Dog’s are EXPENSIVE! Vet bills, training, food, heart worm meds, flea/tick meds, grooming, etc… Not to mention neutering/spaying and staying with said dog when they recover.
Yes Dogs are expensive. I have always had dogs. They need check ups each year, vaccinations , heart worm preventatives, flea/tick preventatives, healthy food, leash hardware, and as all living creatures might— they can get hurt or ill. Then they need care and medical time.
They need to be trained and cleaned. They can ruin a place. There are liabilities with a dog.
My cousin’s son got a cute puppy, used up its cuteness and was stuck with a big dog no one wanted. Needed care, attention, discipline, medical attention, exercise. If I hadn’t taken him, he would have been euthanized.
All of the posters have very valid and thoughtful reasons not to let your son get a dog to take to college. I can offer a slightly different view as my children went to a college with pet dorms. There was a pet council made up of students that oversaw the rules and assisted the owners. The grounds were lovely and it made for an instant community. The pets were allowed from spring semester freshman year onward. They even have a pet graduation. If your son looks at a school that allows animals in some of the dorms, it could be an option to consider.
I would repeat, dogs live a long time. Short term companionship is not a good reason to get one.
I am living in a house this summer with a PhD student with a dog. She has had the dog for 8 years, throughout her undergrad and grad years. The dog lives in a small enclosure, and the student is gone 12 hours a day. She comes home to work on the computer and the dog stays in the enclosure and the dog also sleeps in the enclosure (Um, I slept with my dogs!)
I can’t stand to watch this.
The other roommate (who is as old as I am< 50’s/60/s) and I liberate the dog when the student leaves and alternate taking him for long walks.
I don’t think your son will luck out and find roommates like us 
Cons
-If not house trained already, expect to ruin the carpet
-May disturb neighbors by barking
-May not be allowed by lease
I have a friend who has 2 dogs. They let their college senior take one to school. Obviously a different situation because the family was already committed to the pet. But I’m not aware of any problems.
That said the time and financial commitment is significant. Run through all the what-ifs before you do anything. I think volunteering or even fostering is a better option. Or start a dog walking business.
I got a dog when I was in college. In retrospect, it was a mistake. While there were some pros (my roommates helped take care of it, so with all the varying college schedules, it was well taken care of), and it was fun taking it out and about and it helped me get through a tough time of a death, there were some big cons. Namely, problems finding housing future years, in college and beyond, and having the dog and the responsibility of it kept me from getting internships, study abroad, more travel…those things somewhat unique to college that could have really enriched my life or my career options, that I shortsightedly closed the door on because I wanted a dog. It kind of tied me down in a period of life when you shouldn’t be tied down yet! Also, both of my parents moved while I was in college, and did not want to make their housing plans based on whether I would be bringing a dog home for summers.
D2 loves dogs. I really was not aware of it until she was much older, and then my apartment didn’t allow pets. She ended up volunteering at dog shelters. She sat out in the cold with the dogs showcasing them to potential adopters. She always got attached to few dogs and worried if they would get adopted. She asked me to donate to the shelters to buy mittens and vests for the dogs. Now she is in the graduate school and volunteers to babysit her friends’ dogs. I think she is a year away from getting a dog (she wants to get a dog a year before she starts her real job) and her BF also has pet insurance from work.
Get a fish.
No, your son should not get a dog for companionship (dog in the picture is my D’s dog, who was with me almost 15 years , through high school, college law school, work until dog passed away). My advice to parents is unless you want a dog, don’t let your kids have a dog, because it is going to be your dog.
Dogs are like having a young child in the house. They are social creatures, who have no concept of time. The only thing they know is if their person is with them. It does not matter if you are gone 10 minutes or 10 hours, the dog is sad and lonely waiting for their person comes home(especially if it is just you and the dog). It is a lot of responsibility to take care of a dog. It is unfair to feed them, walk them and take care of them when your schedule permits.
As others have stated, it is one thing to have a dog, it is another thing to care and make your home a home for the dog.
