Small dogs, probably pugs, specifically...a question

[Cataholic]

Hmmmm....so, anyone that works a 'full time' job doesn't qualify as an appropriate home for dogs? Most people I know work a minimum 8 hours a day. That is usally 9 hours on the job. So, allowing for transit, that puts them kind of close to 10 hours a day. They shouldn't own dogs? Is that really what people are suggesting? That is curious.

I do appreciate the comments about dogs vs. puppies. I did recognize that there is a time frame of some amount in that I would have to make trips home during the day. I just don't think I can do that long-term, as in years.

Just things to think about. Thanks for everyone's input!

[sasvermont]

What can I say? Dogs are much more work than cats. I love both but there is no doubt about it that cats are much more adaptable than dogs. You can leave a cat for hours and hours and they are just fine. Dogs, on the other hand need much more attention - feeding, potty, petting..... and they get sooooo lonely when you are not around. Cats, well, they are, as you already know, much more independent!

How about borrowing a dog for a long weekend? I think that will do it for you!

[Kfamr]

Johanna,
I think you'd be better off with getting an adult dog who is already used to life with cats. Yes, people who work full time jobs are allowed to have dogs. However, I don't think being alone for 10 hours is the right situation for a puppy.

They need to be socialized, potty trained (even if it was in a litter box,) played with, fed 3 times a day, etc. Raising a puppy IS like a full time job. It's almost like raising a child.

Granted, an adult dog may have problems with being left alone too. Many dogs have seperation anxiety that will need to be trained. Of course, doggie daycare, if available, is always an option as well.

[caseysmom]

You can confine a dog in a pen over linoleum with some paper out potty accidents, I do agree that puppies are sure a handful. My adult rescue is much easier and mellower however she does have issues and a past and I wouldn't trust her with your son to be honest she can growl at children.

[Giselle]

Like I said, you'd be much better off with a well-evaluated adult. Private rescues spend a lot of time evaluating resource guarding, cat-safeness, friendliness with other dogs, children-safeness, trainability, exercise level, and overall temperament. Private rescues who foster their dogs gain a very intimate relationship with the dog. As an adult, the dog's temperament is stable and solid. A puppy's temperament fluctuates. IMO, you get a potty-trained dog with a solid temperament who desperately needs a home. Adopt

People with long work schedules can certainly own dogs, but people with such schedules should probably think twice about puppies.

[Ginger's Mom]

Hmmmm....so, anyone that works a 'full time' job doesn't qualify as an appropriate home for dogs? Most people I know work a minimum 8 hours a day. That is usally 9 hours on the job. So, allowing for transit, that puts them kind of close to 10 hours a day. They shouldn't own dogs? Is that really what people are suggesting? That is curious.

I do appreciate the comments about dogs vs. puppies. I did recognize that there is a time frame of some amount in that I would have to make trips home during the day. I just don't think I can do that long-term, as in years.

Just things to think about. Thanks for everyone's input!

I am not exactly sure what you meant by the above post. But, I think you got the gist of it. People who work full time jobs that would require them to be out of the house for 10 hours a day, and are not able to have someone go to the house to check on the dog during that 10 hour period should not get a puppy . It may be different with a dog that is house trained in both potty and manners. But it is difficult to train a puppy if you are going to be gone that long and then, naturally, want to have some time with just you and your son when you get home (I know I would want that too). As far as long term, Ginger didn't get run of the house until she was ten months old. So, no if you can make the trip home during the day to do some training, it doesn't have to be a lifetime thing. But it does take time to teach a puppy all of the manners he needs to know to be a happy addition to the household. If you have someone you trust who can check on and work on some issues/manners with the puppy during the day, then I say go for it. If not there are always quite a few adult pugs in need of rescue in my area.

Let me also say, Johanna, that I know exactly how you feel about being told a puppy may not be right for you. I work full-time and have no one else to help with the dog training, and I would be/have been extremely offended at being told I could not provide a good home for a dog. However, now that I have experienced raising a puppy on my own, I think that while I am still working, my next dog will be an older rescue.

