What age were your kids when you got a dog?

[workingmumuk]

My LO is about to turn 3 and is an only child. I'm thinking of getting a golden retriever pup once she's in school as I'm desperate for a dog and have been since I was a kid.

Puppy will be my first puppy but not my first dog as I had 2 rescue dogs growing up 🐕☺️

Is 4 too young to be around a puppy? Or should I wait a bit more?

What age were your kids when you got a puppy?

Any advice about talking to your kids about how to behave with puppy?

13 and 18

16 and 9
Best thing!
Should be law to have a dog when you have tweenagers / teenagers!

Youngest was seven. Round here that seems pretty typical.

I always had dogs and then kids came along. But I would not have a golden retriever puppy with a 4 year old . Could be way too bouncy and too nippy for a small child who they could easily knock over.

Way too much like hard work in my opinion.

You can have children and dogs coexisting at any age. You just need to keep an eye on things and teach the children how to behave with the dog as soon as they're old enough to understand, and until then don't leave them unattended with the dog. A golden retriever would be an ideal breed to choose as well.

Our dog was 7 before we had our family. I would wait a while OP, your little one is still small, GR are gorgeous but big and bouncy and also endless fur everywhere. Puppies are very hard work, especially with such a young child.

We got a puppy when DD's were 4 and 2.

We have had puppies and a rescue dog, older dogs are much easier, puppies are hard work. I don't think 4 is too young to be around a puppy but you will need to put in the hours with regards to training, etc and make sure your LO understands how to behave around the puppy. I would not leave a 4 year old, or any age child unsupervised around any dog, so will need to think about that.

Ooooo this is interesting! What makes you say that? (Btw this isn’t a goady question intended to cause controversy but rather “I am interested in your opinion” question.)

5 . We had the opportunity to get a puppy when DS was 3 but we passed on that and waited until the breeder had another litter available, as we felt 3 was just a bit too young. That’s just our opinion though, I wouldn’t say someone was wrong to get a puppy with a 3 yr old.
Reasons included me having more time when DS was at school, a 5 year old bigger and more likely to listen to instructions on how to interact with a puppy and walking a 3 yr old and a young Lab seemed like it could be a massive faff.

Interactions were closely monitored at all times. If I wasn’t in the room with them then puppy went in crate/kitchen etc. Taught DS how to stand Like A Tree to avoid being jumped up at as much. Also how to deal with the few weeks of needle teeth attacking feet (wear wellies, basically, ignore). Spent a lot of time handling puppy when calm with DS and involved him in basic training her. A 5yr old issuing Sit! Down! Leave! instructions to an eager to please Lab puppy is an absolute joy to behold

Our youngest was 5. We deliberately waited until they were all at school before we rescued our 1st family dog. He was 8, and was very calm/gentle around them. There's no way I'd have risked a puppy, our youngest was 8 before we were that brave. And that first year was still hard going, especially when the puppy was very mouthy with her teeth.

I think 4 is too young.

5 and 8. I think any younger would have been a bit tricky as puppies are very hard work- it’s like having a newborn again for a bit! Soo much easier now the dog is 2 though- she is amazing with the children and really calm and chilled. The first 6 months were quite hard going but so worth it

We've just got our dog recently and our children are 8 and 10. Tbf we'd been looking for one for around a year.

I'd advise waiting till they're at least old enough to be sensible and respectful of the dog.

I had dogs pre kids and got my current puppy when DD was a few months shy of two. I guess I'm classed as an experienced owner and my last puppy was six years before so not a lifetime ago, meaning I loosely knew what I was getting into!

I think school age would be good for you as the dog gets space and you have more one on one for training. Having other dogs, they occupy my newest addition to some degree so I don't have to worry about stimulating him as much as if he was an only dog.

5 & 7, which looking back was too young (for me, DH was more relaxed). In the first few weeks I thought we’d made a terrible mistake, DDog was not badly behaved but puppies are unpredictable, bitey, manic sometimes, jumpy etc. mornings were stressful in particular.

DDog is 5 now & a dream, but I’ve no desire ever to have a puppy again!

We got our first family dog this year, just 4 months ago.
Kids were 19 & 20. Still be living at home while at university.
Everyone looks after the dog equally.

My kids were 4 when we got our cocker spaniel puppy. I would probably be a bit more hesitant with a golden retriever as they are bigger and very lively adolescents which could easily knock a small child over without meaning to.

Our pup got on fine with the kids - it helped that they weren't overly obsessed with him so I wasn't needing to constantly remind them of boundaries etc. Having said that, we crate trained our pup, which among other benefits, allowed him to have quiet time when he needed it and ensured he wasn't getting harassed when he was trying to nap as they knew if he was in his crate he was to be left alone.

5, 9 and 11.

DD was 2.5 and it was a bit of a nightmare tbh. She's nearly 4 now and gets it more, that she has to leave DDog alone sometimes, shouldn't get him in an adoring headlock. But during the crockerdile months it was rough.

Also, she's just come through a 9-month period of sleeping very badly, which coupled with puppy sleeping habits left us both zombie like.

In hindsight we would have waited a few more years. Of course, this is just my opinion and YMMV!

We don’t feel quite ready and kids are 7 and 9. Speaking from personal experience we got one when i was aged 10 and I was able to walk her daily by myself and also help out with grooming/feeding/training.

My lo was a baby, she’s grown up with the dog. We had no problems, but we did have plenty of space for the puppy inside and outside so they were never alone together.

We waited until our youngest was nine.

You need to be totally sure that on the day you are distracted, and not watching, that DC are sensible enough not to do something that may upset the dog when unsupervised.

3 and 5

I have two toy breed dogs. Everyone gets on well

7 and 8 when we got our first family dog - a rescue not a puppy. Which I think was about right for us, as pp said, just about the right age to understand how to behave around the dog. However all dogs and all children are different so probably has to be decided on a case by case basis.

Teens, but that was because RL got in the way of plans and DDog joined us as a puppy about 3 years after we decided to go for it.

The huge advantage of doing it with older DC is that they are helpful, and you don't have the need for constant vigilance. They can be left alone together.

Very young DC need close supervision at all times, and that need can be present for years.

I think the ideal age would be when your youngest is about 7-9 yo. You'd still need to supervise carefully but it would be with the expectation that it could tail off as the puppy comes out of the other end of the teenage phase and the DC have been properly trained in how to behave round dogs.

It sounds like you don't want to wait that long, but I'd still urge you to hold off until your DC has done a year at school. Mine grew up a lot in that first year, and became a heck of a lot more reliable at following instructions

2, but she had gown up with loads of family dogs. Obviously still means never leaving them alone, watching them etc. But still didn't find it hard tbh.