[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by megs_clark

I think that all dog breeds are different. Some breeds of dogs are more active, some need more companion ship, dogs who are pack dogs have more anxiety issues often. Of course their are times when an exception is made. But often they can be predictable when looking at breeds. And as someone who owns a Beagle (this is the breed in topic) I can say that i don't think it would be good for him to be alone in a room, crate or anything else where he will be alone for 8 hours. Even a single walk in the eight hours will not make for a happy Beagle. In my opinion anyways. Beagles are highly active, and need company. They hate being alone generally. They can become depressed easily, and being alone pent up is going to drive a Beagle crazy. We used our crate training more for potty training at night, when he was a puppy (worked awesome) and as a spot he can go if he needs to be alone, LOL. It doesn't get used much, because he NEVER wants to be alone. We are lucky that i work from home so am home all day and so are my kids. When i would leave him to go out for an hour if he is locked up, by the time i were to get home he is going nuts. So i think putting him in your fish room for 8 hours would be leading to behaviour issues. Its not the worry of having accidents, its the dog trying to get out of the room, and wrecking things. Beagles aim to please, so i find they only misbehave if not happy or fallowing their nose. They are prone to getting fat if they don't get adequate exercise which can lead to health problems. I found before buying our Beagle that they need a little more attention then some other dogs. They are not independent dogs. I'm assuming if the dog your thinking of adopting is being locked up in the basement when they go to work, its because its misbehaving when alone. Sooooo if its doing that for them, its going to do it to you if in the same situation!!! A fish room typically (i don't have one myself unfortunately) has a lot of pipes and such that i bet will become a chewing post to vent frustrations after a few long days of being holed up.

+1 well said.

Trust me when I say do not get a dog unless you are willing to except that chewing up of things not meant to be chewed up might happen (like pillows and baseboards) pee and poo indoors might happen, holes in your yard might happen. Some dogs are better trained then others and some make more messes then others but even a well trained dog can get into mischief and have accidents every now and then. As long as you're willing to live with that then go for it as the companionship a dogs gives is a wonderful thing.