Stueyb

Hi all,

Just hoping someone can give me a little advice here. Im looking for a nice GSD but im worried about leaving it at home during the day. We used to own a rough coated sheltie dog.

Now i can give it lots of tlc BUT i work 8 - 5.30. Would this be an issue. Ive looked all over the web but nowhere seems to "specify a time"I want the dog to be a part of the family first and foremost but secondly I want it to rip burglers/scum to several different bits, perferably in order of most pain. GSD seem to offer both of these qualities.

Any advice/recommendations ?

Brendan Hughes

Don't have any carpets or soft furnishings. Either that, or walk it for 2 hours before you go to work each day.

Can you guarantee to get home at lunchtime, or would you pay a student to take it out? That long indoors sounds awful (unless you live in a mansion).

Tiggs

"I want the dog to be a part of the family first and foremost "

leave the wife or kids alone all day?

get an alarm.

T

Stueyb

I am able to walk the dog at lunchtimes because i only live 5 1/2 miles from work. But there would be other people round and about because she who must be obeyed works nights and I work days !

I just dont want to "be cruel" to the dog. I love dogs but IT must come before my wants to be honest !

steve G MAN

get an akita

andrewdelvard

Walk it for 2 hours??? Really??? Been thinking about buying a Spanish Water Dog, about the same size as a GSD now I'm not so sure...

Mice_Elf

Purely depends on the dog. Parents have a Border Terrier (medium size dog) that could easily advertise for Duracell. He has 6 acres to run about in and can quite happily be tanking up and down all day, quick gulp of water and boom! he's off again...

The more exercise they get, the more they want to exercise. Do you have any fields nearby where, once he's trained, you can let him off the lead to run about as he wishes?

Friend of mine has a rottweiler and a springer spaniel. The Rottweiler has the kitchen and garden to play in all day - the door is left open, the spaniel has the rest of the house - they are separated by a child gate on the kitchen door.

There is no one in the house and the rotty is as soft as you like, but a 3 foot, solidly built Rottweiler is going to cause any burglar not just a few moments of caution...

When GSDs are puppies they need a LOT of entertainment otherwise whatever is within mouth reach is chewable.

[Edited by Mice_Elf - 4/15/2003 8:04:52 AM]

Gordo

I went through exactly the same dilemma - bottom line is it's not fair on the dog to be couped up all day with no attention. If you're like me you'll either be too knackered to walk it sufficiently or you'll start missing walks to give yourself a break.

I was legged into getting two tom cats 4 yrs ago from a pet rescue place (secretary at the time made the appointment then turned on the emotional blackmail). Didn't like cats but never regretted it - they're great fun to have around (we treat them like dogs, they come when you whistle, fetch ***** etc) and the great thing is they exercise themselves. We don't even need to worry if we're away for a couple of days - try that with a dog.

I shall be getting another dog one day but whilst we're working long hours it doesn't seem fair on a dog and we don't want the commitment. Think long and hard mate - maybe a small dog that doesn't need much exercise would be better?

Gordo

Redkop

My advice would be shelve the idea of getting a GSD [or any other dog come to that] if it is going to be left all day on it's own. It's unfair on the dog!

I have had 2 rescue GSD's - both given up by their previous owners because they were left at home all day and developed behavioural problems through boredom & being alone.

Approx. ten hours including your travel time to & from work is far too long for a dog to be left on it's own, more so a GSD. They crave for human company.

Do you realise that for the first 6 months it will need feeding 4 times a day, what will you do about house training it?

Yeah and if you ever let that happen, it will be you breaking the law, not the burglar. He can sue you and the police can prosecute you for keeping a dangerous dog, maybe a court will even order you to have the dog destroyed.







[Edited by Redkop - 4/15/2003 8:59:47 AM]

Sub97

My Mum and Dad are on their third GSD. I would echo whats been said above. Their image in the press is crap to be honest. If you bring them up well then they are one of the most loving dogs you can get. But they do require human attention. 3 to 4 hours is the most you should leave them for, and that should be a one off - i.e. not 3-4 hours every morning and then 3-4 hours every afternoon.

Your best bet is to buy a dog magazine with help lines in the back of them. You can ring breed specialists and tell them you're situation and ask them if its a good idea to get that type of dog. Most of them arent breeders so its not as if they're trying to sell you something.

I am in a very similar situation to you, both me and my girlfriend work full time but we really wanted a dog. She can come home every lunch time for about 1 and a half. We rang around and the best dog to get (we were told) was a Lhasa Apso. They are very similar to cats. They like human company but are not bothered if they dont get it. She gets walked at lunch time and because she is so little it is enough to make her sleep all afternoon. She never howls when we go out and always looks happy so it seems to have worked out for us.

My advice would be to ring the breeder help lines though.

