Questions About Having An Australian Shepherd By Myself

by Kenneth
(Molde)

Hello, I've been thinking about getting a dog for a few years now, and after doing the research, I've found that the Aussie fits my personality and activity-level perfectly. Although I do have some concerns;

I live by myself, and I'm working between 16-30hrs a week. And I'm worried it will get super bored while I'm at work, and I know they get bored easily and get destructive when not regularly challenged mentally and physically.
I'm also worried that my varied work schedule will cause separation anxiety (I work either mornings or evenings), since it never really knows when I'm going out.

Now I'll go into some detail about how my surroundings are, and how my free time is spent. I live in a two story house, where I'm renting the 2nd floor (about 73 square meters), it has a huge back yard. I have the ability to tie him up with a long leash outside while I'm at work, and if I get a bike I'll be able to bike home and take him for a quick walk on my lunchbreak.

I live 5 minutes away from a big beach/park, and I'm surrounded by mountains to go on long walks on. I'm not too fond of being around other people, so the dog will basically be my best friend (which is what I want :)), and my freetime will go exclusively go to training and spending time with the dog.

I like exercise and going hiking, and as said I will be training him alot, and challenging him mentally.

So my question is, does it sound like the dog will have enough physical and mental activity for me to leave it alone 6-8 hours a day, 2-5 days a week?

Thanks in advance for answers :)

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