The reality of getting a puppy

[CJ201]

Seriously considering getting a dog. I've looked into local rescue places but it seems they would rather not rehome to families with young kids so I'm looking into getting a puppy from a KC registered breeder. Can anyone advise me on the realities of getting a puppy and caring for it?

I'm a SAHM but I will be starting a course one day a week from September, I'm
currently not sure how to work around this.

Any advice or insights would be appreciated. I want to make an informed decision. Thank you.

Please avoid deliberate cross breeds. Most likely from puppy farmers or BYB after a bit of cash.
Rescue or pick a breed. KC assured means precious little. KC are toothless and spineless when it comes to regulating breeders. (It’s not that long ago they refused to take the name off their lists of a breeder who allowed siblings to mate, tried to get the puppies out to sleep and then tried to kill them herself.) Go through the breed club.
Also research health issues. Cavs are lovely but prone to SO many health issues that I wouldn’t get one.

Border Terrier (mine just turned 10 yesterday!) he's a cracking little dog! Would happily go up a mountain or sit in the pub as long as he's with us. Or Minature Schnauzer, MIL has one and he's pretty good too! They're both wilful being terriers but once you've trained them they are fabulous! Terriers have personality in spades.

Dogs are a MASSIVE commitment. Puppies even more so.

How do YOU think your day off to do your course is going to work out?

My last dog was med/large - two x 3 mile walks per day plus letting her out for wees.

Current dog is small - 4 x walks per day. Only 15 - 30 mins, but necessary at certain times.

Skipping these isn't possible or fair.

And dogs ain't cheap.

Puppies destroy everything and everywhere is a toilet.

My son and his young family had a beagle. It was a nice dog but terribly hard to train. It would take off the first chance it got and disappear for hours. It was also very food driven and would get into everything. Put me off ever having a beagle. You could open the front door just a bit and he would be gone.

As a mother to adult children and a lifelong dog owner who has raised several puppies, I would take a newborn human over a puppy to contend with. My last beloved dog died last year and my husband and I have decided not to get another one because they are such hard work and neither one of us is up to dealing with it.

Think very, very long and hard before getting a dog.

With an 8 yr old and one day out of home you should be fine. Of course a dog is a big commitment but the pleasure is immeasurable. Beagles owners tell me that they are not particularly sociable or people orientated. They like to be out sniffing/exploring/being with other beagles. I suggest a cockerpoo. Look up what health testing is recommended before you visit any puppies (PRA as a minimum. I'd suggest more). Also crate train the puppy as this will help with toilet training and sleeping. Keep the crate downstairs and sleep next to the crate first night. Second night in the room but bit further away from the puppy. Third night more so. Look up online dog trainer Doggy Dan. You will need someone to visit, feed it lunch until it's at least 6 months old and walk it or let it into the garden and then clean up poop. After 6 months it will need someone to visit during the day and let it out or walk it so it can toilet. Alternatively create pen with a toilet ting area, a food area and the crate area. Not ideal but for one day it's possible. A happy cockerpoo wont want to be alone for a working day though. So having a dog walker or family member to help is best. Good luck. Dogs are fab as long as you pick the right breed and train train train it.

I have a two and a half year old female lab and even though she's much more mature and less hard work

I'm home all day so finding time to train was easy but still hard work. There's so many different methods and I spent hours and hours researching before getting her. Toilet training was a doddle, she's never ever had an accident in the house and took herself to the back door from day two .

I thought I'd puppy proofed the house and explained to dd that she can't leave valuables or treasured things around now but a LOT of things still got chewed in that first year. Most expensive thing being the cable on my vacuum. My own fault for not putting it away before answering the door. She's never cried at night either.

The thing we struggled with was not just being able to go out for the day. Even now she can't be left more than a couple of hours before getting distressed so if we want to out as a family for any length of time it needs pre planning and care organised. (I'm very lucky and have a handful of people who offer to have her)

Aside from the cost of buying her, insurance and food, she's cost me well over another thousand in replacing destroyed items and unplanned vets trips when she's been ill.

I wouldn't change anything and I'd do it all again but as someone whose worked in daycare with several babies and toddlers at once, the puppy was harder. And I didn't have her crying at night or toilet training to do.

