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by southernff744 on 30 June 2011 - 00:06
I am so aggravated!!! 
My wife, who works an 8 hr job as an LPN gets so upset at our new puppy Reko because he is so excited when we come home that all he wants to do is run and play. She keeps giving me the "I'm tired" line, and I try to explain to her that he has been in his kennel all day and that he is a high energy dog that needs to get out. I work 12 hrs, and still try to make enough time for play, exercise and training. I'm not sure what she thought she was getting into when we bought him, a perfectly trained and mannered dog? Thanks for listening.
Lance
My wife, who works an 8 hr job as an LPN gets so upset at our new puppy Reko because he is so excited when we come home that all he wants to do is run and play. She keeps giving me the "I'm tired" line, and I try to explain to her that he has been in his kennel all day and that he is a high energy dog that needs to get out. I work 12 hrs, and still try to make enough time for play, exercise and training. I'm not sure what she thought she was getting into when we bought him, a perfectly trained and mannered dog? Thanks for listening.Lance
by cphudson on 30 June 2011 - 01:06
Hi Lance, why don't you try doggie daycare with your puppy. You guys can drop him off before work then after work everyone comes home tired even the puppy.
by Kalibeck on 30 June 2011 - 01:06
Tell your wife to come & read this. I am an LPN, too. I work a busy inpatient unit, either 8 or 12 hour shifts with an hours commute on either end. Plus I am 55 years old, which unfortunately makes a huge difference in how much energy I have. I have 4 GSDs, all raised from puppies while I was working. They bring me back to life every day. I sometimes just know I am too exhausted to mess with the dogs, but I have to, they demand it. And I am always the one who benefits from our time together the most. They get to play, do some training, get fed & groomed; I get 4 happy faces that tell me I am the most wonderful person on earth, that waiting for me all day was so-o-o worth it, that no matter what anyone says to me, or does, or what my boss thinks, or how crappy I feel, or how bad my feet or back hurts, I am the greatest to my dogs!
Give it a chance, your puppy will open up your soul. And you'll find yourself a happier person for the little time you give to your pup. The rewards are 10-fold! The depth of affection shared by these dogs is amazing, & they know when you're down or hurting, & they know how to fix it, they really do. Give it a chance. As a nurse, you know there are some things you simply must do, no matter what. Well, this is one of them. Dogs, especially GSDs, are the very best way to decompress! You may even find yourself being a better nurse from what you learn from your puppy! Good luck, & let that little spirit come & lift yours! jackie harris
Give it a chance, your puppy will open up your soul. And you'll find yourself a happier person for the little time you give to your pup. The rewards are 10-fold! The depth of affection shared by these dogs is amazing, & they know when you're down or hurting, & they know how to fix it, they really do. Give it a chance. As a nurse, you know there are some things you simply must do, no matter what. Well, this is one of them. Dogs, especially GSDs, are the very best way to decompress! You may even find yourself being a better nurse from what you learn from your puppy! Good luck, & let that little spirit come & lift yours! jackie harris
by Pharaoh on 30 June 2011 - 02:06
That is sooooo true Jackie.
It is an adjustment but it is so worth it.
Just throwing the ball or a bit of tugg.
It will make you happy.
Michele
It is an adjustment but it is so worth it.
Just throwing the ball or a bit of tugg.
It will make you happy.
Michele
by Mindhunt on 30 June 2011 - 02:06
Lance, I worked 24 hour shifts in a big city, very busy fire department. I also had a young son so it was difficult to come home and get my son from the sitter and get him off to school then take the pup out of his kennel and take him for his morning walk and try to work off some of his energy so I could get some stuff done around the house. He was crate trained inside our home although I never used it as punishment. It was a lot of work. I found a wonderful trainer who worked with us and eventually (ok, around 30 months) he started to calm down a bit and ended up one of the best dogs I ever had. It was very tough in the beginning; there were times I wanted to shoot him; but it worked out. I ended up getting 2 more working line dogs and was very busy with my son, work, and training my dogs. My dogs were my sanity saver, I could forget everything that was going on during training and just be "in the moment" with them. Believe it or not, a side benefit of working with a great trainer and dogs was that I became a better parent, many of the things that work with dogs work with small children as well.
