tell me about your puppy's day, and what they get up to......

[misshoohaa]

We have been contemplating getting a puppy for a long while now and are toying with taking the plunge in the next few months.
We have decided on a Labrador as I would like a dog that is family friendly and relatively obedient, we are of course planning on training the new addition when he/she arrives.

My question is about what your puppy gets up to on a daily basis, ie, how much they sleep or cause havoc around the house?

We have two DC, 3.5 and 6 months, so there is a slight concern about the baby and the puppy getting in each others way, but we have a big garden so can take the puppy our regularly and easily, and my husband works from home so we will take the dog out at least twice a day for walks or a play in the garden. We're very willing and happy to get out and about (luckily we have a dog friendly park and beach a stone's throw from our gaff!)

My thinking is that in the day time someone will generally always be around to keep the dog company and if under my supervision the baby/puppy combination doesn't work then the dog can easily be contained to one end of the house where my husbands office is, so will have him for company and can cause mischief down that end of the house so the baby is safe.

So just curious, if your puppy is well exercised how much time are they awake and requiring your attention during the day? I'm not expecting his to sit quietly in the corner but would like to gauge an understanding of the kind of 'routine' puppy's have!

We're keen for a puppy as I would be concerned about a rescue dogs history and breed with the children, and feel that a pure breed lab would be a good solid family dog.

[VivaLeBeaver]

I've got a puppy and a 2 yo dog.

They hardly ever sleep. They get walked for an hour off lead over fields every day and then spend most of the restof the day tearing round the house and garden wrestling with each other.

They maybe snooze for 30 mins mid afternoon.

They're still going full pelt round the house now. They'll be tired by about 9pm.

[Isthatwhatdemonsdo]

I've got a two yr old retriever and a 10 month old black lab. They get walked together twice a day. Usually on a massive field throwing a ball. Puppy slept for 3 hrs after her jaunt this morning. They both sleep after walks. Puppy is much more hyper than 2 yr old.

[misshoohaa]

Would it be nuts to combine baby/dog? I am lucky in that most of the time my husband is working from home so the puppy can tear around his end of the house whilst he is working but there will be the odd occasion where I'll have the 2 DC's and the dog?

[Isthatwhatdemonsdo]

Puppies are extremely hard work. I would think very carefully. I would never do the puppy thing again.

[ender]

Had my lab from a puppy, put me off puppies for life . Having young children as well would have been impossible, he'd have gone back to breeder. Labs are puppies for a long time, mine started to calm down when he was 3 yrs old.
2nd dog is a rescue mongrel, no problems at all.

[Taz1212]

My 6 month old puppy actually sleeps quite a lot. He gets up at 6:30 when I do and then after his pee, decides it's far too early to be up and goes back to sleep until 8ish. At 8:30 we go on a walk to get DD to school. At 9:00 we are home- he usually needs popped in the bath to clean his legs and underbelly and then is downstairs and fast asleep until 11ish. He'll play until lunchtime then potter about until 1:15ish then sleep again until 2:30. We do the school run again at 3 then another bath. He'll nap again from 4-5 then crates havoc until 7:30 when we give him a very short distance wise walk where he gets to just potter about sniffing things to his heart's content. He's then asleep by 8.

He's very much like a baby on a set routine.

[KiwiJude]

Our boxer boy is almost seven months old now. Puppies are hard work, and I'm in the "never again" camp as well. They take up a lot of time - I work from home, the downtime on account of Dpup was significant and, as a result, stressful.

Now he's easy:
6am wakes up
Up and doing (we have 1.5 acres that he charges around on)
9-11ish sleeps unless going to doggy day care
up and doing
7ish walk and/or play
8.30-9ish settles down for snooze next to us
10.30 in bed, getting ready for the next day

He's still on three meals a day because he's so active, esp when he goes to doggy day care.

He's been to a foundation obedience class with DH which helped them and their relationship enormously.

