When can a premed get a dog?

[thegreatdanton]

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I've wanted to raise a German Shepard since as long as I can remember. I was wondering at what point people on the road to their MD could handle raising an animal. I've already read that medical school is too time consuming, and I'm almost through with my undergrad years. So are we looking at residency, fellowship, fully employed, or when I'm retired...haha

 

[AxiomaticTruth]

People raise babies in undergrad, medical school,residency, fellowships, etc.

 

[Bean Counter]

How happy do you want your dog to be? Dog's love it when their owner is around to play with them and they're miserable when they're left alone. The more you are there the happier your dog will be. You're gonna be busy for a long time

Basically.... wait until you're retired

 

[Pseudonymity]

I dreamt about starting this thread last night...

 

[thegreatdanton]

Waiting to retirement is so depressing, but I do want to spend a lot of time with it. It just stinks because the two things I want to do most in my life is become a physician and raise a german shepard. Planning on starting my second dream in another 40y is almost unimaginable and has made me reconsider veterinary school, but I'm too far into the pre-med track and that's still my number one priority..

 

[docdoolittle]

Get married and then between the two of you, someone should be home enough to raise your dog and keep it happy!

 

[brisingr]

Note-I have not started medical school yet. I am planning on bringing my two dogs with me however. I think it depends a lot on the age and personality of the dog. Both of my dogs are adults, one is a canine senior citizen. They are both pretty mellow and low maintenance and would honestly not mind simply chilling in my room while I studied. I also know they will not go crazy if left home for an extended period of time.

Have you ever owned a dog before? From what you're saying it seems as if you want a puppy. I don't think I would recommend getting a puppy while in medical school. They are really time consuming and need a lot of attention. It's not impossible, as someone pointed out people do manage to raise children while in school, but you may not want to make that commitment. If I were you I'd get an older dog. If you want a puppy get one right now. Like tomorrow so that it will be a little over a year old when you start school (assuming you're a going into senior year). That is still a young dog however and will need a lot of attention.

Also, be aware that even if you get a dog now, you might not be able to keep it while you are in school. If you ended up going to NYU for example, you'd most likely live in the dorms as getting your own place that allowed animals in NYC is cost prohibitive for most at this point. Would your family be willing/able to care for the dog if you couldnt take it with you? I think if you really want a dog you will be able to make it work so I am not trying to dissuade you from getting one, I just want to make sure you think it through so it doesnt end in tragedy. Another option is to wait until you know where you will be going, get an adult dog from a German Shepard rescue group, spend your last months of freedom bonding/training with the dog so that you're both ready for school come August. Good luck!

 

[thegreatdanton]

My parents unfortunately have cats that are not dog friendly and will be around for another 10ish years. I do want to go through the puppy phase and raise it pretty much on my own. But I understand the time commitment for this..does anybody know what your hours look like when in med school vs residency? Are you really busy for 12h on end?

 

[Speed Racer141]

I am a pre med and my wife is also a pre med, and we are currently raising a German Shepherd puppy. There are a few things that you should take into account. One, have you ever raised a dog before, or have any experience with dogs? Two, how much time will you have to be able to properly socialize your dog so that it is comfortable with other people? German Shepherds are great dogs that are extremely intelligent and love to please their owners, but they do need to be raised right. Also, some of them, if not properly socialized, will show aggression towards others who aren't their owner. Those are two basic things that you should consider, but beyond that I would just suggest to get it in early summer so that it can mature a little before school starts and get used to you. As far as having a dog while pre med; it's much less time consuming than having a real job so just be prepared for extra work like walking it and taking things away from it that you don't want it to chew on while its teething. Ours is 13 weeks old now.

 

[cxp119]

I got a dog within the first few months of med school. At my school, the first two years we have classes 8-12 and some activities in the afternoon, but only on certain days. I also adjusted my study habits (I was never much of a library person anyways) and studied mainly in my apartment. Another big help was that my roommate loves dogs and was willing to help take care of her. The first few months were hard - training a puppy is work! But now, she's 2 years old and just a lazy lump and lays around all day whether I'm there or not.

CAVEAT: I'm MD/PhD, so now I'm in my research/grad school phase and my hours are flexible. There are a few people in my class (MD-only) that have dogs and they're now in their clinical rotations and I think they're having a tougher time. Either they have roommates who are not med students or are in different phases of training, they have significant others who can take care of the dog, or they hire dog walkers. I've heard sad stories of students (in previous years) who've had to give their dogs away because they couldn't care for them during rotations/residency. =(

So if you're really serious about getting a dog (do your research, it's harder than it seems), I'd recommend that you get one early in med school so that you're not trying to raise a puppy during clinical rotations/residency.

EDIT:
I STRONGLY recommend adopting a shelter dog. Purebreds are expensive and can have lots of problems (my dad's purebred dog has a connective tissue disease and hip dysplasia) and there are thousands of shelter dogs waiting to be adopted. I know your ideal dog is a German Shepherd, but you might be able to find a shepherd mix. Also, you'll probably (but maybe not) be living in an apartment wherever you go to medical school, and you really need to take the size of your possible future dog into consideration. German Shepherds can grow to be anywhere from 50-100 lbs, and need lots of space and exercise. My dog is only 30 lbs, and my apartment is big enough for her to run around if she needs to burn off any extra energy that isn't used by our daily walks.

