- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
2nd Trimester
opinions on getting a puppy before the baby is born...
This discussion has been closed.
Re: opinions on getting a puppy before the baby is born...
We just got my mom a new weimaraner puppy at the beginning of March after an awful month of losing two of our family dogs - one was 15 and the other was 10 years old. My parents live fairly close to us so I am constantly over at their house and although the puppy has been tons of fun they require so much work! Generally speaking weimaraners are less hyper compared to labs and this little guy is just a handful.
Either way in my opinion if you and you DH want to have a dog then I would either hurry up and get it right now - that way like you said it will be 6 months old and will grow up in a house with a baby - or I would wait for as long as possible.
My DH and I have a 6 year old English Bulldog and with as jealous as she was over seeing the weimaraner puppy I can only imagine what we are in for when the baby arrives. I think older dogs have a harder time coping with change especially when they are completely spoiled and very used to being the center of attention. I had hoped that we could get her a companion to make the baby a little easier on her - thinking she would have somebody else to entertain her and keep her company - but I really doubt this will help since she is so jealous.
Good Luck with whatever you chose!
I have not read any of the other replies, but IMO I would say definitely do not get a puppy right now. Puppies require lots of work, attention and patience. It would be really unfair to that dog to take him in now when you are expecting a child soon, you will not be able to devote the time and care a new puppy needs while also taking care of a newborn.
If you want to get a dog now I suggest getting an older dog that will not require as much care as a baby would. If your heart is set on a puppy wait until your child is a little older.
Okay I guess I should have read through the thread some more. You are already thinking about giving the dog away if it is too much for you to handle??? That is just so wrong. Anyone who goes into adopting an animal with this mindset obviously should not be adopting an animal, period! When you adopt an animal you are making a commitment to be that animal's family for their lifetime. Not just as long as it is convenient for you. Please do not adopt an animal until you can understand this.
You should have read her other comments before giving this advice. She has said no fewer than 2 times that she is already considering finding a new home for the dog if things don't work out. She is not the type of person who should be adopting a dog, especially a puppy, at this time in her life.
I must say that I agree with everyone else on this one. We have a 9 month old puppy and she still takes a lot of work and time. And especially with your DH leaving... just not a good idea. I had a hard time taking care of her with my DH here, I can't imagine doing it with him gone AND a newborn. Even if you start training right away, labs have a TON of energy and by 6 months it will be fairly big and very excited. I can't imagine having to deal with that. You wouldn't be able to leave the dog and baby for even a second...
And your comment about re-homing just bothers me. Dogs are a commitment. Not a disposable thing.
I would advise against it.
You say that you can just find a new home for it if you can't handle it, that is the wrong attitude. Also, everyone wants to adopt a cute little puppy, who wants to adopt a partially housebroken 6 month old dog? You are being selfish taking the dog in while it's a cute puppy then finding a new home 6 months later when you decide it's too much work.
Wait until your LO is a little older, then they can share the experience of raising a puppy with you!
The fact that your contingency plan = not making a real commitment to this dog/rehoming? Yeah, no.
Please don't get this dog. If you get it, you're making a 15 year commitment. From day 1. If you don't feel you can do that, you have no business getting a dog EVER.
Because, NO, worse comes to worse, you can NOT just find a home to take care of it better--you are adding a member of your family, they don't come w/ contingency plans to screw up the training and then pass them off to someone else.
Labs = crazy for 3 years (at least. poorly bred and badly trained? expect it to be longer--and this lab is probably poorly bred. Hence free. Which isn't the end of the world, my dog is a poorly bred shelter dog--but you have to expect different problems). You will be dealing w/ full-on lab-teenage-energetic phase as your kid is in the throws of toddlerhood.
ANd I love dogs...I love my dog. I got her at 8 weeks old...and I may never do a puppy (under 6 months old) again. It's more work than anyone can convince you before you get there.
And as far as $, I can say we EASILY spent over $2k on Dawg during her firstyear--without couting things like fencing and things she ate and incidentals.
I honestly think that is the worst idea I've ever heard. Puppies are A LOT of work. And for a big dog, or any dog really, to be properly trained it takes tremendous amounts or time, patience, training and one-on-one attention with the pet. With a baby you will have time for none of that. Period.
So, most likely, you'll be on the 0-3 board griping about the dog & how it's driving you nuts & how you need/want to get rid of it. All that will be 100% your own faults for bringing it into your home at the worst possible time ever. It's just not fair to the puppy or the baby to have both at the same time. Please rethink it. Seriously.
