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.

@Dowser I miss my dogs and loved walking them and being with them etc but it would be unfair of me to get a dog now as I'm out of the house for 11-12 hours a day and my life has changed. I still have a cat (now 12) so my life is still restricted to some extent but once she has passed away I won't be getting any more pets for several years.

@Blobby10 I have a black lab and my garden is lovely (well I ought to weed more but that's not my dogs fault), and my house is nice too. He sheds but I hoover every few days and it's fine.

I know it's maybe seen as a dull choice but for a first time owner I do feel a lab is worth serious consideration. I walk many many dogs of different breeds and the labs are consistently good natured, biddable, easy to please, easy to train, predictable, happy to be left alone for medium periods, and not prone to barking problems. Of course there are exceptions but these are unusual and unless due to deep seated issues and problems are often easy to correct.

We have a one year old female Labrador, and 2 year old and 4 year old human girls. The past year has been wonderful and also incredibly difficult. Labradors are beautiful, intelligent dogs and while as adults they are quite happy to lay around for long periods as long as they get a decent walk, they are very active pups. And they have a puppy brain for about 3 years apparently.

We were under strict instructions from the breeder that for the first year of her life she could not be walked for more than a km at a time due to the breeds propensity for joint problems in old age. So that meant we couldn't just take her for a long walk to wear her out, we had to be constantly playing with her and training her all day long. She couldn't be left alone for more than 20 minutes in the first month as she would get quite upset. We gradually built that up over time and now she is fine. But if she gets bored, she does chew. And dig. We had to replace our grass with paving. Big dogs dig big holes in very short amounts of time.

She is not allowed upstairs as the climbing is bad for Labrador joints. Plus she sheds heaps of hair haha. So she sleeps in the laundry at night and has a doggy door so that she has free access to the backyard.

Now that she is one, we can walk her as much as we like. I aim for 5kms per day, plus then she comes to the park with the kids and I or we play in the backyard. The kids love to blow bubbles for her to chase. She is huge, much bigger than most other labs I see, but she is so gentle. She jumps on me at times but she has never once jumped on the kids. It's like she knows. She has been super easy to train. She wants to please and is very affectionate.

Overall, I think we made a great decision to get her and I adore her, as do the children, but it's certainly not been easy all the time and there were days when I wondered what had possessed me to get a dog 😆 especially when I had a toilet training puppy, a baby in nappies and a toilet training toddler. So much poop in my life haha.

She sheds a lot of hair but I vacuum every day anyway. She has damaged a lot of my garden by digging and chewing but much less inclined to do so recently and honestly on the days she does damage it's usually because I've been out too long and she's got bored or lonely. So as long as you had a dog walker or something on the day you're out, it would probably be fine.

The first months of a puppy are like having a very small child again. You have to watch them the whole time, you have to toilet train them, etc. But they make up for it by being unbelievably cute and loveable. And then they turn into teenage dogs and are a pain the ass for a couple of years. If you are going to get a puppy, you really do have to clear your schedule for the next few months. Regarding your course, is there someone who could look after your puppy that day (or could you pay someone)? When my last dog was a puppy, he also came with me to work some times and stayed in his crate with regular breaks. Might that be possible for you?

As the other say, Beagles are beautiful dogs but they aren't an easy breed. But at the same time, don't fall into thinking that there is a really easy breed out there that needs little work. All dogs need trained and they are all individuals with their own personalities. If I were you, I would have a look around at different breeds, read up online and then try to visit some dogs to get an idea.

Staffys are amazing with kids I have two who were my first baby's and they have been amazing having their world completely changed because of the baby.

They are happy to go for a 5 mile hike one day and if you can't manage out the house for another 3 days they are happy with a quick play in the garden then back to the sofa for cuddles.

Whatever dog you do go for I would recommend a female I think they are a bit more trainable and more willing to accept someone as "the boss" . And having your dog spayed or neutered dose not help with any behavioural issues no matter what a vet says.

Good luck looking for your new family member.

They are all different. My brother’s staffie was huge and jumpy as a puppy knocking everyone flying. I wouldn’t recommend a big dog around little children. Research different family friendly breeds. Beagles can make a lot of noise and run off to chase something. A lot of little dogs are nervy and bark a lot. In my neighbourhood the thing to get is a cockerpoo. We’ve got a Boston terrier and have been shouted out on here for buying a short nosed dog but she has been such an easy puppy. So happy and easy to train, she’s not as ‘squashed‘ as other short nosed breeds and has no health problems, she’s playful, loving, confident and sociable and hardly ever barks. We had a boxer before and she was a delight but I now realise how much harder work she was compared to our puppy now.
On the other hand my friend got an Italian greyhound pup at the same time who has been so high maintenance. She terrified of everything, which makes her bark and be aggressive, she also has stomach and eating issues as well as having fragile bones. She has been a really strain on my poor friend. Just research the breeds carefully basically!

Bitey, smelly, messy, destructive, inconvenient, ruins your social life,expensive ( but having no social life balances the expense I suppose) and “oh my god what I have done” depressive episodes
My dog is 3 now and I adore him but never again

My only experience of dog ownership is a golden retriever who we took on at 5 months old before we started a family. He was already house trained and had had some basic obedience training - sit and stay, for example. We had him for 13 wonderful years during which time 4 children came along and he took each step down the pecking order in his stride.

However, my son has a 16 week old beagle puppy. He was warned about all the beagle instincts mentioned above, but so far the pup is very well behaved. He is house trained bar the very occasional slip-up. His recall is so good that DS walks him without a leash in the leafy part of a city. He can be rather boisterous indoors, but a quick spell outside calms him down. He is the most cuddly, loving dog and DS is absolutely besotted. DS has been able to be with the pup full-time as he does not yet work (relocation overseas) and that has clearly contributed to the dog’s wellbeing. The signs are that he will make a lovely adult dog.