To get rid of puppy?

[chubbychipmonk]

Posting this on behalf on friend who doesn't know what to do.

She has a 4 yr old DD & 8 year old DS, is also in a relationship with DP who has 8 year old DD who stays at the house regularly.

She bought a Dalmatian puppy at Xmas who up until now has been playful & boisterous. She has been taking him to puppy classes & he seems to be training well. Last night however she was in the kitchen, heard a scream & found the dog had jumped up on DD & bitten her behind the ear whilst trying to retrieve a toy. Resulted in a hospital visit, tetanus jag & stitches.

Her DP (as well as his ex) now understandably don't want the dog round their daughter. My opinion is also that she should get rid of the dog as its too big a risk. However she has spoken to otherswho advise that the dog is merely being playful & she should persevere. Basically she just wants to see what the common consensus is, it's already causing arguments between her & DP. My opinion is she's being unreasonable to keep the puppy but what do others think?

[LadyBeagleEyes]

Poor puppy, it sounds like it was just being a puppy, they all play bite, and your friend sounds very responsible.
If I was her I'd get rid of the Dp, how dare he put her in that position.
Twat.

[irishkitkat]

This dog owner made a mistake, she left her 4 year old child and a puppy unattended in a room for 5 minutes, with the door open. Yes it was foolish but it was a mistake, everybody makes mistakes and I'm sure she regrets it. However, other than that one mistake what has she done to deserve the venom being spewed at her on this thread? She walks the dog regularly, she takes it to puppy training, presumably she feeds and waters it. She does all the things new dog owners are advised to do and made one mistake. Rehome the dog or don't rehome the dog, OP's friend, but please don't take the numerous insults on this thread to heart.

[LadyBeagleEyes]

I agree irishkitkat.

[BinarySolo]

I think the insults are really uncalled for. Honestly though op, I think the phrase 'get rid' as opposed to 'rehome' will have made people ragey.

Get rid implies a callousness which I from the other information you've given doesn't seem to apply to your friend. I really believe people would be reacting with less venom if the title said rehome.

[DreamsTurnToGoldDust]

I have to be honest if I was the mother of that child I would not want them to be in your friends home again either, (and I have two dogs) so yes I think you do have a problem.

But, this is not the dogs fault at all, a dalmation will grow to a dalmation size and puppies are puppies they jump, play and generally get up mischief. I`m afraid sadly in this case I would recommend you re-homing it through one of the avenues that have been suggested above, I cannot see a happy ending for it if not, and hopefully it is still young enough to get a good home.

I have to say, its so infuriating and saddening that yet another puppy had been bought without proper research and thought. Puppies/dogs take so much commitment and work, you really have to be serious to get a dog.

[D0oinMeCleanin]

However, other than that one mistake what has she done to deserve the venom being spewed at her on this thread?

Well, in no particular order she has...

Bought a puppy with known health problems from a BYB or puppy farm
Bought a puppy as a present
Bought a puppy without researching the breed properly
Left the puppy unsupervised with young children
Is now pondering on whether to punish the puppy for her mistake.

[Booyhoo]

these type of OPs depress me so much.

[hellsbellsmelons]

Well said Irishkitkat.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I wonder where she got the dog from?
If it was a breeder, would they not question the owner about the family background, history as a dog owner, were all the adults in the house on board.

If she got her puppy from a breeder (as in proper breeder, not someone she knew that had puppies) then they would take the pup back.

Why did she decide on a dalmation though. There are loads of dogs round our way and I've seen maybe 1 or 2 dalmations (they would stick out because they are so beautiful).
But the owners said they were very hard work. Their mindset is different to a lab or a terrier.
One thing for sure, he's going to grow into a big dog in time.

[irishkitkat]

I'm sorry I must have missed all that information in the OPs posts, could you direct me to the relevant posts? She bought the puppy around Christmas time, I don't think the OP says it was a present. Also I see no reference to puppy farming or the fact that the OPs friend didn't research properly. In fact I think the OP says the friend is an experienced dog owner. And she is pondering rehoming the puppy because that is what her DP and his ex want her to do. It was a mistake.

[Booyhoo]

i really think there needs to be some sort of national campaign because clearly some people still see getting a dog as akin to buying a pair of shoes- see the ones you like the look of, wear them once on a night out and curse the shoes when you cant walk in them properly so you sell them on ebay.

it's a fucking living creature. it has a brain that processes feelings of fear and insecurity the same way a non verbal baby does. how can people not see this? do people really buy dogs expecting them to sit like statues and require no supervision or proper stimulation?

