Dogs

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EMDOC17

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Lets make this topic about dogs and how awesome they are after you answer my question. Maybe even post pictures of these great animals.

Anyways now out of residency and have bought my own place and now am looking to get a pup. Always grew up with dogs and have always wanted a dog but not during medical school or residency. How do they get along with the EM shift work. I am working all shifts (8hrs that usually am out by 9 hours). How do they get used to you sleeping at night and during the day and just having random hours? I have a nice sized outdoor kennel in my new place that I am hoping to turn to an indoor/outdoor kennel eventually.
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EMDOC17 said:
Lets make this topic about dogs and how awesome they are after you answer my question. Maybe even post pictures of these great animals.

Anyways now out of residency and have bought my own place and now am looking to get a pup. Always grew up with dogs and have always wanted a dog but not during medical school or residency. How do they get along with the EM shift work. I am working all shifts (8hrs that usually am out by 9 hours). How do they get used to you sleeping at night and during the day and just having random hours? I have a nice sized outdoor kennel in my new place that I am hoping to turn to an indoor/outdoor kennel eventually.
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Sorry I don't know the answers to your questions, but here are some pictures of a dog that I saw on reddit! :)

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Dogs are pretty resilient. Get one, or two to keep each other company. They don't care if you're at work during the day and sleep at night, or vice versa.
Crate training is important, as is a yard (if they're high energy) or a dog bed (if they're not).
Get a Mastiff or a Great Dane and they're like giant cats. They just sleep all day.
 
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Just don't tell me dogs help recovery...if I see another dog enter the ICU for petting from the MRSA/acinobacter/MDR-psuedomonas-patient just minutes after I must dress in a yellow gown to see an "unknown" or drink my coffee outside the clinical area (eg across the street with the smokers) I may just eat dog.

HH
 
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Hamhock said:
Just don't tell me dogs help recovery...if I see another dog enter the ICU for petting from the MRSA/acinobacter/MDR-psuedomonas-patient just minutes after I must dress in a yellow gown to see an "unknown" or drink my coffee outside the clinical area (eg across the street with the smokers) I may just eat dog.

HH
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I wont be bringing my dog to the ICU. The only way they will be helping my recovery is if I can train it to bring me a beer without me having to get up from my chair. If they can than it can help me recover. But really any other EM docs have dogs and can answer me this question?
 
I've got one who adjusts to the day night flips with no problem. My only problem is when he barks while I'm sleeping after a night shift. Otherwise it's no big deal at all
 
Just a med student, but dogs are the best. The trick is to lock them out of your bedroom while you sleep during the day, and use earplugs. Earplugs and an eyemask +/- light blocking curtains are pretty essential for good daytime sleep, anyway. I admittedly sometimes let my dog sleep with me during the day, but she gets restless and jumps off the bed, then back on, then lays on me... Since daytime sleep is already likely to be of poorer quality than nighttime sleep, I should be more strict about locking her out, but I just live her meaty little face too much.

Oh, and a doggy door that leads to a fenced-in yard is virtually essential.

One of my dogs basically naps all day and sleeps all night anyway, so I can't tell you much of a difference in her behavior when I'm flipping my sleep schedule. The other one is a brand new adoptee, I'm not sure how he'll do. At least he's quiet so far!
 
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Golden retriever here. Best decision I've ever made. While administrators espouse the bull**** term "wellness" to mean breathing exercises and yoga to forget how much of your life is getting sucked away, I will firmly stand by the assertion that a dog is wellness. I come home and my dog is happy to see me (happier than my wife). All she wants in the world is for us to be home and sit with her, walk, eat, repeat.

The dog isn't a child that ****s everywhere, cries continuously, or costs a ****load of money. Plus I can put the dog in her room (yes my dog has her own bedroom) and go out to the bar - I think people tend to get irritated when you do that with a baby.
 
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engineeredout said:
Golden retriever here. Best decision I've ever made. While administrators espouse the bull**** term "wellness" to mean breathing exercises and yoga to forget how much of your life is getting sucked away, I will firmly stand by the assertion that a dog is wellness. I come home and my dog is happy to see me (happier than my wife). All she wants in the world is for us to be home and sit with her, walk, eat, repeat.

