Am I completely nuts to consider a puppy with a 10mo?

[doggiesayswoof]

DH and I have been talking about getting a dog for a long time. DD is 4 and DS is 10mo.

We would love a puppy soon - before the summer - but we are novice dog owners (looked after dogs, but never had our own) and oh yes there is the thought of DS crawling about, probably through piles of puppy crap.

Obviously we would need to look at gentle patient breeds who are tolerant of children too - been doing some research on that as well.

Positive stories and/or cautionary tales wanted please!

TIA

A puppy and a baby a week apart sounds mad mad mad! It's good not to let life pass you by though I guess.

2.75 is good going for a hamster isn't it? I had gerbils when I was young and you were lucky if you got 18 months. I'm afraid it's one of the reasons I don't want little creatures. Tis sad when they shuffle off.

You're right, I am having too many doubts about the dog, and I think on balance we are going to leave it for a year and see where we are next spring. We can have the "puppy chat" every April until it feels right.

(I do want one now though. Harumph.)

in their defense puppy was meant to come when no 2 was nearly 2 and no 3 wasnt about, but dog had a phantom preg, and then had to wait 6mth for next season

mb got pregnant 1st try (db very proud) and then found out a few months later mummy dog was pregnant and mb was 2 weeks late over her dd and was being induced, and i remember coming into work, and mb said "the bitch has given birth" through gritted teeth - "not fair - she is due next week and im 2 weeks late" and i gathered she meant the dog

i really would avoid getting a puppy at the moment - maybe leave it a year

doggiesaywoof you are always welcome to come and play walk be dragged by our puppy

Blonde whereabouts are you? I would love to be dragged!

lol @ "the bitch has given birth"

im in the garden of england aka kent!!

if near, you are VERY welcome to come and see him

and yes i was a bit when mb said that, then reliesed what she meant - nearly a year on, i still remind her of it

Boo, I am in Glasgow

Can't just pop over unfortunately

well if you were ever near here, then let me know

Oh gosh.

We got a puppy when DD was 5 months old, the idea being that it would be company for me and a reason to have to leave the house every day. It was the worst idea we have ever, ever had.

We fully researched what breed to go for and decided on a labrador, we visited the breeder and met both parents before the mother had her litter, we came back when the pups were 4 weeks old then we returned to pick our girl up at 8 weeks. All was well.

We weren't even back in the car before she had pooed everywhere and that was the rhetoric for the next three months. If I wasn't changing a shitty nappy I was cleaning dog shit off the floor. She wasn't a bad pup, nor were we bad owners - she was just a working dog who needed extremely firm training which we couldn't provide with three young children. We lasted until she was 11 months before we rehomed her.

My advice? Honestly don't do it, certainly not with a pup. If you really want a dog, what about going to the Cat & Dog home at Cardonald and seeing if they'll match you with an adult dog? That way, they're toilet trained (which is seriously a massive pain in the arse) and the staff won't match you with a dog that won't cope with your home.

Glad it's not just me Blottedcopybook - beginning to think I had the kids and puppy from hell !

Sorry it didn't work out for you too and I'm going to really miss my dog but it is the right thing for him.

Waited until 2 boys went to school before we got pup on basis that there is only so much poo/chaos I can deal with at once. Now have dog and 6m baby and everyone seems to be getting on fine - in fact, the lovely dog cleans the kithchen floor for me as baby likes feeding herself (and the floor and the walls ...)

marmoset our puppy is also a great hoover/floor washer/mop - he esp likes thrown up milk and pureed food - any flavour or colour is fine and happily licked off the floor,before i can stand and get kitchen towel to clean up

