Calling all dog owners

My wife has been hounding me for a pet dog since we first got married - even moreso the past couple of days. I really don't want a dog in the house but so far my arguments haven't been able to stand up to hers.

We tried having a kitten and the litter box smelled up the area around my office where I host my photography clients. It also put holes in my expensive leather office chair. Worst, it chewed up my MacBook power cable which was a $120 replacement!

I'm concerned about what might happen if we introduce a dog into the picture. I have all kinds of things lying a out - from umbrellas, bags, wires. My wife wants a medium to large sized dog (maybe a lab/rott or pit bull). I don't have the time or the patience let alone the want to have one around sharing my living space. What makes me even more nervous is having one around my grand piano (pristine, polished black finish). I haven't had a dog before and have no idea what kind of behavior to expect and whether my office/piano are safe. (And yes, I can close up the office. My gear is often strewn about the house along with many of my other tech things)

I'm reading in other forums that training is a necessity (oh yay, more costs). I [don't] have time for this kind of thing. I would be here busy all day in my home business with my wife working 10 hour days away. This certainly would be a disaster in the making, would it not?

I have a Rott and a pit in the house with me. I work from home and run my photography business from home. I don't have any issues. The difference though, is I am used to dogs, know what it takes to get them up to a level of very low maintenance and know how to train them.

First, getting a puppy should be something you both want. With you being the primary person responsible since she's never home, you really should buy in or not get one.

Second, crate train it. It goes in the crate every time you leave the house and could even sleep there. The crate will need to grow with the dog. Get one only big enough for it to lay down in. It doesn't need extra room. So a puppy needs a small one. Give it a big one and it will pee/poop in it. As soon as you take it out of the crate it goes outside to go bathroom. Every time it wakes up from a nap, it goes outside. This reinforces to the puppy where it needs to do its business.

Ours don't live in crates anymore. My pit sleeps in our bed with us (not my choice) and the rott sleeps on our bedroom floor. The rott does go in a crate when no one is home as he has an anxiety issue if he's not in it.

After the first 3-5 months your "hard" time is usually over and it gets easier. Have toys about that it is allowed to chew on and keep an eye on your stuff during the puppy phase or your stuff laying about may be chewed. Some dogs chew more than others. Rotts and Pits do chew but not as much as labs, shephards or bulldogs.

dogs don't use litter boxes, that's a plus. they make great companions. once they're past the house training stage they're pretty easy pets, the daily walks are good exercise for the dog and you. check your local animal shelter, they might have one there that is good for you.

We have had our Golden Retriever for a year; brought him home as a new pup. I was worried he'd chew our leather furniture. But you know, we leave him inside for 11 hours 2-3 days a week while we're at work (no doggy door). No chewed furniture, no destroyed camera gear, which I leave on a futon regularly, no accidents (except when he was very young). No formal training.

The worst he's done is unroll toilet paper, which is actually pretty funny, or get into the bathroom garbage and chew up tissues.

Good puppy.

And he gives me an excuse to get out and go for walks.

I second Rick. Get one from a shelter there's a ton of good dogs out there that may already be house broken, but given up because someone was moving, don't have the time or may have developed an allergy. Maybe find a group that is looking for fosters, that way if it's notworking out you can return them for something that will work. Puppies are cute and all, but they do take training and they do chew. How old are you? They have something around here called seniors for seniors and it's older dogs that you can adopt free of charge if you're a senior. I found a little older dog for my grandma that the owner had passed and the dog needed a place. It's already trained, just lays around alot, but not much work just likes being around people. Hey and it's a bit older so you're not stuck with the full commitment if you get my drift. J/k!

We had a Lab puppy for a couple of months and it wasn't working out for our family. It was always extremely hyper and destructive. Our kids would take him out for hours playing with him and he never seemed to wear out. He destroyed shoes, clothing, curtains, and other things. Even chewed a hole in the wall when left for 15 minutes alone. From what I have been told after is that behavior is fairly common for Labs. He now lives with a wonderful family on a farm being a hunting dog.

We now have a sable smooth coat collie (purebred) and overall they are like the couch potato of the dog world. They will play but are usually done before you. Ours has never chewed anything which I have been told is fairly normal for collies. The worst he has done is one time he was left home most of the day and took all the socks, shoes, towels, throw rugs, blankets and piled them up in the living room. The biggest downfall, which isn't that bad, is his diet which is mostly raw chicken breast and brown rice.

Dr.D wrote in post #15303921
I second Rick. Get one from a shelter there's a ton of good dogs out there that may already be house broken, but given up because someone was moving, don't have the time or may have developed an allergy. Maybe find a group that is looking for fosters, that way if it's notworking out you can return them for something that will work. Puppies are cute and all, but they do take training and they do chew. How old are you? They have something around here called seniors for seniors and it's older dogs that you can adopt free of charge if you're a senior. I found a little older dog for my grandma that the owner had passed and the dog needed a place. It's already trained, just lays around alot, but not much work just likes being around people. Hey and it's a bit older so you're not stuck with the full commitment if you get my drift. J/k!

