Three (smallish) children and a puppy. Would you? Have you?

[SmileAndNod]

We lost our beloved dog five years ago. I miss him. Every day. Despite having two children since and all the madness and noise that three children bring we still miss having a dog. We always thought that we would get another one day once the children were bigger. They are now coming up 8, 5 & 2.

Would it be too soon still? I don't have my heart set on anything in particular, or at any time in particular - we were just having the conversation after a recent new puppy addition to the wider family visited and we all fell in love with. It was lovely having a dog running about the place again and it prompted the kids to tidy their toys which was a bonus

So I wondered are children and dogs a bad mix? Which breeds are quite easy going? We were thinking of a lab / retriever type dog?

If I've failed miserably at training my children to follow basic commands will I be a crap dog owner

Any advice / stories / things we should consider welcome

You don't have to be a non-dog family for ever - your youngest isn't that far off nursery/school age and there'll still be plenty of childhood left for your older children to have a dog in

Love the Toller!!

you won't be a no dog family forever. We've wanted a dog for the past three years but for one reason or another (mostly location and ages) we waited. Looking at my sleeping, happy doglet this morning made me think how glad I am that we waited until he could come with no compromises and hassles.
You'll get your family dog one day, hopefully not too much longer!

Think you've made the right decision OP, you don't need to wait long. We got a new pup this week and really enjoying him, DC are 9 & 7 and wishing I'd taken the plunge a couple of years ago. BUT when I looked after my 3 yo nephew for a couple of hours on day 2 of puppy ownership it was hard to juggle the two of them eg nephew didn't want to wait in the garden for pup to go to the toilet so I relented and we all came in, 5 mins later pup did wee & poo in kitchen

Yy

I remember standing helplessly half way up the stairs while dd pissed at the top and dpup shat at the bottom

You know the last 7.5 years have been spent mopping up puddles of wee, poo and sick! I think we would like a dog whilst we are still in the throes of mess and before we get used to having a clean and tidy house again

Um, my DC are teenagers...I've got bad news for you, the house is no cleaner or tidier - it's a different sort of mess, but it doesn't get better, lol.

Just take some time to socialise the DC with dogs and go back to the idea of a dog in a couple of years, it doesn't have to be a now or never thing.