So we're getting a dog. Is my life about to end as I know it
Discussion
For the worse or the better??
They're lovely and cuddly and all that stuff (kids are hyper with excitement) but I have a feeling that
a) dad will be partially redundant
b) There's going to be mess everywhere and
c) Everywhere is gonna smell.
I'm sure I am just over exaggerating, so reassure me
They're lovely and cuddly and all that stuff (kids are hyper with excitement) but I have a feeling that
a) dad will be partially redundant
b) There's going to be mess everywhere and
c) Everywhere is gonna smell.
I'm sure I am just over exaggerating, so reassure me
robm3 said:
Wife is desperate for a dog but I'm holding out for all the reasons you listed.
To make it worse she wants a French Bulldog, probably because every second Hollywood star is walking around with one.
Anyhow we're in a checkmate at home, no dog, no new cars for me
To be frank, having seen your posts and pics about your wife just give in and let her have what she wants.To make it worse she wants a French Bulldog, probably because every second Hollywood star is walking around with one.
Anyhow we're in a checkmate at home, no dog, no new cars for me
You'll get it back in spades, and more that likely have a dry sack for the next few months no matter how much the puppy s
ts.Your house will be a mess.. Just yesterday we had vacumed the lounge and the dogs come bounding in from the garden and get muddy paw prints all over the house.
The life i knew also ended but i prefer this new life as im alot more active/healthier and they have become my best mates something i never thought i would say with such strong feelings!
Id say go for ti!
The life i knew also ended but i prefer this new life as im alot more active/healthier and they have become my best mates something i never thought i would say with such strong feelings!
Id say go for ti!
Hangus said:
For the worse or the better??
They're lovely and cuddly and all that stuff (kids are hyper with excitement) but I have a feeling that
a) dad will be partially redundant
b) There's going to be mess everywhere and
c) Everywhere is gonna smell.
I'm sure I am just over exaggerating, so reassure me
Have you actually got this dog yet? Not something to jump into if you are unsure. Kids will be fasinated by the puppy stage, but could well loose interest when they realize how much work is involved They're lovely and cuddly and all that stuff (kids are hyper with excitement) but I have a feeling that
a) dad will be partially redundant
b) There's going to be mess everywhere and
c) Everywhere is gonna smell.
I'm sure I am just over exaggerating, so reassure me
Depends on how old they are. 1) Partially redundant? Are you referring to employment? Dogs cost money. This is a fact. Some breeds cost more than others as it depends if they have long list of natural ailments. Ours is a healthy breed and still costs just shy of £50pm for food and insurance. This excludes vet fees.
2.) That's partly up to you and the breed you have. piss and s
t everywhere is down to you training the dog to go when you tell it, not on the corner of the sofa. Also, any destruction of property is down to you to manage the behavior of the dog. Obviously a puppy will do all of those things at the start. 3.) Depends on the breed, how often its groomed/bathed and where you walk it. Some people hardly ever walk their dogs on fields or off lead them, which gives the dog minimal opportunity to roll in stuff or run through puddles. I personally don't want my house to smell of dog. We have a greyhound, he won't walk in a puddle let alone run through a muddy field. House smell is also affected by what food you feed them. Tinned dog food stinks and we only have a few tins for emergencies. It can really make the house smell horrible. We get round this by only feeding our dog dried food with some bits added in.
Several other things to consider:
Someone mentioned holidays. £500 is a bit steep. We pay £140 for a week at dog sitter and we supply his food. Although greyhounds can easily adapt to kennels, ours is much happier at a sitter. Kennels are much cheaper (£9 per day)
Going out for long days out without the dog is a no no. Max we will do is 10 hours.
You HAVE to adapt your lifestyle. One of us is always back for 11pm to put him to bed so to speak. We have a 7 month old now and we rarely go out at all, so that's fairly easy. Other people used to going for post work drinks in pub might struggle.
Furniture: Carpet is good so dogs don't risk falling over when they try to run. Would I own a dog and have carpet downstairs? God no. We have laminate throughout all of our downstairs. Wouldn't have it any other way. Having a floor that's wipe clean is 100% essential IMO. Dogs can and will have accidents. In an ideal world, you won't allow dog on the sofa. That's a subject open to debate.
