Pregnant & thinking of rehoming a dog

[CatLady11]

Hi, I am in very early stages of pregnancy, before I found out I was pregnant me and my partner were in talks of privately rehoming an adult pug. We went to go and visit a sweet little girl yesterday, and I am torn as to whether it's a good decision. She very lovely natured, great with the ladies 5 kids.. but the lady doesn't have the time for her anymore and the cost of feeding 5 kids etc, she feels like she will be better finding a new home.

She isn't a puppy and she is 2 years old. We do have 4 cats, but they spend majority of their time outside and I barely know they are here. Although I absolutely adore my cats, a dog is the missing piece.

I wouldn't be due for many months yet, we used to work a family members dog who not Long ago passed away, and walking their dog really helped my mental health, and it motivated me to get out of the house more.

Am I biting off more than I can chew with considering rehoming this dog?

I know there is pros and cons to any situation..

Any helpful advice is much welcomed

IMO you will need all your energy, time and attention for the baby, so you would be very unwise to get a dog.

I would strongly advise against it.
We had 2 cats when my son was born. They absolutely hated having him around. When he turned 1 (a year of them stressed, weeing everywhere, my baby crawling in their wee etc) we rehomed them as they were just too stressed.
I'm not saying this will happen to you but cats can react in different ways and I think a dog and a baby might be too much on them.
And also I found it challenging with my first I doubt I could have looked after a dog as well.

For the love of god, please don't put yourself through this regardless of how you feel now.

When your cats start peeing around the house through stress induced cystitis and the baby's screaming blue murder and the dog poo needs picking up you'll thing what the hell have I done to my life!!

I wouldn’t do it. It’s a lot of change for the dog to be rehomed to then have to adjust to a new baby a few months down the line. Same for your cats. I had dogs before I had my eldest and I definitely felt I wasn’t as good an owner as I would like once the baby was here.

I am already considering how I will be ensuring I can try and adapt my cats to have a baby around, playing baby cry noises etc. The last thing I want is fearful responses like this, I am already all over the place with my emotions and I already worry about how my cats will be, I want to ensure a smooth transition of this change for them!! I really hope they will be okay. Positive reassurance is best at this stage haha!!!

@CatLady11 You sound lovely. 😊 I’m animal obsessed too.

It is sad. I volunteer at a rescue and regularly go home crying at the stories of the animals that come to us. I just want to take them all home.

It’s actually refreshing to hear from someone who is pregnant and wanting to help more animals, we get lots of animals that are given up because the owner is pregnant or has a new baby and they can’t be bothered with their poor things anymore.

Maybe in a few years you’ll be able to have a dog, it sounds like you would give a great home to one when the timing is better.

This really isn't helpful, its highly unlikely my cats will be peeing around the house, we live in a rural farm with so much nature and woodland they pretty much spend 90% of their time outside. If they're unhappy with the baby they will more than likely go off outside then put themself through the torture of being inside. The main thing is they never feel trapped and can come and go as they please :) I'll have natural pet remedy plug ins at the ready too to help with a more calming environment. I'm trying to stay positive as the last thing I want is more worry than I am already having. Luckily I have decided I won't be rehoming the dog

Thank you! Yes animal rescue work is tiring, so sad but also so rewarding :)

I do more cat work than dogs, but recently me and my partner came back from Portugal, we spent 3 months there, we took our 4 cats with us and we did some volunteering in the dog rescue, I really wanted to bring multiple dogs back with me ahah!

Yes I know our time will come, maybe I was a bit over my head with the current timing, but definitely in the future :)

You can't know many people who have dogs, unless you're talking about people with big dogs who just can't be arsed dont find time to walk them.

Dogs and babies are fine.

I wouldn't rehome a dog now. Not fair on the dog, he will just settle in properly and a baby will turn up.

I love the bones of my dog (a rescue) but it is work and such a commitment and nowt like the work of the 3 house cats.

We got a great Dane when my youngest child was like 4 months old. Probably a bit mental, but we wouldn't be without him now.

I will say it had it's challenges as he was a bit lead reactive and obviously having to toilet train etc as you would with any puppy. There were a few times where I was like 'wtf was I thinking?'

