Solution to my parent's argument against puppy?

Question

My parents are considering getting me a puppy (6-9 weeks) for my birthday, but their main argument is how I'll take care of it while I'm at school. Can you think of any reply?

Answer 1

There is no way any teenager can care for a puppy COMPLETELY on his or her own. Puppies cost almost $2000 in their first year and about $1000 a year for the rest of their lives. They require almost constant attention - they need to be taken out every 2 hours, and fed three times a day. It's very difficult for any student to provide this.

There's nothing wrong with asking your parents to help with the puppy a little. It will show your parents that you're much more mature than the teenager who tries to tackle everything on his own, and fails miserably. It will reflect that you've considered all aspects of keeping a puppy and that you're mature enough to admit that as a teenager, you don't have all the resources to handle all of these aspects.

Your parents have to be prepared to do some work too. Please don't be one of those immature kids who vow to their parents that "I'm gonna care for my dog all on my own". Let your parents understand that they have to help out if you aren't around to supervise the pup. Honestly, if your parents are hoping for you to handle everything with the pup, then you are gonna end up with a situation in which your parents want to get rid of the puppy later. There are way too many people who come here asking "How do I persuade my mom to let me have a puppy?" and then, two months later - "My mom says she's gonna throw my dog out unless she's pottytrained in two weeks, help!"

Read up on crate training and explain it to your parents. Explain that the pup will be in a crate most of the time while you are at school and will only need to be taken out every couple of hours to pee, and ask if they can help with this (if either of your parents do not work or work from home). He won't have a chance to get into the trash or rip up the kitchen cabinets.

At the same time, have a discussion with them about each person's responsibility when it comes to the puppy. For example, your parents might be in charge of paying for his medical and care expenses, driving you and him to the vet, taking him out to pee and feeding him when you're in school. You might be in charge of obedience training, walking, feeding and keeping track of when he next needs to go to the vet for shots.

Answer 2

Not really. Puppies are more of a family thing until grown.
Thing is, my mom stays home. And she doesn't mind letting them go to the bathroom. She does it for me early in the morning while I sleep. But we're homeshooled now, so it doesn't really matter.
I don't agree with crates. Don't understand it, don't think it's right for a dog to sit in a crate for hours. And I'm not sure if they're meant for dogs to go to the bathroom in them, because that doesn't seem sanitary or healthy.
A 6-9 week puppy needs bathroom breaks a lot until it's bladder is stronger, and they're playful and stuff. Maybe if you have a decent, safe backyard it can stay there. A puppy... play yard would be even better. Lately everyone assumes your dog or cat will be inside. They should be both, personally.
So I'm sorry to say I don't have any arguements to that. We just got a puppy after ten years of my other dog, and I didn't really remember her younger years because I was still young. My sister has never had a puppy, a kitten or her own fish, and that's what we're dealing with now. The kitten wasn't planned, just showed up last week and we have a chinchilla. So I'm feeling over my head, and I'm the main caregiver to all of them.
If you do get a puppy, you probably will go with the popular/common crate method, but I hardly call locking a puppy up for your school hours a solution.
But unless you or your parent(s) are willing to care for it during school or all day, because they are a full-day commitment, then you probably shouldn't get a puppy.

Answer 3

What do you mean by "while you are at school"? Do you mean during the school day, or do you mean that you will be going away to college or boarding school? If you mean the school day, you will have to make sure the dog is taken care of before you leave and after you get home, but you obviously can't take care of it during the day. Do you have a yard where the dog can stay during the daytime? It would be the same as a working person having a dog, and that would be very common. If you mean that you are leaving for college or boarding school, then the answer is that you obviously could not take the dog with you, and your parents would have to take care of it until you are out of the dorms and into an apartment of your own. That probably isn't a good time to get a dog.

Answer 4

Good luck! A puppy needs shots, a bed, food, vet bill, dog house, collar and leash, license, plus ?. Who is going to clean the back yard? Someone has to pick up the poo! Do you or any one in the family have allergies? A dog in the house can cause allergy problems. A dog left in the back yard by itself all day will be bored, and start a lot of bad habits (chewing shoes, fence boards.digging holes, escaping from the back yard). A puppy is going to whine while you are in school, and if you go on a date or to the game on Friday night. Do you know how to take care of a dog? How to potty train the dog? Maybe you should ask your parents to let you take a class on dog training. See if you can find a organization that trains dogs as service animals. volunteer to help them so you can get experience. volunteer at the SPCA. The dog should live to be about 12/14 years old. How much school do you have left? Are you going to college? where? what is going to happen to the dog while you are gone? Mine got into a fight with the neighbors 3 dogs, mine lost, and had to be put to sleep. My parents didn't tell me until I came home, 8months later. Good luck!