Edited by bakerstreet on Wednesday 9th September 10:05
As previously mentioned £500 for holiday cover is a bit steep. I generally charge £30/night as a house sitter and that takes account of various numbers of dogs and cats. The poster that quoted £140 /week is getting it cheap !
I think the main aspect to owning a dog is to give it lots of love and guidance - he or she will do their best to please you
I think the main aspect to owning a dog is to give it lots of love and guidance - he or she will do their best to please you
bakerstreet said:
In an ideal world, you won't allow dog on the sofa. That's a subject open to debate.
I raised this idea, I was outvoted 3 to 1 though.
Compromise here is they're allowed on 3 old sofas in one side of the lounge. They're mismatching, were in the house when I moved in, and look garbage with crappy covers on them. I don't care though, they serve a purpose
This will be better in the winter as they're all around the fire.bakerstreet said:
House smell is also affected by what food you feed them. Tinned dog food stinks and we only have a few tins for emergencies. It can really make the house smell horrible. We get round this by only feeding our dog dried food with some bits added in.
Dried food might not stink while its sitting in a bowl waiting to be eaten but if you feed them food that isn't great quality, it'll stink as they process it. I gave mines some of the emergency cans of dog food a few days ago and the amount of farting that was going on was disgusting. Also if its full of junk that has to go somewhere... i.e. you end up huge sloppy stinking turds to pick up rather than dried up small odourless ones when they're on a decent diet.This is about to all go in a big pot along with a bag of frozen peas or carrots or whatever else is in the freezer.
the pasta costs 50cents a bag, the chicken livers are 1.40 euros a kilo, theres 2 kilo there. I've no idea what frozen veg costs, but its cheap too. Its easy to deal with and I'll have one single pot to clean. Its also significantly cheaper than pedigree chum and so on. They love eating it, and its healthy. There is very little downside to feeding them this way.
If you only have 1 dog I'd probably look to reserve one shelf in the freezer for them, and make up things like that in batches. Depending on the kids age thats maybe even something they could help with as part of 'dog duties'.
I also give them lots of raw meat/bones.... so you want to get in with your butcher and get those free/cheaply too. If not just give them the cheap cuts of chickens raw (wings are a couple of euros a kilo here).
On the cost front, provided you don't go mental with what food you give them the real cost is in lifestyle adjustments imo. I don't have any kids yet I live in a 4 bedroom house so that I could get the garden I wanted. Holidays may end up costing you more, when you find you're deciding to drive to spain rather than take a £30 flight, so the dog can come too. Then as mentioned above you have the lifestyle things that don't cost you money, but do mean changes. Like after work drinks not being viable if you're the one thats first home to let the dog out etc.
Also don't forget the importance of insurance. And bear in mind its not just your own dogs health you need to take into account. Someones dog escaped from its garden here, I flattened it in my Porsche on a dark road after another car ran over it and didn't stop. The dog survived but was injured, in UK vet prices you'd comfortably have been looking at a 4 figure bill. Plus the owner owed me the money for the car repairs. I think that ended up being £5k or so, I can't remember exactly. He was insured by Axa pet insurance, they paid up. If he had no insurance I'd have sued him for the money.
If your dog bites a pro footballer in the legs or causes someone to crash their Aventador, you could be looking at some rather steep bills
KFC said:
Dried food might not stink while its sitting in a bowl waiting to be eaten but if you feed them food that isn't great quality, it'll stink as they process it. I gave mines some of the emergency cans of dog food a few days ago and the amount of farting that was going on was disgusting. Also if its full of junk that has to go somewhere... i.e. you end up huge sloppy stinking turds to pick up rather than dried up small odourless ones when they're on a decent diet.
This is about to all go in a big pot along with a bag of frozen peas or carrots or whatever else is in the freezer.
the pasta costs 50cents a bag, the chicken livers are 1.40 euros a kilo, theres 2 kilo there. I've no idea what frozen veg costs, but its cheap too. Its easy to deal with and I'll have one single pot to clean. Its also significantly cheaper than pedigree chum and so on. They love eating it, and its healthy. There is very little downside to feeding them this way.
