I want to get a dog but I have to work, how does everyone on broadway market do it ?

We have one of these too, won it in a dog show. It's pretty boring after a month or two, but that's just Hazel's routine, I'm pretty much always around so no surprises.

@Stonehedge I would echo (tho you've mentioned you're already aware too) that Blackheath will be a no-no til any dog you own is well trained not to wander/bolt off.

I've just had a first consultation with a dog trainer/behaviourist. Every penny well spent. This is serious stuff so make sure you're totally on it...

fwiw I wouldn't be wanting to use Greenwich park at busy times, esp when training the dog. But V early should be ok. You should be looking at your dog not chasing squirrels/cats etc because this could get you into serious trouble if the dog one day chases something into a road and causes an accident where humans are affected - legal trouble in that case.

The most important thing that I learned at the weekend is if you train your dog, it won't train you. It then won't chase anything you don't want it to - which should only be a ball or frisbee if you're bringing it up in London.

On the subject of new dog ownership and whippets / lurchers...

My other half wants a dog and had the idea of rehoming an old dog (a lurcher in this case) to see how we find it in reality.

The logic being if in the long term dog ownership is too difficult to balance with our lives then it won't be for +10yrs. Plus it means we give an old dog a home for it's twilight years.

I think she was thinking of greyhound varrients as they are meant to be lower energy. We can manage a daily walk before / after work, then weekends plus one day a week working from home would mean it's only alone in the day for 4 days a week. Plus we have a garden.

Any thoughts or comments?

Also thinking about access between the garden and house how realistic is an outdoor kennel (a nice one obviously)? And how do people manage security if their dog does have access to the garden when you're not in?

Can't imagine leaving a dog alone all day would be very good for it. Expert recommendations are not to leave a dog alone for more than 4hrs. We certainly try not to leave our dogs alone for any more than that. Also, as there are two of them, they always have a mate around, and they've always got the cat to torture.

With dogs being social companion animals, they spend most of their time waiting for you to be there with them. There may be differences with the breeds and the needs of an elderly dog compared to a young one, but I would question (albeit from a position of ignorance) if someone has the capacity to look after a dog if it'd spend significant stretches of time on its own. Also, with an older dog, you'd need to consider the routines its used to. Would this be fair on it?

Prepared to be contradicted by anyone more expert, but that's what I'd be thinking...

@hugo7 Agree^ If there's no-one at home weekdays for 5+ hrs I don't think it's fair on the dog.

Hmm... Totally understand that.

Guess I was swayed by all the talk of greyhounds sleeping all day.

We were thinking a dog walker for some of the other days, but I guess I assumed that in principle a dog would be OK on its own in the day for a certain number of days per week if it has access to a garden. But the more I think about it a dog isn't going to understand the difference between Monday and Wednesday.

So how does everyone do it? Do you work from home or have you/your partner at home?

I don't think this would be fair on the dog TBH both in terms of the amount of time you are out and also keeping it outside, especially an greyhound or similar.

If you had a working collie or spaniel that get its daily quota of proper work and live in a rural area out door kennelling works.

Also dog thefts in London are on the rise though I suspect an old greyhound wont be that big a target but still not worth the risk.

Yup - wife is at home so "the princess" gets her daily outing to the woods / park.

We have a walker for 2hrs in the middle of the day. They probably don't need 2hrs a day, but they sure as hell like it and our walker is great - he charges the same as other walkers do for 1hr. Dogs usually on their own for max 3-4hrs.

So how does everyone do it? Do you work from home or have you/your partner at home?

The third one is take the dog to work. Some people are lucky enough ...

And the fourth is get a dogwalker^

My other half works from home.

OK so then does the hive think it would be doable if there was a dog walker in the middle of the 4 "alone" days per week?

(all obviously totally dependent on the dogs temperament)

We send our mutts to doggy day care if neither of us is around. The longest we will leave them for is about 3 hours, so we have dog sitters who come to our place if we are out for an evening. Our dogs are one of our biggest household costs!

