I always found the kid's hamsters and stuff in the bottom of the furnace. Try there, SD.

The whole dog thing isn't all that rough. There's a lot to take in, though.
Don't let it scare you, and take your time.
Shop for the kind of dog you want. Ask and make sure it's a good idea.
After that it's WAY easier to tailor a "plan" for you and you won't have to do a bunch of extra breed-specific learning.
That'll make it feel like it's not so overwhelming. Step at a time, my brother. :-)

Don't get a Bubs. He's awesome, but he's a full time job. :-)
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We were considering a beagle. I need to research them a bit. My grandfather used to raise them as field trial dogs. Always had at least 8 at a time. He even had a grand champion that won all sorts of competitions all over the country. They were great dogs.

Just for the record, I'm not looking to get it into field trial competitions.
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All the beagles I've been around have been great. But they are loud as all hell, so make sure you aren't in an apartment!
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They're awesome dogs, but they stink like hell, Dave.
They have a very thick undercoat of hair and you have to run them through the briars and jing-weeds to keep that stuff combed out.
I'm sure they have good "beagle brushes" by now. They didn't have anything 25 years ago except getting them out in the woods a few times a week. :-)

They LOVE people, especially kids, aren't high strung, and don't require a lot of exercise. They are great guard dogs but piss-poor attack dogs, which is what you guys are looking for, I'm sure.
Don't take "don't need a lot of exercise" as "lazy". They are not. But you don't have to run them at full speed for two hours, either (like the idiot Bubs). A good walk or two a day will do it. Or put him on the treadmill, or throw a ball at him for an hour. Done.
You don't have to wear them out so they'll rest, and it only takes about 15 minutes of exercise to get them ready to train (or teach tricks).

They are gorgeous dogs. I'd go see a few breeders in your area. You'll find them, guys hunt a lot up there.
Any small hound will work for you, they're all about the same. You might find another type of beagle or a cross that you like better and is even more chill.

I think you picked really good, brother!!! :-)
(I think I might be more excited than you are, my friend.) :-)
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Awesome review, Scott. You certainly are excited. How about you come stay with us for a few weeks and get the pup through the real tough time? We're both excited as hell. We just need to do our homework and figure some stuff out. Thanks a ton for all of your input.
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A lot of good advice in this thread already.

We had a similar situation, where we both worked and had to leave our pup home during the day. Our breeder actually potty trains her dogs to use a litter box. We used to fill it with feline pine, which is basically little pine logs. So we continued with that and then started transitioning him to outside when he was ~9 months to a year old. We still left the litter box around for probably a year and a half to two years until he stopped using it during the day while we were gone. After a year or so, he really didn't use it unless we were running really late. Once he stopped using the litter box during the day (for something like 3-4 weeks), we finally removed it. The stuff clumps, so you do not have to empty the whole thing every day. It was actually pretty easy to transition him to outside as you just use some of the dirty feline pine to show him where you want him to go.

So we crate trained our dog for at night. But did not leave him in his crate during the day. We thought that would be tough on him to spend 20 hours a day in a crate. So we setup an x-pen in our family room. We bought one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Pet-Yard-Plast...uct/B000633XHS. We put a doggy bed on one side and his litter box on the other (basically a plastic container bottom for storing clothes under the bed). To protect the floor, I bought a $30 piece of pre-cut laminate flooring from Lowes/Home Depot.

We actually still use the xpen set up and he is now 6 years old. So we do not let him run around all day while we are gone or go out to the store. I think he is actually more comfortable in a confined space as opposed to running around not knowing if we are home. Of course, our dog is a small to medium size (~20 lbs). A setup like ours would not work for a larger dog.

At first, we tried to have him sleep in his crate in the x-pen, but that did not work. He whined all night long. Once we moved his crate into our room, that really helped. So his crate still sits in the corner in our room. We have a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Great dogs, very loving, easy to train, but very needy. They are not independent at all. You can also not take them off leash as they are not smart enough to not chase something into the street. You also want to make sure to get them from a reputable breeder or from rescue as they can have health issues. They are also not cheap from a reputable breeder.

A couple of things I would consider before getting a dog from my experience (he is our first and only dog):

1. Do you like to go out at night after work?

2. Do you like to go on frequent vacations?

If either of these are a yes, I would really make sure getting a dog is something you want to do at this point. It is really tough to go out during the week when you know your puppy has been home alone all day for 8-10 hours. We did not start going out during the week until I started working from home all day. We take our dog to a local breeder when we go on vacation. So we basically need to check on her availability before we book a vacation. It is also a lot harder to take a last minute trip. Now this could just be us, like I mentioned, Cavaliers are really needy, so we don't like the idea of taking him to a traditional boarder where they stay in crates or rooms all day long.