[OwlLady]

me too booyhoo

this is why rescues are full of unwanted puppies in february and march, worser probelm is they were full prior to christmas :(

[OwlLady]

I really don't buy this inexperienced dog owner shit either, everyone starts off inexperienced to some degree even if you have had dogs as a child. You have a dog and you keep it and work with it to make it a better behaved dog and you look after it and love it. That really is all there is to it. feed, walk, play, train, keep well. That's it. It's far easier than having a child imo anyway, and they live their life alongside yours and when they get old and die you are devastated because they were your one constant. I think some people really miss out, but these poor animals :(

[Crinkle77]

This is the reason why people should not buy puppies especially at xmas. It is so annoying that people do not consider the consequences before getting an animal then just toss it aside when things don't work out as expected. I know it bit your daughter but this is what puppies do. They are excitable and playful. When I was little we had a puppy that would nip our ankles but she grew out of it.

[NotADragonOfSoup]

This thread fully demonstrates why I :
a) have hidden the Dog House topic and
b) would never ever post for advice about my dog on mumsnet.

[Crinkle77]

Sorry not your daughter, your friends daughter

[Booyhoo]

i say bring back tamigotchis. would save alot of real dogs being born and passed about from home to home by people who just want a toy they can set down when they're bored/it's too much hard work.

[D0oinMeCleanin]

If she had bought the puppy from a reputable breeder, this would not be an issue, the breeder would be on hand to give advise/take the puppy back to re home via reputable contacts.

A reputable breeder would not sell a puppy at Christmas time, they wouldn't even breed at Christmas time.

Why else would you buy a puppy at Christmas time (a busy time, of high stress) if not for a present? It's the worst time of year to take on a puppy, leaving aside the moral issue of giving live animals as presents.

If she had gone to a reputable breeder, she would know for certain whether the puppy was deaf as tests would have been done.

A reputable Dalmatian breeder is highly unlikely to home a young, demanding puppy to a family who work so much and have young children

Had the friend researched at all the size of the puppy would be no surprise to her and she would know not to make 'mistakes' wrt supervision and training of the children/high energy, demanding puppy.

'Mistakes' wrt leaving young children and puppies/dogs alone together are not that easy to make if you are vigilant. It becomes habit very quickly. I still sometimes call my dogs to leave the room with me even when the children are in bed/at school because it has become an automatic response. The risks leaving them entails is not worth not being vigilant about. Had OP's friend left a hot iron/scalding kettle/sharp knife/matches in reach of her toddler 'by mistake' would people be so sympathetic? It's the same thing. Young children and puppies are a danger to one another. You learn very quickly to keep your eye on them.

[Anniegetyourgun]

A pedant writes:

It's Dalmatian ffs! Not "dalmation". No wonder autocorrect thinks it should be "damnation". Even my spellchecker knows it's Dalmatian. (It doesn't like the word spellchecker though...)

Oh, and I'm another voting to rehome the DP. They'll get much more love and entertainment from the dog.

[TantrumsAndBalloons]

No experienced dog owner would buy a puppy at xmas or leave children and dogs unsupervised for a second.

People like this are the reason I now have another dog. A rescue that was with me for a while, went to another home and apparently snapped at their older child. So they left him to live outside for 2 months.

And surely it must be common sense that puppies are very hard work. You cannot buy a puppy and then a couple of weeks later go back to full time work.

Is the puppy crated all day whilst your friend is at work?

[Twattybollocks]

An experienced dog owner would not be considering rehoming a puppy which had nipped a child after being left alone playing with it though!
My puppy nipped both my kids whilst playing on several different occasions, and I considered it par for the course.
Leave a couple of toddlers in a room unsupervised and you can almost guarantee that one of them is going to be crying because the other has hit it over the head with a toy, it's what toddlers do until they learn more acceptable behaviour! Same with puppies, just because a puppy nips it doesn't mean it's going to grow up into an aggressive dog!

[Geeklover]

I like Pinot could possibly offer the dog a home depending on location.
My pensioner would love a playful younger model (he's hasn't realised he's not a puppy anymore himself)

[mrsjay]

this is also the reason I have my dog he was bought for a young family and he had no training and was still is sometimes nippy I think that is how he got attention, My dog isn't aggresive he just didn't know any better, sometimes puppies and little children don't mix

[DeepRedBetty]

Rehome the DP.