Cheers

Steve

davy1

German Shepherd dogs should not be excercised for more than 20 mins at a time as a puppy,up to 12 months,let alone 2 hrs(something to do with thier Hips).Mine is now 17 mths,she is left alone for about 8 hrs Mon - Fri,and she is perfectly happy.You have to spend time with the Dog at an early age,but they soon come to terms with thier enviroment and routine.
A GSD will naturally protect its family and home,but will also quite happily destroy its home,when bored.
Try a fold down cage,or a large moulded muzzle(both are reccomended by Vets and Breeders) to stop the chewing,but remember it still has claws(as I found out,when the carpet moved from 1 room to the next.
Still all part of having a dog.Would not swap her for anything(maybe a new STI)but dont tell the missus!!!

Brendan Hughes

My 2hr comment was due to the dog apparently going to be left for about 9.

Love the way some people don't read the thread (or have a great sense of humour):
Ah, those mental images....

Stueyb

Well my thinking is that I will leave it for the time being. I have gone and bought a book on Amazon all about it.

The bit re:burglers etc - they deserve it. They shouldnt be there in the first place but RedKop is right in that the cheaky gits would try and claim compensation. But if I were to get a nice car, a scooby for instance, id feel reassured that should some lowlife try and nick it they have a huge set of teeth belonging to a very protective dog to get past first.

ragnarock2

If you do get a dog, DO NOT let it sleep in the bedroom (as we did). When she was samll, it was fine, as she could not reach onto the bed, and she would sleep on the floor, now she is a bit bigger, she sleeps across me and my wifes legs, and every morning we wake up with knee aches etc. Oh, we have a Utonagan BTW, fantastic dog, absolutley gorgeous, fantastically intelligent (toilet trained in 1 night!!!), and absoluteley loves people!

Brendan Hughes

Stu, that reminds me of the story about the guy who parked his van in Birmingham NEC car park and was approached by a persistent 8 yr old who kept asking 50p to protect his car. After several rejected refusals, the guy finally exploded "Listen, pipsqueek, my Dobermann is asleep in the back, and if anyone tries to break in, he'll rip their f***ing head off!"

To which the child replied "Really? Does he put out fires, too?"

Diablo

LOL @ ragnarock.

I know EXACTLY how that feels

D

Gridlock Mikey

I'm on my 2nd GSD and I have to agree with the statement that they grow accostomed to thier surroundings and circumstances. Sure Toyo (Don't blame me, the Muppets named her ) had a few bouts of the chews but it comes with the turf. She's 11 months old now and her routine is
07:00hrs 30 min walk/chase frisbee/chase trains/go for a swim in canal in the morning
08:30hrs Ame leaves house
12:00hrs Ame/Me nip home do Dog stuff, quick 10 min walk round block
13-17:00hrs I pop in ad hoc to see how she's doin, have a brew, etc. Not always possible.
17:00 hrs 60 min walk/chase frisbee/chase trains/go for a swim in canal/get absolutley knackered
18:00 Toyo sleeps until we goto bed. Let her out into garden, comes back in gets on her bed downstairs and stays there all night.
She's all good, loyal, trained, a little boisterous sometimes but that's an age thing as opposed to having too much energy. Some folk say it's cruel but I figure that she's known no different so to Toyo the life she's living is great. Certainly better than leaving her in a kennel outside in the garden all day and night.

Mikey

Markus

Ah the age old working but want a dog.

My 2 cent's worth on the subject...

Is it going to be a puppy or an adult dog? Reason I ask is that if its a puppy then it will adapt to being on it's own, however it won't much like it. I'm always in two minds about this. A dog can be happy on it's own, but, it is kinda cruel. When maggie (a beautiful silver grey Weimaraner bitch) was a puppy she was left at home alone quite a lot, but she was left in her 'home' ok ok it's a metal cage, but it's not as cruel as it sounds, hell, I could fit quite comfortably in there (and I'm 6ft 4 and 15 stone, so not exactly small). Maggie got used to being on her own, but she was always bouncy when we got home. Plus she did get a lot of excercise too, and was loved too. Puppies, like babies, adapt.

If it's an adult dog then it's more difficult, as they have been in a preset cycle and that's hard to change. You could not really exepect to put an adult dog into a cage and then bugger off, it will not be happy at all, and that would be very cruel indeeed.

hmm, not much help am I?

Alas

Again its personal opinion.
My big red psycho dog is not left alone for more than 4 hrs as I work 6 - 2 and the wife 9 - 5 but she is home for lunch at 1pm. The dog was a rescue at just over a year and had some behavioural probs. It's taken us 2 years to get him out of them.
If he'd been on his own too much it would have been impossible. He did'nt do any damage but when you got home you got flattened for about 20 mins with sheer joy, slobber & snotters. A 9 stone mastiff can produce a lot of slobber & snot.
Again he needs 3 walks a day(mainly swimming in boggy ditches) and if you don't have the time this becomes a real chore.
Against that if the dog is loved & cared for he'll be a damn sight better off then a lot of animals.
Alasdair

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Dont whatever you do get an ex Police one, they do very high mileages and even allowing for the good maintenance they can be pretty tired, also they tend to have holes drilled into the bodywork where the Police gear was attached.

Rusty Festa

don't mind me, just tidying up the loose corners