For us, I can comfortably say this is our last dog. I love my dog, but having a dog is a lifestyle change. You always have to think about their well being. (I know some people leave their dogs outside all day with a dog house and food/water, which is fine, but that is not why we got a dog). Plus, having children has really been tough on our dog. He is no longer child #1 and that has been tough.

Remember, they can live 9-15 years, so just think about that in terms of now versus the future. I know you can always find a new home for them, but I don't think most people consider that when they get a dog. Also, we buy a lot of lint rollers and have to vacuum often. Just something else to keep in mind. ;-)

Also, there are a lot of little expenses that add up. If you live in an area with fleas, you are looking at $15-20 a month for flea medication. At first, we bathed and groomed him ourselves, but when we found out we needed to express his anal glands once a month, we started taking him to a groomer (cheaper than having the vet do it). So we probably spend $100-150 a month when you add in food, treats, grooming and flea medication. Not to mention if he gets sick or is not feeling well, the vet is not cheap. We also had to have his teeth cleaned when we was 4-5 and that was $800-1000 (I live in the Bay Area, so things are on the high side).

If you get a dog, I recommend brushing his/her teeth everyday. We didn't do it and now our dog hates it. It will save you some expense down the road.

Finally, we get premium dog food. The better the dog food, the better their stool is, which helps when you are picking it up. lol
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Thank you very much for the first hand experience of what we are having trouble with. Great stuff to think hard about.
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Oh Boy, a Beagle! We absolutely love ours. He's 8 years old and a part of our family. He is a pure breed. We got him at around 8 weeks from my idiot BIL who got him and then didn't want him. We've had him fixed, as he was trying to frig everything in sight. He's everything Scott said. He travels with us, lives with us, and is the first one to greet you when you get home. He will alert you of danger but would never, ever jump in to attack danger. He's a loud wuss. He absolutely hates squirrels and is most happy when I get one with the pellet gun. He is the most "dog" dog I've ever been around and I was raised with all types of dogs. He buries bones (and anything else), listens to commands, sleeps in a dog bed and in a dog house, chases vermin, howls at trains, loves squeaky toys and balls, loves to go on the leash for walks, to be washed, travel in a car, etc. His name is Fritz. He's at home right now sitting on the back porch watching the bird feeders for a squirrel. I guarantee it!!

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Totally agreed. Heck, they are already housebroken and may be trained! Our current Corgi, Lily was just under 2 years old when we got her and turned 3 a couple of weeks ago.

Everyone will tell you their breed of dog is the one to get. So I am going to tell you Pembroke Welsh Corgi's are the best. The most watched dog breed on the internet...

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We have had puppies in the past. Most recently we got a 3 year old rescue and as others have noted, it is much easier with an adult dog. Just my :-)
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My girlfriend and I got a Bluetick puppy a few months back. He is now 6 months. I work 12 hour shifts and am unable to leave work, though I get 3-4 days off a week. So he gets plenty of play time. We opted out of crate training, instead we got a baby gate and were able to keep him sequestered to the kitchen the first two months. This worked well as he did not have to feel responsible for as much territory and when he made a mess, which they do until they get older and learn bladder and boule control, it was easy to clean.

After about 6 weeks of this we began leaving him alone in the house while we were at work. My gf is able to come home on her lunch breaks usually, which meant he would only be alone for 4-5 hours at a time. During this time he would still "make" in the kitchen which was the preferable outcome, and of course nice for our carpet.

Today I installed a doggy door that he has already mastered. For the last few weeks he has been holding it until we got home, so we figured it was time.

Being a coonhound he requires a lot of attention to burn his energy. I would steer away from coonhounds if that will be too hard for you.

But, the point of this post, is to offer an alternative to crating. I'm personally rather against crating. If you have a kitchen such as we do, where you can just put up a baby gate or two I would highly recommend this. It is the same general idea, less territory for him to feel responsible for as well as protecting your home from becoming a giant chew toy.
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My neighbor had one and he was a handful. Clawing that the window screens wanting to chase something all the time. Another friend's dad breeds them for trials. He keeps them outside pretty much all year to keep their noses sharp. Good dogs, but real work horses that can go all day...
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