I had a husband that worked in another fire department that was also very busy and at first he wanted NOTHING to do with the dog, he was my responsiblity. I didn't push although I was very dissapointed. I just went ahead with the training and all I asked my husband to do was make sure he had fresh water and was taken outside to potty when I wasn't home, other than that, he did nothing with the pup for the first 18 months. My husband became interested in the dog and how he was trained when he watched me work him outside. Eventually he came to training and took over the agility part of the training. I still did the tracking and protection work. My husband also decided to help out with the obedience and was all for getting another dog that he could train (somehow I ended up with most of that job as well lol). My husband did come to many of the training sessions with all 3 dogs, but it took time and me not forcing the issue, he came around and is almost into dogs as much as I am and we even joke that he is now the unpaid kennel help. It will work out, give it time.........
I had a husband that worked in another fire department that was also very busy and at first he wanted NOTHING to do with the dog, he was my responsiblity. I didn't push although I was very dissapointed. I just went ahead with the training and all I asked my husband to do was make sure he had fresh water and was taken outside to potty when I wasn't home, other than that, he did nothing with the pup for the first 18 months. My husband became interested in the dog and how he was trained when he watched me work him outside. Eventually he came to training and took over the agility part of the training. I still did the tracking and protection work. My husband also decided to help out with the obedience and was all for getting another dog that he could train (somehow I ended up with most of that job as well lol). My husband did come to many of the training sessions with all 3 dogs, but it took time and me not forcing the issue, he came around and is almost into dogs as much as I am and we even joke that he is now the unpaid kennel help. It will work out, give it time.........
by Elkoorr on 30 June 2011 - 08:06
Hahaha....Lance. I feel your pain! Just let her know that the more upset she gets the harder the pup will try to please her with being all over her and wanting to play. Best is to just accept things as they are, and get it over with what ever needs to be done!
I am a RN and clinical shift manager of two critical care units working often more than 12hrs. I have 5 GSDs and 1 schnoodle, 2 of them are 5 month old pups. The 4 adults are living in the house. I am training in Schutzhund and AKC. Am I tired? Most defenitely! But the dogs and the training help me keep my sanity! I enjoy just romping through the meadows and woods with them, away from people and peeping hospital machines. Just me, the dogs and the wind! There is only my better half (hubby) who helps feeding them when I run late, letting them out to potty and plays some ball with them.
Give her a hug!
I am a RN and clinical shift manager of two critical care units working often more than 12hrs. I have 5 GSDs and 1 schnoodle, 2 of them are 5 month old pups. The 4 adults are living in the house. I am training in Schutzhund and AKC. Am I tired? Most defenitely! But the dogs and the training help me keep my sanity! I enjoy just romping through the meadows and woods with them, away from people and peeping hospital machines. Just me, the dogs and the wind! There is only my better half (hubby) who helps feeding them when I run late, letting them out to potty and plays some ball with them.
Give her a hug!
by laura271 on 30 June 2011 - 14:06
My husband grew up on a livestock farm and had the typical farmer attitude that a dog lived outside and was just there. (No offence meant to farmers....and if you are reading a dog forum then you aren't a typical farmer.) He's also German so a GSD was the only breed of dog that he would consider owning. We live in a downtown neighbourhood but we're pretty physically active so owning a working line GSD shouldn't be a big deal should it? Yep- we were stunned at at the amount of energy and how strong willed Senta was (reading about it is very different than experiencing it!). Was I ever really that dumb?
