Dogs are sentient beings. Their world revolves around their humans. If they are left alone for long periods of time on a regular basis, they can become anxious, mistrusting, depressed, bored, nervous and even destructive. They need to interact with humans and other dogs. Having two dogs so that they can keep each other company would help some as will having a doggy door so that they have access to a safe, enclosed yard. Having a neighbor or friend come over to walk them, play with them and check on them will also help, but being alone 5 days a week all day including the commute time to and from work and then errands or grocery shopping after work or whatever, makes the separation time just far longer than is possible for a happy well adjusted dog who has a meaningful life.
If your wife worked part time or could take the dog to work with her, then I'd say go for it. But dog's lives are short. You want to give them as much attention, time and experiences that you can and spend as much time with them as possible. If she worked and you were home and then you worked and she were home (opposite shifts), that would easily work, but that is obviously not the scenario here.
You have to look upon dogs as your children, because in many ways, that is exactly what they are. They have the mind of a toddler like 3 to 4 years old. Do you want to leave a child alone for 8 to 10 hours a day five days a week? Not so much. Same for your dog. If at some point, your wife can work part time and you get two dogs so they have a companion, that would be a better situation. But like little kids, dogs require a lot of maintenance, interaction, exercise, stimulus, care and time. There is no point in having a dog if you are not even around a lot the time to enjoy them, bond with them and be 100% committed to them.
Dogs love us and give us everything that they have to give. We pretty much owe them the same in return.