[LokiBuddyBoo1]

When I first had ddog at 8 weeks old he slept for most of the day would wake up go toilet have 30 minutes of madness eat then back to sleep and repeat this throughout the day. He was a relatively easy puppy didn't chew anything he shouldn't have was quick to toilet train and flew through obedience training.
Now at 1 year old he still likes to sleep but being a little dog who plays daily with a pair of whippets, trying to keep up with them really tires him out.

[JoffreyBaratheon]

Pup is 16 weeks - the third puppy I've had in my adult life (my last dog was 2 when I got her) and have to admit I'm also in the never again camp! We only got a (rescue) pup as my neighbour has an elderly dog and we have a bit of shared yard before our gardens start - and I have an old cat. So the rescue recommended we waited til they had a pup. If I'd had no cat and if it wasn't for next door's mutt, I would defo have had a fully grown dog. And met one or two lovely ones in rescue when we were looking.

She is up around 6:30.
Poo, pee, potter then back to bed (unusual and very lucky in this respect - it is not usual!)
Wakes again about 9 - poo, pee, something we call 'bite fight' (puppy biting) - we train her in the odd 5 minutes a couple of times a day, but ther attention span is not great so it is 5 mins max. She may sleep again for a while in the late morning. Then she goes into super mental overdrive when she wakes til about 3 pm when she crashes and then annoyingly woken by kids coming in from school - she walks in the evening and used to sleep all evening but this past week has decided to only fall asleep around 10 pm.

Sometimes she gets a daytime walk, too. Plus a long play or two in the garden. Out every hour (and every time body language threatens) to poo or pee but after 7 weeks is still not close to being housetrained. So I had a very knackered carpet. Even if you're exhausted at 11pm - or 1 am - or whatever - if she shows a sign of wanting to go you have to race out in the freezing cold (where she then forgets about toileting and prances around after leaves, or hears a plane and gets distracted, or sees something else...)

It is utterly exhausting. And she sleeps through the night unlike most, probably.

My last dog was 2 when I got her - so came fully trained, fully housetrained, with a known temperament, settled in her ways, etc. Any puppy is an unknown quantity. There is also the stress of having to go out with them every single time to check they toilet (and reward if they do) - my older dog I just opened the door, let her out for five mins, then let her back in. No chance of that for months, yet, here. And the fact you have to puppyproof every inch of house and garden. TBH I wouldn't enjoy policing a puppy with a young child. Most pups go through a puppy biting stage - which may last weeks or months where they can give a painful nip and won't stop whatever you do. Mine also has a couple of mad hours a day but we have calmed that with the magic of Pig Ears. Stopping a toddler eating pig ears would be fun.

[ProcrastinaRemNunc]

Ours is 7 months. She spends a large proportion of the day training me and the rest stealing baubles (then training me to give her a treat for either dropping or retrieving them ).

She wakes at around six, walks for around half an hour and spends a lot of time zooming, stealing chewing and occasionally napping. She loves training me, so we have several sessions a day, through which she's learned around twenty commands so far.

In the early days, she had half to hourly fully supervised loo breaks outside. With so little opportunity for accidents and so much opportunity for praise, she house trained quite quickly.

I have found puppy raising to be an absolute joy! Our others are rescues and much as I love them, the pup is our baby and much like babies, the fun ameliorates the trials. Be prepared to be busy and enjoy!

[Gingerfudge]

We have a six month whippet
Wakes at 6.30 by us, says a sleepy hello and returns to sleep.
8.30 Training walk 60-90mins round trip
Sleep till 2.30 - training walk for another 60-90 min
Sleep till dc's come home from school and the witching time kicks in.
Plays and minces around till 9.00pm

He sleeps an enormous amount, has random moments of total mischief and restlessness so can't be left alone, we're getting better at handling his crazy times.

