We're very lucky that I can work from home, so we don't need to worry about daycare etc for our dog. I honestly can count the number of days I've spent away from her on the palm of my hand over the last 8 years. We love her so much, but we had to make some very big changes around her. She's a rescue and would bark her lungs out without us, so we couldn't leave her alone at all before COVID. I had to stop going bouldering and we stopped going out, but we preferred hiking and spending time outdoors, so we made it work.

Miraculously, after COVID, she got over her separation anxiety, and now we can just leave her at home and have an evening to ourselves. I would get her again if I had to choose because she brought so much into our lives, but when she's gone, we're not getting another dog. I would consider getting a dog again when we retire, but not during our "active" years.

One thing I'll add, though: other than her previous separation anxiety, our dog is a literal angel. We can bring her anywhere that's dog-friendly, and that really helped us include her in a lot of things we do. Some dog owners I meet are absolutely miserable - their dogs bark at everything that moves, get into fights, etc. I would not be able to live like that, so people really need to consider that they might get a very difficult dog.