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Having a dog is great. I want to make sure I can take good care of my dog when I start full-time in the fall. I know a lot of people probably have SOs or even family who can help out, but how about people who are single? Does anyone have any advice on how to juggle a pretty active pet and biglaw? I'd really appreciate any tips on housing / pet care.

1. Where should I live?

My office is in midtown east. My plan now is to live within close walking distance of the office in either Turtle Bay or Sutton Place. Are there any decent dog parks nearby? I read about one near 59th near the bridge. I also know you can run near the East River. I'm wondering if that area is any good for dogs. It's not my ideal location, but if I had to live there, I'm OK with it.

This ties into my next question. The point of living so close to the office is so I can stop in and walk the dog during the day. Is that realistic? Otherwise my options for where to live expand dramatically.

2. Dog care

I've never used a dog sitter/walker, or dog daycare. The prices for these services are high, but I can do them if need be. How do other people manage? I'd just feel shitty about walking my dog once in the morning and once at night after work. That's a pretty boring day.

Any tips would be great. I'm looking into living with a roommate who can help me with the dog, and that would be ideal, but I may still have the same constraints on where to live even if that's the case.

The single lawyers I know do doggy daycare.

I think most people use a combo of dog walkers and doggy daycare. While it's possible to walk your dog once a day from the office, it's the type of thing that you won't always be able to do. This will stress you out, and it's very hard to have a dog walker on "standby" just for days you can't get out from 1-2.

I'm not sure about Manhattan, but there are plenty of great dog parks/doggy daycares in Brooklyn (Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Williamsburg). The upper west and east sides also have central park and a dog park there. Midtown East seems like a tough place to have a sog (tons of people, no grass) unless you're very close to the river. If you are, then you're going to be 20-30 minutes away from work, so the whole thing becomes unfeasible. Midtown West might be more doable.

The bottom line is this is a common problem with many solutions. Dog walkers/daycares cater to all types of people and dogs. Dog owners routinely discuss them at dog parks and on the street, and there is a great deal of information out there about good walkers or daycares for your dog.

Get a spouse that has normal hours or gets done at work by 3. You can run dog in the early morning (biglaw not as busy typically in the morning) for an hour, the dog rests until spouse gets home and can take care dog out to play then.

you could hire a student to come over and walk/hang out with your dog daily. their schedules are more flexible and there are plenty of marymount/hunter students in that area.

desertlaw wrote:Get a spouse

that's a great idea! OP should go shopping for one this weekend!

LOL

Thank you guys for the advice. Keep 'em coming. It looks like I'll go the doggy daycare route if I don't get a roommate.

I really like Riverside Park and the stretch of green that follows the Hudson. But the UWS is just too inconvenient for the office. I will consider Hell's Kitchen though if it's good for dogs. Man, desertlaw was right. Having a dog is a little like being a single parent. Much easier if someone else could help out.

courtneylove wrote:

desertlaw wrote:Get a spouse

that's a great idea! OP should go shopping for one this weekend!

Alternatively, live on Roosevelt Island (perfect for midtown east and super green/beautiful); use the rent savings to purchase dog-walking services. I'm not sure that leaving during the day is something to count on. I guess people do make gym/lunch plans during the workday, but then if you miss THOSE, no biggie...

Seriously, check out RI.

Anonymous User wrote:Alternatively, live on Roosevelt Island (perfect for midtown east and super green/beautiful); use the rent savings to purchase dog-walking services. I'm not sure that leaving during the day is something to count on. I guess people do make gym/lunch plans during the workday, but then if you miss THOSE, no biggie...

Seriously, check out RI.

+1 tons of dogs/dog walkers

Tag.

neimanmarxist wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Alternatively, live on Roosevelt Island (perfect for midtown east and super green/beautiful); use the rent savings to purchase dog-walking services. I'm not sure that leaving during the day is something to count on. I guess people do make gym/lunch plans during the workday, but then if you miss THOSE, no biggie...

Seriously, check out RI.

+1 tons of dogs/dog walkers

Cool, thanks. I never thought about Roosevelt Island.