Dog?

[milliejones25x]

My husband recently passed away so my best friend, her daughter and my little sister have moved in to help me with raising my three kids and working a full time job. My middle child has been begging me for a dog for about a year now, and I don´t know if now is the right time with the amount of change going on. I also don´t know if it is a good time because of the amount of people that will be there, so there will always be someone to help her. What should I do?

You poor thing. Lots on your plate. Xxx

My dd wanted a dog desperately for years. We said no but have two nice neighbours who let us wall their dogs once a week. We could do it a lot more but kids quickly lose interest!

My kids are now 14 and 8.

You can foster dogs.

You can befriend older people's dogs taking them for walks through an organisation etc.

www.cinnamon.org.uk/volunteers/

It could be hard if kids get attached to the dogs but it does mean you have the opportunity to walk and play with dogs without long term commitment and associated tome issues/costs.

When my dd started the wanting a dog thing she was too young to be able to walk done alone. Now she is old enough she has high school and leaves before 8.00am, not returning until well after 4.00pm and tired!

So not in the mood to go out dog walking!

Not really sure when the right time to get a dog is! But if in doubt yourself, I would wait.

So sorry for your loss.

Unfortunately now does not appear to be the time to introduce a dog to the family. Far too much going on.

Sorry for your loss.

I’m so sorry for your loss.
Never get a dog for a child. A dog is a massive tie and a lot of expense and work. And when these people move out and you have a full time job and a dog you can’t leave for more than a few hours?

Thank you all for the condolences, it's been rough but I'm doing a pretty good job, if I say so myself!

I work at a pet clinic and we have a sort of "doggy day care" area where people can leave their pets during work or vacations. I might see how the kids cope with a dog during their holidays and then possibly bring one home for a few days, see how they cope then. If it doesn't work, we can always look into volunteering at rescue centers where they can help animals without homes, maybe they'll want something smaller once they've had a hands on experience with the dogs.
I grew up with a lot of dogs and animals on both sides of the family and that's why I became a vet, so I feel like it could be good, but I might wait until my youngest is a bit older than one. Thank you!