I'm in the wouldn't get another puppy camp too, the training has been really hard work. If it was just me it would be a lot easier, dcs struggle with consistency. He's lovely but never again.

[NCIS]

I have to say my Border Collie did sleep a lot as a puppy, he still does at 17 months, he's asleep on my feet as I type. I do a lot of training with him though although not massively long walks.

[basildonbond]

I've loved having a puppy and would do it again in a heartbeat

Ours has been an absolute joy and having had two non-NT boys there's no comparison- the boys were way harder

Yes it's a little like having a newborn but it's on fast-forward so the tricky phases pass much more quickly

It helps that we'd done a lot of preparation and puppy-proofed the ground floor so he had very little opportunity to go wrong

He did sleep a lot (2 hour naps throughout the day and slept through all night quite young) which helped. I didn't get a lot of work done in the beginning but he's perfectly happy now to chill while I get on with stuff

[VeryStressedMum]

I have an 11 week old pup and I'm exhausted. I'd totally forgotten how hard puppies are. I have a lab too. I spend most of my day in the garden waiting for toilet to happen then spend the rest of my day supervising mad pup, playing with him, training etc I can't get anything done. It's getting easier now after a couple of weeks and he's sleeping through the night but I was waking up to take him to the toilet for the first week and half. And the biting! I'd totally forgotten how bad it is. But he's very cute when he's asleep
Mt next dog will be an adult dog...

[mckenzie]

We have a 13 week old Tibetan Terrier and its very similar to a baby.
He wakes, plays, eats then falls asleep again. Then we go out for a short walk, he comes back and sleeps. Then he eats, plays, sleeps some more.
Then plays, another short walk, the sleeps/plays pretty much until bedtime.
We also fit in quiet grooming time, training time and cuddle time every day.
Ive waited 25 yrs for this and I'm loving it but. Doing it all with young children..... Absolutely no way.

[misshoohaa]

I think we're up for it! Sounds hard work and exhausting but my husband is desperate for a dog and I know would be a great puppy daddy..... His work is pretty flexible and I think I would enjoy the walking and training side.

I'll have to ponder..... Not to thrilled about sleepless nights but hubby can do the dog, I'll do the baby!

[mckenzie]

Our puppy goes from about 10.30 pm to 7/7.15 am usually.
He has done right from day 1 with us at 10 weeks.

I think if you go into it with your eyes wide open you might be ok. I just see how 'playful' our puppy is with my much older DCs and I know for sure I'd Be concerned about him being in a room with younger children.
They teeth so they bite, just the same as children but with potentially different results if you're not quick to insert a teething toy.
I'm sorry to be negative (I'm normally a really positive person, honestly) but I'm just being honest about our situation.

Being a puppy owner is brilliant though!

[Droflove]

OP, I heard the alarm bells go off when I read your post. I have a 4 mt old cocker spaniel pup, a soon to be 2 yr old and a 3 month old baby. I can only advise you not to do it. The plus of our situation is that:

• We really wanted a dog, I have wanted one all my life
• I work at home and there is nearly always someone here
• We live in a big old farmhouse with suitable rooms to train her in and 5 acres for her to run free in and play outside
• My baby is not yet crawling so the pee and poo everywhere, facelicking, jumping on baby face, accidental clawing only happens to my 2 yr old.

The minus is:

• I want to cry most days when they are all yelling, crying and barking incessantly at the same time. The stress she has added to the house is unbelievable.
• She attacks my toddler (in play but it is sometimes very upsetting for him). She is now strong enough to knock him even though she is tiny
• She undos everything I do with laundry
• She pees EVERY 10 MINS sometimes. I am so so so so fed up of cleaning up wee
• I have to get up earlier than both the babies to go clean out the back hall where she sleeps
• I'm exhausted with the kids too (despite a nanny who helps with the dog and kids while I work) so when she nips my babies toes (again in play!) and I have to walk around the room with my baby above my head I just want to kill her. Sorry but its true
• I simply haven't been able to enjoy this dog owning thing that I have been looking forward to forever
• She chewed through our phone wires on Christmas eve leaving both my husband and I unable to complete our (self employed) work during a desperately busy time and I was unable to Skype my family to show them the babies on Christmas day

It has quite frankly been hell. And this is a really lovely natured, small, and very smart little dog. I know she will be amazing as a family pet when she is better trained, and can be trusted for more than a minute with peeing/nipping/jumping. If I had a baby about to start crawling, I would absolutely NOT consider a puppy.

