What do you think?

Question

We are considering the idea of adding a dog to our family. We currently have an 18 month old son and are expecting again in the end of September (another boy!) We would most likely adopt a puppy (as opposed to an adult dog) so they would grow up accustomed to our children's presence/behavoirs.

We are living in a 900 square foot apartment. I don't work and my son and I spend our afternoons at the park so excercising the dog on a daily basis wouldn't be a problem.

The only hesitation is my husband is concerned that I will end up with "too much on my plate." Has anyone been in a similar situation to ours? Would you recommend following through with a puppy adoption or waiting?

*We do both have experience with dog/puppy ownership as well :)

Answer 1

I think you would be fine. If you already have puppy experience, then you know what you're getting into. My only suggestion would be to wait a little while after your second son is born, so you don't get super overwhelmed. New babies take a lot of attention, and you probably wouldn't want to deal with a puppy at the same time. But you seem to have enough time to have a dog, and are willing to give it plenty of exercise, etc.

You would have to be careful because puppies are very mouthy and might hurt the kids. If it were me, I'd get an adult that was over the chewing and biting phase. I'm partial to beagles because they're so good with kids, but there are other breeds good with kids, too. Getting an adult would also let you choose a dog knowing his temperment already, so it won't be a surprise. And the older ones are often housetrained, which would take a big burden off you. You can look on petfinder.com for puppies and dogs, though. Good luck!

Answer 2

I had a son who were about 6 or 8 wekks old when we decieded to get a puppy. It was hard at times, because puppies have a tendency to want to chew on all sorts of things. I got lucky and got a very good puppy and was able to teach the puppy ( Prince) that I was the pack leader. The dog never growled at the kids ( if it would of growled at the kids I would have smacked the dog) and was very tolerent of the kids. At the same time, I taught the kids not to pull on the dogs tail or ears and to leave the dog alone when eating. ( If the children did these things they would get in trouble for hurting the puppy)
Puppies have a tendency to jump and I feel like it would be wise to wait on getting a puppy at this point in time.
You said that you want to get a puppy nad have it grow accustomed to your children's presence/behaviors.
I think that if you are REALLY INTENT ON GETTING A DOG ( PUPPY) YOU WOULD BE MUCH BETTER OFF WITH A SLIGHTLY OLDER DOG ( 2 TO 3 YEARS OLD). The reason being is that at this age the dog has gone through the chewing stage, may be housebroken and ( depending on the dog) will have a lot of patience with a young child. Young children do not understand the concept that this is a live animal and it has feeling too. A grown dog will walk away from the tail pulling and ear pulling, etc.
Please don't overlook a grown dog as they have many great qualities and can "grow" with your children, and YOU WILL NOT HAVE SUCH A LOAD ON YOUR PLATE.!!!!
Good luck and happy dog/ puppy hunting.

Answer 3

I would recommend waiting a couple of years until the children are older. It would be so hard to have a puppy and two little boys at the same time. We got a small dog a couple of years before we had our daughter. We always said that we would never treat our dog any differently, she'll always be part of the family, ect. Well after we had our daughter we realized that things weren't working out. It was so hard dealing with our dog who had more accidents in the house and was wanting our attention all the time. Then she showed aggression towards our daughter and that was it. We had to take her to a rescue. Even though we felt like we had to do it, that was such a hard decision. My husband and I were both absolutely heartbroken. I can still cry thinking about it sometimes and this happened back in February. So just thinking about what I went through makes me think you should wait a couple years. Oh also kids can be really rough with dogs even if you teach them not to. And that's sad for the dog. If your baby has something like colic, imagine how much harder it will be to care for a puppy. Just think about it a little more!

Answer 4

I still think you would be better to adopt a full-grown dog. A puppy will have to go out every 2-3 hours- can you imagine having to bundle up both kids that often in the winter?

You go to breastfeed and come out and the puppy has chewed a couch cushion to shreds.

I 1 year old or older dog will be calmer and may be very well socialized. My 1-year old pound puppy LOVES kids (I have none). He gives the neighbour's 8 month old kisses all the time. He cries if I won't let him near kids we see while walking.

A puppy is ALOT of work- a dog is ALOT of work too- just not AS much.

Answer 5

I personally would wait until you get more accustomed to taking care of your two boys (CONGRATULATIONS!!) Once you get good a juggling them (or when your youngest grows up and becomes less dependent on you) Then I would get a puppy. Like the first poster said, puppies are alot of work and you are already going to have a new baby and a toddler to take care of. But if you are bent on getting one now, go with a small dog that you don't have to worry about all that much! Good Luck and Congrats again!

Answer 6

Truely, I would wait until the 2nd baby is older and walking. I did that same thing and it was a disaster. You can't always be available to take the dog out so there are a lot of accidents. My kids were 6 mos and 3 years. The puppy was always nipping at my 6 month old and pulled her down and jumping on her (when she was sitting on the floor). It just got too dangerous and too exhausting. You'll have 3 children under 2.

Answer 7

I have four kids, a live in father in law and always had dogs, and frequently have had puppies here to socialize and train, and at least one cat, right now I have puppies at my house that I am babysitting, sixteen of them...So, no, there is no such thing as too much on your plate, you just learn to eat one bite at a time. Organization is the key.
I vacuum daily, mop daily, mow my own lawn, make all the meals, do the laundry, get up at all hours to feed the pups, clean up the doggie stuff, get the kids all off to school or not, do the dr. appts for the geezer,go to the dog shows to show my dogs, etc..., . It can be done, no worries, just depends on you, and my husband? well, let's just say he goes to work and after work and dinner his thumb gets sore from using the remote when he gets home..lol...

Answer 8

Puppies are a lot of work to train and still have all of those stages to go through ( just like your little ones!).If you have enough in you go for it, but you might also want to consider a bit older dog who is a bit more mature and who has been around children, they are not as nippy as puppies can be and are protective of the little ones.

Answer 9

My daughter was in the same situation and tried the puppy thing. Unfortunately the puppy did not work out and they were forced to find another home for him. you may want to wait until the children are a bit older as both children and puppies are time consuming (and worth it)

Answer 10

While u pottly train ur 18month old at the same time u potty train ur puppy!! how cool would that be to get a new puppy also! It will be OK to get the puppy if YOUR husband helps with the children AND the puppy. Now if u are on your own, don't get one.