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IF you do it, I would definitely go with an adult, given your schedules. You don't have time to train and socialize a puppy. An adult will absolutely bond with you, with no problem. Having a baby is going to necessitate changes in that schedule too, so it's probably better to wait. But if you do decide to do it, replace gym time with walking, jogging, or biking with your dog. Both the exercise and the companionship will be important to it. And if someone can come home for lunch, so much the better.
Why not go with an older Rescue! BTW the bottom pics are Labs LOL You can also save money [both of you] by spending that time jogging with the dog... at the park playing with the dog etc.
^^^This. Especially if you haven't had a dog before. Adult dogs are so much easier than puppies.
By the way, don't "suprise" your wife with a new puppy. This is a decision where you BOTH need to choose the dog. NOt fair to your wife.
sorry but in my opinion, you don't have time in your life for a dog at this point. Leaving the housebreaking stuff aside, dogs are pack animals. From the dog's point of view: you get up, oh good-the pack is up. But the only time available is for a potty break. Then you leave. Then oh, boy-you're home! oops, food, another potty break, you're gone. Then, what's this? They're home again! yup-in time to go to bed.
not trying to be snarky but, nope. Hold off for a while.
This.
I have dogs and I hate leaving them just for the few hours that I have to be away from them for grocery shopping and running errands. I can't imagine leaving a dog - especially a single dog - alone for the number of hours that you describe.
If you feel that you would like to share your home with a pet, how about adopting a kitten (better yet, get two!) from your local shelter? Cats are much more amenable to being left home alone, and if you have two, they will have each other for company and probably won't miss you at all.
This is Jordy he is a british cream Golden Retriever, The brown dog is one of mine, Chaos and the joke at the dog park is they are boyfriend and girlfriend. Jordy is a sweet dog but high energy. He also LOVES to get dirty as you can see. He will be 2 in December . It is a rare day that we do not hear about how he has been bad and chewed something up.Chaos is 18 months and has never been the chewer her boyfriend is.
Goldens I have known have tended to be chewers longer then other breeds I have experience with... and I mean big time chewers. My sisters late Golden chewed a huge chunk out of the wood deck on the house they lived in.
Years ago I found a young adult Golden and we tried to find the owners but no luck .As we tried it stayed at my parents house and that dog chew up the garden hose, patio cushions, couch pillows and a dining room chair and many other items in the short time they had him. At the time my parents had 3 dogs of their own all since puppyhood and the 3 together did not even come close to the damage that Golden did. Despite his chewing their neighbor fell in love with him and gave him a forever home. So just be aware the breed can be chewers. But they are great family dogs.
I have dogs and I hate leaving them just for the few hours that I have to be away from them for grocery shopping and running errands. I can't imagine leaving a dog - especially a single dog - alone for the number of hours that you describe.
If you feel that you would like to share your home with a pet, how about adopting a kitten (better yet, get two!) from your local shelter? Cats are much more amenable to being left home alone, and if you have two, they will have each other for company and probably won't miss you at all.
But be forewarned - cats can be addicting!
Both wife and I are not at all cat person. Sorry but if we ever get a pet it will be only dog.
Thank you all for your input. sorry I forgot to mention that my gym is 3-4 times a week so other days I can dedicate working out with my puppah for sure!
I mean out of 7 days 3-4 days will be with puppah for at least 1-2 hours playing outside, jogging or going to park etc. also this way we will be super active in weekend mornings so we can have our breakfast and head straight to park as we love taking a nice jog/walk in park and with doggah we will have a routine set for sure.
OP I think it is do-able with your schedule but as others said you may need to give up some "you" time because dogs are pack animals. I personally would get a young adult dog. I got mine he was 10 months, still very much a puppy but he was already potty trained and was never very destructive but I think we got lucky with him. The only thing he destroys are his toys.
I would make sure to give him a good walk in the morning--if that means you have to wake up an hour before you are used to then so be it--he/she will need a good amount of exercise. I'd walk them for 45mins-1hr in the morning to tire the pup out. I'd have someone, either you, your wife or a dog walker come in mid day to let the pup out and take them for at least a 20 min walk and again in the evening, before you go to the gym take the pup for a 30 min walk and lots of play time when you return and maybe even another short walk. On the weekends I would dedicate plenty of time to playing with the pup. Parks, dog parks, hikes, beach, lots of attention.
No you do not need to spend every waking moment with the pup if it is house trained. My dog looks at me like I don't have anything better to do on the weekends than to bug him during his nap. LOL.
Just manage your schedule, rearrange some things and it is do-able. If you get a puppy--it will be very hard to train with your schedule. Definitely invest in classes, day care and crate training. The crate will be your best friend when your dog is still young and can chew up everything. It is for his safety so he doesnt get into anything that may hurt him.
I don't think that you should get a puppy because puppies need a lot of attention. We have 2 adult dogs, that we got as adults, and a puppy that is now 5 months old. We got him when he was about 6 weeks old. Puppies are so much different than adults, and our puppy has required almost constant supervision, almost like a human infant. I can't imagine how lonely a puppy would be if it was left alone all day. I think that adult dogs are a much better choice for someone who must leave the dog alone all day.. Good luck!
I agree with the others. I don't think you are ready for the commitment a dog takes. The shelters and fosters are full up with dogs surrendered because folks did not realize how much work is involved in properly caring for a dog.
they need exercise and attention EVERY DAY - not 3 or 4 out of 7.
And definitely do not get a puppy. In many ways they are worse than a baby because at least you can put a diaper on a baby, and babies generally do not rip up carpet, chew on furniture, chew thru blinds, etc out of boredom.