Sorry for the essay, I came onto this chatroom to let it off my chest how awful my first steps into dog ownership have been. Totally my fault for choosing to do it:( I would seriously consider getting rid of her but I really do want a dog and couldn't cope with going through this again.

-

[constantlyconfused]

I would personally not combine babies and puppies. I have a puppy and a teen .Puppy is very boisterous/bitey .I would never trust her around little kids let alone babies. Going to the toilet would become a military operation . I'd get a ready trained gentle breed cut out the hard part!

[Gingerfudge]

Our puppy went through a stage of attacking ds (10) it was seriously upsetting, the attack would come from nowhere and the more ds cried and screamed in fear the more enjoyable Dpup found it. The situation between Ds and Dpup eventually calmed but ds really wanted a dog, he really wanted to improve things, he knew the pup was just being a pup and that he needed to remain calm but had he been 3.5 years old, the experience would have been horrific for him. They are lovely but they are hellish too.

[insanityscratching]

Eric is a year old now and a delight but the puppy days were difficult even though by all standards Eric was an easy pup. He was house trained within a couple of weeks and he's never chewed and went through the night from the off but it was relentless for a few months.
I've got five children and two with autism but Eric was much more time consuming and difficult than the five dc put together. The nipping phase was awful, he seemed to target youngest and smallest dd and he hurt and she was 11 at the time.I had to move more things and use more gates because of Eric than I even needed to for the dc too as he was and still is into everything.
I would never have coped with Eric and a baby or toddler tbh the logistics of keeping them apart and both supervised and entertained wouldn't have worked. Initially Eric needed taking out to pee every 20 to 30 minutes which is time consuming when you nip out by yourself and the pup but if you have toddlers and babies who you can't really leave inside and would be distracting outside then it makes it absolute hell.
If we have another dog we will be having an adult dog I think.

[mckenzie]

Droflove, so sorry to hear about your situation. A mantra I had to keep chanting with the first born DC springs to mind..
You need some bad days to,recognise the good ones.
I hope you do get some good days with your menagerie.

Gingerfudge, selfishly, your post gives me hope as our puppy is 13 weeks old and DD, aged 9, is getting the rough end of his mad 5 minutes. She's being really patient, the trainer has taught her to only say "mum I need help" and to resist the urge to squeal or cry out but I know she finds it hard, and sad.
It will get easier won't it? He is such a delightful thing in all other ways.

[JoffreyBaratheon]

I think only someone who has coped with puppy "play" biting, day in day out, knows the reality. If I had never had a dog, and saw some of the more honest replies here, I'd probably kid myself my dog wouldn't be like that or that people are exaggerating, or that I could cope. But the combination of a puppy going through this phase (and some are far worse than others, and you can't control that) and a baby/toddler - would be an utter nightmare.

My kids are 12 and upwards in age and find it tough some days. I can't imagine subjecting a baby to the OTT behaviour puppies/teenage dogs can show. An adult rescue with a known history and lots of testing, with lots of info about their temperament would be ideal. A puppy? Not in a million years.

My niece has only ever owned one dog and her dog didn't even have the puppy biting phase so if you ask some people that would be their response too. "Oh I'd do it again in a second - it was easy!" But that is in fact unusual.

OP, don't gloss over the negative responses here. Incidentally, I work from home and am a very experienced dog owner. It's not something I'd do again.