Hello, I'm new here.

Sorry this is a long post.  Any advice is appreciated!

I've always been an animal lover and grew up with dogs.  Since leaving the parents' house I haven't had a pet.  I've been pretty busy and felt like it wasn't fair to have pets if I can't spend time with them.  I'm soon to finish my undergraduate work and intend to enroll in a PhD program so I don't expect my schedule to lighten up for years.  I watch my friends' dogs occasionally and it's made me miss having a pet.  I'm wondering if I'm not being too hard on myself?  I'm almost 30 and I have no desire for a family life but I must admit I'm pretty bored on the weekends.  I've been married before and lived with girlfriends and it's just not for me.

My challenges to having pets is obvious lack of time, small living quarters, and I prefer to live alone (nobody to help out).  I do currently own my house and have a large unfenced yard but I do plan to move in the future for grad school and the likelihood of having a yard isn't great.  My time spent with them would be 5:00-6:30 in the morning and again 8-9 at night during weekdays.  I'd have all Saturday to go out and play and I would be home all day Sunday doing homework but would have time to take them out at least for a few hours intermittently.  I do love to camp, hike, and fish during the summer.  I understand these guys are not off-leash dogs at all.

My ideas for compensating for these issues.

• If I must resort to an apartment are there any negative aspects to potty-mats?  Not thrilled to use these but I see no other way.
  
• Have two dogs to keep each other company. (and a kitty)
  
• Lots of toys and puzzles.
  
• Build a chain link kennel connected to the back door with a doggie door so they can let themselves out to relieve themselves.  10ftx10ftx6ft?
  
• 30min-1hour bike ride before and after work.
  
• All animals will be acquired as puppies/kitties and introduced at the same time.  The kitty isn't a priority but I do love cats too and would like to have one.
  
• Cat will have plenty of high furniture so he can have his own space.  I'm very willing to rehome if he's being bullied.
  
• Try to take several days off when first bringing them home to establish potty-training and other training. (Sometime during summer, Christmas, or spring break)
  

Pet health insurance: I found decent pet insurance on petinsurance.com for about $40/month per animal that does include emergency visits for allergies, seizures, injury, etc.  Genetic disease coverage starts after a waiting period which does make me nervous. For $65/month per animal coverage would start immediately but that is really pushing my budget.  I'm thinking if I do my homework on breeders it will mitigate risk of genetic disorders and the $40/month coverage would be practical.  Any thoughts on these?  I'll check around to see what vets accept which insurance before I buy but I do plan to live in Oregon, Washington, or California during and after grad school, are there insurance brands that are more accepted in these areas?

I spent a summer watching a friend's husky and had a chance to get acquainted.  I loved her energy, curiosity, and personality.  I worried that a husky might be too high energy for me but we got along very well.  She spent an uninterrupted week with me and had few problems (ate my Wii-mote lol).  So long as I took her for her morning and night bike ride she was very well-mannered. The first summer I watched her she was only a few weeks old and I watched her occasionally through the first year and a half.

Like said it will be at least a few months before I'm in a position to get pets.  Any advice is greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

Potty mats can make it very difficult to house break later in life. Some people use them with success but not for an extended period of time. They aren't meant for large dogs to use for an alternative to going outside in grass, they are a training aid.

Two dogs=twice the damage to your house when they are home alone with no one to watch them. Most people crate their dogs during the day to keep them out of trouble as it is. You would most likely be crating two dogs instead of one.

Toys and puzzles are great. Dogs and puppies need these things, but they are not replacements for human interaction.

The kennel with doggy door could work. Being alone so often though I would add a roof to that in case one gets the idea to climb over. Chain link is very easy for dogs to climb.

Frankly, it sounds like your life right now is designed more for a cat, so getting a kitten probably wouldn't be a big deal. A puppy needs a lot of time. Far more than a few days for potty training and it will take more than 2.5 hours a day and one day on the weekend to train and exercise. As the pup grows the time you will need will be even greater. Adults that already have some training established can get along a little better with a long walk at night and in the morning, but they still need to be with their people. My girl is 7 and more than a few long days with me not coming home on lunch and spending time with her makes her crazy and she starts getting depressed. We are the whole world for these dogs. They don't get to go have careers and hang with friends (unless you can take them to doggy daycare while you are away. Option?). The only time they get to learn is when we take the time to teach them. Dogs are pack animals. You would be this dog's pack. While you like being alone, a puppy or even older dog will not. When you are out of school and hopefully have more than 2.5 hours a day to spend with the dog then you will be in a better place, but from what you've said I would start with the cat (they don't mind being alone a lot and don't need any special accommodations to have. Continue to get your dog fix by volunteering at a shelter where dogs need some interaction or dog sitting for your friend, then when things settle down, reassess if you truly have the time to give a dog the attention, training, and exercise they need.