Whippets are lovely dogs and make good family pets. Labs are fabulous dogs but working-bred dogs in particular are high-energy and need a substantial amount of physical and mental stimulation - the same goes for working type Spaniels. Show type Labs and Cockers are generally less 'driven' and a better choice for novice owners. Border Terriers can also be cracking little dogs, great personalities, robust and hardy.

Puppies in general are very hard work so you need to be prepared for that. Getting a dog is a massive, life-changing, 12-15 year commitment and shouldn't be taken lightly. It can feel pretty relentless at the start when they're housetraining, teething, chewing, biting, getting into everything etc. They need a lot of input - time, effort, patience and consistency, but you get out what you put in and it is absolutely worth it in the end.

I have a Bearded Collie X. He was a rescue puppy, the vet and trainer think he is X with a Border Collie. He is sociable, intelligent, playful and amazing with children. Recall is very good, he is rarely on the lead. As a puppy he trained quickly and was easily distracted by toys. He was 8 when I had my baby and protected her from the start ( would lie by her cot when taking naps, come and find me if she woke up or cried. He still does this now). He is the most amazing dog. I built up time away from him slowly as a puppy and he requires a good level of exercise but I would consider the Bearded Collie as a breed, they are excellent family dogs.

I've had all manner of dogs over the years.(decades!) Love them. But can honestly say I've only raised ONE who didnt go through a nightmare phase as a pup and/or adolescent.
Different issues with different breeds. But jeez , every pup I've raised there's been a hellish period where I've actually thought Christ, having another baby would've been easier!!
Crate training was my friend as I could at least know puppy was safe while I was trying to sleep and all mine have actually really liked their own little safe den.
But honestly, you have to tell yourself that you WILL have a difficult time before you train them up, which takes a while....sometimes a long while.
Could be housetraining, destructiveness, refusal to recall, barking, digging, clinginess.
There'll be at least one of those.
Get through that and you'll have a friend you adore however!!

If your youngest is 8 there should be no reason you can't adopt. Whereabouts are you? EGLR get some lovely dogs in.

I am a sighthound person - but can be very open to other breeds if they would suit the family but honesty look at a whippet. They are fabulous family pets. Love to play and go out but will snuggle on a sofa and sleep a lot. Not smelly or hairy.

Def not a beagle though. They are a difficult breed.

You need to find a good dog walker/doggy daycare for your one day a week. Will be fine.

Greyhounds & whippets are lovely dogs. Short walks rather than long treks.

Have a CKC who is 5 and super fit and well. However I am bracing myself for that to change in the next few years. Gorgeous dog though recall is always excellent.

Never had a Beagle but had a basset hound as a child. I total agree about the recall issue. He would go after something on the wind and that would be that. Also he was quite smelly. How I loved him though.

Also recommend a female lab.
We have a Male- he is beautiful, intelligent enough ( I was brought up with collies so have a high bar )
He is very, very people orientated. We make a new friend on most walks.
He is very keen on other dogs but is really good at reading another dog's body language so will ignore dogs that are not keen on him.
Hardly barks ( terrible guard dog)
Extremely gentle with children
But, as a Male he is big, MUCH bigger than his sire and dam.
He is huge
Needs a couple of hours exercise a day or he gets bored. Bored = naughty - will take anything he can grab into the garden
If we get a companion dog it will be a female lab.
Very chewy and a git as a puppy.
Fabulous as an adult.

Have a look at your day to day life and what's important for a dog to do for you and then look at the different attributes of the different breeds of dogs that you like.

Don't be tempted to think that you can overcome traits with your good training or that someone you know had one that didn't have those traits. Because you can be sure that your puppy will drive you crazy with it.

I also think stay clear of the mixed 'breeds' breeders. They aren't breeding to further the breed. They are just breeding for profit and chances are they won't be doing any health testing or standing by the quality of their puppy.

Think carefully OP, whilst puppies are adorable they are very time consuming! We had our dog, 7 years or so before we had our children.

The things I remember were, the house training, not easy, lots of accidents etc. The destruction if he was left for a very short period of time, we had carpets up, Lino ripped up etc. Shoes chewed. Etc. All usual puppy things.

