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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Is a puppy harder to raise than a newborn?

88 replies

KeepCalmLadybird · 15/04/2017 23:37

I had ds around 8 months ago. At the same time my friend got a new puppy. We were texting one day to see how the other one was getting on. She made a comment along the lines of 'a puppy is harder work than a newborn' mainly because of their energy, toilet training etc. I didn't make any comment on it at the time but have thought about it a few times since. I was so tired at the time, emotional and recovering from a traumatic birth and was a bit taken aback.

AIBU to think a newborn is harder than a puppy? I am happy to be told IABU as I've never had a puppy before so don't know what it entails really! I just can't imagine having that newborn fog, all emotions and no sleep with a puppy. Although I guess some babies are easier than others, same with puppies probably.

The reason I have been thinking about it today is because she is due her first baby soon and I just wonder if her mind might change.

OP posts:

SkeletonSkins · 16/04/2017 00:00

But on that one day, when she may have been bitten constantly by sharp puppy teeth, things destroyed, puppy crying all night and wearing/pooing in places, she might have thought it was more difficult.

Not say she's right (as I've said I don't think she is!) but think she wasn't looking st that bigger picture and had rose tinted glasses about new born, possibly thought you were serenely rocking in a rocking chair cuddling an angelic baby all day!

MiddleClassProblem · 16/04/2017 00:01

I know people who have had kids who said it was harder. Having both myself I just can't see it. More sleep, shorter period until they grow up, able to leave them for short periods, no crazy hormones making you cry about it all for no goddam reason, no sids worries. I could go on. Also I can read dogs 100% better than babies.

Original poster

KeepCalmLadybird · 16/04/2017 00:06

I agree skeleton. She was definitely tired at the time of the txt so that maybe coloured her view. I saw her recently though and she said 'oh I'll just put the dog away and she'll go to sleep' and I thought 'I haven't slept in 8 months!' 😫 And sometimes ds won't let me put him down, screams bloody murder, and I cry at everything on the telly or news and feel like a wreck most of the time. I wish I had a puppy! although saying that our cat was hard work when he was a kitten and I wouldn't do that again

OP posts:

Original poster

KeepCalmLadybird · 16/04/2017 00:07

That's it middleclass it's the awful hormones! Created by making that screaming, stinky wonderful human being

OP posts:

SuperBeagle · 16/04/2017 00:08

Oh god yes, OP. Kittens are full on, and can be a lot more destructive than puppies and babies.

alleypalley · 16/04/2017 00:08

I've had 2 babies and 1 puppy. The puppy was harder, but then I had 'easy' babies that slept through quite early on, and a dog that's very anxious and scared of people.

Gingerbreadmam · 16/04/2017 00:09

i havent had a newborn but av bn around them n have to say getting a puppy is like getting a toddler.

not saying its harder than a newborn by any means but it is a nightmare lol

MrsJoyOdell · 16/04/2017 00:12

I love puppies/dogs but found the puppy much harder than my (4!) babies!

robinia · 16/04/2017 00:13

I have always said my one puppy was harder work and brought me closer to a nervous breakdown than all my children put together. So yes.

Cherrysoup · 16/04/2017 00:13

I think there are similarities re getting up, needing to cherish etc, be consistent and sleep train, but ultimately, you can shut the kitchen door and ignore a dog when you've had enough. They grow up very quickly. There is something called puppy blues, though, which I definitely had, I really disliked the puppy at first, the dh and I rowed over it, couldn't agree over how to raise it and so on. Having a child has to be far, far harder!

Obsidian77 · 16/04/2017 00:13

Having had both I think she's in for a bit of an unpleasant surprise.
Not least because she will actually have to give birth to the human baby...

Original poster

KeepCalmLadybird · 16/04/2017 00:14

Beagle I used to cry when I would walk from room to room with a kitten shredding my legs! And jumping from the window sill onto my back. I still have the scars

OP posts:

WankersHacksandThieves · 16/04/2017 00:19

You can't compare puppies to kittens. Kittens are a piece of piss. My personal experience is that puppies are worse than newborns except for the emotional parts. But I did have fairly easy babies.

