How do you take care of a dog if you have a job?

Some people crate the dogs while they’re gone. Some have pet-sitters or use a doggy day care system. Some lucky folks get to take them to work (like me). Certainly, the amount of time that an animal would spend alone is a consideration before adopting a pet. And some high energy breeds that need mental stimulation (like border collies) are an even worse choice.

We were also considering an english shepard or german shepard as well (forgot to put that in description)

I just really don’t like the idea of crating my dog up all day :(

@cutiepi92 The breeds that you list are all working breeds, which (generally) require a higher than average level of excercise and mental stimulation.

Some dogs are fine alone. My 2 dogs are so different. Molly never wanted to be touched. She didn’t want to be outside alone either but she was fine at home alone and when younger could hold her pee all day. (Not now unfortunately!
Axel needs his people or he will get destructive. Luckily I’m semi retired and my husband owns his business and often takes him to work. If he has to sit in the car for a while we installed a security system that allows us to keep the motor running while we go and he is content to sleep in the car.

You either have a close job that allows you to come home and walk your pet once during the day or you hire a dog walking service. For active breeds like border collies doggie daycare a couple times a week is a good idea. That way thet get to play all day.

I am lucky in that I work from home.

Crates work, my dogs love them. We leave them open during the day if we are home now, sleep/nap in them.
They are sixteen months old, have good bladder control and don’t need to be in the crates like when they were younger. I have been gone for 12 hours with no accidents, I just let them out a soon as I get in the house.

If you have a backyard, the ideal system is putting up a fenced in area in the backyard that is semi partially covered and partially floored, so the dog can stay outside for when it has to relieve itself, but has a covered area in case of surprise weather.

If you live in an area that’s too cold for this (or don’t have a backyard or safe neighborhood), you can train the dog to relieve itself on the doggy pads and just designate one area of the house for the dog’s pee pads. Then you can walk them before work, have the pee pads out while you’re away, and walk them a couple times when you get home.
I am very against training dogs not to relieve themselves for hours and hours on end, it is incredibly unhealthy for all animals, and there’s a reason humans can’t last 12 hours without peeing. Same for dogs.

There was a time when I was gone ~10 hours a day (work + commute). I got up early and spent about an hour walking and playing with with my dog before I went to work, took her out for a long walk when I got home, and hired someone to take her out in the middle of the day. I always had to go straight home after work, so I was not able to hang out with my coworkers at the bar. I regretted that I couldn’t get another dog to keep her company.

I was renting at the time, and eventually convinced the landlord to let me make a pen for her outside, but I was uneasy about leaving her there all day. A dog left alone in a pen is vulnerable, and there are a lot of sick people in the world. Also, if the dog is not fixed (mine was), an inexpensive pen will be ineffective during mating season.

You should seriously look into adopting a Greyhound rather than the breeds you mentioned. As Syz poihts out, they are genetically used to the stimulation of being working dogs.

There are usually one or more Greyhound rescue groups in most areas. There are several reasons why they make great pets. They’ve had aggression bred out of them since that can’t happen at the track.

They are quite used to a lot of inactivity interspersed with a short period of concentrated exercise (the race ) and are quite comfy being crated since it’s their security. But it most likely wouldn’t be necessary since they’re already house trained.

As long as you can give them one really good walk or run each day, the rest of the time they are content to be just beautiful loving couch potatoes.

They really are gorgeous animals with a wonderful gentle disposition. At least check out One of the rescue groups to see if they might be a good fit for you.

I agree. I wouldn’t get a smart working dog in your situation. I had a cocker spaniel – a good tempered one – and left him gated in the kitchen area while I was at work. he was fine, slept mainly, and then I paid attention to him after work. Dogs don’t need constant attention unless they are pups but they do need their needs paid attention to.

@janbb still thinking about getting a pooch?

@cutiepi92 : A border collie, as other people said, is not a good idea. Maybe go with one of the more laid-back breeds. As to whether you should get any kind of dog at all: It depends. How long would you be gone for? Dogs are very social animals, and I don’t think they should be alone for the entire day on a regular basis.