 

[cerno]

Wow, I was thinking about this exact thing right here. I've wanted to get a dog for a while, but feel like I wouldn't have the time to give it the attention it deserves. Maybe after you get married, and the wife is the stay at home type...keeps both of them entertained.

 

[NontradCA]

Obviously not now, since you have to ask such a question. I mean seriously? Man up.

 

[HopefulSlav]

It would be great to have a dog to hold when you cry. There's never a bad time to have a dog as a pre med.

 

[UPPremed]

You will need a yard for it to be reasonable and not a nightmare.

 

[C.glabrata123]

You might want to take into account the cost of keeping a dog. What if your dog gets sick or needs surgery? Vet bills are very expensive and I know I couldn't handle them during medical school.

 

[askamsky51]

My parents unfortunately have cats that are not dog friendly and will be around for another 10ish years. I do want to go through the puppy phase and raise it pretty much on my own. But I understand the time commitment for this..does anybody know what your hours look like when in med school vs residency? Are you really busy for 12h on end?

You are going to hate your life trying to find housing with a big dog. Those few you find that will take the size will restrict the breed.

Resource: I just went through this finding a place for med school. FYI I live in a self-proclaimed "dog friendly" city.

 

[Radon XP]

I really hate dogs


That being said, I don't think your schedule is going to get any easier after medical school..

The biggest impediment would be whether or not where you live allows dogs (I know dogs aren't allowed on-campus). So if you have a house or an independent apartment, I think you should have enough time to take care of the dog and be a student.

I've always wanted to get a horse...now that would be time consuming!

 

[A7X]

Anytime you want

 

[bunnity]

Almost all vet students have dogs and our schedules are more or less the same as med students. If you want a dog and know you can commit to being a good pet owner (which means sometimes compromising in other areas of your life - you can't go straight to the bar after a full day of class when your dog is waiting to go outside and pee) I see no reason to wait.

My advice:

--Get the dog either well before school starts or during one of your summers. Especially if you are set on a puppy you will need time to adjust the dog to your home and to housetrain. A puppy can hold its bladder for about one hour per month of life. So a 2 month old puppy needs to be taken out at minimum every 2 hours. Not so doable when you have just started school. I got my first dog only a few weeks before school but I adopted him at 4 years old and he could already hold his bladder comfortably for a full school day when I got him.

--Start thinking now about a support system for when you have away rotations or particularly tough sections of school. Most vet students either have family/partners/friends help out, or you may need to set money aside for dog walkers.

--Learn everything you can about dogs and your chosen breed in particular (starting with how to spell the breed 😛). Consider volunteering or fostering first to make sure you really do want a dog. Shepherds tend to be very high energy, anxious dogs so you need to know what you are getting into.

--Work out the logistics. As mentioned before some places are easier than others as far as housing with dogs is concerned. In Philadelphia I have had no issues finding housing with a pit bull mix. In other cities the dog would be seized from me and killed if I brought her into the city. Look up "breed specific legislation" in any place you would seriously consider living as Shepherds are often banned or severely restricted by the city ordinances. Work out how you will pay for food/vet care. As vet students we are lucky in that we get free food and flea/tick/heartworm preventatives, as well as discounted vet care, through school. You will have to pay for these things out of pocket and the bigger the dog, the more expensive the food and meds. Unless you are wealthy I strongly recommend pet insurance from day 1 because your puppy WILL eat something toxic or break a bone or get an infectious disease... that's how puppies roll.

--Please consider adoption. In this country 4 million animals are killed every year for lack of homes. The #1 killer of cats and dogs in this country is shelter euthanasia of HEALTHY ADOPTABLE animals. There are Shepherds in shelters; there are puppy Shepherds in shelters. Hit up petfinder.com and do some serious searching. Also check out the Seeing Eye and other service dog programs that raise Shepherds. They will very often have dogs and puppies that disqualify for the program (for reasons that would be completely irrelevant to a regular pet owner but deadly for a blind person such as "likes to chase squirrels"). If you are dead set on a breeder, stay away from pet stores and puppy mills; look for someone who extensively health tests the parents (you do NOT want to be dealing with multiple hip surgeries because the breeder didn't bother to test the parents for hip dysplasia) and that breeds for an excellent temperament.

 

[Jennyfishy]

I've had my little chihuahua for about 9 years now, but the idea of just leaving him alone for 10+ hours a day while I'm in school or studying kind of seems like a depressing life for him. Like, all he would have to look forward to is me coming home to feed him and cuddle him at night D:

Unless there's other people around besides who would love to help you raise this "furry baby," of course! Pets are awesome validators at the end of a rough work day, and it makes it totally worth it if you can figure out something. After all, they think you're the most awesome people in the world!

 

[bunnity]

There are lots of options to break up that long day - dog walkers, dog daycare, living close enough that you can run home during lunch (during pre-clinical years), roommates with different schedules... it's very doable if you make it a priority.