When to get puppy

[Lolly2803]

So we’ve decided to get our family dog. We are an active family and have 3 children. 5 year old twins and a 3 year old. We’ve decided on a Border Terrier. I’m at stay at home Mum. Home all the time.
I am just wondering when to get the little guy or girl. I’ve found a breeder who has puppies available in May. So then by the summer holidays we’d be able to take the dog out for walks etc or at least with us if it can’t walk far. And hopefully toilet training will be sorted.
Or do I wait till September when the kids are back to school. We aren’t a family that goes for lots of inside days out. Parks, beach, woods. We may do a few hours out at a time in the summer and if longer than my parents could have the dog. My husband also works from home two days a week. What do you think?

Agree. We also left the door open and our dog knew the difference.

Go for May OP! The nicer weather will make all the difference. And I didn't find the puppy stage that hard. It was like having another toddler in the house. But ours was a darling as a puppy and didn't cause much trouble at all. He's still a sweetheart 🥰

May, purely for the toilet training. However somewhere dark to sleep at night so they don’t get up too early!

Great choice on breed! We just added a BT puppy to our clan and he’s a much easier puppy than our lab was. (Although our lab is a lot cleverer and easy to train. He was a complete shark though!)

I would love a Lab but DH says no. So only other breed I think we both agree on and that fits in with our family is a BT. I think most dogs are harder to train than a Lab but hopefully with time and consistency we will get to a good place with our BT. Whenever we take the plunge! Just working on my husband for May!

Have you actually looked into where to get the dog?

if you are buying from a reputable breeder there is likely to be a wait until they have their next litter. The timing is more likely to be dependent on the breeder than your choice.

if you do find a puppy available soon, or immediately, it’s likely to be a puppy farm or other red flag. Decent breeders have wait lists before the puppies are concieved.

yes it’s exciting to plan but please don’t be rushed into a puppy because it suits your timings.

get contacting breeders now.

I've seen so many badly behaved labs and they are large and bitey and chew your house as puppies. A friend of ours was recently put in hospital by a lab who attacked her whilst she was walking her dog. Labs are not some kind of magic dog.

Some puppy things to be aware of

Toilet training took til about 5 months to nail for us. We got ours in summer hols so I could spend 6 weeks at home settling him in. Am very glad I had that time as we got some time to do a lot of training some basic things too.

Kids were 8 and 12, they struggled sometimes with the nipping and general puppy madness but they were both old enough to do things with him....the eldest was a very proficient pee puddle mopper. Younger kids I'd suspect it'll be mad busy. I am very glad we waited a while.

We got our puppy!!! Thanks for all your advice xxx

We need photos for proof !

We love her already! And we are only 24hours in 🤣

Aw she is so tiny and cute

She’s gorgeous!

Awww 🥰 congratulations!

Adoreable!

Awww, she's gorgeous!! I'm currently sat on the sofa with my snoring BT lay on my feet. You've picked an excellent breed there..... not biased at all 😏

So far so good! I’m aware it’s super early days but she’s just amazing. She seems really happy. The children love her. I’ve never used the word “gentle” as much but they’re pretty good really. Don’t know what I’m doing but just trying to find my way!
More puppy spam....

I don't think there's a dog with a cuter face than a BT 😍. Just freestyle it through, if she's happy then you're doing something right.

Awww 🥰 how adorable

She's gorgeous. I have a border terrier, she's amazing, they are an awesome breed. Enjoy her 💙