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Taz
Starting Member
United Kingdom
2 Posts |
 Posted - 23/01/2008 : 06:51:54
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Hi everyone,
I'm new to this forum and was after some help and advice from you all please.
Me and my partner have been thinking about getting a dog for a year now and we have decided that we would both love to get an OESD as my family had one when I was growing up and so did my partners family.
We both adore this breed of dog and I am fully aware of the dogs grooming needs and the size they can reach and we are prepared to take on everything associated with owning one of these beautiful dogs.
My main issue at the moment is that we both work during the day, myself from 8.30 - 5pm and my partner 9 - 7pm and I am worried whether this would be ok for the dog.
As we both work very near home (5 min drive) we have said that we would take our hourly lunch breaks seperately to allow us to go home and let the dog out and spend some time taking him for a walk etc.
Do you think this would be ok???
We live in Manchester in a large 3 bed terraced house with a much larger then normal (for a terrace house) garden with lawn.
We are also within walking distance of 3 local parks where we could take the dog for daily walks.
Our plan is to keep the dog inside but provide a kennel with run attached in the garden so on some days he could be outside during the day whilst we are out.
We have a giant french lop earred rabbit which is the size of a dog itself, does anyone have any experience of how this breed is with rabbits?
I would also appreciate any advice you may have on feeding a dog a bone and raw food diet as i think this is what we would opt for if we got a dog.
Does anyone know of any OESD breeders in the North West (although we are prepared to travel) who have plans to breed this year as I would like to make contact asap to discuss putting our names down for one. We have looked on websites like Epuz and a tonne of other ones but its difficult to distinguish between breeders or people have just decided to breed their pets.
A friend recommended us to try Dogs 4 Us but when I have had a look it appears to be a giant puppy mill with many breeds of puppies seperated from their mothers and it resides in the same building of what used to be Mayfield Kennels, I don't think these sorts of places should be allowed......
Sorry for all the questions but we are trying to do as much research as possible at the moment as we would love to have a dog by August/September.
Thanks in advance
Tara
Taz
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haverlands
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
288 Posts |
 Posted - 27/01/2008 : 14:32:41
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Hello Tara and welcome
It's a bit hard for me to advise you without me sounding like I'm putting you down, but I wouldn't really consider a puppy if everyone in the household was working full time.
Puppies are just like children. they require lots of love and affection and regular stimulation especially during the early period. House training can be long and laborious and you need to learn to recognise the little tell tale signs that a puppy needs to go to the toilet in order to teach it that it should be expected to go outside. Only coming home one or twice during the day couldn't cope with that and a puppy wouldn't learn easily.. probably, eventually leading to very frayed tempers. They also need regular meals which can be up to 4 times a day, followed by naps, followed by toilet, followed by play. How could your working life style cope with that?
In general I have declined to let one of my own puppies go to a household in full time work unless I could be convinced that a puppy minder surrogate would be on hand (eg an in house relative etc) Breeders want the best for their puppies and I'm affraid if that offends I'm really sorry.
It would be different with an adult dog that is well established in it's routine and can cope and be used to being left for a few hours but I couldn't put my hand on my heart and recommend you get a puppy
Paula
Quality Horses with Exceptional Colour! and we're Mad About Bobtails! |
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dogmad99
New Member
United Kingdom
77 Posts |
Posted - 30/01/2008 : 12:33:33
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Hi Tara, welcome to the forum
I can only reiterate Paulas post I myself would not advise taking a puppy in a working household, as everyone will agree on here "sheepies" in particular "velcro" dogs (IMOA) they crave attention 24/7 I left my job to take on a new puppy as I would never consider any other situation and now he is older I have returned to work part time, but with hours that suit me and my dogs
Hope you find a solution
bobtail rule |
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Owning an OESD
