Question for dog owners

[BOOSTD]

This fall, I will be starting my senior year in college and I will be graduating in May. If everything goes right, I will be attending graduate school next fall (fall 2007). I've recently been very interested in buying a dog to go with me to whatever graduate school I attend. Since most of the graduate schools that I am applying to will be far from home, I want the dog mostly for companionship at my new home. The problem, however, is the logistics of taking care of the dog while still in school. I would defiantly buy the dog as soon as I graduated so that I could spend a lot of time with it over the summer to train it and for it to get familiar with me. In August, however, graduate school would start and most of my day would be spent at school or in lab. This is my dilemma: Is it right/fair to the dog to keep it in a kennel for most of the day (say 9 - 5, and taking it a walk during lunch)? Im sure its possible, but I dont want to be cruel to it also. If everything goes as I hope, I will be in grad school / post doc for the next 10 - 12 years, so there really isnt going to be a "good" time to get a dog.

thanks
BOOSTD

[oneBADDz]

I don't approve. I don't have any viable reasons other than the fact that it a pretty mean idea. Get a breed that isn't super-active that you can let run arund the house/apartment while you are gone without worries of him getting bored and tearing stuff up, which would be your main concern. You need to get a dog that fits your lifestyle, any idea as to what you want? If you will be gone alot an active dog is a bad idea because they need constant activity to help keep them from developing bad habits both while you are away and while you are around.

[third_shift|studios]

9-5 in a kennel with lunch walks is fine! i do it all the time with my dog. He's a little dude, just a bichon frise, and let me tell you, if i weren't engaged [as we bought the dog for her] I would use him to get girls ALL TEH TIME. Chicks love small dogs. And a bright-white, soft-haired, happy as can be puppy is a damn quick way to their hearts. Ok, that said; i vote bichon b/c they're small, always happy, they don't shed and although need a lot of attention, I've left mine for up to 5-6 hours in a cage and he still loves me =)

here's cohen:

[DrMilhouse]

I totally disapprove of kennels. You shouldn't need one anyway. Keeping him in your house/apt/whatever for the time that you're at work is fine, but a kennel to me is just kinda mean. If for nothing else, I completely consider my golden retriver mix as a member of my family. I wouldn't put a child in a cage and I certainly wouldn't put him in one either. If you spend the time with him before you go, that's good and you can get them adapted to home life (with out being stuck in a kennel) in a few months (potty training, etc). You also have to keep in mind that being with him for 3 months of sumer and then being gone for 9 hours a day after that is a bit of a huge shock, so during the time when you would be "home" he needs to have daily time to adjust to life when you're not there. When they get used to having you around, leaving is a hard adjustment for them.

If you're living in an apartment, keep in mind the neighbors don't want to hear the barking, so even if it's cute for them to bark when they're young, you've got to start the rules even then.

Get a dog, but rescue one. Adopt one or something. Just don't go to the mall pet store and buy one there. They're cute, but expensive and even though they say they come from somewhere, there's no guarantee that it's not from a puppy mill. They'll need good homes too, but buying from the mall, just supports that.

Finer haired dogs have different types of hair when it comes to shedding, and that's something to keep in mind. Dogs like diphrent's Bichon or Poodles or other soft haired dogs are great when it comes to shedding because it clumps, the bad thing is, the hair on them requires some maintenance (trips to the dog salon for an occasional hair cut).

Get one, just drop the kennel idea. That's something my mother-in-law does... her dogs SUCK to be around.

HTH

Mike