Do University and PhD Students Have Time to Take Care of Pet Dogs?

Sometimes, when giving recommendations on walking a dog and training it, you may hear something like: “We knew that the dog would need our attention, but we did not think that the dog should be given SO MUCH time!” This situation is especially true for students who, due to their studies, may not have enough time for their dogs. One way to solve this problem is getting help with your assignments. For example, you can get assistance from an essay writing service like https://essayshark.com/. If you want to learn more information about this site, you can read a review about it.

So how much time does it take to walk, to care for a dog, to conduct training? Is it possible to somehow reduce this time, and if so, due to what? How will this reduction affect the performance and well-being of the pet? These questions concern many students. The fact that a dog requires a lot of time and attention is clear to everyone. But what exactly is this time going to? What needs to be done with a dog, and for how long?

Feeding, Pet Care

It is more or less clear with feeding. The time saving that can be achieved in this regard is associated with the transition to high-quality modern feeds that do not require a lot of cooking. If you cook the food yourself, then you will have to spend 30-40 minutes a day, but while using prepared feeds, only 10 minutes.

Caring involves daily cleaning and physical examination of the dog. Ten minutes a day will be enough. Of course, if the dog’s hair is dirty, it will take you two to three times longer. Separately, we need to mention the veterinary procedures. It is good if your pet is completely healthy. But, unfortunately, this is not always the case. This is not about serious illnesses, but about some little things that take a lot of time. Sometimes it is necessary to wipe the dog’s eyes two or three times a day, sometimes it is necessary to treat the hair or separate areas of the skin, sometimes it is necessary to bathe the animal. If you count all the time spent, often the total is another 30 minutes.

Walking

Once a day, you need to arrange a thorough walk, lasting from 40 minutes to 1 hour. The regular conduct of such a walk is very important if you are hoping to grow a socially adapted animal with a strong nervous system, calmly responding to irritations of the city. If you give your dog regular exercise, don’t think that this will replace the walk. In total, you will spend on walking from one and a half to two hours a day.

Physical Activity

We will not argue about the benefits of regular physical training. Let us just say briefly that thanks to this training, which includes running, working on an obstacle course, or swimming, the dog not only becomes stronger and healthier physically, it has a stronger nervous system and becomes more balanced. A trained dog is easier to tolerate psychological and physical stress, inevitable in training or during work, as such a dog is easier to get trained and adapted to unfamiliar conditions. You will need to devote up to 30 minutes a day for physical training.

Training

It all depends on the age of the dog, its level of training, the chosen course, and the goal that you set for yourself and your pet. A five-year-old pet that has completed all the courses you can imagine (or those courses that you considered necessary to study) will need three twenty-minute training sessions per week to maintain working capacity.

With a young dog that you train “for yourself” in order to develop acceptable handling and basic protective skills, you will have to spend an hour and a half three times a week. If you train your dog professionally, in order to further use your dog in the service or to participate in sports, then every day you will need to devote two to three hours to training.

Based on the data below, you can assess whether you can afford to give your dog a full education and training.

A dog of 4-5 years old, successfully completing a training course:

Care, feeding – 15-20 minutes

Walking – 70 minutes

Physical activity – 10-15 minutes

Training – 20 minutes

TOTAL: 2 hours

A young dog trained “for yourself”:

Care, feeding – 30 minutes

Walking – 90 minutes

Physical activity – 30 minutes

Training – 60 minutes (on the day of training)

TOTAL: on the day of training, 3 hours 30 minutes, on other days, 2 hours 30 minutes

Professionally trained young dog or to participate in competitions:

Care, feeding – 30 minutes

Walking – 90 minutes

Physical activity – 30 minutes

Training – 2 hours (minimum)

TOTAL: 4 hours 30 minutes

The minimum time that is necessary to devote to a particular action is listed. Many may consider that few students really do this with their dog, and they would be right. Indeed, few take the training and education of their pet seriously. But how many can boast of handling their pet reliably? Are all dogs socially safe? And are many pets able to work, that is, at least protect their owners in a critical situation? After all, where do these uncontrollable monsters come from, biting passersby and not responding to their masters?

Everyone should understand the need for a serious approach to maintaining their pet (even if it’s for themselves), and everyone should feel responsible not only to others, but also to their pet.

If you see that you cannot devote much time and energy to your dog, you should not adopt it (not because you are bad, you just may not have much free time). But if you can spend this time for your pet and know that spending time with your dog will bring you joy, relaxation, and moral satisfaction, feel free to take the puppy home. Still, people who do decide to get a dog become attached for life!