My dogs generally sleep most of the day and my work has me in and out of the house frequently. Also they get a long walk every morning, come home and are fed. Then, regardless of what we are doing, they go back to bed. Exercise is the key, wear them out before you leave. I do have a small area set up where they can go outside if they want which helps. It is a very small contained area but it is rarely used for toilet purposes, it is used mostly for sun bathing. The tv is always on for them when we are gone, they prefer the country music station. Then they get another long walk in the evening. I also run or bike jour with the younger one (6 years) 3–5 times a week. When I lived in apartments, I did use the crate while they were quite young, but it was necessary for too long. I always had plenty of real bones lying about so they would chew on them instead of the furniture.

When I worked outside of my home, I hired a dog walker to stop by mid-day. My doggie got some much-needed attention and affection, and she’d take care of her “bathroom business” during that walk.

i suppose you all are right about working breeds. I know border collies are a handful, but I will admit I was a little surprised about the german shepard. I know a couple that had one for the longest before he passed and he was alone quite a bit. Affectionate, but didn’t go crazy or anything but that might just be an exception?

I do like the idea of either doggy daycare or having someone stop by to walk him/her. We obviously have a lot more research to do lol but thanks for your input! We’ll also do some research on greyhounds, laid-back is a good thing lol

if you want laid back, you definitely want to avoid Dalmatians, the ultimate high energy dog.

After the movie 101 Dalmatians was so successful everybody and their Uncle wanted one. Prices got jacked up, adding to the perception of desirability. And then the

shelters were flooded with them after people who did no research realized their mistake.

They’re great dogs for someone who can give them the exercise and stimulation they need but if someone is expecting a gorgeous couch potato they’ll be sadly disapponted with a Dalmation and another one ends up in a shelter.

It’s good you’re doing your research ahead of time.

The main reason so many Greyhounds end up in rescue ia hardly their fault. It is due to the greedy profit mongers who discard them after they no longer are winning enough races.

They are “retired” (euphism for killed) at a surprisingly young age since no athlete is at their peak for more than a few short years. And they’re constantly breeding younger dogs to replace them.

There are times when I think the selected humans who do this should be euthanized instead.

So the dogs biggest “fault”, essentially, is that they’re no longer the fastest in the industry for which they were bred. That’s their fatal flaw.

And that’s why there are dedicated rescue groups who save them from certain death, foster them and teach them how to deal with the normal experiences of living in a home and screen them to make sure that those with an unusually high prey drive go to homes with no cats (most of them just ignore the cats since they’re much larger than the small lure they chase around the track :)

Anyhow, as you do your research, I’m sure you’ll find out which breed suits you best.

Are you aware that there are many purebred dogs constantly coming into shelters? Many people aren’t aware of that.

I mention it because, due to your work situation, trying to housetrain a young puppy could end up a disaster.

There are plenty of young dogs (1–3 yrs) already bathroom trained available at shelters who still have loads of years of life left in them. And the best part of going to a shelter is that you’ll be saving a life.

And depending on where you are, some have trained personnel who can match you with a pet based upon the criteria which you decide upon in the interview they do.

If it’s a smaller one, they may not have the budget for that, but more and more shelters are doing this to try to match their dogs up with a forever home.

Anyhow, good luck in your search. Let us know and include a pic when you decide upon your cutie pie :)

The thought of crating a dog for eight plus hours gives me anxiety. I like the dog walker idea or , even better, not getting a dog if you’re gone all day .
When we are going to be gone just two hours we leave the back door open so they can go out onto the fenced yard.

@aster “The thought of crating a dog for eight plus hours gives me anxiety. I like the dog walker idea”

I couldn’t agree more. Nowadays, a full-time job is at least 9 hours per day, plus there’s the time needed to commute to and from work. I wouldn’t want to locked up, without access to a bathroom, for all that time.

Doesn’t it seem quaint that, not so long ago, an office workday really was 8 hours? Employees were paid to take lunch breaks, and employers really didn’t give it much thought. And, working a 40-hour week was considered to be a worthy achievement, now, anyone who doesn’t arrive early and/or stay late is viewed as a slacker with no commitment to his/her job.