Puppies - Are we mad

[imhappy]

Hi- am new here but really need some advice pls...have 1yr old and 3 yr old and things are great - they get on well, we have a good routine etc etc. Now comes the interesting part - a good friend has a lovely lab x retriever, and we have always said that we would love one of her pups should they breed her (both of us are dog lovers & had dogs before and want our children to grow up with pets, already have a cat) And, she has puppies (bred with a lab so I guess 3/4 lab pups) and we really want one - but are torn as keep thinking maybe we should leave it a few years until dd and ds are older...BUT knowing both parents we know what a fab dog it will be. Have googled & researched & and know it will be such hard work - but just wondered what exp of todds & pups was...am so confused

i work as a nanny and have a baby, 3 and 5yr - plus mad puppy (who was peeing everywhere but SEEMS to be improving)

the children adore him, and are very gentle with him, and puppy is also very good, though does go to puppy training classes

I was never a real dog person, till puppy came and I love him to bits (unless he pees )

I say go for it - if I and my mb can do puppy and 3 under 6 sure you will be fine

always nice to know the breeder and the parentage of puppy

I'd say go for it too. But I only have 1 dd who was almost 2 when we got our puppy. Now 18mths on, they are great together, ours is retriever too and dd loves throwing the ball for him and playing with him in the park. It was hard work for the first couple of months, while housetraining our puppy, although he never pooed in the house, just his crate a couple of times. And he'd keep running of with dd's toys, but she soon learnt to keep them out of the way and he learnt which were his toys. I would recommend a crate, somewhere that your pup can get some space from the children and that you can put your pup when you pop out etc. At least you'll still have all the stair gates up too!

If you have patience and time then go for it!

I got our first puppy when DD1 was 2.6 and I was 7 months pg. That was probably not my wiser decision ever ....

However, all worked out fine in the end and we've always had at least one dog (usually two) since then.

I'd say go for it too. I have children slightly older than you but got a 7 week old puppy a while ago and it going very well. You have to be patient with the house training but we had got ours house trained by about 12 weeks so that not bad. As long as you got the time for it too as I hav found need lots of excercise and then entertaining too at thome. Oh and watch for scratching and biting as they have sharp claws and teeth when young!!

Oh yes I forgot about the biting! My dog learnt not to chew dd much more quickly than he learnt not to chew me and DH. When he chewed dd she screamed and was whisked away quickly, whereas I just stepped away and he chased me, so he gave up chewing her very quickly!

I would say yes but be sure how you are going to take it out for a good long walk every day throughout teh winter with both children.

it will be bonkers for a while but worth it - we got our lab when ds was four months old which i wouldnt recommend (seemed like every five minutes somebody threw up/peed all over me) but they are now great friends. but agree with hercules will someone else be able to walk it? labs need lots of exercise and you cant do that at toddler pace (i manage with ds in pushchair now, he is 16mo, but already he is starting to want to get out and walk while in park which is difficult with the dog as they dont go at the same speed...)
definitely get puppy cage and be v strict about puppy nipping, boisterous play and teaching it its place at the bottom of the pack. but labs are great with children and if you know the parentage all the better.