Jared, since no one else has responded, I guess I'll be the one to break the bad news.

Let's go for the obvious first. Huskies take time. No, they demand time and as you describe your life for the next years, I don't see you having the time that most dogs (almost any dog) wants.  There's a saying that passes around here a lot that "A tired Husky is a happy Husky.", what that doesn't say is that most 'normal' Huskies are destructive in so many ways unless they've gotten their exercise that you can expect complaints from your landlord, your neighbors, your friends - possibly even into the realm of legal complaints.  

You mention using pee-pads in an apt - and I have two comments there.  Do you really have any idea how much urine and feces a Husky can produce?  -and- What you're doing is training your pup that elimination IN the house is acceptable and if the pee-pad gets soaked, it's going to be your rug that gets used next.

I could go on, but almost everything you write, to me, seems to be an indication that you're aware that you might (probably?) won't have the time to dedicate to a Husk (or, in my opinion, any dog) for the foreseeable future.

This isn't sarcastic, do yourself a favour and get that cat - they're much more adaptable to living inside for long terms.  Are quite happy <??> using a litter box and generally won't eat your wii when you aren't looking.

You've asked several good questions and posed several situations - and I'll complement you on the fact that you're asking before you go out and buy some puppy who is going to be exceedingly unhappy.  On that note, though, since you are asking suggest that at some point in the future, after you've gotten the PhD and a house somewhere makes me think you'd be a quite viable candidate for a Husky parent ... they're worth the wait for the proper situation.

Twister II seems to have been giving you similar advice as I've been typing but I'll post this anyway, just for the second opinion.

Jenn offers some really good advice. I would tend to agree with her in that you should probably consider a cat rather than a husky since it seems like your life is going to be pretty packed from morning into evening most days out of the week. If you love the personality of a husky but lack the time to care for one then I would choose a sociable breed of cat since after all, cats are more independent and in general lower maintenance than dogs (with the exception of refilling the food bowl, cleaning the kitty litter, grooming and occasional play time).

Before we got Red, my husband and I were seriously considering a Birman cat since we didn’t yet know how my allergies would react to a husky. Here’s a link that discusses the Birman breed. I’ve never interacted with one myself but from all the research I’ve done on the breed, they are friendly and highly sociable. They seem to have a doggy personality without the doggy responsibilities that go along with it.

http://cfa.org/Breeds/BreedsAB/Birman.aspx

The solutions you came up with for compensating the issues of being away from home for long periods of time are OK in the short-term or intermittently but I feel might not be good long-term as far as development. Your husky will require lots of interaction especially early on while he/she is still a young pup. This is the time when you start setting boundaries and training. As time goes on, you will be reinforcing what you have taught your pup. If you’re not able to dedicate the time for this on a routine basis then all your work will have been in vain. We worked hard to potty train Red (she rings a bell for us when she needs a potty break outside). Red has done what I call “revenge poop” inside the house if we don’t give her the attention that she wants. She’s done it twice where I was occupied with some work and she wanted to play fetch. I ignored her and she pottied right in front of me without leaving the room to ring the bell. I might be wrong but I felt in that instant that she was telling me that she’s getting back at me for not giving her the time and attention she required/wanted.

Irrespective of what decision you decide to make, good luck with everything and I hope you make the right choice for you and your future furry companion.  

Thanks for your advice and honesty. I was really hoping that having two dogs would be the solution but it doesn't sound like it quite works that way. I won't lock an animal in a kennel all day either. I'll do some more homework on cats and see what I can do. I'm sure the wait will be worth it.

jared_gibbs wrote:

Thanks for your advice and honesty.  I was really hoping that having two dogs would be the solution but it doesn't sound like it quite works that way.  I won't lock an animal in a kennel all day either.  I'll do some more homework on cats and see what I can do.  I'm sure the wait will be worth it.

Volunteering at a shelter or rescue as a dog walker or socializer would perhaps be a good fix?

aljones already stated everything that came to mind for me as I was reading your post. About the only way I can imagine a dog would fit into your life is if you have a family member/friend/neighbor that's willing to take them during the day when you're not home. Or if you can afford it, a dog day care may be an option. But with the amount of time you're talking about not being home, it basically means someone else is raising your dog, and that can mean the dog won't adapt to you and your lifestyle. This can cause problems later on down the road.

My honest opinion is your lifestyle is much more suited for a cat, and I would recommend getting two of them because they can keep each other entertained when you're not home.