EAD Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 I don't think there's anything wrong with spending time away from your dogs if they are happy and well looked after. It's just that I don't want to; I'm not happy when I'm away from 'the guys'. And after a string of unsuccessful, shortlived relationships, and not even a fling in more recent years, I've come to the conclusion that I'm simply not 'relationship material'. Just as well, because I'd pity the person who would have to play second best to my dogs and put up with my niggles and habits as well! Crikey you know me so well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fee Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 Right now I would absolutely love to have a family holiday without the dogs. I adore my dogs, I hate to be parted from them normally, but the idea of a few days away where we could concentrate on what the girls want to do, have meals out together and go places where we couldn't take dogs with us sounds wonderful. I'm very aware that my daughters are teenagers and won't be at home or wanting to holiday with us for much longer, and for the last few years our holidays have been much more about the dogs than about them or us as a family. Sadly, although I've used kennels for dogs in the past and am sure Taz and Jess would be absolutely fine in kennels for a few days, my timid little girls Sophie and Meg wouldn't cope with kennels at all, they would be terrified, so it's just not an option. Not being able to have a few days a year away as a family with no ties is the only part of dog ownership I wish I could change, but it's far outweighed by all the advantages of having my wonderful doggy family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riley Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 We wont have another hound for a while after Riles, we won't kennel him as (Claire will vouch for this) he hits a massive dive when he thinks we've left him. So we have to weigh up the pros and cons, Riles was here first so he gets first consideration (within reason) but when he's gone we'd lke to be able to take the children away for weekends and longer. In an ideal world we'll volunteer on here to do some sort of 'respite' fostering - you get it for children - why not dogs?? Got a wedding, here we are - got a holiday and your dog doesnt like kennels, here we are.....but i cant imagine ever being completely dog free x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fee4 Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 i think its a matter of finding what works for you-at the time & place you are in your life. sometimes a house full of mutts-is fine-and then life moves on...and you want more freedom. i dont think thats something to revile or be ashamed of-embrace it-the wheel turns. fee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Rotties Posted January 28, 2009 Report Share Posted January 28, 2009 Barry and I have had a simalar conversation. We wont be having any more large dogs when we lose our babies. Taking them anywhere is a nightmare if Matt is coming, they wont fit in the van if Matt has his wheelchait, which he always does. We dont do holidays anyway so that side doesnt affect us, and day to day its fine owing the "big uns", it would just be nice for all of us to go places at the same time instead of the big ones staying at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Was just thinking about this today, and decided that for me at least, it's not so much the decision to have dogs that is limiting, as the dogs chosen - number, size, temperament... When I just had Mollydog, I took her pretty much everywhere, and it really wasn't a problem. Very rarely did I want to go somewhere that Mollydog couldn't go too - I took her shopping (at the market), we'd go to a cafe or a pub, I even took her to meetings on occasion. I went away for a loud New Year party, her petsitter was booked up, I told our hosts we couldn't go, they invited her as well, she loved it. If I did want to go somewhere without her, it was usually just a matter of dropping her off with the petsitter. Now I have Az as well, my dog ownership is more limiting, partly because after all there are 2 of them and they are quite big (no more squeezing my dog into the passenger seat of a 2-seater car!) but also because Az is not a people dog and he's scared of towns, crowds, etc, etc. He's definitely worth it, but he's changed the nature of my dog ownership from something that I could wear quite lightly, to something that affects my life quite a bit more. I don't feel I can take them with me as much as I used to, though we do, for example, still go on holiday with the hounds: as there are only two of them, finding dog-friendly accommodation is not too difficult. But I would never take Az to a party at someone else's house, he'd be petrified... I noticed that several of the people posting here that they had considered 'going dogfree' in future are people with fairly large dog households. It's probably quite a while since you guys had just one or two really easy dogs, so I thought I'd post about how relatively simple that can be! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merledogs Posted January 30, 2009 Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 That's it for me Cycas, I love my dogs but in future I would probably just have two or three at most as it's so much easier to find places to go where I can take them all for holidays, etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReikiAnge Posted January 30, 2009 Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 That's it for me Cycas, I love my dogs but in future I would probably just have two or three at most as it's so much easier to find places to go where I can take them all for holidays, etc I think we will come "down" to two after our current dogs. We won't have any more dogs for ages, pending a lottery win, but we will adopt another dog at some point to grow up with M-M as I do like a dog to have dog company at home. M-M is like Mollydog, we've taken her everywhere we could from an early age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow Posted January 30, 2009 Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 One of the factors preventing me from going multi dog is hubby who always argues that 1 doesn't need to be limiting at all (and it isn't) but that adding a 2nd or even 2 more would instantly cut back on what we can and cannot do. As it is now Nog comes with us when we go home to visit the mums, mil has a dog of her own and she and Nog get along just fine and have great fun when they are together, mil happily dog sits