Please don't get a dog Josh. I implore you.
Your questions alone indicate just how not cut out for it you are and ultimately
getting a dog to help you get girls (which I'm sure you must have read somewhere)
is no good or valid reason to get one.
With smaller breeds you could be talking about a commitment of as much as 18 years, they
can live for a surprisingly long time. As a dog ages it's vet bills typically increase, just like people
they get a bit worn out as they become old and are in and out of the 'doctor's' more often.
Vets bills are usually eye wateringly expensive, then of course there's all the other things, food,
toys (which are there to be destroyed so your house isn't, so you're always buying new ones)
bedding, leads/harnesses, making your garden/yard dog safe, spaying/neutering, vaccinations.
The list goes on and on. Then there's the time required for exercise, my Doberman/Weimeraner
cross needs at least a 5 mile walk every day. That's 5 miles for me, the dog ranges off lead and
probably runs triple that each time and she still wants more. That's 2 hours of the day gone,
every day, rain shine or snow. The dog won't care if it's your birthday and you want to go out
with your mates, the dog won't care if you feel unwell. Once a routine is established you'll quickly
find that the dog can tell time better than you can and a dog that wants its walkies is the most
impatient creature on earth. It's worth mentioning the poo, if it's in your yard you'll need to go
out, hunt for it and scoop it up every day, then you have to find somewhere safe to dispose of it.
If out on walks you'll need to bag it up and carry it around until you find a bin to put it in. Anything less
is absolutely unacceptable. Funny thing is dogs quite like poo. Some eat it, some roll in it. Ever had to
brush a dogs teeth because it's eaten some fox sh1t, I have, more than once and it's pretty gross.
No breed is better behaved than any other, all dogs can be very obedient but you'll need
to put a couple of years in before you see any real evidence of this. The first year will be just
basic housetraining and simple establishment of yourself as pack leader, if you don't make
that clear to a dog it will try and challenge you for position, especially a male dog. After that
calm, measured and consistent leadership is what will get the dog to obey and follow you.
Screaming and shouting doesn't work and makes things worse from a behavioural standpoint.
It's occasionally super frustrating when Fido just doesn't get it and chews up your shoe of takes
a dump in the hallway, but it's all too easy to humanise them and completely forget that they
are just predators/scavengers in equal measure. I had to put a good couple of hours a day in with
my last dog, on top of her walks, plus obedience classes twice a week for two years to get her to
the point where anyone could take her lead and walk her and she would behave for them as well
as she does me. Even so, all that training goes out of the window when her prey drive is triggered
(squirrels are her kryptonite) and she's off like a rocket with only one thing on her mind "I must eat
that little ba$tards face and shake it's twitching corpse around until it's back breaks..." pretty much.
Thankfully squirrels are fast but she's caught a few, if they couldn't run up trees as fast as they can
across the ground her squirrel bodycount would match the Punisher. She has also dug moles out
of the ground and killed them, frogs and toads a plenty, hedgehogs are often a problem and the
local cats won't come anywhere near my her garden because they've all had to run for their lives
in the past. My dog is 40kg, my sisters dog Freya is the size of a cat and is just as prey driven. Size
doesn't come into it, they all lose their sh1t when the jungle drums go off in their heads, those same
drums can be just as strong when they just wanna fvck, which is a whole other story.
Don't do anything daft Josh, it is a very rewarding experience if you are prepared to put in the effort
but it's a lifetime commitment both in terms of time and money and you're a young guy who has
the world to see. Even travelling is far more difficult with a dog in tow, my wife and I saw the world
long before we got our dog, she kept the dog after our split and is restricted to UK camping holidays
and dog friendly accommodation within the UK, dogs need a passport and shots to travel just like we
do, but they won't be on the seat next to you on the plane, they will be scared witless in the hold in a
small cage for hours on end. I could never put a dog through that.
