What age were your Dcs when you got a dog?

[Nocturne123]

I would absolutely love a dog . I grew up with the most lovely Alsatian and would love that for my kids.

Dd is 21mo and ds is 5mo so now is definitely not the time.

If you got a dog after you had Dcs what age were they ? I'm just trying to figure out how long I should wait to get one.

I got our first dog when ds1 was 4.5 and at nursery. It worked well, altho he did moan once to my dad that he didn't like the puppy because it bit him and mummy loved the puppy more than him.

With DDog2, ds2 had just turned two. I was happy with that timing because I knew exactly what I was letting myself in for the second time around and also ds2 was far tougher than ds1. He didn't her worried about the play biting etc (and yah ddog2 was no where near as bad) I can't remember her ever knocking him over.

But I would only suggest puppies and preschoolers if you know what you're letting yourself in for and are very dedicated

7 and 4 here. As soon as the youngest started school.
Think you stand the best chance of retaining sanity and being able to put your all into training that way.
Also means pup gets some respite during week!

11, 7 and 1.

Then 2nd dog

18, 14 and 8

Getting one this year when DC will be 10 and 6.
Think I was 8 when we got the first one as a family and my brother will have been 11

Already had my first staffy when I got pregnant (unexpectedly - we'd been trying for years with no luck) with son 1.

Dog died when he was about 2 so he has no memory of her. Got second staffy when sons were 9,7 and 6 and two years later when I had a baby and was pregnant again, got a second dog. That wasn't so tough on me as husband in those days had a job that finished at 12pm so I wasn't coping alone all day with dogs and boys.

Got this staffy when my sons were (first 3 now adults) and the younger sons, 14 and 12. My grown up sons say it's nice the little two now have a dog of their own that will grow up with them, like my last dogs did.

Ddog1 was here before ds; she was just over a year old when he was born, so out of the puppy stage. It did mean that ds got lots and lots of walks in the fresh air though :)
We got ddog2 last year, when ds was 7, and completely by chance (or possibly cosmic karma) we are having another baby, ds2, in April. We seem to always do it the "wrong" way round, but it's worked out fine so far!

14 and 17. However both grew up with my mum's dogs. I wouldn't have had puppies when my kids were small.

11, 9 & 7, and pleased we didn't do it sooner. Ddog2 two years later.

11 and 6, pleased we didn't do it any sooner .

Youngest was almost a year old when we got Dog1. In retrospect it would have been better to have waited 18 months longer: Dog1 would have been a bit better trained, because I'd have had a few hours a week to focus on getting her to behave herself.

I had dogs first, a few months after DS was born that dog died, I got another when he was about 2 - not a puppy though.

In fact the only puppy I've ever had is the current dog, the DC were 16 and 12 when we got him, they found him pretty hard going even then, lol.

We had 2 dogs before the dcs. We got a 3rd dog when they were 3 & 5. This was nothing to do with the ages of the dcs but to do with the ages of the dogs. We got our next dog soon after we lost one of the first and now we have a pup.

My dd was about 21 months. The relationship between pup and dd is gorgeous.
My dd was used to dogs though from family dogs and is very sensible the puppy puppy stage was pretty easy finding this puppy adolescent stage much trickier as I'm heavily pregnant and dh has been working away for 3 months... Possibly I haven't timed things the best but wouldn't change it.

That sounds lovely fishfinger . Yes I definitely think I will wait until my two are a bit older . I can't wait to have a dog again though

Except being pregnant with your dh away , must be tough !!

9 & 12 but growing up, my parents always had dogs so I grew up with them. The dogs were great, but we also had a family of 8 feral cats and I still have a scar on my eyelid from when one of them took a swipe at me when I was a toddler!

17 and 14.

To be fair DS2 had been nattering for one since he was about 9.

I got our first dog when I was on maternity leave with DD1!, figured I was home enough to toilet train etc and enjoyed getting out with dog when DH got home, it was my solace and worked well for me.

I'd not recommend getting a dog if contending with pregnancy/young baby/toddler. But I did the foolhardy thing getting a second (adult - puppy would have been impossible!) dog when pregnant and with a 1 year old - as I said above my husband finished work mid-day though.

And as yum says, it was a solace. I found I could leave the kids with husband and get out for bracing long walk mid afternoon. I think some days I would have gone insane, without that. The dogs were a huge benefit to me, honestly. But I am an experienced dog owner - had them ever since I was born. And was having a breed familiar to me, and the second dog we got was 2, so past the horrible puppy and teenager stahe and already fully trained. She was also an unusually calm, gentle and laidback dog (bull terrier).

Our youngest dd was 11 our others were adults.T alked about it for years but the time only felt right then. For me I couldn't have managed a puppy and pre schoolers tbh.

I was 12 weeks pregnant, with twins. I had wanted a dog since for ever and knew if we didn't do it then I wouldn't be in a position to have one until the children were older. I would have waited until they were about 5 or 6, puppies are a lot of work.

Best thing we ever did, the three of them have grown up together.

11, 8, 5 and 2. He's only 16 weeks but so far, touch wood, it's been far easier than I imagined. We waited until we were living in a suitable place and jobs allowed for no more than an hour alone time. Didn't think too much about children's ages tbh.

We had our old boy before the dds came along. They never really bonded much with each other, they just sort of tolerated each other. At least the dds weren't as upset as we were when he died. We're now contemplating having a puppy in the spring and they'll be 8 and nearly 6, old enough to be sensible and young enough to grow up together.