To ask your experience of getting a dog?

[DefrostingBuble]

I have wanted a dog for years and finally my DP was in agreement this year so after much research I went on a waiting list for a puppy.

Everyone I know, knows how much I have wanted one for years. I have three children - two are not bothered one way or the other and the youngest is as bad as me with wanting a dog!

The breeder has contacted me (there’s been regular updates, it wasn’t out of the blue), to say someone has dropped off the list so there is a puppy available from February and I can visit next week if I would like.

Now I am this close, I am getting really anxious that what if it’s the wrong thing to do. I am an over thinker with anxiety issues anyway.

I just wanted to hear your experiences of bringing a puppy into your family - good or bad! Was it as you expected? Harder/Easier? Better/Worse?

I know only I can make the decision but would just love to hear your stories.

Awful, never again

I loved it. I have a 7 year old jack Russell, she was easy to toilet train but was a little destructive as a pup. Then a 2 year old jackadoodle, she was a nightmare to toilet train (easy enough to train in my house, but in new places would go to pot ).

There were times that it was hard, but in my eyes it's been totally worth it. I felt the same at the start...what have I done etc but as soon as they were home it was great :)

Enjoy :)

Please consider rehoming rather than going to a breeder. Our dog is the most beautiful, easy, loving kind soul, she was rehomed. Big plus, no nightmare puppy stage

Like anything worthwhile - if you want the best from them you must invest too. They don't come obedient and trained, and farming those things out to trainers is never a good idea. But my dogs have been the light of my life, and although, as adolescents, there have been many times when I wanted to throttle them, I wouldn't swop them for the world. All the traumas are now fond memories that raise a smile - particularly that nearly two hours that I spent chasing my current lad around a park because yes, he did know what recall was, but no, he wasn't falling for that trick...!

On a slightly different tack, if you give what your puppy needs - consistency, training, boundaries and affection - then you will get it back in spades. It is a medical fact that dog owners are healthier in mind and body than their non-dog owning counterparts. You might just find that anxiety disappears without a trace.

I think it depends on your set up.
Have a honest think about how long you are out of the house, this not only includes working hours but also things like after school commitments to clubs, food shopping, commute etc. Puppies will need to be taken out regularly and while the time left can be built up, you need that flexibility originally

It's easy to think that you only are out for 4 hours but add 45 min either side to walk the kids back from school, then by the time you are home and taking kids to clubs and cooking dinner etc its surprising how much little time for training and actual interaction there can be

With kids it's hard not being able to go out for whole days eg to the zoo, beach etc. If where you are going is an hour journey away, then you've lost about 50% of your time already.

The other thing (dependent on kids ages) is who will walk dog? In the winter when its absolutely peeing it down with rain? Are your kids old enough to be left while you walk the dog? It's hard work convincing tired children to walk a dog in the rain/cold/dark after school etc.

I will never ever have a puppy again. I found it very stressful, trying to find the time, worrying I was getting it wrong (don’t read the Doghouse on here ), extra housework.

Now he’s older it’s easier, but it is a massive factor in our lives that we didn’t really appreciate. It’s not just ‘do I like going for walks and will I mind doing it in the rain’, it’s a huge time commitment & logistical challenge! E.g. I start work at 9.30, so racing round every morning to get the kids at school & walk the dog before I go to work (DH comes home to walk him quickly at lunchtime, and DD is home at 3 to throw a ball in the garden for him, before anyone worries he’s left too long) is super stressful. He can be left for about 5 hours after a good long walk in the morning but that means a day trip out has to start with an early rise for dog walking. Etc etc. I think we were pretty unprepared really, although we had done lots of dog sitting it was always a fun novelty, not day in day out!

