Having a pet during residency
I am that crazy person, who in the middle of intern year, went “How hard could having a dog be?” Turns out hard (although pales in comparison to my many colleagues having children in residency, but that is for another blog post). I would call it hard but not impossible.
First, I cannot reiterate the benefits of having a pet during residency enough. There was truly nothing better than coming home to an excited puppy after a long day in the ICU or a tough day on the wards. My puppy made it so that I couldn’t just come home and lie on the couch and watch TV for hours like I probably would have. Instead I was out trying to get him to burn off some energy. In a lot of ways, having a pet during residency gave me a sense of purpose beyond my medical career which was huge for me.
There are very real barriers to having a pet during residency. The two very obvious ones:
Time - having an animal takes time and there’s not a lot of that to go around in residency, and
Money - if you don’t have time to take care of your animal, you can always find someone to care for them, but that costs money which there is also not a lot of during residency.
Here are some of the things that worked well for me. These are going to be geared towards dog owners because that is what is my experience.
Think about the timing of getting your pet. Does your residency program have a dedicated research block or blocks of vacation time? Most animals will need a few weeks to get acclimated, especially if you are getting a puppy. This will give you the time you need to make you pet feel at home and also set the groundwork for some of the training.
CRATE. TRAIN. Yes, my dog has free range of my home now, but for the first 1-2 years of his life he spent a lot of time in his crate. He loves his crate and will still go in his crate to this day to nap. This gave me the piece of mind while I was at work that he wasn’t completely destroying my home in his puppy days. We have this one, which allowed us to take it with us on the go, and is still in great condition over 4 years later. Plus, looks great out in our living room compared to some of those metal crates.
Find good dog sitters and build relationships with them. Unfortunately, doggy daycares don’t have hours that are compatible with a resident schedule, so I rely on in-house care. My dog has 2-3 consistent dog sitters that I use when on long shifts or on 24-hour calls. He arguably loves them more than me. I pretty much exclusively use Wag, it’s particularly helpful in a pinch to find a caregiver to come by and check in on my dog if I’m stuck longer at the hospital than expected.
Don’t be afraid to ask friends and family for help. When I first had my pup, I was hesitant to ask friends for help when sitters were unavailable. Throughout the years, I realized that it is often times mutually beneficial - I have someone I trust watching my dog and my burnt-out resident friends get a little puppy therapy!
FINALLY- remember that while your dog is here for only part of your life, you are their whole life. Take them on that walk post-call, find outdoor restaurants and breweries so they can come along, and enjoy every minute with them (crying while I write this 😭)
