Is It Really That Bad?

[Spacemonkey2016]

Hi all. I really want to get a puppy at the end of the year. I'm trying to research everything properly, to make sure it's a good idea for our family and the future dog. But everything I read seems to discourage people with young children to do so. My children will be 6 and 3.....is it really such a terrible idea? They'd only be a small dog, and we both WFH for the majority of the week. I grew up with a dog from the moment I was born, until I was 15 he bought so much joy to my childhood. I want that for my children, and dogs are the only pet animal they're not allergic to. (Well, only pet animal I'd have in my house, anyway!)

Can anyone add any positivity about getting a puppy with reasonably young children? Unpopular on Mumsnet, I know, but the dog would be either a cavapoo or a cockerpoo. puts my hard hat on

I was told the same gloom and doom stories as you from my early 20s to my early 40s. It turned out to be utter bullshit.

We got our puppy 18 months ago and she has been a dream. Just so easy. She a working black lab.

She slept through the night from 5 months old. She eats everything she is given without complaint. She is always happy to see us. She is always keen to go for a walk. She loves a cuddle. She loves training games. She adores our camping holidays. A joyful addition to our family.

Our DC were 8 and 6 when we got her. DD1 is autistic and our dog seems to comfort her instinctually when she has a meltdown. That has made a big difference.

DC came with no warnings or doom and gloom stories...

Apparently dogs are tying...not found that! It's far easier to take your dog with you than your DC.

I dog sit 3 poodle crosses and 2 labs and would get a lab over a poodle cross any day even though I much prefer the size of the poodle crosses. You know what you're getting with a lab, all the poodle crosses are crazy in one way or another and much harder work IMO, I love to have them for a bit but am always happy to give them back - the labs I could keep forever, so much more laid back.

I would look around for a good doggy daycare near you and weigh up the cost. Your puppy and young dog is going to need attention during the day which you won't always be able to provide when you are working. I wfh and put our dog in daycare two days a week from 6 months old. The other days she chills at home with me after a long walk first thing. When I take a break we have a playtime or do some quick training or walk around the block. I also stock up on various chews. We have a fairly big garden so she can roam about outside quite happily. If I have lots of meetings, I'll book her into daycare for an extra day.

We got a cockapoo last year -
i have 3 dd’s age 9,7 & 6 and one due next month.
they are a lovely bread however ..
if I could go back I wouldn’t have got him.
I feel awful saying it as I adore him but we’re busy, the kids do lots of clubs, when I’m home I want to be able to relax, play with the children etc not worry about the dog and what he wants and needs.
my girls are obsessed with him & he’s been a lovey addition to the family but if anybody asked me I’m afraid I’d say don’t do it.
I wish I listened to my best friend who told
me not to (she has a 4 year old labradoodle)

They are hard work and bitey at first, that just is true, and require training and time. But as long as you are prepared for that, there is no reason why you should be put off.

We got our first cocker with young DC, youngest was 5 at the time. It just meant we had lots of family walks in order to tire him out (and still do!). I wanted a dog that could come for long off lead walks though and knew we needed time for this each day. It is good for us as a family and means that we go out in all weather.

Also have a great dog walker who takes him one or two mornings a week even when I am WFH, as he enjoys it and the socialisation has always been good for him.

My DC have grown up with him and he is one of the best things that has ever happened to us as a family. When we go on holiday they talk about him all the time and look forward to coming home to him. We have recently added another cocker puppy to the mix so can’t all be bad 😊

I've had a puppy with a 2 and 4 year old. it wasn't easy, but was fine. however, I've had several dogs before so knew what to expect (although puppy and kids is obviously a bit different to just a puppy). More than the size of your house, I'd think about the layout - it's important that you are able to separate kids and dog sometimes (pretty frequently when they are young) so if you have an open plan home this might be very difficult....

Thanks for all the recent replies and tips all, it's still very much at the consideration stage. Although we are now finding ourselves thinking we may as well go with the dream of a labrador. We have several very large parks near us, and you're right, it's there we'd exercise a dog, so maybe garden size not as important as I thought.

Things to consider: what will you do with doggo if you want to go away? Good kennels get booked up months in advanced and so can good dog sitters, with this in mind it can make weekends away at short notice tricky.
Any chance your jobs could change in the next 12-14 years?
Many parks, in our area, now require dogs to be on leads hefty fine if caught with dog off the lead which means longer walks to ensure your hound gets proper exercises, and round our way many beaches ban dogs from spring-autumn, but both these things maybe different where you live, just be aware of local dog protocols if you take doggo away with you.
Puppies and house training with a three year old will be tough, and three years don't do hygiene, some also put everything in their mouths, so making sure your puppy is fully up to date with worming is absolutely essential. (I might be projecting here is a have a loathing of parasites after dd picked up tape worm, after being licked in the face by some random dog when we were out walking🪱)
Dogs with double coats moult like mad, so be prepared for constant hoovering and dog hairs in your DC's mouth.
Labs are great, but have boundless energy and need to have decent walks (had labs pre-children) they are unbelievably greedy and will happily take your Christmas dinner off the side or table should you be fool enough to leave it for any longer than half a second....my brother once had his entire full English breakfast demolished in nano seconds when he was fool enough to leave his beautifully cook breakfast on the hot plate of the range, to take a quick phone call, the plate looked like it had come straight out of a clean dishwasher and remained on the hot plate!)
On the plus side, labs and goldies make for the most amazing housemates, and once trained are highly obedient (food thieving aside!).

I wouldn’t worry too much about size of garden - ours isn’t big at all but it’s fine for a bit of a play and a toilet trip for my puppy. He’s a springer so pretty active too! We go on long walks and most of the time at home he’s pretty chilled and happy to potter around.

The puppy stage is really hard but it doesn’t last long, toilet training was much easier than I expected also as long as you watch them like a hawk!

We did wait until my kids were older, they absolutely adore him so I wish we had of been able to get him sooner

My DH surprised me with a gsd puppy on my birthday in April and he's been amazing so far. I'd never had a puppy before but its been a blast so far. We have a 7yr old who absolutely adores dpup and he does training with him (paw and sit and stay) . He has filled a hole that was left by the sudden loss of our ddog at the start if the year

You are being sensible OP, it’s such a big decision.

I am also considering getting a puppy, but not fully decided one way or the other. We had a puppy before we had our children, he was pts at 13 and we said we would NEVER get another dog, as much as we loved him and it broke our hearts when we lost him.

So it’s proper madness to even be considering it 14 years on, our kids are grown up, we wfh, but unfortunately I have MS my mobility is reduced and I don’t know if I want the commitment again, I some ways we would love the companionship, but having had a pup in the past, before MS, it was hard work, just not sure if I am fit enough to go through that again. My DS’ want a cat, and yes they are easier, but we live on a busy road otherwise that could be a better option. Also DH is more of a dog person.

It’s such a big decision. Good luck with making yours.

I have two dogs, three horses, two cats and four chickens at home and a nearly three year old. Granted we had the dogs before the baby came along but its possible to do its just harder work.

When we were looking for our first dog everything we read said not to do it until your children were at least 6. We waited and I am glad we did.