20 week old pup here. I waited until kids were older (15 & 9) until we got her because I couldn’t have coped with small kiddies and a puppy, It is very hard work much harder than I thought. Toilet training is slow and I sleep with one eye open to hear if she needs out in the middle of the night. I’ve been in tears a couple of times due to frustration over toilet accidents and nipping. She gets very bitey if over stimulated and over tired and I have to make sure she still has proper sleeps during the day. If I can give you one piece of advice, please train your doggy to be happy to be left on their own, my Velcro pup follows me absolutely everywhere which can be a PITA and she gets stressed when left alone which I am trying my best to deal with at the moment.
BUT she is terrific company for me as I’m a SAHM and the pup gives me a reason to get out into the fresh air everyday.
I love her with all of my heart.
Good Luck.

There’s also the teenage phase to think about - you think you’ve cracked toilet training, recall, manners etc and they suddenly forget everything and turn into rebellious knobs. And you have to go right back to basics all over again.

I remember saying to my mum when Dd was about 2 weeks old: “god babies are so much easier than puppies!” And it was so true.

I am bereft without a dog, but I also don’t have the time and energy at the minute to bring up a well-mannered dog. It’s basically a full time job.

Puppies can be tough. I love ddog (now 9) but she was a test as a pup. They’re babies, so they need tonnes of attention and input. Sleep went out of the window for a while and she was quite destructive, she even went through so called ‘indestructible’ toys in seconds. Having a dog is expensive and very tying. We knew the score as we had been brought up with dogs.

Having said that, she is the best. We adore her. She brings so much love, fun and happiness into our home. She is DS’s best friend. She is just the most loving and girl.

A lot depends on the breed. Ours is a lab, I grew up with labs, so I expected the chewing and bounciness. We had her before ds so I didn’t need to worry about a small child being knocked over etc. Larger breeds can get quite big quite quickly so managing a still giddy puppy, in a big, clumsy doggy body can be tricky. You really have to commit a lot of time and energy into raising a puppy. Really do think of a pup as another young child. They’re the best thing in the world but take an awful lot of work.

Rescue. Don't get a puppy.

@peppita

Rescue. Don't get a puppy.

We wanted a rescue but because we couldn't be home every 2 hours, we were refused.

We have just got our second puppy, Our first was hard work, the kids were year 4 and year 2 and i vowed to never get another puppy.
Then we lost our lovely dog to cancer at 7 years old. it was heartbreaking and we miss her deeply and still do.
Now we have a little puppy and its a whole different experience, i guess a bit like having a second baby. we knew what to expect and are loving every minute.
Dogs are a tie but the benefits of having a dog out weigh the negatives. We are friendly with dog owning neighbours so look after each others dogs for family days out (not this year). Holidays there are kennels and people who look after them in their own home. Factor in £25ish a night into holiday costs.
i would say go for it but read up, get a trainer and use a crate. The more no stuff and nonsense you are the better the dog behaves. Make sure you are the boss

Great but hard work, I have 2 rescue dogs 1 came to me very young (should have still been with his mum) the other older at around 6 months (but completely untrained). Both where hard work particularly the older one who had been through 3 homes by the time I took her and as a result had a lot of separation anxiety. I didn't sleep the night for months trying to get her used to the fact I wasn't going to disappear in the night and there was a long period of slowly building up time alone in the day. They first one was a terrible teenager who developed selective hearing and a desire to escape the garden daily. They're both great now and I love them dearly but puppies are much harder work than you'd think

Puppies are a total nightmare.

Adopt an adult dog instead. We got ours when she was 1 year old and she's been a dream.