Edit: I just read all the comments & now I am 1000% sure you shouldn't get the dog. A) How are you going to handle a puppy & a baby on your own when DH is away? Dogs are puppies for at least 2 years in their thoughts & actions.
You are already talking about giving the dog away & you don't even have it yet! Think of how awful & disruptive that is going to be in the dog's life. This is a horrible idea for real.
DD1 born 5/24/10.
Missed M/C at 14 wks Feb 2012.
DD2 born 5/14/13.
Missed M/C at 9 wks July 2015.
I have an almost 5 year old Golden Retriever, with a 2.5 year old son. My husband travels here and there and when he is gone it's nearly impossible for me to care for the dog while I have to deal with my son.You will be one person with a baby and a puppy. Labs are puppies for many years, not months.
Aside from all the puppy things to worry about this dog is going to require a great amount of exercise, b/c if not exercised it will become destructive and possibly depressed.
If you can't commit to a lifelong relationship with this dog from an emotional and financial perspective you are certainly not doing the dog any favors. You are being selfish and immature. A dog is not something you can buy and return, they are a great investment with great returns if handled and trained properly.
Your situation and attitude if it doesn't work out is already enough for you to not be a good candidate for getting one. And quite frankly any reputable breeder would have figured out your situation prior to giving you the dog and would more than likely find you are not suitable at this point(baby and deployment) to have one.
I know you're gonna do it regardless of what I or anyone else says and I can tell you that I would never get rid of my adorable and EXTREMELY HYPER 5 year old chocolate lab now that I have kids but I also would never have gotten her when I was pregnant, if that makes any sense?
Don't do it. Dogs are so much work and babies...well, they are too. Especially if DH isn't around to help out.
Please go through this post and count up all of your "no" responses before getting that puppy. You have too many people telling you no... please please don't do it.
Reason #1 - you will have to get up every couple of hours to let the puppy outside to go potty.
#2 - can't be away from the house for longer than 2 - 4 hours while the dog is a puppy. (labs are puppies for at least 2 years)
#3 - Labs get big while they are still puppies. They are hyper.
#4 - They are diggers. (I hope you have a HUGE backyard)
#5 - Dog hair. It will be all over everything.
#6 - The added expense (food, toys, vet bills)
My husband and I took in a lab puppy last year to help a friend. She was 2 month old at the time. I speak from experience... please don't do it.
Let me add that I AM a dog lover and grew up around dogs my entire life. The lab puppy wore me out and destroyed our backyard. I loved the dog... but I was thrilled when we found her a permanent home.
Let someone else take this puppy who can actually take care of it and give it the home and attention it deserves.
If you already think it might be too much to handle when your husband is deployed, that should be reason enough NOT to get it!!
If you adopt an animal it should be for LIFE not a trial run.
All of your arguments sound incredibly selfish.
Okay so first of all thanks to all you girls who were NICE on here and gave your opinion for those of you who were rude to me, well, thats your problem. Anyways- in my defense I feel I was misunderstood entirely when I posted that if we have to we may give him away. That in no way shape or form was my intention to sound irresponsible and that I'm not ready for a commitment- I may be 20 years old and you may think I'm young and dumb but I'm not I've lived alot of life in my 20 years and been through many things. Not trying to be smart, just saying some people stereotype people by their age and consider them stupid in alot of ways.
With that being said we went on and got the puppy this friday despite all the nos that I got on here. And WE LOVE HIM! yes, he is alot of work but he is the calmest lab I have ever seen and is for the most part a really fast learner and good listener. He sleeps all through the night and wakes up around 730 or so. I agree with the girls on here that said he will help me get used to having another responsibility like sord of how it will be with the baby [except the baby will be 10 times harder lol]. I am home with him all day and my husband comes home around 4 or 5 from work everyday so we are both workin with him and training him. Hes had a few accidents in the house but has never pooped only peed. And he already scratches at the door to tell us he needs to go out.
So thanks everyone for your advice I didnt expect everyone to tell me what i wanted to hear so I'm glad everyone was honest with me, although , some women didnt have to be so rude. But I guess you run into people like that anywhere you go. We are prepared to have Romeo for a long time and love him dearly. I would never put my Dog out on the street or take him to a shelter I was saying that if it got to be too much we could give him to a good as a worst case scenario/last resort kind of thing. Anyways I just thought I needed to get on here and defend myself since I sord of felt like by some people i was being attacked. I hadnt read the whole thread yet until today but I feel like every dog is different and we ended up with a great one!
