hi all !

[Doc]

Hi everyone!

My husband and I brought our new baby, Sarge, home in November; he is 6 mos old now.   It's been about 10 years since we've had a dog, so we feel like new parents.   A lot of people question why we added a new dog to our lives when hubby just retired and I'm closer (but not close enough!)  to retirement.  I figure that even if we travel where we can't take Sarge, we'll kennel him and he'll have a vacation.  In reality, it's not like we're going to be zipping around on vacation maybe 2 weeks - 3 max out of  52 weeks a year. 

Nice to find this site and I'm sure I will  find useful information here!

doc

[F, Calla & Luca]

Welcome to DK. Many of us have waited til work stopped or slowed down to have dogs : )

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Hi Doc and welcome to DK! After my husband retired, we lost our 13 yr old Golden. The plan was to travel....in short, neither one of us could live without a dog. Enter Enzo, who entered our lives 8 weeks old. No regrets here! :)

[Wendy and Myla]

Welcome to DK - we also got a puppy after I left the work force!  DH will be retiring in two years and what we have focused on is training Myla to be able to go everywhere with us - we plan on going on very long trips in our motorhome and also just going for drives to different cities for a few days and we want Myla with us most of the time (unless of course we fly to a few different destinations and then as you say she can enjoy a kennel (that we have also brought her to, to get used to).  It's been fun!  We have gone on very long drives to make sure that Myla doesn't get car sick and right now I am walking constantly downtown so that she gets used to ignoring everyone (that is a challenge right now - she is just too social!!!) We have taken her to the ocean, and found we have to work on training her not to chase the shore birds - it's been very fun exposing her to everything we think that we will be doing and seeing how she reacts and what we have to work on.  We left her in the hotel room last week for a couple hours (sneaking up to the door to see if she was barking or howling).  We have had to learn from Myla as much as the other way around.  We definitely know her signals as to when she has to potty while we're driving and when she needs water etc.  We do a lot of kayaking so a big part of that is making sure that she pees before we go in the kayak so we have trained her to "go pee" on demand - sometimes I think she just squats to get a treat lol!  The biggest challenge is the leash walking and we are working on that daily!  Have fun and again, welcome to DK - I have learned so much on this site!!!!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I had to check this discussion out because my son-in-law's real name is Doc and I thought maybe he joined up :) LOL Welcome to DK. Same thing happened to us. Kids all grown up and we could have traveled, etc. but I couldn't live without a dog and now we have TWO :) It is so nice to have time for them and I don't regret our decision for a minute.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Welcome to doodlekisses. My dh and I are retired which does give us lots more time with our dogs.

[Emily, Bentley, & Maserati]

Welcome to DK! 

I am just beginning my career, so no advice here, but I don't think you can go wrong with having a new pup when you're around to enjoy them more! 

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

We are also retired and didn't have a dog for over 15 years, we rescued one and a year later added a second.  I have to say I spend much more time enjoying these than I ever did while still working.  We had planned to kennel for travel as well but honestly couldn't do it when it came time.  We spent time looking around and found a reliable college kid that comes to the house for us, they can always use the extra money and my girls love him.  So if they can't come along we know they are comfortable at home.

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

I don't know what we would do without Quincy now that he is here.  We are near retirement, now quite, but when we do we will probably add a second.  Have fun and enjoy your doodle and this site! 

[Pat and Traveler]

If you kennel your dog, please be sure the caretaker knows the symptoms for bloat, and knows to get the dog to a vet immediately.  A neighbor dog just died of bloat while being boarded for a few days--apparently the stress of being boarded can be a factor in bloat.  (Sorry to add a down note, but I just heard about Gracie, and am still feeling shocked!)

[F, Calla & Luca]

So sad. My dogs go to a woman who assisted my dog trainer when Luca was a pup. I feel comfortable that she is very knowledgable about dogs and that the doodles are in her home.

[Kyoko]

Welcome to DK!