I also recommend adopting from a shelter or rescue organization. As Dr. D says, older dogs are often at least roughly house-trained and past the teething stage. I don't see anything in your specifications about the size you'd be looking for. But again, you both need to want the animal. If you're going to be the one at home with it most of the time, you definitely need more than a "well, if you really want to" attitude. It's not like repainting the living room that you can quickly and easily do over if it doesn't work out. At least, it shouldn't be. The people who take that approach are why the shelters and rescue groups (I'm a member of a breed rescue group; our last dozen or more dogs have all been rescues) are full up.

Pearlallica wrote in post #15303472
... I would be here busy all day in my home business with my wife working 10 hour days ....

You apprehensions are spot on!

Neither of you have time for a dog. Even a well trained and behaved adult needs daily companionship and exercise.
The training of a puppy will require even more time! Dog training is not only attending classes, it's also applying and practicing at home what was learned in class. And everyone in the household must be involved to properly train and socialize the puppy.

A dog that isn't properly trained, socialized, and exercised on a daily basis will become neurotic and destructive, especially the breeds you are considering.

IMAGE LINK: http://doglifetraining​.com/2012/11/boredom/

Don't take that picture to serious. every dog has a different personality and will act slightly different.

My pit is crazy when she doesn't get a walk or enough time in the yard to wear herself down, but has never destroyed anything. My Rott is a moveable log and lays around all day but if we don't give him enough attention he'll steal kitchen towels or socks or underwear and shred them. My pit, mostly in the winter, will sit behind me and growl/bark/whine until I play with her in the evening which ends up with us both tired and teeth marks all over my arms. Thats the worst of it for us.

DagoImaging wrote in post #15304266
Don't take that picture to serious. every dog has a different personality and will act slightly different.

My pit is crazy when she doesn't get a walk or enough time in the yard to wear herself down, but has never destroyed anything. My Rott is a moveable log and lays around all day but if we don't give him enough attention he'll steal kitchen towels or socks or underwear and shred them. My pit, mostly in the winter, will sit behind me and growl/bark/whine until I play with her in the evening which ends up with us both tired and teeth marks all over my arms. Thats the worst of it for us.

I'm glad to hear your dogs are the exceptions. However, it doesn't sound like your dogs are suffering much from neglect. lol. But how long do you think they could go without you and their time in the yard before getting, at best, neurotic?

Sounds like the OP hasn't the time for his potential pet like you have for yours and that's my point. For the sake of the animal, please don't minimize the effects of neglect. The shelters and rescue groups are full of these neglected animals.

A dog's mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Dogs are serious work and everyone needs to buy into the idea. These are not Chatty Cathie or Tickle-Me Elmo dolls, there is emotional buy-ins on all sides. Dogs, puppies especially, require attention and excersize and then more attention. They return the attention with pure love.

We have two purebred Labs, a chocolate (avatar) who is actually much calmer than the picture and a black that could pose for that 4th type of lab = Meth Lab.

Chocolate did a pretty good chew job on the kitchen one day. Black was crate trained, he was crazy from day 1 so it was a natural choice.

Both were got as puppies, the black from a family that was not ready for the demands and were "not quite" mistreating it but pretty darn close enough to piss me right off = we got the dog and they did not get what they wanted for it.

Now that my wife is retired, these two are in 7th heaven. Still beat the hell out of me when I get home though. Loving it.

Your concerns are real and justified. Just know, that your attempts to talk your wife out of getting a pet, are futile. The truth is, women love animals...period!!

If you deny her this, no matter how right you are, she'll be miserable all the time, therefore..so will you.

Good luck dude!

1Tanker wrote in post #15305809
Your concerns are real and justified. Just know, that your attempts to talk your wife out of getting a pet, are futile. The truth is, women love animals...period!!

If you deny her this, no matter how right you are, she'll be miserable all the time, therefore..so will you.

Good luck dude!

Of course women like animals, they marry men don't they?

You are screwed! It sounds to me like she is not going to take no for an answer and there is no way you should be getting a dog. There is no good outcome from this.

I have had dogs most of my life and I invest a lot of time in their training and exercise. I have ten fenced acres and my dogs have all had free run. That said, I am currently replacing four window sills in the house because my Doberman puppy got bored one day and chewed them to bits. He also destroyed a $3000 coffee table, a stack of ribbons my wife and I won at horse shows this year, and four DirecTV remotes. Even with all that destruction, I would not even consider getting rid of him. He is family and that is just stuff. If you can't feel that way about a pet, you shouldn't have one.

Bob