We have two dogs now, both acquired while I was in med school. They're both German Shepherds, so they're pretty high maintenance. The second dog is a rescue puppy acquired toward the end of M3...
Some things we've done to make it work:
-Try to find a house with a good sized and fenced yard
-Crate train the dog
-Having a spouse/roommate to share responsibility with is nice. My husband works as much as I do, so we really try to keep the responsibility even
-Doggie day care at least once a week. We pay $13/dog/day, but it is REALLY worth it because they're exhausted for the next day or so. This is especially good during test weeks
-Walk/run with your dog as your daily exercise. Put some medicine podcasts on your MP3 player
-When you're really crunched for time, 10 minutes of vigorous fetch can tire a dog out
-Train the dog to "hurry up" and pee on command. This helps when you're taking the dog out to go to the bathroom at 4:30am in the winter before going to the hospital
-During M3 we started leaving the adult dog outside during the day. We have a large fenced in yard (6 foot privacy fence and she's not a digger) and a screened in porch with a doggie door. She has an outside bed to keep her warm, and a ginormous water dish. We fill a kiddie pool in the summer so she can keep cool. If it is going to be horribly hot or freezing we take her to day care. So far this has worked very well.
-Have special treats to distract them if you really need to study. Like a kong filled with peanut butter or frozen food, or a special raw hide.
-make friends with other dog owners in your class. Schedule dog-play/human-study dates
Having a dog in med school is great. You'll get more exercise and feel less stressed out.