Many of us know for a fact that a dog can bond with its owner all its life. Some adopt only seniors and can tell you that this loyalty is like no other.
A housebroken adult dog sounds like the best bet if you exercise her every day of the week.
1: save your money, quit the gym and use that few hours every evening going for a jobg with the dog, belive me yull both be thankfull for it
honestly i know many people who work full time and have pets, that part doesnt concern me...but the gone from 7:30-10pm for the gym part as well as workign full time, even if its only 4 days a week, thats 4 days a weke hen puppy is getting no real interaction in the evenings which is realy your only 'free" time.
2: do NOT get a puppy, look for a rescue (either via a rescue organization or through a legitimate breeder) thats preferably at least 2 yrs old, he or she will be old enough to be comming out of the insanoe puppy stage but still actuve playfull ect.
how much time does a dog need? well as a young puppy 2-4 months, they need to go potty every 2-3 hours, they will play for short busts every 2 hours or so and sleep eat and poop the rest of the time, generally 3-4 hours in the evening with a minimum of 1 hour of REAL excerize...
in the 4-6 month age, potty breaks often can be explanded to the 3-4 hour range and no need for overnight trips to the backyard, but there awake more and sleeping less, youll need to up the "real excersize up to about 1 1/2 hours a day for a golden, plus at least 1/2 hour of training time every day...ontop of the sit and snuggle and play fetch time too
at 6-8 months of age you should be able to go 4-5 hours or so on the potty breaks, but that excersize time is going to increase by another 1/2 hour, goldens are ACTIVE dogs...1/2 hour walk in the morning, 1/2 hour in the evening with at least 1 hour of throw the ball dammit ect plus 1/2 hour minimum of training excersizes every day
8mths to 2 years are the "teenage stage" youll have a HYPER typically destructive PUPPY on your hands (goldens are mentally puppies PAST 2 yrs old!) at least 2 hours of phycial excersize and at least 1 hour of MENTAL excersize every day would be BARE minimu, this doest include socilization/snuggle/be with family time...
after 2 years they tend to start alming down a little so the physcal excersize at that point can be cut back by about 1/2 hour for ever 3-4 yrs, but that mental excrsize is going to be just as important.
thats just BASIC time too,ever dog is different firstly, secondly what about time for training classes? thats got to be worked into the schedual too, and meal times, and bath times, goroming what happens when he gets sick ect? it realy is like having a child...a dog can survive with very little human interaction..just like a latch key kid...theyll adapt and make the most of every moment they can get with you...but its NOT good for them mentally they are pack animals...
We got our first family dog when we were like you. Young, no kids (kids on the way), super active. He was a Harlequin Great dane, and probably the most beautiful dog I have ever seen. We were super busy. I had a burgeoning law career. My wife was an accounting clerk with a huge developer. We were very involved in our community, our curch, a bit of politics, looking for a house, fixing cars, a British car lub, hiking, biking, beach time, parties - go go go go go go go .
It worked out ok but we had to make some adjustments to our lifestyle.
We had some advantages that i think you do not. I worked 5 minutes away from home. I could come home for lunch play with the dog let him out etc. We had a yard with a wall/fence and a covered patio, and we could leave him outside and he was fine. When my wife got home, she would walk him up to my office and then we would all walk home by way of a park. One of my major activities was hiking in the foothills of the Santa Ana mountains. He came with me. When he got big, he carried a pack. We took him with us many places we went. To the beach, to outdoor resturuants, a three mile walk/run in the morning. I even had some clients who wanted me to bring him when I went to their home for business meetings. I also had a lot of veternarian clients and i sometimes brought him to meeting with them and their staff loved to play with him while I was conducting a meeting with the clinic owners. Evntually I got him trained so I could let him run alongside me while I rode my bike. He had an unusual build for a Dane and we thought maybe he had some greyhound bred into him because of his build, speed and running style (we got him from the pound).
Giant dogs are pretty lazy. It is easy to wear them out and they are happy to rest most of the day after a three mile run/walk.
OuUr dane loved the car. I had a little Subaru and he would ride with his head sticking out the sunroof. When it was not hot, he had no problem staying in the car for an hour or so as long as he could leave his head out the sunroof. He went with us to church and we just tied him to a tree in the courtyard while we went to a meeting. He went to parties with us sometimes, particularly when his little friend Keeshhound would be present.
We had him for three or four years. It worked out well until the children were born. He got super freaked out every time he saw them. He did not do anything mean, but he would get super frantic and just completely freaked out whenever he saw them. He would fight and struggle to get at them and then sniff them frantically and keep pulling and pulling trying to get closer to them.He woudl tremble until his whole body was shaking and drool like mad. After several months and no change in this behaviour we had our vet watch him with the babies. The vet said we needed to find him a home with no children. We were sad. We did find him a great home and visited him from time to time. He had a great life. Later we got a different dog (Mastiff) and he had no problems with children or babies at all.
You may be able to work it out. You could bring him to your DJ events and he could be part of your appeal if he is well socialized and trained and had the right nature. You have to change your life to orient it around him just as you will have to with children. You will have to take him with you as much as possible.
He may or may not have a prblem with the kid(s) when they are born. If he does have a problem, you may have to find him another home. If he is well trained and socialized it should be no problem.
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Jordy is a sweet dog but high energy. He also LOVES to get dirty as you can see. He will be 2 in December . It is a rare day that we do not hear about how he has been bad and chewed something up.Chaos is 18 months and has never been the chewer her boyfriend is. 
