Shutting a puppy out with stairgates

[mumbomama]

I would dearly love to get a puppy but I work as a childminder so
I'd need to be able to seperate the dog from the children at times.
The plus side is I'm home most of the day and my husband works mostly
from home too.

If I use stairgates on the doors so that the dog can still see us and
isn't shut away but has a barrier, could this work?

I would need to keep the dog out of the playroom at all times but
otherwise it would just be eg- when parents come to collect/ drop off
children I could keep the dog in the kitchen (again it could still
see but would be out of the way.)

Could you imagine a puppy being happy with this arrangement? Would
it feel left out or not really notice the stairgate?

stairgates are pretty normal practice with puppies (and dogs). Why not?

Also get a large dog crate that is the puppies den. use it from the start and the puppy will get used to being shut in if you need him out of the way for a bit. We use ours at night and puppy is very happy. Currenty she is asleep in the crate with the door open.

How much time would you be able to give to walking the dog when you've children to look after during the day? I'm lucky that my children are now secondary school age. I don't think I could have coped with walking a dog whilst having children in a baby carrier/buggy or on reins. If you're able to give the dog a good walk before the children you mind arrive and again in the afternoon then perhaps it could work. The parents of the children you mind might be put off by you having a dog in the house especially if it barks when not being given attention or if it jumps up or licks faces of little ones or if they or the children are allergic to dogs. Also, would you be able to keep part of the garden free for the exclusive use of the children and likewise another part for the dog? I don't want to sound too negative but there are plenty of down sides to having a dog as well as up sides. My friend says she wouldn't have another one and we love ours but she is so much work. At least an hour a day plus my working hours are planned around her. And the holidays. Eeeek! Sounds a lot, doesn't it?

Thanks for the replies.

Justivor: I appreciate the negative opinions aswell as the good so thanks for that.
I would need to section off some garden which is fine and my current parents are happy for me to get a dog. ( Although I do realise in the future it may put some people off.)
I am able to walk the dog in the evenings and most of the time dh is around to walk it in the morning. Definately agree that walking with buggy and dog would be hard work.

I have been researching different breeds and I'm hoping to get a Bernese mountain dog.

Handlemecarefully: if you happen to read this, do you have any advice regarding BMD? Do you have any regrets about getting yours?

Can I just say that in the winter it is not easy walking a dog in the early mornings or evenings as it is pitch black! (esp a puppy)

However I can see no reason why you shouldn't get a 3 wheeler pneumatic tyred buggy and walk with your mindees at the park, good fresh air for all surely?

Bear in mind that they can't be walked for long when they are puppies.

Also, puppies bite! I really wouldn't be happy leaving any puppy with a small child so I would say you need to keep the pup in another room at all times until he has learned to control his bite

And I don't know anything about the breed you would like to get, but we have had our lab cross (from a rescue centre as a 2 yr old) for 2 years now and I found it quite difficult before my youngest started school FT.

My dog needs walking at about 7.30 am, then goes to the woods for 30 -40 minutes at about 9.30, woods again for another half an hour at about 1.30, then walking to pick up kids from school at 3, then a final walk at about 9ish. Very do-able now all my kids are at school, but still requires a lot of committment. But at least I get my 10,000 steps a day

We've got 2 dogs. The big one loves her crate but the other one hates it. We use a stairgate across the kitchen door on the advice of our trainer but still have to shut the door because it peers through the bars and barks!

Bernese are very big and very slobbery and you have to be very very careful of their bones for the first 2 years. They shouldn't go upstairs and shouldn't be walked too much until they are mature at 2 or can suffer long-term damage (can you tell we were thinking of getting one once?!) They also cost a fortune to feed and will get through a 15kg sack of premium dog food (£40) in less than a month..

(They also have a very loud very deep bark that may frighten some of your mindees)

Having said all that it depends on the individual dog whether it will be OK with the arrangement. Ours don't like people coming to the house but we don't have many visitors. Yours would get used to the comings and goings.

I'm a childminder with a dog who uses stair gate.

Though my dog is 6 and was 3 before I started childmining will you have the time and be able to train your puppy? It's very hard work walking him at the crack of dawn then later on. I never walk him with the under 5's (apart from just mine) as thats not what I'm paid to do! Though I do walk with older children 9,11 mindies as they want to and parents more than happy as they really enjoy it.

Off to read about BMD hehe

I just popped on to say that I had a lovely lovely walk with my dog today and I was thinking of this thread. We went up to the top of a hill and admired the view. I think it is so much nicer now that my dog doesn't pull strongly on the lead as she used to do when she was younger. That was very tiring and used to hurt my back as I'd be using my strength to restrain her and doing stop start techniques to train her not to pull.

Also, she had a lick of a very runny sheep poo as she walked past it. YUCK!

my il's use a stairgate with their labrador - works well.