Retirement with Dogs

If you don't have a willing pet sitter(preferably free) then you better plan on limiting yourself to half day vacations. I will have a cat or nothing.
 
I will not be replacing my adopted English Bulldog when she goes. She is now 8 years old. I want a few years to play without that obligation. When I slow down then it can be evaluated again. At that time I would want a family commitment to continuing care of course a healthy stipend will be included. If that is not available, my dog fix will come from others pets.
 
As usual, the answer is: it depends. Many folks can't imagine a life without pets. Others want to be unencumbered and free to travel when they retire. Still others don't want to deal with the expense or hassle that may come with a companion animal. Retired or not, adopting a pet is a long time commitment and not one to be taken lightly. Oh, I fall in the "can't imagine a life without pets" category. Even so, I understand all the other viewpoints.
 
We lost our fifteen year old dog last year. We had been retired only three years. Looking back at the many days that our Tootie had to be boarded during her lifetime, we decided that we did not want to put another dog thru that and as retirees we want to travel even more. We have been pet sitting for neighbors dogs for the last two years. It isn't the same as having our own pet, but it helps fill the need for a fur baby. Unfortunately our neighbors are all thinking they will not replace their older pets due to expense and the desire to travel. We have discussed a pet sitters club that would allow us all to travel and not worry about putting our pets in kennels and the expense and worry that that brings. We aren't ready for that yet. It is nice not to have to total responsibility of a pet right now, but as we age and travel less a pet will be added again.
 
Sometimes I think it would be nice to have another calico cat or toy poodle after I retire.

Other times, I think it would be even nicer to have friends who have cats or dogs that I could play with now and then, without the responsibility! :D
 
Two weeks. Good house sitters/pet watchers. But trips are self limited to 10-14 days - otherwise 'the boys get pissed and pout when we return.'

Golden retriever
Pug
Cat

The six goldfish don't seem to mind.

heh heh heh - ;)
 

We're pet-free now and enjoy the freedom. The grown kids have pets however. Just finished a week of pet-setting for a dog (Smooth Collie), cat and guinea pig while our son and his family vacationed.


We plan on remaining a pet-free household until either age or health forces us to be home a high percentage of the time. Then, we'll consider a companion again.
 
I couldn't live without a dog(s). For me coming home to a house with no pets to greet you is coming home to a dead. But they do tie you down.

A prayer:
"God, please make me the person my dog thinks I am."

Mark Twain (I think):
"I don't know if dogs go to heaven, but I want to go where dogs go."
 
We got a 'free' border collie puppy two years ago. He has added a bit of humor and companionship to both DW and I. I am glad we have him, but not real sure I would get another one when he goes. As his life span is another 10+ years I'll worry about that later. If you lake having a dog, I would not let anything in retirement stop me. As far as local travel, check out the Choice hotel chain, i.e. Quality Inn. A lot of them allow pets.
 
I went thru that decision 5 years ago, when the last of my gen1 dogs died, and I had just reached FI. I decided I enjoyed dogs too much not to have them, so I am back up to 3, plus frequent babysittings. My housemate and I schedule our vacations accordingly to make this work.
 
Our little dog died 3 years ago and we never got another. We had just gotten the kids on their own and knew that we were about to take advantage of my generous vacation allowance by increasing our traveling. We never cared for travel with a pet and always felt a little guilty putting her in a kennel. Kennels are also getting expensive.

We do like dogs and cats but can't see having any more in the immediate future. Maybe when the traveling days are behind us.
 
We haven't been able to have a dog for the past 10 years because of all the international travel we have to do for work. DW and I were just talking about how we hope to be able to get a chocolate lab when we move home. The dog will travel with us when we go RVing. We may have a barn cat/mouser when we get back as well, but not a house cat. It would stay behind, and neighbors would check on it and put food/water out for it daily. Neither the dog nor the cat will live in the house, but will be invited to join us inside some of the time. We had a Golden before we had to move here, and really miss him (gave him to a good home when we left).

Note that we are becoming empty nesters here shortly, and the thought of coming home to a dead house (as cashflo2u2 described it) is, I think, bothering me and DW. We'll see how it goes, since I have a couple more years of this to go anyway.

R
 
Another alternative if you don't want a dog full time might be to join a rescue group and foster- depending on the breed and dog, you might not have them for a long time but will help you and the group. You might be limited in what you can do while you have a foster in the house but when they are adopted, you can choose when to bring the next one in- most rescue groups I'm aware of will also work with you to find spots for foster dogs for limited vacations or other absences. We also trade dog sitting among the members of the group I'm for our own dogs which can limit the cost of boarding too.

Have to be careful though, don't want to be a foster flunky and end up with a houseful!
 
DW/me have had dogs in our life for more than 30 years, and we can't see not having them, especially in retirement.

Unless you are a "...." person (dog/cat/fish/horse/gerbil/etc...), you can't understand.

As far as travel (and we do a lot, each year), we have a house sitter; not only to watch out for our current two (we do rescue work, so they come/go - and often "stay forever"), but also provide security and that "lived in look" to our home.
 
When mine moves on to doggy heaven, I'll probably do without for a year or two so I can do some traveling without worrying about my buddy. But I will get another at some point. My golden retriever helps motivate me to go walking and is just a good companion.
 
We have had Goldens for decades. We currently have two and provide doggy day care for my son's. It is hard to contemplate living without a dog but we may try it when these two die just to ease up the capability for long trips.
 
Dawg52 said:
When mine moves on to doggy heaven, I'll probably do without for a year or two so I can do some traveling without worrying about my buddy. But I will get another at some point. My golden retriever helps motivate me to go walking and is just a good companion.
Click to expand...
This is probably close to what we'll do. There are trips we'd like to take, often on short notice, but it's difficult rounding up someone to stay with the dog. (We're going to take her with us when we go to NM in a couple weeks.) We may want to go dog-free for a little while to make it easier for us to do stuff for a while, but eventually I'm sure we're going to miss the love of a dog in the house too much and adopt another.
 
Our last remaining dog is 15 years old now. She has traveled all over the US and Canada in the motorhome. That is now getting difficult for her because of her arthritis. When she goes I won't have a dog for quite awhile so it is easier for me to do the short little trips to the big city, which I enjoy. Now I need to have someone sit the dog, she no longer does well in a kennel.

She really is showing her age this summer. Last year she was still running ahead on walks and swimming forever. Now she trails behind and I have to shorten the walks.
 
When my previous lab died (3 yrs ago), I went without for almost two years but decided I preferred having a dog around so I adopted my current black lab (Coal) about a year ago. I'm sure living alone is a big part of my preference for a dog -- they can be great companions. The lake at my back door has been a perfect place for a water-loving dog.

When I take road trips (sometimes up to three weeks if going west), the pup goes with me. He is great in hotels, and sometimes we camp when visiting national forests for hiking, etc. If I fly or do something that is not dog friendly, I usually offer my house to friends that want to enjoy the lake for a few days with the only requirement being dog sitting duties. I also have friends that are usually willing to keep him at their home for a few days at a time. I have never had to board my dogs at a kennel, and having a dog has really not been a stumbling block for travel.
 
No more pets for me after mine are gone. My oldest is almost 18.

I probably won't outlive another pet.
 
thanks for all the insight. I guess the reasonable thing to do would be to take a pause and test the tradeoff between freedom and dead house syndrome.

I think the next dog should be small enough to fit into carry on (15 lbs). Our King Charles Cavaliers are supposed to be that light, but with oversnacking, they are closer to twice that weight.

Anyone have a phone number for overfeeders anonymous? (so I can send my DW there!)
 
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