Getting a dog when having baby
Discussion
Hi all,
Hoping for some constructive comments here.
We have a baby due in September and Mrs craigvmax is desperate to get a westie. She's had them before.
I dont think its a good idea right now(purely from a point of view of tiredness, baby being time consuming etc etc) but she is adamant.
Has anyone had a new puppy at same time as a baby?
(i have had 2 kids before so I have an idea of whats coming in that respect)
cheers all!
Hoping for some constructive comments here.
We have a baby due in September and Mrs craigvmax is desperate to get a westie. She's had them before.
I dont think its a good idea right now(purely from a point of view of tiredness, baby being time consuming etc etc) but she is adamant.
Has anyone had a new puppy at same time as a baby?
(i have had 2 kids before so I have an idea of whats coming in that respect)
cheers all!
As a dog lover, I think it is a silly idea.
Once the baby is up and walking (or even past the grab everything stage) then get a dog - i.e. at the point when the OH is able to devote enough time to looking after and training the puppy - it's quite intensive (at least it should be!) for a good six months.
Once the baby is up and walking (or even past the grab everything stage) then get a dog - i.e. at the point when the OH is able to devote enough time to looking after and training the puppy - it's quite intensive (at least it should be!) for a good six months.
Regardless of what the breeder says, pup will need a lot of input from his new people wrt housetraining, general training and socialising. I would never, ever get a pup (or any dog) at the same time as having a baby. A new baby will take up most of your time so pup would therefore not get as much attention as he/she needs. A recipe for disaster IMHO.
No decent rescue centre would rehome any dog to you with a baby due. There are good reasons for that.
No decent rescue centre would rehome any dog to you with a baby due. There are good reasons for that.
CraigVmax said:
Hi all,
Hoping for some constructive comments here.
We have a baby due in September and Mrs craigvmax is desperate to get a westie. She's had them before.
I dont think its a good idea right now(purely from a point of view of tiredness, baby being time consuming etc etc) but she is adamant.
Has anyone had a new puppy at same time as a baby?
(i have had 2 kids before so I have an idea of whats coming in that respect)
cheers all!
I'm inclined to offer an alternative idea... Roll with it, get the puppy. It'll do the kid a world of good, and if you structure your time rigt could work well together, i.e:Hoping for some constructive comments here.
We have a baby due in September and Mrs craigvmax is desperate to get a westie. She's had them before.
I dont think its a good idea right now(purely from a point of view of tiredness, baby being time consuming etc etc) but she is adamant.
Has anyone had a new puppy at same time as a baby?
(i have had 2 kids before so I have an idea of whats coming in that respect)
cheers all!
nightly walks with the dog and the kid (buggy at 1st, later on foot), that way by the time sprog is 3 or 4 he/she is already well used to gentle exercise, animals, the great outdoors, and doesn't become one of the "new breed" that are allergic to/scared of everything that isn't a sofa and a PS3/Xbox, living in air conditioned isolation.
A dog to play with, and grow up with will do them good. Might also help the OH in terms of getting out the house once baby has arrived, and yourself in terms of gentle exercise.
Whilst I don't have the child part yet, I do have the dog and found the routine, evening time walking it with the OH highly rewarding. Also various family members with sprog are happy to come round and let their pride and joy stroke/pat/sit on my 10st alsatian/leonberger cross
wow, im surprised shes wants both at same time. Has she any idea whats about to happen when a new baby comes along, especially for her?! That dog wont get a look-in. Do everyone a favour including the dog and wait. Tell her to re-consider 6 months after baby. You and the wife are going to be absorbed in the baby so enjoy and leave the dog til some other time so you can enjoy it properly and it can get some of your attention.
Remember not all babies are created equal - no. 3 may be super-placid and hardly any work, or one of those "I-never-sleep-give-me-attention-now" versions. You won't know until they arrive.
Get everyone settled into life with the new baby for 6-12 months and then if you've got any energy left get yourselves a puppy. Apart from day-to-day considerations, what if your wife or the new baby end up spending a month or two in hospital - the last thing you need at that point is yet another drain on your time & money.
Get everyone settled into life with the new baby for 6-12 months and then if you've got any energy left get yourselves a puppy. Apart from day-to-day considerations, what if your wife or the new baby end up spending a month or two in hospital - the last thing you need at that point is yet another drain on your time & money.