Also going out for a whole day, without the dog is impossible, if you want to go on hols boarding fees, and the general cost of injections, vet trips etc. It’s not a decision to be taken lightly.

On the massive plus side they are amazing loyal companions, we loved our boy to bits, heartbroken when he was PTS at 13yrs.

We decided not to get another dog, we couldn’t go through that upset again, our boys were 7 & 5 at the time so life was busy enough!

Good luck with whatever you decide and I hope it works out well for you.

I would absolutely say do not rush. There's no point. A puppy is like getting another child but can be worse - needs letting out throughout the night at first. You have no idea the personality you're getting (my friends got a puppy over a year ago and bothgot depression over it - the dog just isn't bothered with affection, ignores them most of the time but needs lots of exercise, can just bark and bark and bark for no reason etc despite loads of continued never-ending training). If it needs huge amounts of training and socialization how are you going to handle that when it's just you and the kids? With the kids, you can't just do days out and would need a dog walker, can you afford that? Etc.

Beagles are gorgeous but can be tricky!

Labs are wonderful dogs. I will be honest, when we were considering what breed to get a lab was probably the bottom of my list because 'everyone seems to have one'. Now I can't imagine ever not having one.

Mine was a twat as a puppy but most pups are twats to be honest! 😂 They are dustbins and led by their stomachs so you need to be careful what that you don't turn your back and leave food out. Best advice would be training - train and train. Labs are not difficult dogs to train at all, they want to please you and respond well to treats (mine loves raw broccoli and carrots).

If you put the time into him/her your will have the most loving, funny, adorable new family member. I can't recommend a Labrador enough to be honest.

Don't be tempted to think that you can overcome traits with your good training or that someone you know had one that didn't have those traits. Because you can be sure that your puppy will drive you crazy with it

I also think stay clear of the mixed 'breeds' breeders. They aren't breeding to further the breed. They are just breeding for profit and chances are they won't be doing any health testing or standing by the quality of their puppy

^^This, in spades.

And yes I agree with PPs about choosing carefully - don't just get any puppy because they're cute or its the one your kids want. Do your research, see both parents and be prepared to look around.

It's also true that you can't just up sticks and go for days out without planning. Is it somewhere you can take the dog? Does the dog travel well? (Mine doesn't).

But it's work it.

In any popular breed a lot of breeders are just in it for the money. Cockers and cockerpoos are my breed of choice (got 3 atm, all raised with young kids) and they are great, trainable dogs BUT they do actively need training or they will have all the bad points of the beagles mentioned upthread.

Other recommendations from me would be greyhound/whippets or lab/retrievers.

Most important thing is finding a good breeder. KC reg doesnt always mean much.

@GertrudeCB your boy sounds almost exactly like mine. (I was also brought up with collies and had high expectations). He's so people oriented it's embarrassing sometimes as I have to be careful that he doesn't just run up to any random soul out for a walk, so it's constant lead off/on with him. Also loves other dogs and I have never heard him bark at home, rarely on a walk either. He too is the worst bloody guard dog in the world, I always say that if someone came in to the house uninvited he'd just be thrilled to see them.

He's amazing though.

@GertrudeCB do you have a yellow/black/choc/red?

I'm interested because of what you said about his size, mine is a choc and he's also massive. There are about 8 labs in our village and he's so much bigger than any of them, though I know chocs are generally broader anyway but he's much taller too. It's a constant job making sure his weight is what it should be too as he's such a greedy bastard. He does get lots of exercise and we watch his diet. Very different to the lithe, sleek black working labs I see.

Don’t get a beagle!!

Honestly you will most likely be pulling your hair out within a month and definitely as it grows.

@BenWillbondsPants there is no genetic link between labs' colour and size.

As you've pointed out the working type labs are smaller and 'sleeker' looking than show labs.

Looking at a labs parents can be a really useful (but not failsafe) way to determine their adult size.

Believe me though- a fairly well behaved large dog is way less trouble that a smaller difficult dog.

Labs more often than not have a predisposition to being constantly hungry. It's one of their foibles. Mine is like this. He doesn't eat a great deal though because I feed him enough but not too much as it's so bad for them to be overweight in terms of joint health.