Puppies

Jeff and I have been researching dogs lately. Ok, maybe I'm the one doing most of the researching. I would really like to get a dog, but there are a few things stopping us. One thing that is stopping us is our experience with Meg. Meg was a sweet dog, but not the one for us. We do not want to have to give up another dog. That was not fun. In addition, I work part time, but my hours are not always constant. It's hard to think about getting a dog when you won't be there half the day to train it or to take it out. School is starting soon so my hours are going to change. I should find out this week. I'm hoping that these hours will match up with Jeff's in that we would be able to care for a dog, but I'm not sure they will.

I have been looking at different breeds to see what would be good for us and our needs. Right now we are looking for a medium sized breed, can be left alone for periods of time, and is ok with one main walk a day with additional smaller ones. So far we have been looking at beagles and cavalier king charles spaniels. I haven't committed myself to a breed 100%. Jeff and I have also not decided on if we want to get a puppy so we can train it ourselves and not have to deal with the things that a random person has trained them to do or if we want to get a dog that is one or two years old so that they are somewhat trained and aren't as needy as a puppy.

In addition, I know that you need to have some free time (at least a week or two) when your not working to be with a new dog, to train it, and to have the dog get used to it's surroundings. When are we going to have the time to do this? I have no idea. We both work all week, and most holidays are only one week and are packed with visiting families. So I'm not sure. I really would like to get a dog, but before we do I want to figure out which breed is the best for us and make sure we will have some time to train it and be with it every day.