I figured we needed some help so I signed us up for a local pet obedience class and insisted that my husband attend it with me so that we would be consistent. My husband hates conflict so he went with me but he hated the class; the class size was huge, we rarely received any feedback, and we had no idea why were doing things (eg. watch- why on earth would I want my dog to stare at me?). I found another trainer via google who trained working dogs, bred GSDs, was located in the country, and seemed more like someone my husband could relate to. My husband originally wasn't thrilled about driving an hour to train a dog but from the very first class- held in an old machine shed- he loved it! We're on our fifth 6-week course with the trainer and plan to continue. It's now evolved to the point that training Senta is something that we enjoy doing together and we're starting to investigate buying a second GSD. We'll never make it to the national level of any dog sport but who cares? We're having so much fun!
The only thing that I would like to add is that I found hiring a professional dog walker to be really helpful. I'd be the first to agree that it's ridiculously yuppie but when my husband travels for work, it's totally worth it to come home after work and Senta isn't crazy with pent up energy. Our dog walker is great- the majority of her clients are working breed dogs and she follows our instructions to the letter. This is an alternative if you aren't comfortable with daycare.
I figured we needed some help so I signed us up for a local pet obedience class and insisted that my husband attend it with me so that we would be consistent. My husband hates conflict so he went with me but he hated the class; the class size was huge, we rarely received any feedback, and we had no idea why were doing things (eg. watch- why on earth would I want my dog to stare at me?). I found another trainer via google who trained working dogs, bred GSDs, was located in the country, and seemed more like someone my husband could relate to. My husband originally wasn't thrilled about driving an hour to train a dog but from the very first class- held in an old machine shed- he loved it! We're on our fifth 6-week course with the trainer and plan to continue. It's now evolved to the point that training Senta is something that we enjoy doing together and we're starting to investigate buying a second GSD. We'll never make it to the national level of any dog sport but who cares? We're having so much fun!
The only thing that I would like to add is that I found hiring a professional dog walker to be really helpful. I'd be the first to agree that it's ridiculously yuppie but when my husband travels for work, it's totally worth it to come home after work and Senta isn't crazy with pent up energy. Our dog walker is great- the majority of her clients are working breed dogs and she follows our instructions to the letter. This is an alternative if you aren't comfortable with daycare.
by ggturner on 30 June 2011 - 15:06
Sorry for your aggravation. I work and am very tired when I come home, but one of the first things I do is go outside and play ball with my dogs. It helps me unwind and relieves stress.
by YogieBear on 30 June 2011 - 21:06
Lance:
It doesn't take two people to work a pup or a grown dog - why don't you just play with the puppy yourself and let your wife alone............. You cram that pup down her throat and it will be war ----- can say people split over for much less........
Why does she have to mess with the puppy anyway.? I got 4 dogs - I am single, 2 kids, work a fulltime job -keep up my household- but my dogs lack for nothing........ cant say that for the kids - but my dogs I come in work them - and then we sit down...........
Boo Hoo! work your puppy and leave the wiffy to herself...............
YogieBear
It doesn't take two people to work a pup or a grown dog - why don't you just play with the puppy yourself and let your wife alone............. You cram that pup down her throat and it will be war ----- can say people split over for much less........
Why does she have to mess with the puppy anyway.? I got 4 dogs - I am single, 2 kids, work a fulltime job -keep up my household- but my dogs lack for nothing........ cant say that for the kids - but my dogs I come in work them - and then we sit down...........
Boo Hoo! work your puppy and leave the wiffy to herself...............
YogieBear
by starrchar on 01 July 2011 - 00:07
It is definitely annoying when your spouse isn't on board with you. My husband does little to help me with our dogs. Whose idea was it to get the dog? Was your wife on board 100% to begin with? Did the breeder you got the pup from explain to you what is required of you in raising a German Shepherd pup? Did you do your research and were aware of what you were in for? THe answer to the past two questions is usually no and this is one reason why so many GSDs end up in shelters. A puppy is a big commitment. Even when they are full grown you need to give a lot of your time and effort to them. 12 hours is a long time for a pup or even an adult dog to be left in the kennel so I hope you can come up with a solution to your situation for the sake of your pup. Getting a professional dog walker sounds like a great solution. I'm not fond of Doggie Day Cares myself because you really don't know what goes on while he's there and stuff happens...
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