I really want to adopt a dog, but do not know if it is a good idea. I will have a year before graduate school starts. Do any of your classmates have dogs? Do you think its a bad idea?

I would love to have a dog right now! The main thing stopping me is living in NYC. (While many dogs seem to live happily in this city, I know how much my family dog Boots loved running around our backyard, and don’t think a dog would really be happy being taken on short walks to a nearby park a few times a day.) As far as having a dog in PT school goes, I think it would be hard, but not impossible. Most days of the week, my classmates and I are in class for several hours in a row, not to mention extra time spent on campus for meetings with teachers and classmates, or studying in anatomy lab (first semester) or the library. Unless you had someone else to help you out, it might be difficult to ensure that you’d be home to walk the dog every few hours every single day. It also might be hard to give the dog enough attention, since you can’t tell him/her, “Sorry, I can’t play tug of war tonight, I have an anatomy test!” and expect the dog to understand.

One of my classmates ended up having to return a dog he adopted since he said, “I couldn’t have a life and train and take care of the dog at the same time.” It’s possible that a few of my other classmates have dogs, but I think they all live with their families. Although as I mentioned, living in NYC might play a role in that.

On the other hand, I’m always temped to dog-nap cute dogs I see on the street. I think a dog could be a stress reliever, source of joy and force you to take frequent study breaks.

So really it will depend on your living situation. Being able to take care of a dog is a wonderful idea, but will definitely be hard.