AIBU to just need a puppy now?

[InstantCanineGratification]

I quietly know IABU but I just want someone, anyone to be on my side.
DD#2 will turn 8 in a month. All she wants in life is a puppy. Me too. DW isn't convinced and it'll be awful if we get one without her consent. We are expecting to renovate the kitchen and bathroom and redecorate the house this year - haven't employed the people to work on the place and I know the lead time takes about 6 months. Just the right amount of time to have a little puppy make all the mess she wants...
So I want a puppy now. DW has eventually been beaten downinto agreeing relented and said OK... but now she has, I want one NOW. There's a gorgeous little ball of fluff just waiting for us to bring her home and DW says we shouldn't do it until after the renovations.
AIB completely U to want to do it now?

The comprehension levels drop daily on MN.

Siwdmae

Read the OP's posts at least.

We have a good working from home set up

Do it before the renovations for sure. But I would crate train from the start so you can keep him secure during the renovations when people are coming/going all day and leaving every bloody door open no matter how many times you ask them not to.

The comprehension levels drop daily on MN

Unlike the OP who has decided they must have the cute puppy that is just waiting for them to bring them home. And now the DW has said "Ok, but after the renovations" the OP has stamped their tiny feet and said they want one NOW..................

Okay, i want guns a blazing into buying a puppy and while I dont regret it for a Second I would do it very differently next time.

Practically, at you going to have access to the garden every 2 hours or more? Are you redoing the kitchen floor? Are contractors going to be in and out? Builders left our gate open once and our pup was gone for a good 15 minutes! God help her if we were on a main road.

Puppies get very very stressed leaving home, they often don't eat, have bloody/watery poos and cry or hide a LOT. They need a good few days of calm and quiet.

What shocked me the most was potty training. It's like a baby, up every 2/3 hours to let them out. Ours kept on needing to go out once in the night until 6 months old when she grew out of it.

I would really recommend insurance. We cancelled ours and our dog has cost us £3000 in 3 years in vet bills.

I socialise Hearing Dog puppies. Have sent 5 black labs into training -ages ranging from 12 to 16 months. All of them were well trained and calm. Not perfect, obviously because still so young, But I don't agree with
some comments eg that some breeds of dogs are wild until age 5. I don't think people realise the effort and time it takes to train a puppy. However, fox red labradors are v challenging, and so are choc labs. Will be accused of being racist soon, but that is my experience!

iago. My Ddog2 is a chocolate Lab and a right little sod compared to Ddog1 who is a black Lab. All the Chocolate ones I've met are like him. I think you are right on the money.

Puppies get very very stressed leaving home, they often don't eat, have bloody/watery poos and cry or hide a LOT.

Whilst going off their food a little isn't unusual the rest is absolutely not normal at all. As well as breeding from dogs with sound temperaments (to avoid as much as possible extremes of nervousness, etc.) the breeder should be preparing the puppies practically from day one to go to their new homes. There's lots that can be done to increase/reinforce confidence and introduce the concept of not being with their litter mates all the time, it's basic stuff that any breeder worth their salt should be doing.

I agree with trying to keep things calm and quiet (as much as a puppy will allow!!) for the first few days but a puppy from parents of good temperament who has been raised properly should not be completely traumatised by being taken to their new home.

With regards to working from home, it's still a good idea to have a bit of time off. Puppies need a lot of supervision and input when they're small, not least because you'll be house training. Have a read of this guide to toilet training and think how much of an impact it would have on you trying to work.

Not RTFT, have you tried a "borrow my doggy" type service to see how things go, especially for DD to experience the dog shit cleaning, walking, feeding responsibilities of actually owning a dog?
At that age of course kids want puppies, puppies on tv don't 💩
And why a puppy? Why not rehome a dog that has already been trained (thus avoid the puppy messes) and just needs a loving home - there's plenty of them out there.

I have had dogs all my life, currently have 2. When my children were growing up we had dogs, but they were never got for the children - they were family dogs. The children weren't allowed to run around with them as puppies because, in my opinion, that's the best way to make a pup loopy. Pups need to be kept calm, particularly an excitable breed like a lab. Training should be paramount, socialisation at an early age which means carrying them around and taking them everywhere. Going to puppy class, and then classes to teach them to be social, well-behaved family members. Many inexperienced owners make the mistake thinking that the pup will learn by some sort of osmosis. It won't, it needs patience, care, repetition and stimulation of the correct sort. Without this the pup won't learn, will become a nuisance to other dogs and people.... and as so often happens will end up in a rescue centre through no fault of its own.

Most of this involves educating and training the humans. A good trainer will help you and your family to bring up your dog. Taking on a dog and rearing it correctly is not something you should do lightly. Everybody without exception needs to be on board, prepared for initial sleepless nights, cleaning up mess without complaining, putting things away to prevent them being chewed and being a danger to the pup.... etc etc etc. Please make sure you do your homework first and be prepared for worst scenario with a pup who takes forever to housetrain, refuses to come back and rips your house to bits. Because if that's what you end up with, it's totally your fault.

Getting a puppy / dog is amazing for a family and each member will grow to love that dog. BUT you must understand a new home and even new people on top of loud, smelly, building work will be distressing to the puppy.
I would take the time you have while doing the renovation to look into breeders and breeds to 100% make sure the puppy is the best thing for your family..... if you've waited all this time you can wait a bit longer. Took me 7 years to convince and get my dog and it will be worth it in the end.

My husband and daughter wanted a puppy, and spent 18 months researching and persuading me. I relented, after all the promises and what not, and now I'm stuck with a massive dog, incredibly limited lifestyle and the responsibility of an animal I didn't ever really want!
I don't think it's fair to expect your wife to do the morning walk if it's not something she wants, and then when the novelty wears off, she'll be feeding it, taking it to the vet, house training it, picking up all manner of crap after it. Not fun times.

Argh. Stop resurrecting zombie threads

We've just had to have our family dog PTS after fifteen years, so I'm really biased, he was the most amazing family dog, friendly, happy, endlessly patient even with little DCs. As a pup he was a bit of a terror, chewed a wall and used to steal my mum's bras from the laundry basket. He definitely stayed in puppy mode for longer than six months, and would've been very intrigued by workmen etc so you probably are best off waiting. He also needed a lot of walking at least two to three hours a day and at his peak my dad would go out cycling with him up to ten miles at a time and he'd run along side, so it's important you have access to rural areas too, they're not the kind of dog you can walk round the block

Oh FFS

It would be crazy to get a pupbefore the work is done. Not fair for the dog, your family, or the people doing the work.

ZOMBIE THREAD