Getting a puppy and working 12 hour shifts?

chacha82, ADN, BSN · Mar 24, 2017

I would seriously consider asking your BF or hiring someone to be a pet-sitter when you work 12 hours. You can get a referral from your vet if you have trouble finding a good one. One of my friends does this and the pet sitter walks her dog, feeds, plays and spends some time so that her dog isn't alone for 13 hours.

BSN16 · Mar 24, 2017

chacha82 said:
I would seriously consider asking your BF or hiring someone to be a pet-sitter when you work 12 hours. You can get a referral from your vet if you have trouble finding a good one. One of my friends does this and the pet sitter walks her dog, feeds, plays and spends some time so that her dog isn't alone for 13 hours.

seriously re-thinking my nursing career, dog sitting sounds like a dream job :laugh:

JerseyTomatoMDCrab, BSN · Mar 24, 2017

My fiance and I got a puppy less than 2 years ago, right around the time I left the 12 hour hospital shifts to work in the schools. We both agreed that if I hadn't gotten a job with shorter/more normal hours, we wouldn't have been able to take our little nugget home. It's not fair to a dog to be alone for that long, let alone the potty breaks that need to happen super frequently.

My little man was crate trained which made housebreaking a lot easier and my fiance worked nearby so he could come home at lunch to let him out but if I was living alone and working 12s I definitely wouldn't have been able to do it.

I would reconsider your decision until you have a more solid routine or at least a roommate to help. The puppy will miss you when you are gone! They are social creatures and want to be around their people.

foggnm · Mar 24, 2017

Puppy issues aside, I'm a believer in having a dog door or help with potty breaks when animals are home for more than 10 hours. And for a 12.5 hour shift, you're likely gone for 13.5 hours or more when you consider your commuting time. Of course adult dogs do have pretty good bladder control. I think an ideal time to get a puppy as a shift worker is when you have at least a week off and see if you can get some help in the first month of ownership. Paying someone $15 a day for a little visit and walk will put your mind at ease and give the dog some socialization. Otherwise, I think you'll be fine. I'll also say if you're someone that works a lot of overtime, then maybe this isn't the most opportune time to get a dog. Just like kids, you should be prepared to make sacrifices to your time when you have animals. If you work 60 hours a week a dog will get very bored. I love shepards. Great dogs!

cleback · Mar 25, 2017

Whether it's your BF or hired help, someone will have to come check on your pet. 12 hours (which is really more like 14 with the commute) is far too long to leave a puppy by itself.

Doggy daycare is another option if you can find one that works with your schedule. Usually they're business hours though.

My dog is 3 years old. Being alone for the day is fine now but if I had done that for the first two years she would've destroyed my house. Even leaving her for fivery hours, she would pull up the carpet out of anxiety or boredom.

Another option would be to adopt an older dog that would be less needy.

Please, please, please reconsider getting a puppy though if you have to leave it by itself during your 12 hr shifts. Not. Gonna. Work.

lindseylpn · Mar 26, 2017

My husband and I both work nights and we have 3 dogs. (A 12 year old Jack Russell terrier, a 9 year old Heinz 57 mix and a 2 year old Chow mix) While the first few months of puppy training are going to be stressful, it can definitely be done while working this shift. Usually there's only 1 or occasionally 2 nights a week that they're left alone, 9-12 hours. 2 dogs are crated and then my Jack Russell has free reign, she usually stays in the laundry room with the other 2 dogs in her dog bed or she buries herself in the laundry basket. Accidents in the crate almost never happen but, one has IBS so, she may go in her crate maybe once or twice a year. They both love their crates and will go in and out at their leisure when we're home and they'll go get in them when they know it's time for us to leave. The 9yo has anxiety so, she'll occasionally chew wall trim when not crated (the 2yo will copy anything she does too, lol). I've actually forgot to lock the crates several times because, they've already put themselves in them when I leave. They sleep with us during the day and on my nights off they'll usually sleep with my husband during the day and then they'll sleep with me again at night. They'll "visit" me throughout the day while I'm awake but, usually will end up back in bed with my husband. It's the same when I'm in bed and he's awake too. The 2yo does get bored from time to time when we're both sleeping and he'll stand by the bed and whine for a bit but, then he'll go play with his toys in the living room. I do work with some people that crate their dogs when they're working and when they sleep too but, that wouldn't work for us. We don't have a doggy door or a fenced in yard (although we hope to fence the yard in eventually) so, they rely on us to take them out. We have a covered porch they like to hang out on to bark at everything in the neighborhood. We have puppy pads in the laundry room they can use when inside and that works well for us.

