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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

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Original poster

How old were your DC's when you got your dog/s?

19 replies

Kushti · 03/05/2012 13:24

My DC's are 18 months, 4 and 7. DH has said we can get a dog towards the end of the Summer.

OP posts:

Original poster

Kushti · 03/05/2012 13:26

Sorry that sounded odd, I mean DH has agreed to getting a dog towards the end of the Summer. He likes dogs but wasn't too keen on getting one initially.

OP posts:

Wants3 · 03/05/2012 13:37

My boys were 9 and 11 so they were mature enough to help with the feeding walking etc. I also didn't have to worry about accidental roughness. The dog is now nearly 6 and dc3 is due any day now so it will be completely different!

AdoraBell · 04/05/2012 04:04

Ours were about 5-ish, may have been 6. I was concerned about them being old enough to comprehend instructions like stop pulling the dog's ears/poking it's eyes, it doesn't like it turned out they never did those things. (it was was just the rotten kids I grew up around)

Also it took a few years for DD2 to get over being bitten, I waited for her to be fully comfortable around dogs before bringin them into the family.

Thumbwitch · 04/05/2012 04:29

DH wants to get a dog, I don't. But I agreed he could get one when our youngest was 5, as we always planned to have 2. Took a bloody long time to get pg again successfully - so DS will be 5 just after this one is born, and I will still want to wait until the new one is 5 before a dog appears.

DH will be the primary dog carer as I don't really like them and can't stand the smell of dog poo, dog food or dirty dog

BoatingLakeDiva · 04/05/2012 07:14

Thumbwitch, I really don't think you can get one then. Not even when your youngest is 5. It will take over your life and live in your house like a child. It will pick up on your negativity about it and you will grow to resent it because DH wanted it etc. etc. Maybe DH will have gone off the idea in 5 years or maybe you will have changed your views but honestly, feeling like you clearly feel, I wouldn't get one. sorry.

Thumbwitch · 04/05/2012 08:20

No, I wouldn't get one either Boating. But I may not get the choice.

JaxTellerIsMyFriend · 04/05/2012 08:26

I got our first dog when DS was a bump in my tum. DD wasnt even thought about then!

It was good because DH work hours meant he was around a lot or he worked from home, for training and I took the puppy out with me wherever I went. It also worked as our dog and baby were brought up together. I wouldnt suggest it if you had never had a dog before though.

The hardest part was when DD was born. Trying to walk a dog, with a toddler and a new baby is not the easiest thing in the world, especially when baby hates the sling and prams are not suitable for country living!

BoatingLakeDiva · 04/05/2012 09:25

Thumbwitch - that is very unfair of your dh. Does he work from home and could he do 99% of the dog care? Inevitably you would end up having to do a proportion of the dog care any way. It's like you bringing a horse into your home against his will! I bet you would consider his feelings more than he is doing for you. Let's hope he goes off the idea! Would he get a slightly older dog so you don't hav eto go through teh puppy bit?

TeaTeaLotsOfTea · 04/05/2012 10:05

My DS was 4 when we gor our first.

George is a yorkie so DS could hold his lead and not be pulled over etc.

I wouldn't have got a dog when DS was younger because I didn't think I would be able to handle to toddlers

TrinityRhino · 04/05/2012 10:12

My girls were 9,4 and 2 when we got duke. He was wonderful with them.....

D0oinMeCleanin · 04/05/2012 10:32

I've always had them. I had a JRT when both girls were born. The dc were 3 and 6 when she passed away and we ended up with our current scruffy terrier.

It's not always easy fitting in dog walking and training around young children, particularly when they are ill or it's raining or CBeebies is still on air or there are pictures that need colouring in etc. and the last thing they want to do is join you on a hike around the local nature center.

Teaching the children how to behave around the dog is far harder than teaching the dog how to behave around the children.

Any toy that is left on the floor and subsequently destroyed by the dog will immediately become "my favourite toy" even ones that are rarely played with and there will many tears, loud howling and you can be certain that they will let you know it's your fault.

If this is the first dog you've owned I would strongly advise you to wait until your youngest is in school. Please believe me when I tell you you are underestimating the amount of time and money your dog will demand.

I did and I was brought up like my children. I've never not had a dog, from being born.

