Meet Honey Dew Yost, the beautiful, six-month old Puggle (half Pug/half Beagle) puppy we adopted on Sunday from Curly Tail Rescue. 
Yup, I went there. I added a dog to my already very full work+life fit. In the process, I am recalling many lessons others have shared with me over the years about managing the realities of work and pets, particularly dogs:
- Last minute meetings and business travel become much harder–plan accordingly.
- Make sure you have dog walking back-up with keys to get into your house in case your plane is delayed, train is canceled, you get caught in traffic or a meeting runs late.
- Build time into the day to spend with your dog, as you would a child–good news is my 11 year old and 8 year old are all over the dog whenever they are home. But, I am trying to take a few extra minutes here and there to just be with her and get to know her. She is very, very loving and cute.
So far Honey’s arrival hasn’t required too much of a work+life fit reset, but it sure has added a lot of smiles. What other tips should I know about successfully managing my work+life fit with a dog?
Congrats on gettin’ the cutest dog in the world. One tip, don’t let the puggle walk in front of you during a walk. They pull as they get older. Hang out with the puggle posse at Mr. Puggle’s Blog sometime. http://www.mrpuggle.com
How fun! We added a dog to our family a few years ago and she has been a delight! My work+lift fit tip: keep her away from fishing lures! Ours ate some this fall and I had to spend a week at home (postponed several meetings) to monitor her post surgery. Add pet-care to the list of care related things (self-care, kid-care, elder-care) that all need to tap into workplace flexibility. Enjoy!
Oh that sounds so scary! Add that to the list of reasons not to start fishing…although she does seem to love to chew anything and everything. So I’m sure she’ll find something.
Congrats on your new puppy! I am so happy to hear that you adopted too!
Thanks Erin, we’ve had a great experience with adoption. Highly recommend.
Cali:
Congrats on the new addition to the family! We are going on 11 years with our “pup” who provides us with constant laughter. My learning experience: don’t leave the toilet seat up-it becomes a really big water bowl!
Hee, hee…thanks Lynette. She’s pretty small so hopefully I will never have to deal with the toilet seat issue, because you are right!
Cali,
Welcome to the world of pet ownership. I call my dog my fourth child. She’s almost as much work as the other three. Now that I work from home, my dog is my cubicle mate. Pet ownership may throw your work life fit out of whack but it is well worth it.
Enjoy!
I hear you about the extra work but also the extra love!