As @Skülly suggested a good dog trainer is brilliant - though a dog trainer is really an owner trainer.

over time our doggy day care has gone from full days, 1 hour at lunchtime to 3.5 hours in the morning, so Holly is alone for up to 5.5 hours in the afternoon but she has walked for 3+ hours with two collies, and she is too tired to even raise her head for the majority of that time (we've seen this being at home occasionally, set up webcams to check on her + pitpat data).

though a dog trainer is really an owner trainer

So much this

cheers - all good info to consider.

Hi there if thinking of getting a greyhound think again ..no seriously its best to have two if you don't have a fenched off area they like to chase and when you have two they kinda play tag with each other, its boring when they try this with other breeds cos the others can't catch them and the greyhonds catch them too easily without sprinting, greyhounds have great long distant vision so they will see those little creatures (squirrells,cats) well before you do, I once went to finsbury park with my dog, she bolted to the opposite corner in seconds just to tell a squirrel to clear off, she was half greyhound/Lurcher and great fun except for cat and small fluffy dog owners,Despite what people think greyhounds are not Pasifists, They will kill..

Thanks all for your replies. I'm starting to fill a few gaps in my mind about what we may be taking on if we go ahead.

I promise this is not aimed at anybody here but one thing I am learning from speaking to lots of dog owners is that everybody has strong opinions and few entirely agree with each other. Dog ownership seems to turn people slightly partisan!

I think everyone's experience is different due to their own nature and the nature of the dog and breed they have. I have a jack russell who is well behaved and low maintenance, which seems to go against many expectations.
One of the best things I ever did was get a dog, sometimes it doesn't work.

Kinda like Mumsnet for dogs....

+1 agree on nature and nature of dog & breed.

Hazel got the lady-bits snip yesterday and is now sporting the bravery cone.
She's been very good and it looks to be healing well. I had a little cry when she went in. It's for the best if we're not breeding from her. Still.... :(

One of the best things I ever did was get a dog

hell yes. Mini-schnauzers rock too...

Never was into dogs but my sister got an Australian shepherd and that dog is just something else. Not only because you don't have to walk it but because you can cycle it for miles and miles.

Poor thing. How's it been working out? Saw my folks' miniature schnauzers over the weekend and not for the first time wished I had a job that would allow me to keep a dog...

@mands awww great pic
@Stonehedge well said re: opinions, point taken. Worth knowing what sighthounds are like and what they need, tho peoples' experiences may not end up being what you find, all comment is offered in forumy friendship.

I hope you do get one because there's loads of dogs getting bred and lost/dumped/whatever who need good, structured homes. Sighthounds are bloody lovely too.

I really didn't aim that at anybody here.

Citron hit the nail on the head I think. The variety of personalities and traits an individual dog can have must be endless. This leads to every owner having a different experience and knowing what worked with their dog.

Still a way for us to go with our decision making process. No doubt I'll post here when we get there.

She's doing great! I'm surprised at how the wound has healed in 2 days! It's frankly amazing.
She wants to scratch so she's got the cone for when we aren't around (in the other room) and for nights.
Understandably hates the cone and will just sit there not moving when it's on. So we've put a baby's t-shirt on her (lolz) and my neck snood which is perfectly schnauzer shaped, which seems to work. And we're about to watch her as I got lucky and have a job where it allows me to work from home.

My friend who I would consider has a standard 9-6 banking job has done it, but that allows her to pay for doggy day care 4 out of 5 days a week.

I am working at home for at least the next few months but I cannot guarantee it in the future. We're factoring in the cost of possible future dog day care into the equation.

Judging by the number of dogs you see now days a lot more people than I thought either work from home or can afford to hire a dog walker. It will easily be our largest living expense if it is needed in the future. Well over twice the cost of any of the other luxuries that we allow ourselves.