to thursday where we’re both out 7-5pm, neither of us work weekends so no worries about them.

however that’s still 4 days a week where, if we didnt organise some kinda doggy day care or friend visiting he’d be alone. I am not going to make any decision about this lightly and those 4 days are still, as they always have been, my biggest concern.

As above really. The dog has worked hard all it’s life, so probably fairer on the dog if it goes to a home where it can see out it’s days in a more social environment.

Can it be left with a parent, or similar, during the day?

Ask carefully how hard he has been worked. Many working dogs are retired at 8 because they are starting to have problems with joints etc. Drug dogs possibly less so than general purpose dogs and usually the police/prison service do screen for healthier individuals.

Scariest GSD I have ever dealt with was a prison service one. Properly vicious, he was ‘retired’ when his handler left the service as no one else could handle him.

cheers for all the advice, opinions and questions to ask btw everyone 🙂 the better armed i am for an excitable mrsconsequence the better it will be for the dog in the long run!

i think deep down i’m hoping that he gets given to somebody else in a better position, but if it ever gets to the stage where i meet it i’m going to struggle to say no without a clear criteria for making that decision…. i fall in love with pretty much every dog i meet 😳

i fall in love with pretty much every dog i meet

Errrr …….. you might want to edit that before Mrsconsequence sees it!!
🙄

lol 😀

just had another email back from her stating “Yea i feel the same. don’t want to get a dog unless we can offer it the best life.” so that’s good, was worried i’d be trying to use common sense to battle a woman determined to get a dog no matter what!

You’ll just have to contend with looking at this and this, phil.

I bet she doesn’t apply the same reasoning to shoe/clothes shopping 🙂

You’ll be married soon, then you won’t need a baby substitute…

did your invite arrive safely in the post yeti?

Spending a couple of days in the garden can be hard work for a dog…

It really wears her out!!

As above really. The dog has worked hard all it’s life, so probably fairer on the dog if it goes to a home where it can see out it’s days in a more social environment.

have you asked the dog? I’ve known plenty of working dogs that would hate being sat on a sofa all day.

LOL @flowerpower – looking at the tools in pic 2, am I right in thinking the dog made it’s own kennel 🙂

considering how well trained this lab is meant to be i’m expecting it to build its own kennel and take itself for walks whilst i’m at work 😆

have you asked the dog? I’ve known plenty of working dogs that would hate being sat on a sofa all day.

Now, that’s not what I said is it?

…unless social environment = sofa.

Phil – train it to find its way over to the Heath, plenty of others for it to play with there! Has to be better than being on its own all day, labs are a ‘people dog’ after all.

I had a dog for nearly 13 years and as much as I miss her, I really wouldn’t want that commitment and expense again. 🙁

wow, mrsconsequence has just been told that the prison service stipulates that the dogs must be kept outside no matter what! i wonder if that is just during their working life or if it means i’d have to put him back in his kennel the moment we got back from a walk?!

CG – considering how close we live to the heath i could make a lead long enough so it could wonder over their by itself lol, give him a sign to wear round his neck saying ‘talk to me, i’m awesome’