Yes, I think dogs are really happier when they have a companion, too. We’ve had two dogs for about seven years now and I don’t think we’ll go back to one. Most times when I look out in the backyard, the two of them are playing or cuddled up together.
Me
Also me, approaching retirement.
I’m going to throw something different out here:
I really do not recommend a dog for college kids because it can greatly restrict them at a time when great flexibility is important. A dog needs a lot of care, time, responsibility and can be expensive.
But if a parent is willing to step up and provide that cover, it’s a whole other story. Understand your kid may need more security deposit and will be limited in living provisions. If a residential advisor or other great opportunity comes up, the dog can be a direct impediment.
My son and a cousin’s son each got dogs when they had the time to spend with them with friends and roommates that all pitched in. But then things changed, and they could not take the dog and move to the next phase of their lives. Both left the dogs with me. Neither are in position to take them back
But with my son, he lived near enough and we had discussed this and I kinda half owned the dog anyways so it was an easy transition for it to stay with me. And I was agreeable to this all along. Not so the cousin, whose dog narrowly escaped the shelter where he likely would have been euthanized. Most dogs of that age and breed mix are.
So it CAN work out in college, with a responsible student that has parents or someone who can step in when needed with the dog. If, parents live near enough, for example and can take the dog. Cousin’s parents Both worked full time and lived in a condo community that prohibited all but small dogs, and certain breed mixes. Both sedentary folks that would not run an active dog. In fact, getting these dogs the exercise they should have is a challenge for me, even though I only work very part time, and at home with great flexibility. I walk them 4-6 times a day, and they spend an hour outside in a fenced in yard with me watching them. They also get to run loose in the country side several times a week, their high points in life. I have to force myself to do this with these dogs and darkly mumble my next dog will definitely be a Yorkie.
I would say no…you are always beholden to “getting back to the dog” and it will limit you.
If you need to work on a project/lab/study/do research you are always leaving the dog alone for hours.
During breaks you need to take the dog back and forth.
If there is a medical emergency, you have to get the dog to the vet and pay for it.
I recall the birds that my suitemate had…she would leave them in the living room of the suite, but spend most of the time at her boyfriends. We would cover the cage to get them to stop making noise.
I also recall a new employee we had who wanted to get a ferret. Don’t do it, we said…you will be traveling, we said. He got one. Now his grandma owns the ferret.
My DD wanted a bunny junior year of school. She & my Dh had been talking about getting a dog but I didn’t want to take care of a dog…but a bunny became available and I agreed…because I knew I would be taking care of the bunny when she went to college and I was willing to do that.
Not in a college apartment. I love dogs as much as the next person, but dogs require way too much time and attention. And like many others here, I’ve seen a kid get a dog in college and the parents end up becoming the owners after graduation…
It can be hard finding an apartment that allows dogs and they usually charge more.
Also you might lose security deposit.
It might depend on the dog, what kind of activity level he is used to, if he is used to a cage during the day, the student’s schedule, proximity of apartment to campus and a park. Whether the school is in a city or rural area.
@ECmotherx2 - Wow, who wouldn’t love go go to a college with pet dorms??!! Is that Eckerd or someplace else?
My good friend’s daughter found a dog roaming the streets in her junior year. Took it in, brought it home five hours north to her parents. The dog was roaming loose because it had a chronic medical problem. Thousands of dollars of vet bills quickly piled up, but the dog recovered.
The dog is happy, and the daughter decided to bring the dog back to college for senior year. She was living off campus with a boyfriend. She loves the dog, but it requires a lot of walking, vet bills, food, etc… Was it ideal for the dog to be living like this? The dog is well loved, but the daughter and the boyfriend split up, she was left to shoulder all the dog’s care, etc… I’m not sure it was best for the dog, but the dog certainly helped the daughter cope.
It’s a LOT of work owning a pet. Think about how much time your child can actually spend with the pet, and put the pet’s quality of life first. They aren’t just there for our pleasure, especially not an intelligent animal like a dog.
@Riversider is this about YOUR kid? Or someone else’s?
@TheGreyKing, yes, my experience has been with Eckerd College and pets and has been very positive. A number of other colleges allow pets as well.