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

dh would say that - i am sure he is (as my db) is at work all day 5 days a week, and it would be you left to clear up wee/poo take for walks single handed and with children in tow for 5 days

where as at weekend you could all go as a family or dh take dog and you have children at home

Well, DH is SAHD so it would actually be him doing the vast majority of the work

and he says he doesn't mind.

I am out of the house 8-5.30, Mon to Fri

What to do what to do??

a sahd and he wants a puppy - very tempting to say get one

If it were me I'd wait until youngest child is potty trained, walking and able to understand 'No, don't pull the puppy's tail' !

I do know how you feel - I am reluctantly putting off getting Dog no. 3 until my lab is a little older.

It's hard waiting but a dog's experiences as a pup can ruin it for life.

I can totally understand the reticence over a rescue dog btw, totally. I would say though that any dog can turn with a moment's notice and obviously it's vital that the dog is always monitored around kids.

Do you know anyone who has a good-natured dog? Someone who the kids could spend a bit of time with? That would probably give you a very good indication as to whether the kids will react well to a new dog in the house.

we got our dog when byos were 3 and 4 and got a big breed. things have worked out really well. i never got up to let dog out in the night. boys knew to avoid his 'cage' as thats where he was toilet trained then out in the garden. training is tricky to fit in sometimes but he isnt the easiest dog right now and going through adolesence!

have fun!

I have got 2 labradoodles, they are huge and woolly and fab with kids. they just love people! They have been playing cricket with us in the garden this evening - they are just great at fielding. they do need an awful lot of exercise though. I was out all day yesterday and the youngest ate one of my posh hobbs boots We all still love them to bits though

OP - I have managed to find the thread which I started when a few of us had new puppies. It might give you a flavour of what it was like for us on a day to day basis.

here

HTH

Just catching up with this.

Bella, thanks for the link to the old thread - will be very useful! I'll go and read it.

DH was chatting to a friend today about it. They got their dog from their local SSPCA centre when she was a puppy - their dc were all at school before they took the plunge.

They were put on a waiting list for puppies - obviously harder to come by than older dogs - and it worked out really well, the dog is a lovely wee mutt who is great with the dc. I would consider a rescue puppy in the future but would still feel a bit wary of rescuing an adult dog - at least while the dc are small.

We are very keen to avoid having to rehome a dog if it doesn't go to plan. So we'll wait.

It's exciting to be able to say that we will be getting a dog at some point though. It feels like a major step for us

A cautionary tale here as our dd was bitten at 13mo - they are so inquisitive and have very few boundaries at this age (not to mention the puppies!), so we decided to wait until she is old enough to understand she can't tease/harrass/cuddle mercilessly. For her sake and the dog's!

Good luck with your rehoming - some relatives of ours recently rehomed a beautiful collie who has been dumped twice before he reached the age of a year . He's the most gorgeous gentle, clever boy, I adore him!

Hi,

I have tow dogs - one almost 7 years old and the other 4.5 years old.
we now have a almost 9 month old baby and it is hard work!

Baby is now crawling and tried to play with the doggy toys.. constantly having to take doggy hair out of his hands as no matter how much I hoover there is hair everywhere - we have a Bernese mountain dog and they are notorious for their shedding!
He uses the spaniel to pull himself to standing so have to monitor that very closely.

My dogs are obvioulsy house trained and well behaved dogs but I would not have a new puppy now.
When mine where pups they chewed EVERYTHING!! puppies mouth and bite people to learn their limits and it will be hard work to make sure they know not to do this to the kiddies.
They pee and poo in the house during the housebreaking and you have to be taking them out and staying with them to praise them when they do do it outside. We had to get up every 4 hours in the night to take one of my pups out to pee for at least a month - - do you really want to go through that after doing that with the baby?

I feel bad that our dogs doent get as much love and cuddles as they used to as we are so busy with the baby now.

If you are busy with the kiddies or they are ill will the pup get walked and played with?

Dogs are amazing and so much fun and will love you so much but they are so much work and need to much dedication and time.
My advice would be to wait till your youngest is walking and potty trained. that way you know they are a little more able to hold their own, understand not to let the puppy mouth too close etc etc. not stick their fingers in pup mess etc.

Watch out for those wagging tails too - - - hehee!!

Hope that helps a bit

Dont be put off getting a dog at some time though as they are great and cute and wonderful fo rthe kids to play with.