[Christiansmommy]

So yeah, I think your original question was just whether or not puppies or dogs could be litter trained...

So, I think yes, I have heard of it, but have never done it, a Swissie in a litter box would be quite a seen!!, LOL


My uncle has to be out of the house on occasion, but is generally home all of the time, but anyway, he uses the puppy pads, so I don't see why a puppy couldn't be littered trained...but an adult dog, I think would be set in their ways as for the litter training...so if litter training is your only option for potty breaks, I would think it would have to be a puppy.

[4 Dog Mother]

Johanna, I am thinking of another aspect of this you have not mentioned and I suspose that is because I just got the puppy. Puppies like to chew and bite - they do not differentiate between a toy and a person especially a child who would not understand why the "puppy" was biting them. That too takes some time to train out of them.

Personally having adopted 5 older pups and dogs, I would go with an already trained older dog (and it doesn't have to be that old - it could still be a year or so old). None of our dogs were around kids much before we got them but they all do very well with Jasmine and Dominic. All of them can wait 10 hours or more to go potty. Fortunately for them, that doesn't happen on a regular basis - I work only part time for 9-3 and can't get home for lunch so they always (well, until Christy moved in) had at least a 6 1/2 hour wait - of course, sometimes I do not always come straight home. I have been very blessed with the dogs I have chosen and they are always able to wait. Amy and Ralph have the 3 dogs and I am pretty sure they have had a 9-10 hour wait much of the time they have had them. Now Ralph goes in earlier than Amy and then gets home from work earlier so their wait is not quite so long. They give their dogs plenty of attention in the evenings and weekends. It is sometimes like what we have to give our kids - quality time rather than quantity.

But anyway I think it is something you and dogs can handle. It would probably be better to have two dogs so they would have company - even if they are in crates near each other - although I don't believe you have to get them at the same time. You could chose one, get it used to your family and schedule and then add the other later on. We got Taggert and Snoopy about 3 or 4 months apart and they became fast friends - their crates are next to each other.

There are some breeds that seem to have more separation anxiety than others - I would investigate that if you could (although I have Snoopy and he hates it when I am not with him but he still does well). I know dogs need to have human attention but I often wonder how much better off they are sitting in pens in shelters for months waiting for someone to adopt them or being euthanized rather than someone giving them a warm home, food and as much attention that that family can.

[Cataholic]

WOW! I don't think I WAS offended until after my last post, and reading people's responses. I do thank Staci for recognizing that I actually do have first hand knowledge of dogs, not to overlook the fact I grow up in a household of a breeder. Not somthing I love to confess to, but, surely something that gave me alot of first hand experience with puppies and dogs.

I didn't realize using the phrase 'get some puppies' connoted such a negative thing. What I meant was, "I, Johanna, was thinking of adopting two puppies". I said it in the way that I did as I was really trying to come across as kind of casual, as adopting ANY canine, after what I went through emotionally, physically, financially, with Binx was such a huge step for me.

As for adopting a dog for a weekend, so that I might *really* understand things? Thanks, but, that was kind of a cheap shot.

Again, I do appreciate the people that informed me a cat and a dog cannot share a litterbox. I didn't really think about dog's gross love of cat feces, not the litter problem. And, an older puppy, younger'ish adult would certainly be a consideration.

I was just in the thinking stages, and, will, of course, do what is right for my family, and any pets I adopt in the future. Kind of like I have done for the whole of my adult life.

[Lori Jordan]

I also have to add my dogs are cat poop eaters too and they have made some messed in the past,But i out smarted them and put a hole in the door so the cats can do there thing,and the dogs cannot get to it lol....


When i first got Maggy and Lacy i was working 12 hour days,But i was on the road and could stop in and let them out anytime,And my husband was never around,At that time he was driving truck.

And they both got used to it,I did not have any problems,It is not fair saying that she cannot have a dog because she works.

I think you will do just fine,Let me know if you do get the pups and how the litter training goes,I have a friend with a small Yorkie,Who goes "Potty" everywhere,that might also benifit her.