The dog isn't a child that ****s everywhere, cries continuously, or costs a ****load of money. Plus I can put the dog in her room (yes my dog has her own bedroom) and go out to the bar - I think people tend to get irritated when you do that with a baby.
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Amen. We got our golden during my second year and my wife's intern year. Best decision we ever made. Coming home to that goofy ecstatic dog made a big difference.
 
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The new baby
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A lot more people seem to have gotten dogs in residency than I was expecting! Getting a dog is pretty much the only thing I want in this world, but keep telling myself I have to wait till after intern year since I'll be a single dog dad. Do you think EM residency schedules allow someone to solo this or am I doomed to wait for attendingship to meet my man's best friend?
 
I got a dog just before my intern year. One of the best decisions of my life. 10 years later, she's snoozing in a sunbeam next to me as I write this. She's a small, low-maintenance breed (no grooming required, a short walk is plenty of exercise, doesn't eat much, travels well, likes naps), and I had some help at home when she was a puppy.

She did fine through my residency and has done well with all sorts of crazy attending schedules. A dog door with a fenced area is essential. Also, for your particularly rough patches, if you're a solo dog owner, either find a friend/neighbor who loves dogs, find another person/group of people who trade dog-sitting duties, or use rover.com (like Airbnb for dogs) to get help. There were times when I knew my dog was happier at her amazing dog sitter's house for 3 days while I worked 3 long shifts with long travel times than she would have been alone at home.
 
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I've got a white shepherd who is a complete goofball. I got him as a 8wk old puppy 1.5 years ago while working 140-160hrs a month. I'm single and live alone. I probably could not have done it without my awesome dog sitter. I slept with him on my chest every night and would wake up every 3hrs or so to let him pee/poop. My dog sitter would come twice a shift to let him out. I created a sort of makeshift kennel for him and layered it with pee pads in case he had a mess. I don't think I went on any vacations that year as he was a lot of work and I didn't have him neutered until almost a year old, so it limited my ability to board him anywhere.

All I can say is it was totally the right decision. He was absolutely worth every bit of the work. I still have my dog sitter come to walk him and let him out once a shift (though I prob don't need to these days) and my girlfriend helps out a lot. Dogs like a schedule, and although he hasn't adapted to mine, I've pretty much adapted to his... I feed him twice a day, usually 6am/6pm +/- 2-3h depending on my schedule. I have a really tiny yard but it's easy to walk him in the neighborhood and we have forest trails down the street so he gets plenty of exercise.

I say go for it. Dogs are awesome!

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sfwtboy said:
A lot more people seem to have gotten dogs in residency than I was expecting! Getting a dog is pretty much the only thing I want in this world, but keep telling myself I have to wait till after intern year since I'll be a single dog dad. Do you think EM residency schedules allow someone to solo this or am I doomed to wait for attendingship to meet my man's best friend?
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I know plenty of people who got their pup in residency. Puppies are a lot of work though... Personally, I don't think I'd have wanted the extra stress in residency. I don't know how I would have handled that 32h post call with no sleep like I can remember on a couple occasions my intern year. That being said, it's apparently completely doable. It just depends on how bad you want it.
 
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I got my dog in the last 2 months of residency and am so glad I did. A year later I got her a playmate and it has made a huge difference for her while I sleep after night shifts. One of the best decisions I've ever made.
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I like dogs. Not enough to have one, but it's fun to play with dogs that belong to others.

If you can't find your cat, however, you might want to check under my tires.
 
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funny... no pit bulls.
 