If you can't wait make sure you have plans in place for people to walk the dog or look after your youngest while you walk the dog if a) the weather is absolutely horrendous or b) the child is sick with more than the sniffles.

Make you sure you keep an empty credit card for emergency vet fees (you can claim this back on insurance but not all insurers pay the vet upfront and not all vets are happy to wait for payment from the insurers so it's safest to have access to funds immediately if you need to).

I know I keep posting negative things on your threads, it's just it's coming accross as a very impulsive descion on your part and not something you have fully thought through or planned for. As I said before owning a dog is about far more than just wanting one. I want a little monkey. I'd love a little monkey. But I can't have one because it would not fit in with my life style and it would be impractical and I'm fairly sure once I got a monkey I would fully understand just what a silly idea it had been.

And please consider what you will do if your LL serves you notice to quit. How/where will you find another pet friendly rental? What will happen to the dog if you can't find another pet friendly rental?

JaxTellerIsMyFriend · 04/05/2012 10:40

dooin perfect post, well thought out and very very true. There is a reason why many rescues wont rehome to a family with young children, also same reason many breeders wont sell pups to said families.

Thumbwitch · 04/05/2012 10:41

Boating - he does have a home office but he isn't at home all that much. He would be able to do most of the dog walking though, I would expect him to, tbh.

Puppy stuff - no, I doubt he'd deal with that, so we would have to get an older dog.

And yes, of course I am more considerate than him - I'd love to have a cat but he hates them so naturally I won't get one - the thing is, he would use the emotional blackmail on me that it is for DS, DS wants one and I shouldn't deny him that.

It's going to be an interesting bridge to cross...

BeerTricksPott3r · 04/05/2012 10:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ScooseLooseAbootThisHoose · 04/05/2012 10:46

We had our fog before we had dd, he is a shih tzu and brilliant with her

JaxTellerIsMyFriend · 04/05/2012 10:48

Should add that my PP was for our first family dog. DH already had a dog when we got together and I had been brought up with dogs, so not a huge shock for us to have a dog together.

LtEveDallas · 04/05/2012 11:09

DD was 8 months when we got the first dog (2 yr old Corgi JRT Cross) and 5 when we got MuttDog (Collie/Springer/Pointer/Heinz)

DD teethed on Bonios (boak) learned to crawl by following the dog, and walk by holding onto the dog. We have numerous photos of DD asleep in the dog bed, generally curled up with the dog.

We were, however, seriously strict with respecting the dogs space. JackMutt had one of those soft carrier boxes under the table that DD wasn't allowed anwhere near. If JackMutt went in there DD was kept away and was told off if she tried to go anywhere near her. JackMutt could also easily jump the babygate, so if she wanted peace would take herself upstairs and hide under the bed. We never had any problems, less the one startled snap when DD (about a year old) fell off the sofa and landed on top of the sleeping dog. We didn't punish the dog at all for that, as it wasn't her fault.

Toys were easy for us - DD was always told that if she didn't want to share she didn't have to, but that toys left on the floor were fair game if she'd been told to put them away. DD quickly got into the habit of putting toys on the coffee table, and the dog was told 'No' if she tried to get to them. We also went to car-boots a lot and bought the dog 50p teddies to destroy.

It was a lot easier when DD was older and we got MuttDog (as a puppy) - but we still followed the same rules and have had the same sucess. I think the combination of a puppy and a baby isn't great - one or the other. JackMutt was fabulous, but was 2 years old. MuttDog was a typical puppy (bloody nightmare!), but DD was old enough to understand.

Original poster

Kushti · 04/05/2012 11:18

Thanks guys, I'm going to have to think about this very long and hard. DS (4) starts school in September, so maybe after Christmas (tree, presents, puppy, can't imagine it's a good combination...) around January time. My youngest DS will be 2 by then which I think may work better, what do you guys think?

OP posts:

higgle · 04/05/2012 13:46

I find all this talk of children an dogs and when to get one very strange. I have had dogs since I was single. We had two dogs aged 11 & 7 when DS1 born, and the old dog who would have been 15 and new puppy aged 1 when DS 2 born. When I was a child my parents had a sucession of dogs. Unless work committments are a problem if you bring your dog up properly you should not find it too difficult.

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