You were attacked b/c you are an idiot. A dog is a lifetime commitment just like a child. You are going into this already with the mindset that if it doesn't work out, you'll find him a good home. Well guess what? They aren't easy to find. 7 MILLION dogs and cats are put to sleep every year b/c there aren't enough good homes. A large percentage of that number are labs. Why would someone adopt a full grown lab (who obviously has issues-or else why would the family be giving it away?) when there are thousands of lab puppies out there for free? Your dream world doesn't exist. What does exist is the world that I and many other girls live in where we work tirelessy to find as many homes for these homeless animals as we can. Then people like you come around and add to the problem. It's never ending for people in rescue and THAT is why some of us are mean to you.
Ditto. Anyone who would consider this doesn't respect that pets are a lifetime commitment and shouldn't have one. It's a really, really big deal and a lot of hard work--you seem to be really underestimating that. I wouldn't do it.
Why do you need to carry a puppy while housebreaking? This makes no sense at all.
Wow. As someone who has 3 dogs of my own, and works extensively with a rescue group and personally fosters dogs that are surrendered by their owners, I can't even begin to describe how angry this makes me. Every day I see first hand what people like you do to dogs. You have absolutely no clue what you are going to do to that poor animal. No clue at all. Best case scenario is actually that you DO decide to surrender it after your husband deploys so that it has a chance to get into a rescue group where someone WILL take the time to properly train and care for and love it. Worst case scenario is that you keep it around and it lives out it's life totally neglected and without companionship or love at your home.
You have had this dog a grand total of FOUR days. Of course it's still fun and cute and perfect and you love it gooey gobbey gobs! You are going to be in for a very rude awakening when your husband deploys and you are left to deal with a puppy and a newborn on your own. You are going to cause more damage to that dog than you can even begin to fathom. So, congrats on becoming yet another of the millions of irresponsible pet owners out there.
YOU ARE THE ONE WHO SAID YOU WERE GOING TO GIVE HIM UP IF IT GOT TOO HARD. We did not make this up.
Mikaela is going to have a little brother!
I didn't see anyone on here say anything about your age. Bringing it up like this doesn't do anything to make you seem mature, it does exactly the opposite.
I don't know how long you've been on here but the responses you got weren't bad compared to some of the responses people get.
Saying that you would only get rid of him if it was a worst case scenario still says that there would be a point where you would get rid of your dog. I want a dog really bad bc I love dogs but I am waiting until DS is older because I know I wouldn't be able to handle it right now. He is almost 3 weeks old, and he takes up all my time and attention. Since you already have the dog I hope that you can get him well trained by the time your baby gets here.
Huh? No one said anything at all about your age, but way to show your immaturity by bringing it up at all! I don't think anything I had to say was rude at all, just simply pointing out how heartless it is to even consider getting a pet if you are already considering rehoming it if things don't work out in your favor. I really, really hope for the dog's sake that he is an easy dog and can stay with your for his lifetime.
And it "sort", not sord. Seriously.
On top of basically everything everyone else has said - except that one response where she actually encouraged you to get the puppy (wrtf?) - I have a totally different point to make. My pregnancy - perfect up until last week. I'm now on bed rest (had to work it out with all my teachers b/c I have six weeks left of school that I can no longer go to), and have been told by my doctor I can get up to pee/shower/get food - THAT'S IT. You have no way whatsoever of knowing that your pregnancy is going to continue care-free while you try to learn how to train this puppy.
Labs get given away free all the time because they're incredibly overbred. If I was you - wait until after the baby gets there and decide then if you're actually dedicated to taking care of a puppy on top of all of your new responsibilities. If you really want a dog then - then get one. But really, to go into it with the idea that the dog is disposable is insane and shows that you really should NOT be getting the dog. Heck - if you have that attitude AFTER your LO is born, I'd say "Don't do it." even then. Plus - rehoming is a lot harder than you seem to think it is. The fact that labs are so easy to come by is why few people would want to take on a 6 month old (or older). People LOVE the puppy stage - when they're so cute and pudging and have puppy breath - so why would they take your untrained lab when they could get a puppy elsewhere for free?
I feel very sorry for that puppy. Anyone who would even mention the potential of getting rid of a dog if things don't work out is someone who shouldn't have a dog. Like PP have said, a dog is not a toy, you don't get the choice to keep them or give them away. I really hope things work out, but I have a feeling they won't. Having a dog for 4 days does NOT tell you how he is going to be all the time, you barely know him and he barely knows you.
And your responses are making your case worse. They are making you seem very immature.
Just beware, most puppies are pretty calm at the beginning. Just like babies, they are pretty calm at first. Just love the dog and try to keep the stress low. Good luck!!
Ah, yes...it was about time for a controversial pet thread.
I didn't read the whole thing, but please tell me someone came out with the whole irrational "You shouldn't even be having kids" comment.