My old dog was a wonderful hoover as well especially under the highchair

He even ate my DS1's poo from the patio when I was potty training him. Took DS1 inside to clean him up, went back out to clean poo off patio and it was gone with dog licking his lips

luckily our puppy doesnt eat poo - well hope he doesnt

No, Blondie, you just haven't seen him eat poo

well if he did,then must be his

he is a great swiss mountian dog - 10mths old,weighs just under 10stone and comes roughly to my hip, if he stands up he over towers me

looks like this

i do love him really, but he is a pain at times, very over loving - wants to sit on me on sofa, and pushing 10stone off you isnt easy

we have wooden floors,and when i go in each morning,he rushes to greet me, pushing over beating the older 2 children in his delight and haste to meet me

he stops by the steps then slides last few metres to me - by this time i have tried to hide behind the rocking horse in hall to avoid being squashed licked to death

allfun and games in our house

Blondes - our dog is a black lab/God knows what else cross and is super affectionate too - to the point that she tries to cuddle me and keeps whacking me in the face with her front legs and paws. Not sure she understands that she is not human but never mind...kitchen floor spotless tonight.

Blimey Blonde - 10st!! How much bigger will he get?

This thread is on the homepage hurrah I think that's a first for me...

Brilliant to get all this advice and it's just underlining the things dh and I have worried about.

Blotted, I will keep coming back to your post if I ever waver in my decision to wait a while. I thought about visiting Cardonald but we are very wary about rescue dogs all in all. My stepdad has had a couple who turned out to be basket cases. I know they will try and match dogs to households but surely a lot of them are in there in the first place because they're being rehomed away from kids?

Another point to think about is how the dog walking is going to be managed - I've got 2 labs and DD (2.5) and find it impossible to walk them together unless we just go up to the moors and everyone can run free.

It is worth thinking of the logistics of excitable puppy/young dog needing training or not coming back when called combined with a baby in a pushchair or toddler walking slowly or jumping in puddles and refusing to be hurried. You just can't be in 2 places at once and sometimes you need to be.

Yes, dogs can be walked early in the morning or in the evenings, but remember it will be dark and cold for most of the year.

Having said all that, there are enormous positives to having dogs and children together, but IMO it is worth thinking through the logistics before getting a dog

maybe another stone tops and prob a few more inches in height

though he was in the kennels for 10days as family away,luckily was a woman who huge fields rather than left in cage all day as some kennels are - so he looks leaner - db said he lost weight due to pining for me them - i think he got lots of walkies ad running with other dogs

they are a lovely breed, very friendly, tho also guards house well and will hear postie and bark at strangers when they come through gate before they ring the bell

funniest thing is for all his size, weight and strength when the cleaner gets the hoover out, he whimpers and is scared and runs away - pmsl

Doggie Not always, and with Cardonald being an SSPCA place they're pretty responsible with making sure you suit the dog as well as the dog suiting you. My only real gripe is that every dog they have seems to be a staffy or staffy cross and as lovely as they are, staffies are just too powerful for my comfort levels.

I just had a quick look on the SSPCA Cardonald site - What about this chap?

Thanks for the link Blotted, he's a nice dog. I might give them a ring. I'm just really not 100% sure about rescue dogs, there's only so much they really know about what the dog has been through.

I've had a look on the SSPCA and the Dogs Trust sites before and there are so many staffies it's unreal. I know they are nice dogs for the right person but I wouldn't have one either.

Bedlam - hadn't thoguth of a chinchilla and I'm sure DD would love it, but we don't want anything in a cage for various reasons, mainly because I couldn't be arsed cleaning it out. I'd honestly rather pick up dog poo.

Update - DH and I talked about it again last night (god we have deliberated this for hours and hours)

DH said at one point "I think we are being pussies about this" (not a dig at me, he is if anything more cautious than I am)

I said no, we're just being sensible.

We kind of agreed not to get one just now.

Then today I met a friend of mine who is a vet and asked him what he thought. His neighbour got a lab puppy when their youngest dc was 2 and it's all gone swimmingly, he said a puppy growing up with young kids is great fun etc etc. His main questions were

1. do you have a garden? (check)
2. do you have somewhere you can go for a decent walk? (check)
3. are you serious about puppy training? (check)

Now all indecisive again. I am hopeless.