Comments on: musings on sunday afternoon

By: Lannie

Lannie — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 10:04:07 +0000

Well the good thing is that Olli works from home A LOT, and I am home one day a week as well (sometimes two). So I think that location wise, we’d be okay with taking him out – especially in the beginning. It’s the reason why we’re even considering it…

By: Perine

Perine — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 09:02:30 +0000

oooh… Such a cute puppy.
Being a dog person myself, I’d say go for the puppy! But like mentioned before, the time schedules really need to be figured out before this. 8+ hours a workday alone for a puppy is a lot. An older dog can handle it but when the puppy is still small, it would be better if the time could be divided or have someone come in during the day to take it out and play a bit.

Elina takes their dog to a doggy-day care every day as the neighbours complained about some howling Ziggy did when she got bored. That’s also an option. I know that I could not get a dog now. You really kind of need the two people looking after it, to make sure the puppy is happy and does not have to be too long alone etc.

By: Aurora

Aurora — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:56:52 +0000

True. And as with most pet, you get bundles of love in return

By: Lyanna

Lyanna — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:47:12 +0000

My experience with owning a dog: it’s not as daunting as it seems. I mean, we have to find accomodation for our cats as well when we go away for a longer period of time. Granted, you can leave cats by themselves for a weekend if you leave enough food and a clean kitty litter, and with a dog you need to find someone to look after it or take it along if you are staying away for more than one day.

That’s the thing you need to think about most – are the both of you away for extended periods of time regularly, and how would you fix that? Other than that, also take a look at what stretches of time someone actually is home. There are dogs that need to go out every two hours, but there are also breeds that can stay indoors for a longer stretch of time than that.

Dogs are so much fun and aside from the walking, there isn’t really that much of a hassle having them around if you take them to a good obedience class.

By the way …. prrrrrretty layout!!

By: Aurora

Aurora — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:14:48 +0000

Take an average week, and superimpose the dog over that. When will you walk him (and how many times a day)? Can he stay at home alone, or does he need to come along? Do people you visit with the dog (really) appreciate the dog coming along? What do you do if the work schedule does interfere, or on the days the both of you are out?

Those choices aside, if you do decide to take a puppy, take the time to take it on an obedience course. It needs to listen to the both of you. There’s few things worse than poorly trained dogs. .

By: Sirayn

Sirayn — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:03:21 +0000

Puppy! I’m so jealous! Cannot wait for that (sadly) distant day when I get a Cavalier puppy of my very own.

Getting a puppy might take a bit of adjusting, but it doesn’t have to be scary. Taking care of a puppy on a day-to-day level is just feeding it and taking it for a walk and letting it sleep cuddled up to you. If you dog-proof the garden and install a dog flap in the back door, the puppy can go out whenever it wants to. It sounds like your puppy would be old enough and well-trained enough not to be too destructive. If you have friends or family locally who could take care of the puppy for a few days, you could still go away for the weekend without worrying. Plus you will have a cuddly ball of fluff that just wants to make you happy!

I am pining even more for my future puppy now. Piiiiining.