We got our girl just before dd turned 1 and ds 7. I got puppy blues the 1st week but shes honestly been so much better than i expected and slotted right in. I felt like i needed an extra pairs of hands and eyes for the 1st 2weeks but its settled down now. I need to watch her as much as i do DD, she steals things to chew them and is bit of a secret wee'er but shes only just 4 months old so i cant complain. She screamed the house down, 3 nights, for the full 8 hours in her crate so she sleeps next to us in her bed, she stays there all night and slept through within a week or so with no extra toilet trips. For a well known bratty and difficult breed, weve been very lucky with her. I spent 2 weeks petrified the kids would stand or sit on her being so tiny but weve been okay 'touch wood'

I rescued a 12 week old German shepherd pup and a 18 month old (just out of puppyhood) St. Bernard cross collie over the last two years

The St Bernard cross was easier despite having never lived indoors as he was already past the biting stage - still needs lots of attention and needed plenty training though

The puppy came into our house like a whirlwind, all land shark bitey teeth ( which is common for puppies) and is currently going through the teenage stage where he likes to forget everything we spent the last year teaching him - again this is normal, it means playing lots of brain games, going over and over training and bond building exercises are the name of the game

Puppies are hard work, they tie you down, but they are also fabulous and very rewarding

I couldn't face getting a puppy. An older dog is easier (to my mind) and from a rescue where they take the time to get to know them before rehoming. My local one has young dogs that need some training and they explain that and vet very carefully to avoid letting them go to the wrong home. Puppies are lovely but I couldn't take one on, too much hard work.

So much worse than I could have ever imagined. Love my 14 ish month old dog now. But my god, I will never, ever, ever have another puppy!

If you want a friend for 18 years and are committed to keeping them no matter how bad it is in the beginning, you will get through it and it is worth it. But equally if I had known how bad it would be (we did a lot of research too!) I wouldn’t have done it. But I do adore the dog, Stockholm syndrome!

I wanted a dog for years. I love dogs and still do. We got a puppy at 8 weeks and although we managed find I don’t think I fully anticipated how hard the puppy stage is. There was a few times I regretted it but now a few years on she’s nearly 5 and lovely and don’t regret it at all.

Getting a dog is amazing but the puppy stage is the hardest part I think and ours wasn’t that difficult to train. Thankfully she toilet trained really quickly! It was summer and I wasn’t working at the time so it just spent most of my time outside waiting for her to go toilet 🤣

We were both first time dog owners when we got our first one about five years ago, we got another two years later.

Puppies are hard work, the best thing we did when we got th emirs the one was to have a dog trainer come to the house an hour after we picked him up and she taught us the basics and I even think she started training the puppy his first command. But the session was more about educating us than the puppy. We had her back for an hour each Saturday for the next few weeks too.

Our first dog was hard to settle in his crate at night, but we got him toilet trained quickly and he picked up basic commands quite quickly, he was a bit of a chewer at one point and we could not have books on the lowest shelf. The second puppy was easy to settle at night in his crate but we took longer over toilet training, shortly because of our lesser vigilance. I was WFH for the first dog and was very vigilant, DH was the one at home for the second dog and he wasn’t as vigilant. The second dog we got in winter, I would never get a puppy in winter again, those night time trips to the garden were not nice.

I had previously only ever had cats as pets, dogs are much harder, but I would say it is worth it. Everything does need a bit more planning, we would be happy to leave a cat to fend for itself if we were going somewhere overnight but can’t do that with a dog. We have always used kennels for our cats when we go on holiday and we do for the dogs too. We fortunately have a kennels five minutes away and they both love going, one of them works out what is happening when he sees us pick up his bed and a few toys and he cannot contain his excitement.

Op,type puppy blues then look at the subject on the DogForum,there are plenty of people giving experience and help with life with a puppy.
Your life,your family will change as you adapt.you will all need to pull together,is your dp prepared to help out willingly?if not please really think this through.they are adorable,demanding,loving,clever,naughty in innocence and to test boundaries,you must start off as you mean to go on.
Have you considered an adult rescue?ignore all the hype about not knowing the dog from a puppy,he might bite,it's rubbish!the dogs home staff get to know the dog and know his temperament.plus many poor dogs are there due to divorce,financial loss,owners not wanting to care for a dog,the list goes on.it's very rarely the dogs fault.I've had many rescues and they are an absolute delight.