If you only have 1 dog I'd probably look to reserve one shelf in the freezer for them, and make up things like that in batches. Depending on the kids age thats maybe even something they could help with as part of 'dog duties'.
I also give them lots of raw meat/bones.... so you want to get in with your butcher and get those free/cheaply too. If not just give them the cheap cuts of chickens raw (wings are a couple of euros a kilo here).
On the cost front, provided you don't go mental with what food you give them the real cost is in lifestyle adjustments imo. I don't have any kids yet I live in a 4 bedroom house so that I could get the garden I wanted. I moved from an excellent 2 bedroom apartment right near the sea in a way better to somewhere further inland to make this viable. Holidays may end up costing you more, when you find you're deciding to drive to spain rather than take a £30 flight, so the dog can come too. Then as mentioned above you have the lifestyle things that don't cost you money, but do mean changes. Like after work drinks not being viable if you're the one thats first home to let the dog out etc.
Also don't forget the importance of insurance. And bear in mind its not just your own dogs health you need to take into account. Someones dog escaped from its garden here, I flattened it in my Porsche on a dark road after another car ran over it and didn't stop. The dog survived but was injured, in UK vet prices you'd comfortably have been looking at a 4 figure bill. Plus the owner owed me the money for the car repairs. I think that ended up being £5k or so, I can't remember exactly. He was insured by Axa pet insurance, they paid up. If he had no insurance I'd have sued him for the money.
If your dog bites a pro footballer in the legs or causes someone to crash their Aventador, you could be looking at some rather steep bills
This is about to all go in a big pot along with a bag of frozen peas or carrots or whatever else is in the freezer.
the pasta costs 50cents a bag, the chicken livers are 1.40 euros a kilo, theres 2 kilo there. I've no idea what frozen veg costs, but its cheap too. Its easy to deal with and I'll have one single pot to clean. Its also significantly cheaper than pedigree chum and so on. They love eating it, and its healthy. There is very little downside to feeding them this way.
If you only have 1 dog I'd probably look to reserve one shelf in the freezer for them, and make up things like that in batches. Depending on the kids age thats maybe even something they could help with as part of 'dog duties'.
I also give them lots of raw meat/bones.... so you want to get in with your butcher and get those free/cheaply too. If not just give them the cheap cuts of chickens raw (wings are a couple of euros a kilo here).
On the cost front, provided you don't go mental with what food you give them the real cost is in lifestyle adjustments imo. I don't have any kids yet I live in a 4 bedroom house so that I could get the garden I wanted. I moved from an excellent 2 bedroom apartment right near the sea in a way better to somewhere further inland to make this viable. Holidays may end up costing you more, when you find you're deciding to drive to spain rather than take a £30 flight, so the dog can come too. Then as mentioned above you have the lifestyle things that don't cost you money, but do mean changes. Like after work drinks not being viable if you're the one thats first home to let the dog out etc.
Also don't forget the importance of insurance. And bear in mind its not just your own dogs health you need to take into account. Someones dog escaped from its garden here, I flattened it in my Porsche on a dark road after another car ran over it and didn't stop. The dog survived but was injured, in UK vet prices you'd comfortably have been looking at a 4 figure bill. Plus the owner owed me the money for the car repairs. I think that ended up being £5k or so, I can't remember exactly. He was insured by Axa pet insurance, they paid up. If he had no insurance I'd have sued him for the money.
If your dog bites a pro footballer in the legs or causes someone to crash their Aventador, you could be looking at some rather steep bills
Hangus said:
Well at least I was on the ball on the car front. Got a new one in March
This one is a cavalier king charles x with a toy poodle. A Bleeding Cavapoo!! Nice temperament though and great with kids.
Cavalier king charles are a wonderful gentle breed and yearn and enjoy human company and don't really like to be left. I have had two. BUT watchout for them as they are hardly the most healthy dogs. They can suffer from heart problems and Syringomyelia. This one is a cavalier king charles x with a toy poodle. A Bleeding Cavapoo!! Nice temperament though and great with kids.
Hopefully the crossing with a poodle will remove some of the problems but make sure you get good pet insurance.
At least you won't have to worry about fur everywhere.
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