Advice for a first time owner? - Page 3

I had a GSD all thru college, a white dog named Honky. He practically lived in my car. I just left the windows down on my '64 Comet and he came and went as he liked, all the way thru grad school. That was in the 1970s and I could never do that now. Things are different. For example, no longer can you stand on a corner yelling HONKY! HONKY!

But the dog was happy. College students don't do 9 hour days; they come home a lot for breaks. It really wasn't that bad. I took him swimming a lot at the river and he went on lots of road trips because I was HIS for 3 months during summer.  

HighDesertGSD, do you have any Huskies?  I've got four, and I'll tell you......walking them, if I didn't live in an area that was crazy full of very steep long hills.....30 minutes of exercise would be nowhere near enough for a day.  That is coming from a pack of medium level energy Huskies....not ones who are a very high level.  I walk them 3 and 1/2 miles in the morning now, every single day. That, combined with them running together and playing in the yard (we have a huge fenced in yard) for about half an hour twice a day seems to do the trick for mine.  I've taken my Huskies to areas where the land was flat, when we went to visit another state.  I went over 5 miles and they were not tired.....because it was just flat roads....everywhere...  I do about 3 and 1/2 mile walks in the morning here, and as it gets colder I will do even longer walks.  One of the hills I go up is slightly over a quarter mile in length, it is steep going up, and insanely steep as you get to the last couple hundred feet.  

To the original poster,  I know some apartments don't mind if you play with your dog in the tennis courts, just check with the one you stay at first.  When I was in Kentucky one time I saw a woman playing fetch with hers in the tennis court with hers, and the workers there didn't mind at all.

Thank you all for the input. I am a full time college student, but I have A LOT of free time. There are plenty of hours where I have studied everything I need to, and have done all of my homework, and I have nothing else pressing to fill my time with. I feel that I will have plenty of time to devote to my dog's training and excercise. And I do realize that a dog is a long term committment. I do not want a dog for just a year, please rest assured. I am extremely blessed to be in a situation where I do not have to worry unduly about my funds, so I would not mind a higher rent fee/damage fees to accommodate my buddy.

Wow so much free time?  Must be nice--my kids have very demanding schedules; one of them is in computer information systems and the other in pharmacy.  They actually study in between classes and have afternoons full with labs, but then again they are taking 18 hours.  If your major allows so much free time then maybe having a dog will work out okay for you.  Good luck with your decision.

A few more bits of advice:

I would also have a meeting of minds with all your roomies... you'll need to set down some doggy rules, so they don't undermine your training efforts, even unknowingly. Even simple stuff, like no feeding food from the table can be very important. I remember one time someone gave our dog the rest of their sandwich without our knowing. I didn't appreciate it when I had to clean up the puke...it was full of onions!

Also, make sure your cleaning supplies include an enzyme destroyer, llike Nature's Miracle or Urine be Gone so as to destroy the scent source of accidents, not just cover them up.

Very true what others say about the exercise part. My other half was a runner and would always take the dog, that certainly made a big difference. And we did lots of hiking and swimming outings, and would always bring the dog.

I still have pastels of that dog, sleeping, as it was the only time he'd be still. LOL