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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to say, no, having a puppy is not like having a newborn baby to look after!

92 replies

HellAtWork · 16/06/2011 22:24

Lovely couple - no DCs as yet - we know got a puppy about 6 months ago when DS was 6 months or so (not a newborn any longer).

Puppy has own FB page. We all have to be friends with it Hmm. It posts amusing status updates and photos of itself over the park.

Now despite their loveliness (I can live with the FB page even if I think it strange and it can be quite amusing at times) AIBU to get fucked off with having a puppy constantly being compared to the hard work of a newborn?

I was lucky with my DS and he has turned out to be a good sleeper from about 4 months or so, so I know I did not have it bad at all and therefore did not do too much moaning about sleepless nights - I think.

I have sympathised with them being up all night (puppy sleeps in their room), trashing their house, and his apparent in ability to be exhausted even by 3 hour walks but the constant comparisons with "it's just like having a baby, it really is" are wearing thin. When we're on the phone for a chat (and DS is tucked up in bed) , friend can't really speak on the phone because puppy is growling and friend is constantly issuing instructions (get off the table, oi Tonto leave that alone, I told you not to chew those shoes). When friend visited with puppy it was a nightmare - I love dogs, have had a dog growing up and now enjoy my sister's dog from a distance. DS and puppy were fine (short interaction before bedtime) but we did not really get to talk, or even eat (puppy jumping up to table, taken out every 30 minutes in case Tonto "did a naughty" on the carpet, friend's words not mine).

So AIBU to say no it bleeding well isn't the same as having a baby (and you're in for a shock if you think so)?

In jest I have pointed out that if I left DS alone in the house for 3 hours at a time SS would want to have a word, but I am almost tempted to say (due to puppy's behaviour) actually having your particular puppy is much much worse especially after friend told me indulgent story about puppy running through family's picnic on a beach and how funny it was! (Reminded me of the dogshit picnic thread on here and I was outraged on family's behalf to him and said it was not on.)

OP posts:
AnyFucker · 16/06/2011 22:25

they are loons

Gilberte · 16/06/2011 22:29

"When we're on the phone for a chat (and DS is tucked up in bed) , friend can't really speak on the phone because puppy is growling and friend is constantly issuing instructions (get off the table, oi Tonto leave that alone, I told you not to chew those shoes). When friend visited with puppy it was a nightmare - I love dogs, have had a dog growing up and now enjoy my sister's dog from a distance. DS and puppy were fine (short interaction before bedtime) but we did not really get to talk, or even eat (puppy jumping up to table, taken out every 30 minutes in case Tonto "did a naughty" on the carpet, friend's words not mine)"

umm sounds exactly like having a toddler though!

NewShooz · 16/06/2011 22:30

Jeez their puppy sounds like more hard work than my toddler Grin
But no YANBU, they are slightly mental to compare a puppy to a child...

cauchemar · 16/06/2011 22:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

NormanTebbit · 16/06/2011 22:30

My mum used to do that. I'd say oh DD1 keeps doing x and she'd say "oh T does that too, really dogs are just like toddlers, except toddlersgrow up, fogs never grow up, he gets me up at 5am etc etc

Hmm
diggingintheribs · 16/06/2011 22:31

My friend told me that she knows she will be a fabulous mother as she is such a good dog owner

she has a lovely dog but she is completely in control. I don't think she will be able to guarantee that level of control over a child!

BitOfFun · 16/06/2011 22:31

I suppose that if you don't breastfeed the puppy, it won't really compare...

NormanTebbit · 16/06/2011 22:32

Dogs not fogs flippin autocorrect

Apocalypse · 16/06/2011 22:33

YANBU because in time and with the right attitude and input the pup will grow up to be far less hard work than any child!

SugarPasteFrog · 16/06/2011 22:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

midori1999 · 16/06/2011 22:36

Having had babies and upteen puppies I would actually say having your first puppy is harder in a lot of ways than having a baby. At least with a baby you have some sort of instincts over what to do, with a puppy you don't have that. Having a puppy is also similar to having a baby in that everyone can tell you what it will be like, but until you're actually doing it, you can't possibly imagine what it will be like.

That said, it does sound like your friends aren't making life very easy for themselves.

LDNmummy · 16/06/2011 22:36

I think they're puppy seems very hard work because it lacks discipline, boundaries and is overly indulged.

YANBU.

TheCrackFox · 16/06/2011 22:37

Isn't there some type of Gina Ford book for the doggy world then? Tell them to CC their puppy and to shut the fuck up.

amothersplaceisinthewrong · 16/06/2011 22:40

A puppy with a facebook page??? Ridiculous. But then, I would rather have 10 kids than a single dog!

Mumcentreplus · 16/06/2011 22:41

Bloody insane people....

d0gFace · 16/06/2011 22:41

YANBU.

My puppy wasnt much trouble at all, got him into a routine from day one and stuck with it. Dont have a baby yet, but I imagine it wont be anywhere near as easy.

Original poster
HellAtWork · 16/06/2011 22:41

It's the bloke of the couple who is one of my oldest friends and he is much worse than his gf! Although having said that they do appear to blame lack of discipline on each other (Tonto only does x because Y let's him and vice versa)

Apparently puppy is a type of breed that is just simply untrainable and even though they have been to training classes everyone they meet says knowingly to them "Ah such and such breed can't be trained" and yet when I said to friend, but didn't any of the reading you did on that breed before you got it tell you that (we had Afghan Hounds, they were well known to be hard to train so my parents had to work extra hard) he says no, not at all Hmm.

Dammit can't remember the breed now. Will have to check out "Tonto's" FB page and see if it's there. (Names changed to protect the innocent)

OP posts:
Original poster
HellAtWork · 16/06/2011 22:43

BoF Searching for the emoticon over here....!

OP posts:
TakeMeDrunkImHome · 16/06/2011 22:43

Puppy = harder work than newborn IMO. Grin

Rather have another NB than another puppy any day.

TakeMeDrunkImHome · 16/06/2011 22:44

Oh but a facebook page for a frikkin' pet is Hmm

SugarPasteFrog · 16/06/2011 22:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DaisyLovesMetronidazole · 16/06/2011 22:46

I think it shouldn't be comparable, but in extreme cases it could be as hard or even harder.

For example, if a dog owner responded to a puppy's growls and whines like they would to a baby and it growled/whined frequently, then...

And an untrained dog will wake up at night. If they choose to respond to the dog, then...

And a newborn won't wreck the house.

A dog shouldn't be like a baby, but an owner could make it that way.

TheCrackFox · 16/06/2011 22:46

Sugarpaste - I haven't had a dog but I have always thought it would be very good preperation for having children.

hephaestus · 16/06/2011 22:48

Very curious to hear what breed the puppy is!

Sounds over-indulged and thus unusually difficult, they are only making a rod for their own backs.

Agree that for first time puppy owners it can be a huge shock to have such a tiny thing dependent on them all the time, though it's probably nowt to those used to newborn babies.

I sometimes compare my dogs (a needy, 'difficult' breed) to toddlers or early school-aged children, only you can lock them in a crate when you've had enough. Grin

BlooferLady · 16/06/2011 22:49

OP can I just urge a teeeny bit of a caution when you actually talk to her - just because if they don't have DC it is possible that they would like them, and are trying, and are finding it tough, and the puppy is sort of displacement. This coming from a woman who in no way cooes 'come to Mummy' to her kitten Grin

It does sound rather wearing mind,.

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