My girlfriend and I have been going back and forth now on the decision to own a puppy for the past few months. We have done a lot of research and feel as though this breed would be the right fit for several reasons however, our major concern is our careers. We both work fulltime and are out of our apartment from 8 am till 6 or 7 pm. We were considering owning a puppy and spending a half hour of time each morning and a good 5 – 6 hours of attention in the evenings. I know this situation is not ideal however we would really like to hear what other people schedules and routines are like as well as any insight they care to share.

Thanks,

Hello,
My Husband and I owned a BT puppy and we also worked 8-4, we found that we didn't have enough time for him, also if you are going to crate him you'll have to find someone to let him out during the day.
We ended up finding a good home for him which was heartbreaking, we now own a 2 yr old BT and love him to death, he's a better fit for us.

When we first got our pup, it was like having a new born baby. We had my parents watch him when we were at work...and we didnt go out for about 5 months. I would recommend waiting until you have more time...but definitely go with a boston. They are so funny

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Thanks so much for sharing your stories. The problem is, our schedule is never going to get lees, as far as we can see at least, so our options are finding the best means to owning a puppy or dog, or give up on the idea of ever owning one. Our thoughts were to crate the pup at night then place him/her in a play pen during the day with weewee pads. The problem is of course, is that it will be left alone for a good 10 hrs a day. I assume it’s safe to say that a 3 month old pup is out of the question however, if we could get on older, 8 – 10 months, maybe that would be more of an option?

If anyone else has any insight they care to share, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

My fiancee and I both have pretty busy work schedules (8 hours a day). Thankfully, we work close to home and my fiancee has an hour lunch break. We were able to work it out so that he would come home and let her out, walk her, etc during his lunch break everyday. It has worked out wonderfully. Are you guys able to arrange scheduling to perhaps make a quick visit home during the day? I realize a lot of people don't have that flexibility either with their work schedules or their travel time, but sometimes being a bit creative can go a long way.

You could always try what we did, we got a 2 year old BT, we'll had him for a few weeks now and you'd never know that we didn't have him from when he was a puppy. They are a very loving breed and want to be around their family all the time.
We went on the Kijiji site and posted an add looking for a BT dog, no puppies, and we got the most amazing dog ever. Plus then your chances of getting one that is trained is pretty high. He stays in his crate when we are at work and sleeps in the bed with us at night. Also I think it's petsmart that does a doggy daycare, so as soon as your little one has all the shots you could always drop him off there, I think it's something like 70 $ a week.

a dog is a pack animal and needs to be with the pack most of the time. i work but i work in shifts which means that they are only one or 2 days alone. and then for no more than 8 hours. these days i will walk them for 1 and a half hours to let them lose their energy. even when there is bad weather! it's selfish to want a dog that has to be alone 5 days a week for so many hours. think of the dog and not of yourself...........

I'd go with an older dog, not a puppy. You just dont seem to have the time for a puppy. Have you checked any rescues? Not all rescue dogs have been abused, and they need good homes.

Even if you go to a rescue and you get an abused dog doesn't mean that they aren't going to be a really good one, we got one that was abused, it just means we have to show him extra love and learn to ignore the scared behaviour and only say "no" when we really mean it. In time he'll realize that we aren't going to beat him. At least that's what the doggy school is teaching us.

sounds good! but as you said it needs time. this is still a problem if you are from home 5 days a week at 10-12 hours!