This is great advice.
When you say different activities, do you mean walking/bringing the pup in different locations or for example, my elders would play with him at their home with toys that are only available there, while the gf and I bring it to the dog park?
Yes. That way each person has a sense of “ownership” of the dog, and is less likely to feel left out. The dog also benefits, because it won’t become bored doing the same things with everyone, and has two different homes to call its territory. With our dog, only my mother took him to a particular park for swims and to play fetch (he was terrible at it, didn’t see the point). My daughter took him to the park behind our house for runs, because off-leash was OK. My wife spoiled him with food. And he knew that I was the best person to give him butt-massages.
With this in mind, I think I am a bit less concerned, but still have to figure out logistics.
However, I think sending the pup over to my parent’s is just a matter of waking up a few hours earlier for work everyday. Which isn’t out of the question.
Usually the person that feeds them and walks them is the one they view as their pack leader or “mom” or “dad” or master. That’s what I notice. It doesn’t matter how much play time and snuggles and petting you give them. They always stick on the ones that take care of their basic needs.
Wha??? 
Also. It can also depend on the relationship of you and your family. My older dog is super territorial at our house against family members even if they’ve been over hudrens of times. He barks at them when they come. Younger dog is the opposite and love people and try’s to run up to snuggles and get them to pet her. The older dog however never barks or growls at my late grandma or young babies. Some Dogs are really smart like that.
My older dogs who didn’t like people who he considers in his “pack” will be aggressive towards people at my house and only at my house. Or just outside where he considers still part of his territory. He will however cool down if I invite guest to sit on my couch and bring Them food. He somehow understands what it means. He also will not be aggressive if they spend the night and wake up the next day. It took. While for my gf to be accepted, now she also cares and walks them while I’m away. And annoyingly feeds them too much snacks and treats when I ask her not to.
I send them to doggie resorts when I’m away for extremely busy. Or I feel like giving them some time to run around in open fields. They give out these adorable daily reports with daily pictures.
Be prepared to spend extra time and care and patience. My dog won’t eat his dog food sometimes. And I have to prepare him healthy dog meals which every owner should do to keep them healthy.
But they are so much fun to have and bring so much joy in my life. I’m just in a better mood them I see them.
And my dog max with my gf. She always gives them food so they bother her and begs her more she thinks they like her more but they just want food lol
I’m a bit late to the conversation, but here are a few of my thoughts as a relatively new dog owner (I adopted my tugou as a pup a bit over a year ago) and as someone somewhat involved in dog stuff in Taiwan:
You mean the relationship of the dog and my family?
This is kind of the opposite of what @scupper said, but I assume it depends on personality and the breed. My sister’s dog listens to anyone that he probably deems not a threat. My aunt’s dog only listens to…my uncle.
I’m well aware that just because I can have relatives as safety nets and pet sitters, doesn’t give me a free pass on go, but @Scupper does say it’s doable, which puts me at ease. I am well aware of the consequences. I don’t think there’s really a perfect scenario here, just things we can do to not make the dog miserable or make our lives miserable bc of the dog.
The idea at the moment would be to drop off the dog with my mother or my uncle in the morning before work. One is on my too far on my commute route and the other is completely out of the way. Both would require me to be up earlier than 50 mins before I have to be in the office.
Thanks for your feedback boss man. Yah, lots and lots of info online, but not too much info on adopting and raising one in Taiwan 
You can also consider doggie day care as an option, depending on your budget.
No, your relationship with your family. Like my older know whos who’s in the family in their way. Especially in the early days when your dog is trying to understand where he fits in. My dogs know who’s who by how you interact. Dogs are pretty instinctual about dominance. Have you been with a family with dogs? They know full well who’s the dominant ones parents (even one specific parent) vs the children. Even though my gfs been living almost permanently in my house for close to a year now. My dogs have accepted her and even are very nice to her. Mostly because she gives them so much treats it annoys me. She doesn’t understand proportion…yeah it’s a small treat for you, but they’re small lol. And she always says they like her more and even listen to her commands more. But they still will growl at her if they don’t like what she’s doing and feels threatened or they see her doing something to me or my smaller dog. My dogs would never do that to me. They know who’s their real owner even as she spends more time with them than me for a couple months now.
My again 2 two dogs have polar personalities. One doesn’t like dogs and just jump on humans and try to cuddle and have them pet her. Other one is territorial and even gets mad if he sees you do something he interprets as harming my smaller dogs or even me.
