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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to want to get a puppy while on mat leave

71 replies

HuntingforBunting · 10/02/2014 08:59

Just that really..

Would love a black lab, want to be around lots when a puppy. I have ds 1 who's 3 so know what I'm in for there, but no experience of dogs really. People I've asked suggest a strain from working stock, so more easy to train. Any way, am i b u to think this is a good idea?
Btw we both work half the week from home each so always someone in the house when I go back to work

OP posts:

WilsonFrickett · 10/02/2014 14:26

Just to add another point - your DS is 3, so you have to expect he'll react to the baby by being very demanding of your attention. With a baby AND a bouncy puppy who needs to go out for a wee right now DS could slip down the pecking order a little. I'm not suggesting for a moment you'd do that deliberately, but I think things are generally hard enough for a toddler when a sibling is born without adding another 'attention grabbing' thing into the mix.

Please note that's not a criticism of your parenting skills, just a thought about going from 1 to 3 all at once...

LEMmingaround · 10/02/2014 14:29

Im soaked. Just took my two jrt out for a walk. Nearly had a fight with an alaskan malamute that was with two drunk guys on the beach. Fortunately they were nice guys. Bloody dogs just comein and shook everywhere. Filthy little sods. They both need baths which I'll fit in before the school run. If I had a baby and toddler to do for as well..........

LEMmingaround · 10/02/2014 14:31

Did the op come back or did she get scared off. No one is saying no dog ever just that the timing is all wrong.

VegetariansTasteLikeChicken · 10/02/2014 15:21

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

have fun with that

GhostsInSnow · 10/02/2014 15:45

As a kid my favourite thing ever was the Sindy 'Walk in the Park' set. There was Sindy in beautiful billowing cream lace dress pushing a gorgeous coach built pram with a newborn baby in it, and trotting along at her side was a beautiful red setter.

The benefit of age and wisdom now tell me the reality was probably more a frazzled sindy needing to escape the house for half an hour because the baby wont stop crying and the dog wont stop peeing on the carpet. Beautiful billowing dress would be thick in dog paw patterned mud within a hundred yards, baby would still be screaming and red setter probably running down the road at a rapid rate of knots while Sindy frantically screamed at it like a fishwife.

My childhood, ruined.

coldwater1 · 10/02/2014 16:31

Don't do it! You think a baby is hard, times that by 100 and you have a puppy

sparkle101 · 10/02/2014 16:56

I bought a hamster before I went on maternity leave this time. A toddler + a baby + a hamster = harder work than you think!

I thought it would be lovely to have 'company'. Didn't think it through properly! Not that I'd give the hamster up for anything!

dingalong · 10/02/2014 19:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

quietlysuggests · 10/02/2014 20:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

HuntingforBunting · 10/02/2014 20:40

o m m f g I have been burying my face in my scarf on the train to stop unseemly guffaws breaking out. Thank you so much for all the hilarious replies. Especially love the visions of teenage labs with heads through doors they have chewed through :-D

I won't be getting a dog for at least another 7 years. Thank you mn for saving me from an almighty breakdown :-)

OP posts:

MrsTerryPratchett · 10/02/2014 20:46

Thank goodness OP. I was going to say that the most miserable people I think I have ever seen are the grey-faced women wheeling babies around while dragging a toddler and being dragged by a new dog. I always assumed the dog was the DP's idea because it seemed so stupid. Good luck with the new baby.

mummaxmas · 10/02/2014 21:14

I have 3 boys, 7, 6 and 2
Got our puppy when baby was one, fantastic for escaping house for an hour!!
It is hard work don't get me wrong, muddy foot prints, little accidents, but I don't regret it!!
On a Sunday morning I say, just of to walk the dog, alone!!! Otherwise I would probably not see day light alone!! And she's lovely, and loves me back :)
Don't Recommend a rescue, get a puppy that grows up as part of the family and has no horrible past memory's. Let an adult family take on those dogs that need special attention :)

justtoomessy · 10/02/2014 21:23

Oh I did and it was fine well I got a puppy when I was 5 months pregnant. I cage trained so no chewing up of stuff and it was great getting out walking with him and training my dog. I was very strict with my dog and with everyone that entered my home so that I didn't have a dog that jumped up/annoyed people when they first arrived.

it was not at all hard like some are saying as long as you take the time to train the puppy. Oh and I was really ill after I had my DS and it was still fine. I would not be without my dog and not would my DS plus DS immune system is great.

I now have a cat too so my house consists of a 4 year old DS, 4 year old dog and an 8/9 year old cat and I'm a single parent and work shifts (mum has the dog the same amount as she has DS so very lucky) and its fine.

ChrisMooseMickey · 10/02/2014 21:23

get a dog- when you've finished having children and they are old enough to accept how bhehave around a dog, and when you have more time to train it. Please dont dl it with a new baby! t

Sneezecakesmum · 10/02/2014 21:23

Don't do it! Really, really don't do it until things are more settled wrt baby and young child.

Friends dog which was their 'baby' until the real baby came along and now it's just a total pain in the bum they are stuck with until it dies. They can't bring themselves to have it re homed because it may not work out.

Therefore neglected dog, hairy house, irritated friends! The kids like the dog though and it's supposed to be good for their immune system.

Hogwash · 10/02/2014 21:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Minnieisthedevilmouse · 10/02/2014 21:30

Ah you haven't yet tried to get a puppy pram and baby out of a car?

Or even go for a walk with puppy pram baby shopping and it rains...? And get on a bus?

A baby is hard enough why you want a dog n all defeats me

falulahthecat · 10/02/2014 21:35

Working dogs are very clever - but this means they need MORE stimulation and exercise. Spaniels for example would be very happy getting an hours exercise a day, and will be a 'puppy' for at least 6 months.

Why not get a rescue dog who is 6 months - 1 year, and not a working breed who needs lots of walks (there are lots of greyhounds that need rescuing and they're happy with 20 mins a day)?

Or you could wait a few years so the dog knows he's at the bottom of the pecking order and you aren't having to look after a baby too?

Stripyhoglets · 10/02/2014 21:43

Labrador puppies are insane, lovely, the cutest things ever but totally bonkers for about 3 years at least, if not more. I love labs but would never get one with a baby and toddler. Do what a lot of my friends have done and get a dog when the youngest gets to about 7 and you feel broody again!

ShowMeYourTARDIS · 10/02/2014 22:10

YABVVVVVU, OP.

Puppies are devilish little beings in a cute, fuzzy disguise. I got my dog when he was 6 months old. Complete nightmare. He ate EVERYTHING, and I do mean everything. Took him to the beach and let him run for two hours...he had an hour's nap and was ready to go again. I couldn't imagine dealing with that, a toddler, and a newborn.

Labs never grow up. I had a lab/golden for many years. She was spry and ready for anything up until the day she passed at 16. I would say she was 12 when she truly calmed down to an acceptable level.

firstpost · 10/02/2014 23:03

I did it. There were tough moments especially in the early days but we don't regret it. Our lab has grown up with our toddler ds and they adore each other.

Absolutely agree that there are days you question it, but overall she has added more to our lives than she has taken away Am now a SAHM and have a fab dog walker who enables us to have the odd dog free day out.

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