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I completely sympathize, but you should wait until you know where you will live after graduation. Sometimes it's not so simple to bring a dog into a rental community, so unless you know for sure that you'll be buying a house, you might not be able to take your dog with you. You also don't know how much time you'll have once you graduate if you'll both be lawyers. I'd save this decision for graduation.
Wait until you are at a stable point in your life. Dogs are a lot of work and require things that may be hard to give them if you are so busy or moving around. I just got a dog and I am at a good stable point in my life for her so I'm happy that I did, but I know for a fact would have regretted getting her a year ago.
I'm going to say go for it! There's always going to be something going on or some other excuse to not get a puppy. I got my second puppy a month ago when go away for our wedding in a few weeks. We put off getting a puppy for years when we finally realized its never going to be the perfect time. I absolutely love her and don't regret getting her at all!
I say wait just until you know where you'll be going. If you can't find somewhere willing to take pets right away (we're moving to a college town so I'm pretty sure that's how it's going to be for us, hard to find something!), what would you do with him/her?
Also, I know what you mean about finals time. And traveling with him/her would be difficult, too--you sound like you already answered your own question. I think what would make the difference for me would be whether its a big or small dog--that makes a HUGE difference.
Have you thought about adopting an adult dog? I adopted a 4 year old dog 2 years ago. He was already potty trained, knew how to walk on a leash, and had very good manners. After a few weeks of getting adjusted to him, we felt totally comfortable leaving him alone in the house or hiring a pet sitter, knowing he was responsible enough to be left to his own devices. We never had to sacrifice any shoes, carpets, or furniture! Just make sure you adopt a dog that has been trained and has a good temperament. Another plus to adopting an adult dog is that they are often euthanized because no one wants to adopt them. Sure, there really is nothing cuter than a puppy, but adopting an adult dog was the smartest decision I've ever made!
I love puppies and just to convince you a little, here's a pic of mine!
SammyandLeia.jpg (40.5 KB, 56 downloads) 2 years old
@thriftsiren: We have thought about adopting an adult dog. It's not out of the question at all. Our only stipulation is that the dog has to be a dachshund. It's the only dog that we both can agree on because they're small and cute. :) We do want to adopt from a shelter and finding purebread dachshunds are tough.
@ Nita: absolute adorable!
wait until you're settled in to a home, and then do some research and find a breed that does ok when left alone for much of the day. some breeds can handle it, others get stress disorders and destroy your house.
I had a dog my first two years of law school and it was wonderful. But he died. So I got a puppy. I nearly had a nervous breakdown. I coudln't do anything. I couldn't function. I had to ship him home to my parents for the semester so that I could sleep. A new dog is a full time job. Do NOT get a new dog in law school. Your GPA will thank you.
I love dogs & love our dog, but you need to make sure you have enough time to take care of it. You need time to play with it & not neglect it. As much as you want a dog, it doesn't really seem like the right time. Wait until after school, or when you KNOW you can handle it in your schedule. It takes a lot of time to train (even if you adopt) and make sure that you guys understand each other. We adopted ours in the summer & I'm so glad we did because it took so long to teach her how to behave the way we wanted & play with her.
Traveling isn't a big deal when you do-you could always try the dog on a plane once & see how it goes. I know I heard of some airline that flies from certain places for only dogs-supposed to be really nice. Can't remember what it's called-I think I saw it on either Weekend Today or Weekend Early Show. Petsmart has a hotel for dogs. you could always research one of those things when it's time.
Stay away from PetFinder.com!! It will become an obsession! When we were in the market for a cat I was on Pet Finder all the time. I even looked at the dogs :) I haven't read the rest of the suggestions, but here is mine. Think about adopting an older dog. There are so many dogs who have already been housetrained and everything, but their owners had to give them up due to foreclosure or other circumstances. Puppies are a ton of work. With law school and an uncertain future you might not be ready for one. But I think you might be able to handle an older dog. If you're dead set on a puppy, though, I think waiting until you finish law school is the best choice.
dogs are wonderful and if you have one you will FIND the time for it :) the fact that you are considering whether you will be a good "parent" or not proves that you should be a "mommy" already since you'd take that much consideration into owning a pet! I think you will give a dog a GREAT home :)
First-- I love that you're going the petfinder route... thats how I found my guy and he is PERFECT. :)
Second-- I will say that from what you have told me you should NOT get a dog right now. I was in a super similar situation. All through law school I wanted one soo badly but I just couldn't decide. My biggest fears were 1) getting a job at a big firm where I would be working 12 hour days or 2) getting a job in a city that was not pet friendly (i.e. the only apartments you can find that accept dogs are WAY too $$ to actually rent).
If either one of these is even a possibility-- do not get a dog now. It is just not fair to adopt a dog that you might not be able to keep. I waited until last semester when I knew that I was staying in Ohio. I hadn't found a job yet but it was too late for a big-firm job and I had applied to take the bar here (I figured that I'd either be in Columbus or Cleveland and I knew for sure that I could find a dog-friendly apartment here). Granted, I only waited 4 days after I signed the bar paperwork to get a dog (was SO ready..) but I did wait. haha
The only caveat I'll give is if you know 100% sure that you would never give the dog up. Meaning you wouldn't take a job that wouldn't allow you to care for him or you wouldn't move to an apartment you'd have to give him up. I don't know your situation but knowing those things for 100% sure is just really hard.
One year is not that long to wait to get a little predictability for your future. Plus, bar studying is the best time to get a dog (in my opinion) because you do nothing but sit on your butt for MONTHS and its nice to have a cute little pup to distract you. Just my 2cents. :)
Please be responsible and wait until you guys are settled down in your careers and housing situations to get a dog. Obviously you have done a lot of thinking of the pros and cons already. It is not fair to a dog if you cannot find housing that allows a dog next year, it is not fair to a dog that you will be going away for the holidays or that you are living off of student loans. Also remember the financial commitment that a dog or puppy entails. As a vet tech every day I see people who wanted the puppy or dog, but find that they are not in the right situation at the present time and the dog ends up suffering in some way. Do you know how many times people have tried to pawn off their dog on my clinic when they find they aren't ready? Also I don't know when your wedding will be, but think about how long you want your honeymoon to last and where your dog will be staying. Dogs are a huge responsibility, as much as I love my boy, I can't just leave him alone if I want to skip town for the weekend, I have to make plans. Cudos to looking on Petfinder though! Have you thought of contacting a local rescue and fostering dogs for them until the time is right?
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After months of trying, I've finally convinced my boyfriend to get a dog! (He's more of a cat person, but I don't like cats at all.) But after all my convincing, I'm starting to second-guess my decision...
First problem... Do we have time for a dog? We're both in our second year of law school. Both of us just go to school for class and do our work at home, so it's not like we're gone all day. And our class schedules are pretty different, so usually one of is in class and the other is at home. I think this is perfect for having a dog because it will hardly ever be alone. But around finals time, we're crazy busy, and I don't ever want to neglect the dog.
Another possible problem: I'm from Boston, and we plan to spend the holidays up there. What do we do with the dog? Traumatize it and take it on the plane? Pawn it off to a friend for a few weeks (almost all of our friends have dogs, so one of them would take it), or worse yet, put it in a kennel?
Lastly, we have no idea where we're going to be living next summer or after we graduate. I just hate bringing an animal into a situation that is so uncertain. I looooove dogs and have been wanting to get one since my beagle died in 2008, but I moved across the country, was living by myself for a while, and wasn't financially able until now. Now that I finally can get a dog, I'm too nervous. What do you all think?
Here's my latest obsession: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=14875102