Like I can’t get my dogs to pee on the pad. I tried so many that has scents to make them want to etc. and sprays to spray on them. They just won’t. They actually just lay on them as mats on the floor or rip them up if they’re bored lol. They need to be walked. My smaller dog has a much smaller bladder as for some reason drinks water like crazy. Has accidents all the time. It was almost every day as a puppy. And very frequent when she’s young. Much better now but maybe still once a week. She likes to do it on expensive furniture for some reason lol. They’re like high class spoiled dogs. They know which sofas are the really expensive ones and likes them lol.
Ok, so I got another question.
What about adopting a young dog maybe 3-4 years old? To my understanding, dogs that aren’t considered puppies wouldn’t necessarily run into the major issue of them peeing/pooping in the apartment while we’re gone. Of course, I know there’s no perfect world and it still does take some time for them to get used to their surroundings, but it’s less likely than puppies.
Does anyone have any suggestions of where we can go to look for doggies?
I know of PACK, Neihu Shelter down on Tan Mei Street and the Zhong/Yong He shelter up in the mountains behind Nanshijiao MRT. Any others I should know of?
Actually, in my family’s situation my parents and I fed and walked the dog on a regular basis. It was apparent that he saw the three of us as roughly equal in the family hierarchy, and then our daughter a bit lower down. He also clearly understood that when we were all at my parents’ house, they were the top authority, and at my house, I was.
Sounds OK. Older dogs have a more stable temperament, are trainable as the others or have already been trained.
There is the shelter in Xindian, plus independent doggie organizations. I can send you the FB link if convenient.
Taking in both your and Andrew’s advice into consideration. Having knowing that it could way either way is much better than being in the dark about. Thanks!
Yes, please do Auntie Peng. I’d greatly appreciate it.
I just browsed through PACK’s website and some of the doggies have been there for so long. I hope if all things align, the gf and I can bring one of them home that have been there for awhile. It would probably mean the world to them.
After some deliberation with my friend who’s fostered all kinds of dogs. I think we may let fate decide on what kind of breed we adopt.
I was wondering if the same would apply to cats… I think I shouldn’t have one but I always wanted to. Actually I had an angry black cat when I was young… ah, Peluso… anyway, would an adult cat require less attention and behave a little better with fish tanks, pillows and so than a kitten?
Yes, at my family members house my dog is not aggressive at all vs at my house when people come.
@ranlee I don’t think we are contradicting each other. Just that dogs have a way of knowing and they seem to instinctively know or need/want to know “pack order” or whatever you call it. I think they will know you are their owner at the end of the day unless it ends up your parents taking care of them pretty much.
Older dogs could be a good options at 2-4. They are not “old” but not helpless pups. They are probably left by families who at the end of the day can’t take care of them but they would probably be potty trained/ crate trained and such. Plus everyone wants a puppy but they are a lot and I mean a lot of work.
Good luck, hopefully we’re not freaking you out. Having dogs is just wonderful. They are my best friends. Sadly, Taiwan or at least Taipei city is not the best place for dogs. We used to have so much land my dogs can just run around. Now they do yoga for exercise
Yah, I may have misinterpreted it a bit wrong. I understand what you both are saying though.
I’m a bit more at ease knowing this is an option. We really didn’t want to bring a doggie home and not give it the attention needed.
After some more research, I’m well aware of the energy level and weight factor. The gf isn’t as in shape as I am and might get dragged along walks if the dog is heavy and has high energy.
I’d rather hear both sides of the story. I know being responsible for something or someone is never one sided. I am excited for the challenge.
Remember weather is also a factor with walking them. Sometimes it’s annoying taking them out when it rains non stop for days
Yeah, I don’t mind rain. Cycling or scootering through it is a pain in the ass. Components can get f-ed up. Putting on that rain suit on the scoots is annoying af if you don’t have a roof over you to put on said rain suit. Taking the dog out for a walk in the park is…a walk in the park compared to the conditions I have ridden in.
What I’m trying to say is, I don’t mind getting wet. (That’s what she said)
Good trick is to find a park under an overpass when it’s raining.
Not sure whether that image is gratifying or depressing. Maybe a combination of both? If it was in the U.S., it would probably be a homeless tent city under an overpass.
The storefronts are awesome for that…unless it is typhoon weather and one literally can’t stand. If it is too hot or rainy, they offer protection. You can make one or two circuits, depending on the time available and energy. And afterwards just wipe feet/take off raincoat.
If you want to be scared…Most parks are fine but you have to be wary of dumb dog owners. Interactions with other dogs must be carefully supervised and it gets exhausting not to be able to relax. Yes, even in doggie parks. So socialization of the dogs is vital, for their safety and yours.
