Puppy with a 15 month old

[2021willbetheyear]

Changed name because will probably be flamed but...is the above a mad idea? I’m a weirdo who likes looking at the website of a dog breeder that I contacted about a puppy before I had my unplanned third baby. She posts pics of her new litters (every 18 months -2 years) talks about their personality etc, and they’re beautiful dogs so I daydream about them. She’s just had a new litter and there’s one puppy not booked. I’ll be working from home until the summer (then 2/3 days a week in office - but we have a childminder who comes to the house so puppy won’t be alone much and at that puppy age a dog walker will be a possibility) so now is when it will be easiest to ensure puppy is never alone. But I have aforementioned 15 mo (as well as 4 yo and 8 yo, the latter who is animal mad). My DH would like a dog but isn’t sure about this breed (too small) and doesn’t like the colour, but it’s hard to find a good breeder in my country I think. This breeder clearly breeds for health and temperament (as well as beauty 😍). My head knows that the time isn’t right with the toddler but...but...is it doable?

I would love love love a puppy, but I have a 3 yr old and a 5 yr old and I know that at the moment they are just too young.

They would be frightened by any inadvertent nipping as puppy teeth are sharp and they can be bitey little fuckers. Plus also they are too young to respect the puppy and it’s space, plus they’d be so upset if a beloved toy got chewed plus there is the choking risk to the puppy.

As much as I’d get one tomorrow, thinking of the puppy and my children, now is not the right time

@2021willbetheyear

You have me all convinced 😄 ! And if anyone wants to recommend me some family friendly breeds, I’ll lurk on some more breeders websites so I’m ready in a few years time!

I’m researching family friendly breeds as well, so will follow with interest!

We have a clumber spaniel cross mini poodle. Here he is. He’s gorgeous 🥰

I'd recommend spaniels for family friendliness. Our working cockers are no bigger than a sheltie, but less 'delicate' I think, will walk forever, but will also happily have a lazy day. Everyone said they'd 'never stop' but most days you have to convince the older (6yrs now) one to start!

Bit of a pain to house train, and do occasionally bark at a birds fart (worse when DH is away).

We got the younger one when DD was 15 months, but we don't have older children. I was in the middle of my PGCE - I gone for the 'get everything done at once' method too!

Don’t look for breeders with websites. They will be commercial breeders or puppy farmers.
Consider what you want. What exercise, training, grooming etc can you commit to?
Maybe try some breed selector quizzes.
Visit Discover dogs? Meet lots of different breeds and ask questions.
Good luck. It’s so worth doing your HW. We waited until youngest was 6 and first puppy was a nightmare so I’m glad we did!!

What is the difference between a commercial breeder and a “good” breeder? I don’t understand how someone breeding every 18 months, often with only a couple of puppies per litter, and keeping one, could be considered commercial (the two most recent litters have more but they’re from the same bitch who most just have bigger litters). Sorry just a bit confused as to what should be considered a good breeder!

I would, once the pup is trained and treated properly. I've had dogs all my life, after my first dog passed away (she was 15 and I had 2 kids) My brother got me a husky 3 months before I was due my 3rd child. It was hard work with a new baby and a pup that needed a lot of walking, but I wouldn't change a thing. Nearly 11 years later and they're the best of buddies.

This may sound a little controversial but my DS was 16 months when we got our springer spaniel. Whilst the initial few weeks were a challenge, by far she adapted well to our DS and is very good with him. It's obviously an incredibly busy time but I would say it's worth it.

We got ddog when DD was 20 months old and everyone said we were crazy but to be honest it was the easiest time to do it. The house was already quite full on and I was used to the sleep deprivation. DD was a really difficult baby and it definitely helped put puppy struggles in perspective. In comparison the to human baby the puppy was a doddle. They’re 6 and 7 now and best friends. The only downside was that ddog (springer cross) used to knock DD over when she got enthusiastic. Not a problem for us as DD was robust and loved dogs and it didn’t bother her but it might bother a more sensitive child.

Ah now, those last few messages haven’t helped in ruling this out! Still think I have though, particularly if shelties are as sensitive as mentioned.

@Hoppinggreen

If she has new litters every 18 months or so she’s a puppy farmer and should be avoided Plus I wouldn’t have a toddler and a puppy.

Proof, if any was needed, that there's no such thing as an acceptable breeder on MN, when

• breeder who breeds once every 18 months, shows and does agility with her dogs = puppy farmer
• person who has a one-off litter from a family pet = backyard breeder
• breeder who constantly churns out litters of puppies from dingy sheds = puppy farmer

Some people seem to think that puppies are found under a gooseberry bush

Bollocks is the breeder described by the OP a puppy farmer.

I wouldn’t OP, puppies are really hard work. Wait until your DC are a few years older. Your choice of course, if you think you can cope go for it, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

@2021willbetheyear the issue is that to have litters every 18 months they will either be having too many litters from one bitch or so many bitches that they can’t be giving them all the ideal level of attention and care. Some breeders are licenced for 50 dogs. No way can they have individual care and attention or ever have them all in the house!
Really good breeders breed when they want another dog to keep. It tends to be fairly infrequent.

the issue is that to have litters every 18 months they will either be having too many litters from one bitch or so many bitches that they can’t be giving them all the ideal level of attention and care
Most bitches come into season once or twice a year and shouldn’t be bred one season after another, 18 months or thereabouts sounds like it’s probably every other season and the Kennel Club limit is 4 litters per bitch.
OP hasn’t specified how many litters each bitch has before retiring.

I agree with a PP.
No breeder is ever good enough.
They are always a puppy farmer or a backyard breeder.
Only a rescue greyhound is the acceptable choice it seems

The breeder described by the op could only have one or two breeding bitches at a time. Each only having two or three litters.

Bitch 1: litter 1 at 3 Select bitch 2.
(18mo later): Litter 2 at 4.5

(18mo later)
Bitch 2: litter 1 at 3 (select next bitch)

(18mo later): Litter 2 at 4.5

(18mo later)
Bitch 3: litter 1 at 3 (select next bitch)

And so on. Assuming they live 10-12 years you'd have maybe 4 bitches alive at a time,

Quite often breeders have their bitches out on breeding contracts in pet homes, so they have more litters because the bitches don't live with them and only come back to mate and whelp. If you breed much less you'd struggle to keep the lines going and still see grown dogs so you can 'select' the best, and cover yourself if you have a bitch who doesn't take to motherhood so you maybe don't want to use her again. At that point you're breeding from your family pet instead which is also a mn no!

We had one litter from ours, with a view to it being an ongoing thing, did all the research, registered with the KC, picked the best stud, etc, we kept a bitch. The first one really didn't take to it so we had her spayed.

Circumstances didn't work out so we had the second bitch spayed when it became clear it wasn't going to be a thing we could do properly, but I'm not sure what mn expects from breeders tbh. You have to find a secret breeder who doesn't advertise puppies and only breeds once a decade or something, but also isn't just having a litter from their pet.

Spaniels are great family dogs. i had three English Springer Spaniels when my twins were born and the dogs were wonderful with them. The kids grew up with the dogs and they were all good friends. I'd recommend that you choose your breed carefully and find a good breeder - word of mouth is best always. You'll need to be able to spend time training and exercising and you'll also need to be prepared to teach yourself about spaniels.
www.easyspanieltraining.com/are-springer-spaniels-good-first-time-dogs/