I will say that if I didn't have my husband to share the responsibility with, I can see how having dogs and working long shifts would be a lot harder. If your boyfriend is not living with you or is unwilling to share the responsibilities of pet ownership I'd really put some long thought into getting a new dog (or boyfriend ) or look into some pet sitters to help out. I can't say much though, we never put thought into getting our dogs, it just kind of happened, lol. (Impulse adoption, stray and rescue all as puppies) Good luck. :)

Editorial Team / Moderator · Mar 26, 2017

We adopted a dog who was 8 months old from a rescue organization when my husband was between undergrad and med school. It worked out well because someone was home for him. To adopt a young puppy and leave it for 12 hours reminds me of an ER patient who did the same with her infant because she could not find or afford child care, she just put her kid in the crib and went to work. I know, you're all probably as horrified as we were about that (the baby was fine, btw), and while it's not the same as with a puppy, you get my point. They need nurturing, attention, training, and exercise. Please think about the ramifications of adopting a puppy before you do it so that you aren't that person in a couple of years who is looking to re-home your dog, or the one getting angry and upset because he is destructive out of loneliness or anxiety. Doggie day care is great, so are dog walkers.

Purple_roses · Mar 26, 2017

I would be worried about that combination. I'm sure there's a way you could figure out the long shift issue, but once that German Shepherd gets bigger, I really don't think I would feel comfortable leaving a yorkie (one of the most fragile/tiny dogs) with it. Huskies and German Shepherds can still get those random hunting triggers due to a "high prey drive" and have been known to kill smaller pets. German Shepherds also have a very high energy and their simple play can break a yorkie's bones.

Of course there are tons of stories out there about small pets and these types of dogs getting along just fine. But there are enough very sad stories to make me nervous about that combo.

Emergent, RN · Mar 26, 2017

I recommend getting a young, house trained rescue. You say you have a Yorkie? That's great, I'm a firm believer in having 2 dogs to keep one another company. Canines are pack animals and psychologically unsuited to be alone, unlike cats.

Get a dog about a year old, then you don't have to deal with house training, just adolescence, which is easier with the stabilizing influence of an established, more mature dog.

SmilingBluEyes · Mar 26, 2017

I Agree with others who say it's a terrible idea. German Shepherds are VERY high energy (not to mention grooming maintenance). Almost all puppies chew, get into trouble and can be destructive if left to their devices for long times. And not all puppies take to crating. My lab puppy actually rocked his crate across the floor and ate the carpet around it by reeling it under the door of the crate and chewing it up. He was extremely unhappy in the crate, from jump and would howl and cry for hours on end. What made me sad, is, he was panting, covered from head to toe with his own saliva and hoorifice from barking. That was the end of the crate idea. It never worked for him.

Not all dogs can simply be crated when you can't supervise them.

The only way we got sleep was to put the puppy between us in bed and when he woke up (which was every 2 or 3 hours) I would take him out in the yard to do his business (in the snow in winter). Did not have a full night's sleep for several weeks; it was like having a newborn baby in the house again. I had the time ( I was PRN only) and the patience, but he tried me like no other.

I love that dog with all my heart; he is now nearly 10 and much more relaxed and easy to be with. Mature dogs are the BEST I tell you....which leads me to:

Think of the animal, and the years you will have him. If you can't devote a lot of time to training, exercise and grooming, forget it. Get an older dog (lots need homes) who requires a little less time and energy and would be very happy to have a home.

Think of the animal--- not just your needs please; they live 10-12 years at the least. Just try to picture your living situation in that time and if the dog does not fit front and center, it's a bad idea.

foggnm · Mar 28, 2017

I was thinking about your post over the weekend. I just wanted to add that shepards are very much 'working dogs' and if you don't have time to devote to giving such a breed a lot of exercise and training (mental stimulation), then maybe consider getting an older dog (German Shepard rescue or check your local shelter) with less energy (and that does well at home during night) or a breed that isn't a working breed. But no matter what the breed, if you do get a puppy try to get some help during the first month to get the dog settled in. While it may seem expensive to get a dog walker on the days you work, it will pay off as you'll have a happier well adjusted animal.

elkpark · Mar 28, 2017

SmilingBluEyes said:
Think of the animal, and the years you will have him. If you can't devote a lot of time to training, exercise and grooming, forget it. Get an older dog (lots need homes) who requires a little less time and energy and would be very happy to have a home.
Think of the animal--- not just your needs please; they live 10-12 years at the least. Just try to picture your living situation in that time and if the dog does not fit front and center, it's a bad idea.

^^ This. Sure, puppies are cute and funny and adorable, but they require a lot of care, time, and attention in order to not develop behavior problems. There are many, many older dogs in shelters who need homes and would be great pets, and also require less time and training, and are better prepared to cope with long work shifts.