Answer 5

Tell them you'll get up earlier and play with it or take it for a walk for at least 30 minutes to wear it out before you go to school so it'll sleep at least part of the time while you're gone.You'll be sure to leave it with plenty of interesting toys so it won't get bored or lonely and you'll make certain there is an alternate means left for the dog to go potty while everyones gone.As soon as you get home you'll play with or walk it
You'll need a treat ball.A kong toy.Stuffed animals.And a whole lot of newspaper.You'll also want to put a 5x7 tarp on the floor under the paper so nothing soaks thru to the floor evan if puppy will stay in the basement , porch or the garage while you're gone.

Answer 6

WOW, you really don't want a puppy. If you want a dog - then go to the shelter and adopt an adult dog who is housebroken.

Puppies require the following:
1. Taken out for a walk every 1-2 hours.
2. Taken outside for a walk even if it is raining, freezing or very hot.
3. Must eat 3 times a day for a year.
4. Must be trained

5. Must be housebroken - this involves TONS of time and you must NOT allow it to pee in the house or on furniture. It's a strange one because you can't keep the puppy crated in a cage 24/7, but at the same time you can't let it run around on its own. SO, it involves ALOT of time and babysitting until it is housetrained.

6. Puppies cry ALOT. This means that they cry at 1am, 4 am, 6 am, 11 pm, 5 pm, 2 pm, etc... Sometimes they cry non stop. Sometimes they cry whenever they are in their crate. Puppies can be quite annoying if you don't know what you are doing.

7. Be aware that the puppy can never be unsupervised. It could easily rip up your sofa in no time - stuffing and all. Puppies chew ALOT

8. Puppies are know for having "butt explosions" in their crate on occassion. This means that you will have to clean up lots of diarrhea and give the puppy a bath.


Having a puppy is ALOT of work - and I mean ALOT.

So, pay attention to this advice:

1. If you get a puppy - make sure you understand that it will be a lot of work. If you are at school all day - it would be unethical and immoral to keep the puppy locked up until you came home from school. A puppy should never be left in a crate for more than a couple of hours.

2. Adopt a dog from the shelter - it is much cheaper, a dog won't take as much time as a puppy to care for and you will rescue the dog from being put to death.

3. If you do get a dog/puppy - MAKE SURE you do research on the internet. There are hyper dogs and working dogs (that need constant stimulation and running around) and lap dogs (that lay around a lot but need to be constantly on your lap), etc... You need to make sure that the dog you choose MATCHES your family's lifestyle. Don't pick a dog/puppy based on LOOKS - because you could end up with a dog/puppy that you don't like. If you want a dog that is hyper crazy all the time - jack russels are good. If you want a dog that needs to be laid back - try one of the basset hounds, etc... Also, certain breeds have certain traits that you may or may not like. For example, beagles have a loud annoying moanlike cry that would just break some peoples' eardrums - while golden retrievers tend to have hip displasia ....etc.. really research your breed.

Answer 7

A pup shouldn't be taken from it's mother until at least 9 weeks....they need alot of care.
Ask you parents to consider adopting an adult dog....even 2-3 yrs old. A pup can't be left alone and trained...it needs too much attention and will develop bad habits if not trained and socialized properly. If you adopted an older dog, crate trained it and took it to obedience classes with your family then it would be a family dog and family trained. That is the really important part of owning a dog....The training of the family to train the dog together is the most important part of ownership. An older dog would have a better chance of
being able to be alone longer.

Answer 8

Honestly, you won't be able to take care of it while you're at school! Sorry I don't have better news! Puppies are a ton of work, and I'm guessing that you are at school for the main part of the day. Unless you want to pay to hire a pet-sitter or take him to doggy day care, I'm not really sure what you could do. (They might not even take him at a doggy day care because he's so young...and personally, I wouldn't want to leave my new puppy with strangers anyways)

Wait until you're old enough to take care of the puppy 100%! Puppies are a 24/7 responsibility!

Answer 9

I can't think of a reply. You're parents have a very valid argument.

I got my first puppy during the middle of the school year. My mom ended up having to come home everyday during her lunch breaks to let it outside to go potty while I was at school.

Unless you have a neighbor who stays home during the day who could come let it out for you, it's best to wait until you have time to take care of it, or get an older dog that's already house-trained.

Answer 10

What we do is teach the pup to be kenneled letting it out for the bathroom etc... It may whine at first but will get used to this rutine and as the pup gets older make a boundry for the pup with puppy pads and as he gets even older he will learn to go out doors and will be trained enough to leave him home with out having him chew up everything and go all over the place.... puppy classes are great for dog trainning
good luck