[CaptainCrunch]

It doesn't sound like your ready. The walking thing to me would be worrying, you have to get up early and take a dog for a good walk and not just a poop rain or shine. If you don't and you leave him alone all day all of that pent up energy will lead to a destructive dog who's bored.

you also have to take it for a good walk at night, preferably before it turns in for the first time, not just a go out and poop. A restless dog at night will keep everyone up.

You do have vet bills, I think you can cover for some of those with insurance but pet insurance isn't cheap.

Good food for a dog isn't cheap either.

If you get a puppy you really need to get to some training classes as well.

Kids are terrible at promising to take care of a dog and then forgetting about it once it leaves the cute puppy stage leaving it to the parent.

Ask yourself the question if you think that bringing a dog into your home is fair to the dog? Dogs crave a lot of attention and companionship. A lot of exercise and stimulation, its a big commitment, not just a cool thing to do to make them happy.

I would love to have a dog, I'm a huge dog person, but my life demands would be unfair to a dog.

If your worried about the cost don't get one
If your worried about the walking duties don't get one(Walking a dog though is one of the simplest yet best things in the world. Especially if your dog sees you as a pal.

The shelters don't need any more dogs that were bought to make kids happy.