But he's a lovely addition and very much part of the family 💕

I think it’s a sensible choice, for the moment, to shelve the dog idea. It’ll be enough for your cats to adjust to baby without rocking the boat any more for a day or two, see how it goes and maybe revisit the idea in the future.
It’s certainly not impossible to have a baby and a dog, we had one inside dog (and two farm dogs) already when we had our son, then rehomed a 5 month old poodle cross when DS was 7 months old. I questioned my sanity a few times, sure, but they’re the best of friends now, and our old boy who was here to start with is pretty happy with life still.

Worst possible time to get a dog. Just wait until you've had your child and then see how you feel!

I had a dog and cats when I found out I was pregnant.

Whether because I already had my darling dog it made things easier but I didn’t find having cats, a dog and babies much of a problem. Dog came with me everywhere and I never once considered it hard to go for walks with her and push a pram at the same time (however I did get a pram with big wheels to ease the push across fields.) It was part of our morning routine. D dog needed at least a couple of miles walk in the morning.

I think you need to see how pug is with the cats as they might decide a pug isn’t what they want or a best friend in the making

Also are you planning on returning to work at any point in the lifetime of the pug and if so can you afford doggy day care as well as child day care

I can’t advise you what to do. That is up to you but I will say to check out the health issues with any purebred dog.
Or any dog

Ddog was a real Heinz 57. Part Labrador, part Staffie and part German Shepherd and it was the German Shepherd part which caused her type of cancer.

From someone who has a dog and an 8 month old, don't do it!
Having a baby is such a difficult time, especially the newborn bit, you don't need to make your life any harder. Not only do you have to ensure the dog is walked every single day, which some days is tough, you also have to keep your wits about you and supervise all interactions. I've had my boy for 7 years and know him inside out, you won't know this dog like that so it will be even harder again as you will not know the dog's personality.

My best friends pug has attacked 3 postmen, her neighbour and had growled at her son. They 100% can be aggressive.

What I forgot to say, was when you dp goes back to work and you are left with the baby and the dog. It's really really hard work. My ddog got little to no attention for 3/4 months. The only interaction he got was being shouted at out of sheer exhaustion and frustration or being walked. Which was so tough with a newborn and recovering from an episiotomy.
Honestly If I knew back then what I know now. I'd have one or the other. Me and dh have already said we won't be getting another dog until the children are grown. We do have a rather large GSD who has a lot of energy but a dog is a dog, they all need walks and training.

I think that's very unusual for the breed. They are generally bomb-proof lap dogs who love to please people. They were actually originally bred as Royal guard dogs and can be barky when the postman rings or if they think an intruder (fox usually) is in the garden. But it's very rare for the breed to be aggressive.

I think every time is a good time to get a dog 🤣
We had 2 dogs when our first child was born and it was no issue at all. I was a sahm, but i had no problems walking the dogs during the day. Baby had to sleep anyways, might as well sleep in the pram and get some fresh air.
I was lucky that i recovered quickly after birth. The first couple days DH did most walks, but i had my first walk in the park the day after birth.
I also didnt find it true that theres no time to sit down or shower. I showered when the baby napped and there was still plenty of time to entertain the dogs too.

My second child was more difficult and cried a lot and obviously the 1.5 year old toddler didnt make things easier either, but even there i managed and had enough time for everyone. It did help that the dogs were not very young and crazy active anymore, but they were still fit and I walked them twice a day with my kids. First with the pram, then with the push bike, then scooters or normal bikes. Its good for kids to be outside a lot.

It really all depends on the dog, the baby and what you want of course.

Another thing is you don't know if this dog is house trained, or will remain house trained when it comes to live with you. Last thing you need is to be dealing with pee and poo on the floor when you've got a baby rolling around on it.

You are obviously not 100% sure about this so I would say don't do it , rather than going ahead and regretting it.

Rtft guys - or at the very least the OPs posts...

OP has shelved the idea 😀

This

I know loads of people, myself included who had the dog first then kids and it’s honestly fine. Yes it’s hard work of course, getting the dog used to everything and keeping them all safe etc etc but my eldest is a toddler now and her and the dog get on very well.

Honestly - it’s the sensible decision you’ve taken.

Getting a new dog while pregnant is not a great idea, it just doesn’t give you enough time to settle it in, find and resolve any unexpected issues etc before you’re dealing with recovering from birth and dealing with a baby.

Also... while you can luck out and get a really nice dog from someone selling theirs, it is luck because a decent owner doesn’t put in the two years of work, training and care until they’ve got a well behaved adult dog and suddenly sell it.

If you became unable to care for your cats, would you sell them to a random stranger? Or find a rescue? Because I know which I’d do with my pets if it ever needed to happen.