Should I get a dog?

Every now and then for the past three years, since I moved here to the countryside, I have thought about getting a dog. I am quite active, but a dog as a companion would make me go out more on walks as the cats cannot, and this is such an ideal location for a dog that it seems a shame not to offer one a home. But I have always put off the decision as being too difficult, and too unfair to the cats. My friend's dog has now had puppies (beagle/border collie crosses) and has offered me one. So I am faced with an actual decision. I have been to see them and they are of course adorable, but I have to be hard headed and think of my existing fur family.

How hard is it to introduce a puppy into a family of adult cats? In Bosnia, when I was rescuing cats, occasionally someone would dump a puppy on me and once I had to keep two 10 week old feral pups for two weeks until my friend, who rescued dogs, had a place for them. At that time, Wellington, Persil and Dushka all saw the pups and were wary but not freaked out. Ellie, on the other hand, got mauled by three street dogs and nearly killed, and has been very scared of them ever since. Here in France, Bonaparte and Wellington have tolerated the occasional dog owned by a visitor to the rental cottage, but the others have never seen any dogs. So would it be impossible to have one?

The worst thing would be to take one and then have to return it after a month or two if it didn't work out. Well, I am not sure I could even do that - it would be so unfair on a young animal just bonding in a new home.

Can any of you give me any advice? Should I give up the whole idea? I should also say that in my whole life I have only ever owned a dog for about six months - and that was an adult labrador who tragically was stolen or let loose when my house was burgled so I never saw him again. So it would be a new experience for me to care for and train a puppy, but one I am sure I would enjoy. But the cats must come first at this stage, in making the decision.

First, dogs are about 5X as much maintenance as a cat! LOL That being said, I have 2 of them!

The breed of pups your friend has offer challenges of their own. The border collie is a very hyper, emotional dog, which tends to become destructive if not occupied. I have a half-border myself and if we hadn't gotten the second dog for her to play with, I think she would have chewed the house down to the foundation! I am SERIOUS! We even did twice daily walks and lots of play, but she needed about 4 hours of INTENSE activity daily during the first 2 years.

Beagles are awfully cute, but they are quite loud. I also think they require a fair amount of activity.

The combo would likely produce a dog of about 30-40 pounds, if that is an issue for you. Getting two, if you decide to go ahead, might be better so they can bond to each other. In any case, I doubt the cat/dog combo will be much of an issue.

Hope this helps a little. Good luck with your decision.

I completely agree with CatMom - a BCxBeagle would not make a good first dog. We have 2 border crosses as well - same reason!! That being said, Kayla who is the BC x Smooth Coated Collie cross would probably do fine on her own. Where as Madison our BC x Doberman cross can NOT be in a one dog household!!

Beagles (like all hounds) tend to have a mind of their own & can run away ALLOT if not properly fenced & very rigorously trained. Border Collies can also have very independent streaks. You put them together & you've got a recipe for disaster with a novice owner . If you're willing to put in the learning & training time there is no reason to suspect you couldn't turn one of those puppies into a fantastic family pet. Personally it is not a breed I would adopt.

However, I disagree 100% on getting two dogs at once (specifically puppies). That's a big no-no as they will bond to each other & not their human. Then you're going to have two dogs running away instead of one!

I'd suggest you look into another lab - I think they would suite your lifestyle quite well. You might also want to look into adopting an older dog so you don't have to deal with the puppy stage (they are cute at that age but ALLOT of work!!). There is nothing wrong with introducing an older dog to cats & that's probably a better idea with dog-nervous cats because an older dog should be calmer & less inclined to chase. I'm sure you'd be able to find one that is used to cats through your local shelter.

As to whether you should get a dog - you certainly sound like you've had enough experience to know and you've got good motivations! Just remember you can't leave you dog at home for a day or two, unlike cats. So if you travel allot that will be a problem. However, you can't really take cats for a long country walks (okay some cats will walk with you but it's still not the same ).

I think the right dog is out there - but IMO with cats who aren't used to dogs, going for an adult/cat friendly dog works best. Then the cats do not have to deal with puppy "buzzing" them, chasing them, etc.

as a proud new dog owner, I went with an older dog, because I thought a puppy would disrupt my cats life too much, and I would be worried to leave them alone. I adopted an adultdog and made sure to find a dog that was tested with cats and cat friendly, she did have some other issues, but she is a doll with the cats, so it has worked out well in that respect.

I had similar concerns about bringing a dog in, but we also went the route of getting an older dog that was considered cat safe, and everything has been great so far! However, we also adopted a breed known as the "45 mph couch potato" (greyhound)...I can't tell you how true that description is! Sometimes I think my dog sleeps more than the cats. In any event, I think that helped the cats to adjust better than they would have to a higher energy breed of dog.