We got a pup before having kids, but only just. I actually found out I was pregnant 3 days before collecting him, and went through morning sickness cleaning puppy poop off my floor. We got a sprocker spaniel.

Honestly, he was seriously hard work. Much harder than both my babies. He is a nightmare on the lead, he took ages to toilet train, and he had insane amounts of energy. He stole everything; muslin cloths, nappies, the post, shoes, the remotes. We had to get his stomach pumped twice because he swallowed rugby strapping on a walk and my husbands sock 3 days before I gave birth. We put lots of work into him, he runs 5 miles with my husband 3 times a week and is walked daily, and we spent hours training him to leave things. Now, at 2.5 years old he is a dream dog, he is brilliant with my kids too, but my god, I am NEVER having a puppy again.

Absolute hell!!!
DH had wanted a dog for years, I am definitely a cat person.
I eventually let him persuade me and we got a puppy - not spur of the moment, thought about it for years, did tonnes of reading, spent time with friends' dogs etc etc...
Then we did it all properly, got one from a reputable breeder, 8 weeks old, did all the vet checks etc
It was just AWFUL! She was lovely but so bitey, and high energy - the plan was for her to eventually go to work with DH (dog-friendly office) but she was obviously too young for that for a while. She had to be constantly watched, as she was into everything. She was biting us constantly, all my clothes had holes in, my hand and arms were covered in scratches and bite marks... We both ended in tears pretty much every day
After 3 weeks we rehomed her - contacted the breeder who put us in contact with someone on their waiting list.
It was so much harder than we thought - even DH who had had dogs before. She needed almost 24hr supervision, so no chance of working at the same time.
I also think the comparison to a baby is unfair - at least a baby can't really move, and won't physically hurt you! I was actually afraid of our puppy after a while, and found myself not wanting to be at home / come home because she was there.

My last dog died 10 years ago so it was a while ago now. I kept great danes and one miniature dachshund. The dachshund was harder than the great danes by a mile!

If the breed description of the dog you are choosing says things like:
Vigorously alert.
Slightly slower to train than other breeds.
Often loyal to one member of the family ...

TAKE NOTICE!

For above read:
Barks and barks at anything and everything
Hell to toilet train
Struggles with separation anxiety and will destroy stuff in the house if you go out for 5 minutes without them.

It's best if the whole family are on board.

What breed is it OP? Out of interest.

Puppies are incredibly hard work. They are also a source of endless joy and amusement.

Get yourself a copy of Gwen Bailey's book, "The Perfect Puppy". It's invaluable. Read it. Then read it again.

Be prepared for a creature that has all the destructive, chaotic and dangerous impulses of a human toddler. Spend the next 2 months puppy-proofing your home.

I've had 2 dogs from puppies. The first was a nightmare. He was clever and agile and could get into places it never occurred to me that a puppy would be able to access, like the top of the rolltop desk, so he got hold of things that we thought were safely out of his reach, like glasses and telephones. He could get through tiny gaps. He was also the "sweetest, funniest, cleverest, naughtiest puppy ever" according to my friend, and an absolute joy.

My second (same breed, but a bitch) was an absolute doddle and a breeze to train (houstrained in 3 days), and just as adorable.

You'll need to make sure that the whole family get used to putting things away or well out of reach, or they will get chewed. They will need to learn not to chase the puppy when it does get hold of something it shouldn't, because it will think being chased is a great game. Call it and reward it when it comes from the minute you get it home.

Reward it with a treat or a game every time it does something positive, like craps or wees in the garden, and stay calm and ignore it when it's being naughty. Make sure it experiences as much as possible by the time it's 16-18 weeks old (eg crowds, trains, buses, horses, noisy places). Take it to puppy classes. Get a puppy crate so that it has somewhere safe to go. Make sure the family understands that it needs down time and that they don't disturb it when it's tired.

And enjoy it. Puppies are just heavenly and I'm puppy broody now!