please advise a potential new dog owner

[thriftychicken]

Hi ,
After waiting years the time now seems to be right to get a dog . I have had dogs before but a long time ago and never a puppy .
Its my 40th birthday coming up and dh wants to get me the dog as his present to me but he seems to think a puppy is the best option .
I think we will be looking for a small non moulting breed , a poodle , bichon or a maltese , possibly a yorkie .

I am thinking that an older dog may suit us better because i really dont want the house wrecked . I am happy to put in the work with toilet training, i walk everywhere and will be at home all day but its the chewing and dismantling of my house that i dont want to deal with .

So , please tell me the truth . How much damage can a small puppy do ? Am I right in thinking that most puppies will wreck the place ? Even small breeds ? I want to make the right choice for us and the dog !

I keep seeing puppy pictures and my heart melts !

[tabulahrasa]

They chew a lot, but, it tends to be stuff rather than the house or furniture really.

Things lying around are fun to chew, couches not so much...

There was a poster the other day where their puppy destroyed some flooring in a couple of minutes, but usually when you hear of things like that it's because they've been left loose alone in a room and have had hours to do it.

Yes, you'll get more general wear and tear and dirt...but chewing up a carpet or a chair leg takes time.

[frenchiepup]

I know I've been very lucky with my french bulldog puppy. He is now 6 months old and (touch wood) hasn't chewed anything other than his toys, and has been reliably house trained since he was 3-4 months. We have crate trained him so he has only ever had supervised access to the house

[Panicmode1]

I have a 9 month old golden retriever who I've had from 8 weeks - and touch wood, so far, the only thing that she has chewed are her toys. She was crate trained, but we now don't bother putting her in there - she goes in if she wants to, and I leave her for up to 3 hours, with toys, Kongs etc, and make sure that she has plenty of exercise and stimulation. Toilet training took a few weeks and was difficult, but we have hard floors downstairs and that made it easier, although it did seem relentless (but looking back she was a very quick learner - she only did two poos in the house, both in the first couple of days).

But they are bloody hard work - the first few weeks were utter hell and I was worried that we'd (I'd!) made a huge mistake.....but she's now settling down and I love her to pieces, and the children adore her (DH still getting there!).

[Greenkit]

Have you thought of a whippet?

Clean
Dont smell
Need short walks
Quite cat like
Quiet
Good family pet
Easy to learn

[LeChien]

Our first dog (jrt) destroyed our kitchen. She pulled up the Lino, chewed the table legs, used to jump and hang from the curtains.
It was exactly as a PP said, she was left alone for 3-4 hours a day when we worked.

Subsequent dogs have been crate trained. The Labrador was amazing and never chewed anything. Spaniel was more likely to find things and swallow them (including a fruit shoot lid which had to be removed in an emergency op on New Year's Day. He was/is a chewer, but we make sure he has lots of toys.

[thriftychicken]

ah well maybe a puppy wouldnt be the hell i'd imagined then . Panicmode , was it the toilet training that was hellish with yours ?
Greenkit , love whippets but the reason for considering the breeds i mentioned is that ds2 has allergies . He was originally allergic to dogs , but now at 16 he has been fine when we have looked after sil's dog . we look after her quite regularly , a jrt x bichon and hes fine . I know theres a chance a different dog might not be ,so i thought id be best going for one that is deemed lower allergy . I would have had a dog years ago if it wasnt for the allergies as i love them

[tabulahrasa]

Oh no, puppies are hell...they just don't tend to actually eat your house, lol

[thriftychicken]

in what way are they hell tabularasa ? I need to know this stuff ! It was actually that pic of the ripped up lino on here that made me think an older dog was a better option !

[pigsDOfly]

Another one here with crate trained puppy but I was very luck with my puppy and with her breeder as she was crate trained, had met a lot of different people at breeders house and was already starting on her house training when I got her at 8 weeks.

She never chewed anything that wasn't her own toys, house trained really quickly, slept through the night from the first night etc etc. However, puppy was never left alone loose in the house until she was trustworthy.

If puppy is supervised or in crate it's pretty much impossible for it to 'eat' your house.

They're not all hell. But they are all a lot of hard work and commitment.

A small puppy can't be left in the first weeks either, which is something that needs to be considered as well.

[insanityscatching]

Eric has never been much of a chewer although if he gets access to dirty laundry he chews dirty pants and socks (but only those worn by me or dd's) He never gets the opportunity so it's not a big deal tbh.
Eric as a puppy was a PITA, he was into everything, needed constant attention, nipped like crazy, was permanently under my feet but he did house train easily. It's reasonably shortlived though because as a small dog he was pretty much an adult at a year old and he has been so much easier since then.

[Panicmode1]

thrifty - it was combining the Christmas holiday (would't have been my choice, was just when the litter was ready) with the excitement of a puppy who wasn't toilet trained, four manically overexcited children and a household recovering from flu. Although she didn't chew 'stuff' she was incredibly nippy, jumpy, and scared my 4 year old who was at 'jump and nip' height. She seemed to take forever to get the concept of weeing outside, even though I spent forever trying to get her to wee on a trigger word and gave her HUGE amounts of praise if she went outside.....she did get there eventually, but it felt like forever - and I didn't ditch the puppy pads fast enough - should never have used them, but the breeder had them and I thought it would help - it didn't!

Puppy training classes were hard because she was the worst behaved puppy - she just wanted to run around and play with all of the other dogs, not concentrate on what she was supposed to be doing (all of the others did - but they were all much smaller breeds; retrievers obviously mature later, but part of their nature is just to be overly friendly!).....

I had read shelf loads of books before getting a dog, talked to owners, friends, people who were massively pro, massively con and tried to get as much information as I could; I thought I was prepared - but I wasn't really.

[tabulahrasa]

Read the thread titled - when does it get better?

They need to go out during toilet training about every twenty minutes and you can be stuck out there for 10 to 15 minutes while they do nothing, then they'll pee as soon as you come in and while you clean that up, they'll either go again, find something you thought they couldn't reach to destroy or decide you're playing the best game ever and either try to wrestle the sponge from you or start biting your toes.

Anything that moves is for chasing, so you spend a fair amount of time with a puppy clamped on to trousers while you work out how to get it off without making it a more exciting game for them.

Children are hugely exciting so they get chased and bitten more than anyone else.

Did I mention the biting? It hurts btw, their teeth are like tiny needles.

Things you never really noticed were lying around (even in a pretty tidy house) get stolen and chewed...and in my case you suddenly realise all your electrical cables are much more accessible than you thought when the puppy tries to chew through them.

[thriftychicken]

Thanks for all the insight , think I'm getting the picture ????

[somebodypoisonedthewaterhole]

I think that there are pros and cons for both puppies and rehoming older dogs. The idea of giving an older dog a home is wonderful, but there can be issues there too, e.g separation anxiety, nervousness, etc - it is not always possible to know why the dog requires rehoming in the first place. Puppies mean you can override the uncertainty and do your best to mold them into the dog that you want which fits your lifestyle, but there is the toilet training and ALL the other training to do! If you are very consistent and clear in your training, this does not need to be too difficult, and think the way they think in order to get it right. Neither of my dogs, current or previous chewed the house or anything in it. They were taught from the start that if the chew desire came on to search for one of their own toys (by stopping the wrong behaviour - chewing something of mine - and encouraging the right behaviour - shoving one of their own toys in their mouth!)

Whichever path you choose, there will be tricky times and frustrating times, but at the end of the day, you will have a new friend and that is what counts!