for us if we're going out when we are there and will have Nog for longer if we want to go away for a weekend or even couple of weeks - and we do the same for her, in fact we have Sal several times a year for mil to go on holiday. MIL would not be able to cope with 3 dogs so if we added a 2nd dog to our household then we'd lose the free pet sitter. My mum too will happily look after Nog for us but she would balk at having 2 to cope with. Nog's an "easy" dog, he travels well and doesn't mind being left for a couple of hours for us to go out, if we go to visit friends he often comes too. With Nick & Vicky buying their own home then we gain another dog sitter provided that the intros between Bruno & Nog go well and if thats the case we'll reciprocate and have Bruno here when they need us too - but again having more than 1 dog would make that harder. Nog has been kenneled a couple of times ironically the first time was less than a month after we adopted him when my father died, and he will have to go in again in July as we have a family wedding to go to and all of us are going and staying overnight so the family pet sitting service isn't available he'll be fine, ( which reminds me I better book him in asap!) I can't say that he necessarily enjoys kennel life but he settles and doesn't fret so I can leave him with a clear conscience. We find that being a single dog household doesn't mean we have to cut back on travelling or any thing we enjoy doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranirottie Posted January 30, 2009 Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 sad to say that i will never have another big dog after I lose my Ebbi. Small dogs are much easier to cope with travelling,on holiday and even at home. I did say that I would only stick to two once my Jessie died but i have gone up to 4 again. My hubby would love a dog free life but as i am stuck indoors a lot these days I would be very lonely without my girls.I can't ever see a dog free life for me but I can certainly see the attraction of the freedom to go where you want,a hair free house,a non doggy smelling house,a clean car yes,it would be nice !x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackmagic Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 I think the ever increasing restrictions on dog owners make having a dog not so much more difficult as less easy. When we had our first dog she went literally everywhere with us, whether it was shopping, visiting, holidays or the steakhouse for a meal. When we asked a holiday house owner if dogs were allowed she replied, ' people just bring them." Dogs were regularly seen on buses, trains etc. They were tied outside shops with no threat of anything happening to them. The parks and the beach were full of families, children and dogs all playing amicably. Dog wardens didn't exist. When we went out we never gave taking the dog a second thought. Now there are so many places who do not allow dogs, shops, shopping malls, parks, beaches, pubs( out local has a sign that dogs are welcome but owners must be on a lead. There are often dogs in there, while their owner has a drink or a bar meal, with no problems) etc. Or there are restriction on the number of dogs, or where they can go. Doing anything with your dog now requires more planning and organisation. I have, at different times, had one dog, two dogs and three dogs. I now have two dogs but , I do think about what I will do when one of them goes. Having one dog would make things easier now, but I do love the way two dogs interact with each other, which they can't do with humans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safneo Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 I think my problem is down to the dogs that I have and the fact that OH isnt a doggy person. I would quite happily take my dogs away with me, and ok they are hard work, but its cheaper, less stressful in that I dont have to worry about them, Neo does still stress with change but he is still with us so not fretting too badly. We are very restricted where we can take them as Neo isnt good with people or dogs, especially when on lead, and Saffy is just a nightmare to walk on lead and has no self-control despite all of my efforts. If the dogs were easier I think OH would enjoy holidaying with them more. As it is, he makes a lot of allowances for them so I now have to 'give' a little and try them in kennels to get them used to it so that we can go abroad. I have found a nice Pet Hotel (kennels), that are willing to work with us to get them used to it but I do think it will be harder on me eventually. Last time I went away (onloy once since I had them), they stayed with my old trainers, one at each home. Saffy fretted so much that they had to reunite them for the week. I have never got back of holiday quick enough! I do wish that I could take a holiday to chill with OH and Lauren to do things we couldnt do with them around (funfairs, beaches etc) but I cant stop thinking about my babies back home without me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brammie Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 Part of me says i will never have six again but then equally part of me knows that more will squeeze their way in. My problem is the range of dogs i have, my oldest 2 boys dont like dogs and Poppy is scared of everything which obviously restricts alot. I do go away a couple of times a year for college and last year Scotland and we take two dogs with us but its stressful - Hebe is a gem but Ash/Dex (the only two ive taken) can be a pain. We will see how Baz is if we ever make it up north, im meant to be at college bust the car has broked. I think next time i will try and stick to 2 well behaved doglets but i doubt that will happen lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 I think next time i will try and stick to 2 well behaved doglets but i doubt that will happen lol I suspect that's the hard part, with all the best intentions and plans it all goes pearshaped when you fall in love... I intended to have one 'easy' dog, I now have 2, one is easy, the other is gorgeous, but not really easy in the sense I'd originally intended. Oh yeah, and 6 cats, how did that happen... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemstone Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 I could not be without a dog. I said that I would stick at two when we lost Hollie, after a year, I started looking for number three again I feel more complete with three. I don't think I will have six cats again though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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