Taking home a rescue dog when you work!

Here's a random question I was thinking about while on a dog rescue website earlier today.

On the Dogs Trust site it says the average time from choosing to taking home a new dog is 8 days... how does this work for those of you who work?

Do you plan your holidays around it so it gives them time to settle before getting into their new routine? Or do you get other people to help?

Most rescues won't let you have a dog if you are going to leave the dog for more than 4 hours, some will if you have in place someone going in and walking them or taking them to a relative etc. and of course there is the homecheck to have as well.

Yes it can be done in 8 days but usually it takes longer, when I do a homecheck I want everyone there who lives there and that can take some arranging especially if they work different shifts.

When a dog first comes into your home it is better if there is someone there most of the time, the dog has been in kennels, maybe for some time, the lucky ones will have been fostered, it takes time for a dog to settle in so having a week or 2 off is better for the dog and you, you will bond much quicker if you are there. It isn't really fare to leave a dog shortly after he has gone to a new home, the dog will already be very stressed and leaving him will make the stress worse because he doesn't know you will be back in a few hours, all he knows is he is on his own in a strange place.

Thanks for the reply!
That's exactly what I mean though, I would want to be there for a couple of weeks from they day I bring them home, and was just not sure how that works as you don't know at what time you are going to get your rescue.

I will be working full time and be on my own, but I already have Alfie and there is no way I would be leaving him more than a few hours anyway.

My plan is (so far) for the dogs (or Alfie before we get another dog) is that one out of the 5 days I would take them to my parents (they will be retired by then and have said they are more than happy with this), one day they would go out to them (parents go to my house) for the day/afternoon, one or two days a week I would get a dog walker in, and then on the last 1-2 days I would put all daily breaks together and get home for a good bit in the middle of the day!

Obviously things may change, but this was going to be my daily plan!

I think I would just have to try and get some holidays booked in fast after finding a dog!
Not sure how else to go about it!

We went to a breed rescue & had longer than usual wait for our 2boys to come home as they needed neuter op first & weren't living at the kennels yet. Some rescues can be flexible and hold dogs for a while to help adopters but many need the space for new dogs to come in. We weren't told beforehand we couldn't reserve a dog till we had homecheck so that also took time to happen, if we'd been told would've preferred to get that done first before meeting the dogs.

We had a long weekend Friday to Tuesday to settle the dogs in and build up time left alone, in some ways it would've been harder if we'd taken a couple weeks off as would've wanted to spend time with the dogs or do stuff at home which wouldn't prepare them for usual work routine. I worked full-time locally and popped home during my lunch hour.

Thanks for the reply!
I see you have greyhounds! That is one of the breeds I am interested in, so have been looking in to
Are they okay with that routine? Did it take them long to settle in?

They came straight from their trainers so needed some house training. Hector took to being indoors straight away his bro throp whose more of a nervous nelly hid out in the kitchen feeling stressed for day or 2. Considering the complete change in environment they adapted surpringly quickly though varies by dog, after 2/3 weeks its like honeymoon period is over & are relaxed to test barriers more lol. My boys were youngsters at 2 so still bit of puppyish fun & chewing on stuff unlike hattie who'd raced & was 3.5yrs.

Had some issues with Hector barking at night for a while as didn't like being away from us (fine 1st few days) & took him a while to be reliably dry when left, however with hindsight we could've changed a few things. Once we were actually out the house Hector settled fine (i checked) & Throp wasn't bothered at all, he has bladder of steel & often won't go for 8hrs even though I take him out multiple times.
Hattie who I adopted after Hector passed is also good at being left, even alone, I wasn't out working when she came home but she gets left 4-6 hours a few times a week. Also gained a lurcher too as failed foster.

There are often greyhounds that have either been returned to rescue or in foster so have lived in a home available too. All mine are straight from kennels just how it wotked out, but i liked the training & seeing them change was nice. Lots of greyhound rescues about, (RGT homing policies etc vary per branch btw), good idea to get to know how the rescue operates & assess its dogs as some much better than others.

Greyhounds are one of the better breeds to have if you work, they don't need the amount of exercise that a lot of breeds need and prefer the sofa.

You can get a lot of information from Greyhound Gap, I found my Greyhound there.

Thanks for the replies! I am actually thinking a greyhound may be a good choice for me for that reason!
Can they walk a long way if you take them? Or do they prefer the shorter walks?

Usually when you first get a Greyhound they can't be walked far but by building up their exercise slowly they can eventually go all day.