Belgian Malinois

>hopefully doesn't become neurotic and destructive
>my roomates and their cats
>We live in a city
>apartment
>I'm fairly sure what I'm getting into
>Am I gonna be in over my head?
>rehoming the poor dog

u fucked up

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>>2420370
>conveniently leaving out all the parts where I describe how I have the time and facilities to work with the dog and provide it with exercise

I like memes too but pls I could just use some extra pointers here

this is a standard bait of [me and gf, rented apartment, first dog, working breed] yaddayadda don't wait for responses really.
Information is it's a full time job for 3 months at least and after that, if you go "I need to work at least 9 hours and, like, eat. See ya doggo" - separation anxiety and half the training is lost.

>>2420413
Well, happily, our schedules work out so that 99% of the time, someone will be at home with the dog. I'm pretty new to /an/ (but not new to owning pets) so I guess I didn't realize that people like to shitpost with my current situation.

I guess if it's any consolation, my apartment isn't even really an apartment. It's a remodeled second story of an actual house and has quite a lot of space and I have a back yard.

I hear great things about these dogs if they're socialized properly. All of the dogs I encountered and worked with of this breed (while working in the military and fire department) seemed really fantastic, but obviously they had very good training. I'm confident that my girlfriend and I can provide that.

>>2420416
Are you being 100% honest about the schedule balancing? How is this achieved? Do you work different shifts? Do you work 12 hours a day so you only have a 3-4 day work week and balance it with your gf?

Most people don't have that free time nor do schedules normally work out that conveniently in a 24 hour day.

>dealt with difficult dogs
Details?

>>2420426
Yes, I'm being honest. She's a part time student with a lot of online classes, and works a weekend job. I work during the weekdays till about 4pm and she's home while I'm at work. I don't work on weekends. I also have 2 room mates who only work nights, and they love dogs and have said that they'd be more than happy to take the dog on walks and exercise it if, for whatever reason, I or my girlfriend have a gap in schedule.

I know it's kinda rich coming from some anon online, but I promise I would not have looked into getting this dog if I didn't think I had the time to care for it properly.

>dealt with difficult dogs
Back when I was younger, we had a pretty crazy-ass dog for a pet. She was a rescue and was totally insane and destructive when she got bored. She also liked to run a lot. I took her to dog training classes with my mom and learned a bunch. I also worked with (not trained, but worked with) military dogs and rescue dogs while working in the fire department- also, my girlfriend is kind of a dog hobbyist and loves to train them. She had a really awesome bird dog (which breed escapes me at the moment) that she had trained all up in circles.

>>2420432
What are your plans after she finishes school?

What about kids? Sorry to bring up something that serious, but a dog is over a decade's worth investment.

>>2420410
you don't have the time and facilities

you have a job, a girlfriend, and an apartment with roomates

>the dog would only be home alone (not even alone, my roomates and their cats will be around) for maybe an hour, tops
you should have some time while it's a puppy when the dog is totally alone unless he is literally never going to be alone for his entire life.

>>2420658
Really? That's interesting. I plan on crate training her in any case.

>>2420534
My job is very flexible and I can go anywhere in the country. She's going to grad school (or at least plans to) so I guess that's something to consider for the immediate (within 2-3 years) future.

As for kids, we want to have them- but that's assuming we're together long enough and get married, etc. I can see it happening within the next 5 years if we stay together. I plan on socializing the hell out of my dog pretty much as soon as I'm able, so I don't forsee any weird issues with babies or children. I know Mals tend to nip at kids when they're running around and aren't as willing to have their faces prodded and tails pulled, so I will definitely have to work on that and keep an eye out for those sort of things.

I've done a bit more reading on these dogs and asked a few (professional) breeders. It seems like these dogs are just like any dog in that they need training, love, and stimulation- just multiplied by a factor of about 4. I'm confident that I can handle that.

I appreciate your guys advice a lot, by the way. It's prompted a lot more research and thinking on my end.

>>2420356
I would have suggested since you were ready to bring a dog in to try fostering dogs so you wouldn't be so wet behind the ears but you're getting the dog in less than a month so it's probably too late for that so. Oh well.

>>2420939
Yeah, in all honesty that might have been a good idea and I hadn't thought about it until just when you mentioned it. I'm not super worried though, I've owned a dog in the past and have done a lot of dog sitting while I was between jobs- and my girlfriend has owned and raised dogs pretty much all her life.