We got a puppy when ds turned 2, and it's the best thing we ever did.

He's a very big, dominant breed. We got him because a lovely Irish setter bounded into our garden, and I expected ds to laugh and play with him but instead he cried solidly in terror for about 45'. I was determined he would grow up with dogs (I did) so I thought I'd better deal with the issue sooner than later.

I chose the breed I like as when I was a child I was always around supposedly 'unsuitable' dogs (dobermans, GSDs, and so on) and they were wonderful, so I didn't buy the 'right breed' thing too much. I also wanted a good guard dog.

It worked really well as the dog can take rough and tumble from ds, and because he's been with ds since he was tiny and we've trained him to be really gentle, he is wonderful with him.

The change in ds has been incredible. His relationship with the dog is everything I could have hoped for and a hell of a lot more. The puppy is only six months old now, but already more than twice ds' weight. Ds is no longer scared of dogs in any way, whatever their size or shape.

It's been a fair bit of work, but absolutely worth it.

Has anyone got any advice for us? I am 37 weeks pregnant with our first baby and we have 2 German Shepherd boarder collie crosses. They are both older dogs and well trained, we used to do agility classes when they were younger. But I am still a bit worried how they will react. They are both normally OK with young children, but it's not the same as having a baby in the house all the time. We have crates for them.

I know this is a bit of a change in the tread, but any advice?

thuis is a great thread. We have an almost 4 year-old chocolate lab girl, our first dog. She really is the best natured dog I have ever met and great with kids generally. My husband spent a fair amount of time at home with her as a puppy and she is very well trained with me, immaculately trained with him. We have a 1 year old dd who loves her, lab is fine with baby and very tolerant of grabbing handfuls of fur and ear pulling... I never let them be alone together yet, though, as dd is just too little to understand boundaries yet. Only ting I would say is that it's been a bit like having a child already - there is competition for attention on both sides, so we were very careful not to suddenly ignore or neglect the dog as soon as dd arrived (which I have seen so many people do). Don't remember puppy training as terribly difficult, maybe that's because dh did most of it , or because labs are such loving dogs who will do anything for a cuddle and a titbit! Toilet training easier in the spring, though!

I really enjoyed my 6/12 maternity leave walking miles in the country with dd and dog - dog extremely protective if anyone she didn't know came near pushchair! Now pg with 2nd, due in September when dd will be 17/12 so expecting a lot more chaos but sure will cope if the attention gets shared round!

We would love another puppy as company for dog, but are trying to restrain ourselves until 2nd (last, probably) baby at least 2-3 yrs.

Just wondered if you had thought about getting an older dog. We really wanted a dog, I had grown up with them when ds was 18 months. We ended up with a lurcher x terrier, a medium sized scruffy looking dog! He was great, he came from a pet rescue centre after a family with young children had split up and he was 1 year old. He was fully housetrained and very used to children, in fact he probably found it a relief as we only had one dc at the time and he came from a family with 3 under 4's!

Lurchers and greyhounds are a great breed to consider as they like to lounge around sleeping most of the day and only need 2x20 minute walks. In fact ours is often happy with a good ball throw and game in the garden.

It also cut out the stressfull puppy stage but he was still young enough to train as we wanted. He is 7 this year.

With regards to getting the dogs used to the new baby:

we would play (to be honest we didnt do this much) the sounds of a baby crying to see how they would react - - no reaction at all even when we put it on loud.

When the baby arrived we put the car seat down and let them sniff him lots and lots - but no licking.
then just monitored them lots whenever they were in the same room together.
The spanile was very interested and always trying to look in the moses basket and have a good sniff - always close by.
When we were feeding they were allowed to come and have a look and sniff but again no licking and no paws too close.
The older he got the more we allowed them to lick and now he uses the spaniel to pull himself to his feet!!
The berenese is a timid doggy so she is still very wary of him and just has a few sniffs still but doesnt let him touch.
when they come close and sniff him they get lots of strokes and praise.
esp when the spaniel lets him pull her about.

when they were pups we would pull them about a bit as a child would - we did this also while they wree eating - - everything to get them used to being tugged on as we knew one day we would have kiddies!!

It all depends on the demeanor of your dog and as much as we trust ours they arent ever left alone togother - - you just never know what could happen - you hear such awful stories.
If I pop out of the room for a sec I dont worry but if I will be gone for more than that they used to be shut out of the room and now he goes in his playpen.

Hope that helps
x