My brother is a single dad with 2 primary aged DC and he has promised to get them a dog. I had a dog who I know they loved although they only saw Ddog occasionally and they were not really that great around Ddog. They did not listen when I told them ddogs boundaries and would always invade his space but as he was a good dog he was tolerant but I was always v nervous about it. I was always ddogs advocate due to this mismatch and tried to teach the DC dog body language but I’m not sure this worked so I would judge it and constantly watch and put Ddog away from them for everyone’s sake if they visited and it wasn’t going well. I think DB thought I was just being annoying doing this and being uptight.
My Ddog was a rescue when I got him so wasn’t trained by me from a puppy and had his own dog instinct habits and behaviours, like not leaving dropped food (and getting sick from it sometimes) and barking at other dogs on walks. DB thinks a puppy will be different. Whilst I agree to some extent you can train a puppy this will not work if the DC think it’s their dog, as they will expect to train it to do what they want it to do and it’s going to cause tension.
All the Dc ever wanted to do is hold the dogs lead, kiss the dog on the head, cuddle the dog, pick up the dog and make the dog play with them but on a couple of occasions they dropped the lead I had to be the big bad Aunty and say they couldn’t hold the lead anymore as they were not old or responsible enough and didn’t listen. They also would over excite dog or not realise when he had enough and was tired and keep trying and trying to make ddog play when he didn’t want to. They would drop food on the floor all the time or wander around eating food when I asked them to be careful. They were not able to just sit with the dog near them they had to always touch it or make him play. They are just kids I know I am explaining that it was a big job to be in between ddog and the DC.
DB has also dog sat another dog for a short while so he thinks they are ready to get a dog as the DC enjoyed it. Yes they just enjoyed walking the dogs mostly and holding a lead and throwing a ball. They squabbled and whinged about taking turns to hold the lead all the time. DB lives in an apartment which I think is not a good idea either. I’ve told DB you should never get your children a dog, it would be his dog and his responsibility. they need constant adult supervision all the time and to be properly trained by an adult not by small DC to be their kissing and play toy the dog can end up with undesirable habits and behaviours. dogs have instincts some of which you will never fully train out of them so it’s a constant job to be reminding the dog of what you are asking (to leave something you don’t want it to have).
Dogs need far more than unconfident and unskilled lead walks by DC who don’t understand dogs and it could be really dangerous for the DC and the dog. Dogs also sleep a lot, need their own space and are not always wanting to play and the novelty will wear off leaving DB with another child to deal with. Dogs are also expensive to care for and Db doesn’t really have that much money. He doesn’t really want to listen to me though 😟