[Ginger's Mom]

Thank you, Johanna, for clearing everything up in your last post. I was really confused by your initial post because I had never thought of you as anything but a responsible pet owner. But your initial post sounded as if you didn't really care to spend time doing what was needed for a pup. I was sure that I was missing something.

[Twisterdog]

Here is another thought. Obviously I don't know the floorplan of your house, but could you close a couple of doors, and have one area of the house for the cats, so they stay in the house all the time and have their own food and litter boxes? Then, have a separate area of the house for the dogs, with a dog door leading to the yard? You could always close the dog door when you get home and let everyone out together, with supervision.

Pugs are good small dogs, in general, for young children. They are far sturdier than most dogs their size, and generally easy going and happy.

One thing I'd recommend is getting two dogs. Dogs are pack animals, and I do believe that one dog alone all day is not the best situation. Two dogs keep each other company.

In May I got two JRT puppies. Yes, in a way it's more difficult, especially housetraining. Hmmmm .... which one of you made that puddle? But, OTOH, it's easier in a way because they play with each other a lot, thus giving you a break from constantly entertaining and being a chew toy for the puppy. But, I work at home, so I was here for the dreaded house training/chewing months. I honestly would never have attempted a puppy when I worked away from home all day.

Another thing I've learned in my decades of working with dogs is that there is NO truth, absolutely and across the board, to either side of the "best to get a puppy/best to get an adult" debate.

Yes, puppies can be trained the way you want. Provided of course, that you have the patience/time/knowledge/desire to do it properly. For many, many years of my life, I did not. Not at all. That didn't make me a bad dog owner. I was busy, working full time and raising a child. So I got adult, already basically trained dogs.

And one thing everyone who gets a puppy would be wise to remember: Yes, there is a LOT that training/environment/upbringing can do to mold a puppies temperment. However, there is also a LOT of the dog's personality that is hard-wired before birth. Just like with humans, nature vs. nuture. And you are not going to know definitively the personality that little fuzzball puppy is going to have as an adult. Example: My cocker spaniel Lacie was an aloof, independent adult dog. She didn't want to snuggle, didn't want to be held. She would tolerate it, but never thrived on attention or sought it out. I got her at six weeks old and trained her. She never had a bad experience in her life. It was just her innate personality. And it wasn't the innate personality I would have chosen, had I got an adult dog. I loved her, and had her for fifteen years. But her "puppy personality" gave no clues to what her "dog personality" was going to be.

One nice thing about getting an adult dog from a rescue, is that the rescue folks have done a lot of the hard work for you. They have evaluated the temperment, worked on the house training, chewing, etc. They are VERY invested in that dog, and if its not a good match, they are going to be the first to tell you. That is my recommendation for you. Find a good pug rescue, and start working with them. It may take some time, but eventually they will help you find a couple of perfect dogs for you.

[4MuttsFurever]

hi! I know that a lot of dogs can be litter box trained and I bet pugs can too, they can be newspaper trained so why not litter box trained! It might take some extra work but they would catch on after seeing the cats doing it you would think! Puppy pads would work too...they might catch onto that faster than litter boxes. I dont have experience with litter box training dogs though..all my dogs are over 40 pounds!! (Is there a litter box that big?...)

[flipgirl]

I don't know if you should let the dog share the cat's litter box - dogs love to eat cat litter and obviously it wouldn't be good for them!

I've seen a puppy starter kit with a litter box and pine shavings.. you could just use newspaper or those training pads (they get expensive though). The thing is, once your puppy goes in one area, it wont' go there again so you'll probably end up with mess on the floor. Maybe you need to seclude them in an area and put a few pads down.

Is there anyone who could just come in and let them out mid day? It's hard to housetrain a small dog because the area which they consider their den is smaller than a large dog. So if you are considering housebreaking them to go outside, it will be difficult to go from the pads to outside. Better to start them going outside. If you can have someone just to even let them out to pee, then that would help.

I would agree with the others however, in that maybe you should consider an adult pug from a shelter. Some breeders even sell adult pugs when they retire them from breeding.