Wolfiefan · 16/04/2017 00:23

Well when she was crying I knew she would be destroying something or peeing everywhere too. A baby won't chew through electric wires or eat its bed.
And the biting. Dear fuck the biting. Babies don't do that!
Maybe my babies were easy and the puppy extra hard?!

nigelforgotthepassword · 16/04/2017 00:27

I actually did find the puppy harder work than the newborn.when the puppy cried I couldn't comfort it by feeding/changing/snuggling it in the same way I could the baby.
Additionally the baby didn't chew stuff, get out and into danger (until she was a toddler), and also wore a nappy, which yes, needed changing but also didn't mean she pissed and shat everywhere around the house.
On balance the baby, although more important, was less hard work than the puppy.

Original poster

KeepCalmLadybird · 16/04/2017 00:28

there's probably something in that as all babies (and I'm sure all puppies!) and different.

OP posts:

Pohara1 · 16/04/2017 00:49

I've had two babies-both quite easy in comparison to other babies, two puppies-again easy. Then the cats. One easy kitten, now a lovely well mannered adult three kittens abandoned by their mum who had to be hand reared. They were the nightmares, but I suppose any baby would be when its mother left it outside somebody's house and went away.

So I think it's all down to the individual baby or puppy. It's mostly hard at the time but eventually you block out the sleeplessness, poo, crying and everything that the baby or puppy does too.

I will add that my second easy puppy was diagnosed with epilepsy at nine months and it's now like having a new puppy all the time as is memory is shit.

SomewhereInbetween1 · 16/04/2017 01:13

My mum used to tell me that a new born is harder at night because of the sheer exhaustion of having no sleep and the initial anxiety of looking after them. But a puppy requires more daytime attention. I still think a new born is far more work though!

ShamefulDodger · 16/04/2017 01:19

No. It's definitely not

My dog slept downstairs. I didn't have to keep popping down to feed him at 30 minute intervals for six months.

NoncommittalToSparkleMotion · 16/04/2017 01:23

Hahaha.

Yeah. I've had these conversations too.

A baby is definitely harder. You can't re home your baby if your circumstances are dire.

I also can't tie my baby to a pole while I pop into the store.

I can't leave my baby at home with water and a squeaky toy while I go out for awhile.

And, no one "accidentally" gets a puppy.

(Easter family get togethers make me cranky)

Nancy91 · 16/04/2017 01:36

Puppies grow up faster, but even when they are adults they always remain like babies in terms of needing you, a dog will never be independent.

I would find the newborn harder though, you can't really ever ignore a newborn baby or pop it into its crate in another room!

minifingerz · 16/04/2017 07:44

Hmm.

I've been up every day at 6am with my puppy for the past month. Can't take her back to bed with me or breastfeed her into a stupor like I did with my 3 babies. And the chewing! Constantly taking stuff off her.

House training a dog is hard. She needs to go out every half hour, so I'm frequently standing in a cold garden trying to encourage her to to do her business. Not fun.

But this is her right now, being really snugly, and I'm letting her off the hook because she's much cuter than any of my children were..

Is a puppy harder to raise than a newborn?

Sugarformyhoney · 16/04/2017 07:56

I've done both- have three kids and a pup. Baby no 3 had reflux and was really difficult but hand on heart, the puppy was harder. You can't sit and cuddle a puppy or put a nappy on it. I'd sooner a new baby than ever get a puppy again

Littlecaf · 16/04/2017 08:12

I have some friends who said when DS was 2 weeks and we were in newborn non sleeping/post natal hell "our puppy is like having a baby, but more demanding". I was a bit bluey at the time and just left the room while DP muttered something about "when are you available to babysit then" Silence.

Of course it's not as hard. What a wally.

wrinkleseverywhere · 16/04/2017 08:20

I read a post on here a while ago when the poster said she had a baby at the same time as her neighbour had a puppy &, for the first few months, they'd compare notes on lack of sleep, exploding nappies/poo issues etc. Roll on two years and the poster was having a massive battle trying to get her tantrummimg toddler into the car seat to take him to nursery at £65 a day whilst her neighbour hopped into the car & went to work leaving the dog at home with the walker coming around to take him out for a walk a few hours later.

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