September 2015 Moms
breanna428
member
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when to get a puppy
breanna428
member
we are wanting to get a new puppy and want it to grow up with LO. I was just wondering in previous experience when is the best time to add a pet with a baby should we wait until she can walk and talk? she already loves the dog we have our German shepherd and she loves any dog we see. we already know we are getting a Rottweiler we want a guardian for our family and have done plenty of research on breeds and we feel it's the best choice for our family. we love big dogs our previous dogs were 125 lb mastiffs and our shepherd is 95lbs. anyone have any experience on puppies and babies?
Re: when to get a puppy
Reasons:
1. Puppy are crazy balls of energy that grow into huge crazy balls of energy and stay that way for at least a few years.
2. With a puppy, you really don't know what their personality will be like. Many times puppies that grow up with little kids end up being the worst with kids because they get sat on and have their ears pulled, ect, plus mom and dad simply don't have the time to train the puppy properly.
3. It will be like having 2 toddlers in the house, but one of them won't have diapers. The puppy will chew on Everything! Including your baby or toddler. And our babies are going to be mobile fast. Do you want to race your baby to the puppy's accidents?
4. What happens if your new dog and old dog don't get along? Dogs that are housemates, even ones that are best buds routinely get into fights just like human siblings do. Only with humans the odds of one or both combatants needing extensive stitches isn't nearly as high. (This is the reason DH and I have decided not to replace our dog that died last fall. I don't want to deal with the fights over things like treats and toys, and I get a nice fat discount for being in the industry). And Rotties are wonderful dogs in the hands of responsible owners, but like most Bully breeds we do see more dog to dog aggression with them. Because they were bred to be fighting dogs and guard dogs. And genetically, the dogs that were selected for the breeding pools were selected because they were more aggressive, not because they made good pets.
5. Getting a dog because your child loves every dog she sees isn't a good enough reason. It's like breeding your dog just so your child can see the miracle of birth. Getting a puppy just so the puppy and your baby can grow up together isn't a good enough reason; your child can grow up with loving, wonderful adult dogs and shelters and rescues are full of them. Try looking at Rotta Love.
At 5 years old your child will be old enough to participate in the care and training of a puppy if you want to go the puppy route. And don't write off a Rotties mix. Mixes tend to be less in bred and have less behavior and medical problems than their pure bred counterparts.
I agree with pp that mixes are often better pets/easy to train. But you've had big dogs before, so I'm sure you know all about that.
We crate trained our puppy. Until he was fully (day and night) house trained, he was in a crate unless supervised. So, over a year. He did not have accidents in the house. He went outside before and after going in the kennel, and anytime he went near the door. This also meant we always had eyes on him and could correct his behaviour before habits formed. He was fully grown before we had kids, but has never damaged their toys, not even Sophie.
I would wait til you have time to devote to a dog. If you're home with baby, this might be a good time for you. For me, that's going to be when LO is around 2. Our dog will be 11, and I plan to overlap our vacation time so that someone can be home with the puppy for at least a month.
we have a 21 month old, a 3 month old and a 8 month old puppy Great Dane. The 21 month old and the dog are best buddies. Since we brought he home she slept in his toddler bed with him and cuddled with him. She is very gentle with him when he is sitting on her or pulling her tail. She does chew on his stuffed animals but she's a puppy still and they do that. She is in her crate if she is not supervised. We learned from our mistake of her chewing up our stuff!! I wanted a puppy so the kids have someone to grow up with and it seems to be working for us. She is playful and gentle with our kids. Great Danes only life like 7-8 years so my kids will be heartbroken when she does, which is one of the reasons why I didn't want to get a dog because I didn't want my kids to experience that.
I wholeheartedly agree with looking for an older shelter dog that has a known background.