I agree with adopting a senior dog or possibly consider even fostering to get a feel for owning a dog while keeping your busy schedule. Check your local shelters that have a fostering program. I imagine there's often need for senior dog fosters and you never know when your perfect match will come along plus you'll be helping out your local rescue. If you are away for more than 5 hours you should consider a sitter or dog walking ( rover :) or having a trusted friend or neighbor check on your dog daily. Hope this helps. Dogs are great but as you realize timing is important. If you're unable to adopt @ this point please also consider volunteering @ local no kill animal shelter where they'll likely welcome your assistance & any hours you can sporadically commit to. It will be a win- win and while you're volunteering you can be considering best dog for your current situation.

As well as considering age overall dog health & breed one can take into account weather. If extremely hot or cold weather one should consider as we too as owners how long or what time of day best, for example if going to be 100 best to walk in morning or later evenings she sidewalks generally cooler. In contrast if frigid temps best to walk shorter duration and when sun shining if possible. Happy trails!

Mixed breeds are good for us & I've heard many vets concur regarding fewer health problems typically with mixed breeds. We've had 2 excellent rescue dogs from no kill shelters and they have overall great health. We've had golden retrievers and they're beautiful dogs but unfortunately later in life often are more prone to tumors. Do your homework and trust you'll find a perfect forever friend!

More walks should be helpful also if in a hot climate dogs dig to find cool soil to lay in so we used a splash pool which helped.