8 year old keeps asking for a dog

[HyeYoon]

Hi,
My just turned 8 year old DD has been asking for a dog for years but I've always said no as they really smell and I can not stand dogs at all.
She knows this but she still asks over and over again. The past few years she used to accept it when I said no but this year she just will not take no for an answer.
Recently (the past 2 weeks or so) whenever I tell her to do something she always says "I will only do it if I can have a dog." I told her that she can have anything but an animal and for her 8th birthday I gifted her one of those robotic toy dogs but she just said she didn't want a "silly little baby toy."
It is really winding me up now as she asks multiple times everyday and whenever I say no to her she starts to have a tantrum like a toddler (laying on the floor screaming and kicking her legs). Today she kept having tantrums over and over and after I sent her to her room she still wouldn't stop😓.
I feel as if this will only get worse if I keep saying no but I really can not live with an animal in the house. My husband and my other children (18 and 2) also dislike dogs.

Don't give in OP! It's your home and if you don't want a dog, FGS don't get one. They are a lot of work, they're a real tie and if you don't like dogs it wouldn't be fair on you or the dog. But yes, tell her that she can have one when she has her own home.

My kids were desperate for a pet and we got a cat, because I like cats. They would've been happy with a cat or a dog, but I don't like dogs and CBA with all the walking and training needed. Stick to your guns!

Tantrumming is OP's description of the behaviour, as first-hand witness:

whenever I say no to her she starts to have a tantrum like a toddler (laying on the floor screaming and kicking her legs).

Posters can speculate all they like about the root cause of the behaviour but telling OP that what she witnessed is not a 'tantrum' and that to say it is is unkind, does not seem very helpful.

Another clue can be found in the OP:

I told her that she can have anything but an animal

So you've already responded to this behaviour by negotiating. By offering treats you would not otherwise have offered. If I were her I'd be escalating things with an eye to the main prize too!

I feel her pain, I begged and begged for one as a child and still hugely adore them. But my mum was left with 90% of the work for 10 years when she gave in.

Should've told her you were allergic.

Off topic but how can a 2yr not like dogs? Do you mean they are scared of dogs?

Don't give in OP, you will end up responsible for it and they're a lot of work. Also you would be teaching your daughter that moaning and having tantrums will result in getting what she wants.

@saylor She is scared of anything that moves and is not human😂

Off topic but how can a 2yr not like dogs? Do you mean they are scared of dogs?

Because the parents have made her that way. Sadly. Most children that age love animals.

@saylor She is scared of anything that moves and is not human😂

That's very sad and not funny. You've made her that way. Awful.

Quite apart from the fact that no dog should be homed in a place where it will be disliked, what, pray tell, will life be like for a dog with a child who has such appalling tantrums and is despised by most of the other people in the house

Exactly. It's a ridiculous idea. It's a ridiculous post actually.

If you don’t want a dog then please don’t get one.

I don’t think I know any adult dog owner who would say their child does the lion’s share of the dog-care.

Puppies are lovely but they are hard work and I say that as someone who has a very easygoing puppy.

You’d be rewarding the poor behaviour too. Tantrums can’t mean you get a puppy when no one else wants one.

Sorry who HAD a very easygoing puppy

Mine did this but he's 18 now - still no dog. Just repeat infinitum ' when you have your own house, you can get a dog'.

Part of me thinks you should get a dog. My kids have grown up with a beautiful Golden Retriever and she is the love of all our lives. Having a dog teaches children so much, including, caring for an animal and responsibility and respect for a living creature. They also learn how much unconditional love a dog can give you. They talk to her about their day and she always knows if anyone needs an extra hug. Dogs are amazing.

Mine did this but he's 18 now - still no dog. Just repeat infinitum ' when you have your own house, you can get a dog'.

This is exactly what I did.

Until we did get a dog, but I've always loved dogs, just never been In a position to have one before.

Guy at work waited until it was the wettest day got a handful of poo bags and said let's go for a walk and pick up dog poo funnily enough his daughter didn't want a dog after that 😱

Dogs are amazing @Sertchgi123

The poor dog will not feel amazing if the occupants dislike it, don’t want to be near it, don’t want to interact with it, care for it.

All that will make is an amazingly miserable dog.

Yes I know all that, I only said part of me.

I asked my parents for a dog, repeatedly as a child. At 13 I got a dog on the understanding I did the hard work, including cleaning up accidents. I did. I loved that dog, and he was like my shadow. However, I left home at 16 so my mum (who didn't much like dogs) had to look after him for the next 12 years. By the end she loved the dog as much as I did, but no matter how much a child loves their pet realistically it is the adult who ends up looking after it.

I asked pretty much every birthday, Christmas or chore since the age of 8. I have resented my parents for it because after I moved out and got my own dog they then brought their own one!

Dogs don't automatically smell 🙈