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As you can guess from my profile pic, I've had some dogs. I got my first at the start of my first year of med school. Then a 2nd during residency. They've both passed on and I've got two other knuckleheads sleeping on my couch. They've never really had an issue with my schedules and have been a great source of comfort and humor. Dog walkers or good friends are pretty handy. Pretty often, people want a dog but don't want the responsibility...so I took advantage of that and let them take my dog(s) out for walks or runs while I was working :claps:
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I love dogs. Got a puppy in second year of medical school and adopted an older dog during my clinical years. Adopting an older dog was so much easier in terms of scheduling and time available. She was potty trained and could stay at home and sleep all day starting a few days after we got her. Plus we knew her personality ahead of time to make it easy to find a laid back dog who is good with changes. We have one who rolls with everything and the other is more my husband's dog since he has a regular schedule and she hates changes.
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BAM! said:
funny... no pit bulls.
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I have pibs. Great dogs if you get them young and socialize. I had to get a sign that says no soliciting, because they bark if somone rings the bell, which sucks if im sleeping in the day.

Plus if im working overnight or deployed, they are great security for the fam.

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BAM! said:
funny... no pit bulls.
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Mine are both pitties that I got as adults. They're very sweet. One is hilariously mellow and the other is a bit more hyper, but he's in a new environment and we're working on it. Hasn't been destructive, just wants to climb the counters and get into the trash and jump on his people to say hi. The individual dog matters more than the breed when it comes to pit mutts, and I'd never issue any blanket statement advising someone not to get a pit bull. A husky, GSD, or herding breed like a collie might be too energetic a breed at baseline for someone who doesn't want to do a ton of daily exercise, but the pits I've met have been largely cuddly and happy to snooze on the couch. (Disclaimer: mellow though they may be, most doggos can benefit from more exercise than they're getting, just like most people.)
 
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EMDOC17 said:
Lets make this topic about dogs and how awesome they are after you answer my question. Maybe even post pictures of these great animals.

Anyways now out of residency and have bought my own place and now am looking to get a pup. Always grew up with dogs and have always wanted a dog but not during medical school or residency. How do they get along with the EM shift work. I am working all shifts (8hrs that usually am out by 9 hours). How do they get used to you sleeping at night and during the day and just having random hours? I have a nice sized outdoor kennel in my new place that I am hoping to turn to an indoor/outdoor kennel eventually.
Click to expand...
I guess it might depend on the personality and comfort level of the dog (e.g., low maintenance vs. high maintenance).

I am a huge animal lover and grew-up in a family home filled with many cats, multiple dogs (including Sheltie, Lab, Dalmatian and Keeshond), plus a horse. However, I waited (very patiently) before I adopted a pet for my own home, following completion of my studies and residency.

In other words, I waited for a while until my own home situation, work schedule and comfort level was reasonably stabilized. When I reached a particular comfort level (even though my hours can be wildly unpredictable), I decided to adopt a pet because I was absolutely confident I could provide a pet with a loving and secure home.

After a while, my pet became very accustomed to my random hours, as well as my regular hours ... no worries.

By the way (and as an extra layer of security for my pet), I found a licensed professional home pet care service to feed, water and tend to my pet *if* I am ever unable to get home, for any reason. So, my pet is always covered 24/7. I also use this professional home pet care service if I travel to distant conferences or go on a lengthy trip.

I have excellent pet health insurance - for medical care and other emergencies - very important. My pet is microchipped, too.

Here is another friendly suggestion:

If you go to the Pre-Veterinary/Veterinary Forum on SDN and post this same post in there, you'll probably get a lot of useful responses because MANY of the veterinary folks have dogs while they're in school, or after they've graduated from veterinary med school, and they're in residencies or working in hospitals. Vet med hours can be wildly irregular - so they might have plenty of helpful comments to share with you - especially those who work in emergency hospitals and own a dog.

I wish you the very best of happiness in adopting a dog! :)
 
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Awesome! Thanks everyone and love the pictures. Need to start looking for which dog I need to pick up!
 
sonofva said:
I have pibs. Great dogs if you get them young and socialize. I had to get a sign that says no soliciting, because they bark if somone rings the bell, which sucks if im sleeping in the day.

Plus if im working overnight or deployed, they are great security for the fam.

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Do you have pictures?
 
So is it dogs you can't give chocolate to, or was that cats..?


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EMDOC17 said:
Awesome! Thanks everyone and love the pictures. Need to start looking for which dog I need to pick up!
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Try your local humane society. They can usually give you a few days to make sure it's a good fit. Which it will be, because dogs are the best. Post pictures when you can!
 
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