Lost soul said:
If they both arrive around the same time it will be a compeition for attention the dog may well get aggresive about it
If the child is already there walking talking when the dog arrives the dog will better know his place in the system
It's a westie, they dont do agressive........ besides, it'll soon learn that baby/toddler is something to avoid, find a quiet corner and enjoy it's sleepIf the child is already there walking talking when the dog arrives the dog will better know his place in the system
mgmrw2003 said:
Lost soul said:
If they both arrive around the same time it will be a compeition for attention the dog may well get aggresive about it
If the child is already there walking talking when the dog arrives the dog will better know his place in the system
It's a westie, they dont do agressiveIf the child is already there walking talking when the dog arrives the dog will better know his place in the system
Lost soul said:
mgmrw2003 said:
Lost soul said:
If they both arrive around the same time it will be a compeition for attention the dog may well get aggresive about it
If the child is already there walking talking when the dog arrives the dog will better know his place in the system
It's a westie, they dont do agressiveIf the child is already there walking talking when the dog arrives the dog will better know his place in the system
Yet when we got her, she was fur/fangs/attitude and my mum wouldnt walk her
mgmrw2003 said:
It's a westie, they dont do agressive........ besides, it'll soon learn that baby/toddler is something to avoid, find a quiet corner and enjoy it's sleep
It's a dog - nothing is certain. And a 3 week old baby is hardly going to put up much of a fight. The dog doesn't even need to be agressive to cause a problem - just fall asleep on its new-found friend.oldcynic said:
It's a dog - nothing is certain. And a 3 week old baby is hardly going to put up much of a fight. The dog doesn't even need to be agressive to cause a problem - just fall asleep on its new-found friend.
See there's 2 things that I'd never do. 1 leave baby with dog alone. 2. let baby be on the dog.Dog - keep it in kitchen and outside.
baby - rest of house.
As they get older, introduce them more. Common sense.
the OH's step-aunty (if you like) tells her kids that if they're bad the "dog will get them"...... They see granny's jack russel and start hypoventillating.
Bring up both baby and pooch right, and alls well. Just no solo time until the kid is well sizeable and knows how to treat the animal.
Common sense surely?
Lost soul said:
mgmrw2003 said:
Lost soul said:
If they both arrive around the same time it will be a compeition for attention the dog may well get aggresive about it
If the child is already there walking talking when the dog arrives the dog will better know his place in the system
It's a westie, they dont do agressiveIf the child is already there walking talking when the dog arrives the dog will better know his place in the system
I agree wait a bit, have child first get pup when child is about a yr old! Babies are really hard work, puppies are really hard work (and the breeder will not train the pup sufficiently for your home!)
I had a 6yr old very placid whippet and 3 very good cats when I had my boy last yr and it was still hard to commit appropriate time to them.
Good luck with it all. I'm glad your wife wants a dog, nothing better for a child than to grow up with one but please persuade her to hang fire just for a bit.
CraigVmax said:
the puppy has just been born and the breeder says she will train it before we take her in July (i already tried that tack!)
As someone who is looking into breeding mutts, and has been looking into it for a while now, I'd be very concerned that a breeder says she will train a dog before you take it and even more worried about a breeder who thinks that it's a good idea to have a baby and puppy at the same time, given how much time one should invest in a puppy during it's formative year.Before I could get one of my dogs, I was cross examined on how much time and knowledge I had about dogs and training them etc..........
We have dogs and kids. All my kids from babies are being brought up with dogs and we have no issue.
The dogs keep themselves to themselves and the kids like wise. I admit that our youngest dog was 12 months old when we had our first child.
I cannot see a problem as the babies do bugger all for the first few months of there lifes anyway.In fact it was nice to get out and walk the dogs when the baby was kicking off.(I did do my fair share but some things dad's cannot do!!).
By the way my dogs are German Shepards
The dogs keep themselves to themselves and the kids like wise. I admit that our youngest dog was 12 months old when we had our first child.
I cannot see a problem as the babies do bugger all for the first few months of there lifes anyway.In fact it was nice to get out and walk the dogs when the baby was kicking off.(I did do my fair share but some things dad's cannot do!!).
By the way my dogs are German Shepards
R6dug said:
We have dogs and kids. All my kids from babies are being brought up with dogs and we have no issue.
The dogs keep themselves to themselves and the kids like wise. I admit that our youngest dog was 12 months old when we had our first child.
I cannot see a problem as the babies do bugger all for the first few months of there lifes anyway.In fact it was nice to get out and walk the dogs when the baby was kicking off.(I did do my fair share but some things dad's cannot do!!).
By the way my dogs are German Shepards
The issue here isn't dogs and babies, pretty much everyone here will agree that it's a good thing for kids to grow up with dogs. The problem is getting a puppy at the same time as a new born baby.The dogs keep themselves to themselves and the kids like wise. I admit that our youngest dog was 12 months old when we had our first child.
I cannot see a problem as the babies do bugger all for the first few months of there lifes anyway.In fact it was nice to get out and walk the dogs when the baby was kicking off.(I did do my fair share but some things dad's cannot do!!).
By the way my dogs are German Shepards
I think it's a really bad idea to have a new pup and a new born at the same time. It won't be fair on the pup.
Gassing Station | All Creatures Great & Small | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff