First time dog owner

[CAH706]

Looking for advice or things I should be considering.

My son has wanted a dog for a while now (he is 9) and we have always put him off as we did not have the time to look after one.

We appreciate that it would be a family dog rather than his as I'm sure as he grows older he will lose interest. We now have the time to look after one as we will always have someone at home during the day and we also have a family member who will dog sit when needed for us. Givin we all like pets it now feels that we are in a position to go for it!

We have a house already that is fairly dog friendly with hardwood floors and a conservatory etc plus the back garden is large and secure. We already go out for regular walks so adding a dog into the mix would not be an issue there.

We are considering a Labrador as they seem to be well regarded as family pets, like exercise and seem to be good for first time dog owners. Are there any other breeds that would be worth considering? Where should we look to get the dog from?

I'm about to change my car so will make sure that is dog friendly but what other things would you or recommend but I start to look at now?

I'm conscious this is a big commitment and I don't want to rush into it until we have got things fully sorted.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[CAH706]

Thanks for the tips. Much appreciated.

I'm in Leeds and did look at rescue centres but most of the dogs were for adult families or older children which seemed to rule us out. My son's 9.

My preference would be a puppy/younger dog to allow us the experience of training/bonding with it but flexible on this.

[CAH706]

Thanks for all the suggestions and thought provoking ideas.

We wouldn't have agreed to get the dog just because my son wanted one. My wife and I wanted one as well though up until now work would have not made this fair on the dog. I fully expect it to be a family dog and it will stay with us if my Son leaves home. I'm also under no illusions that we will do the bulk of the walks.....well my wife will as she walks every day now anyway

Training is something we have considered. As part of the journey I'm keen we all learn what to do and my son is busy learning about dogs as well in anticipation. This is a good way of getting him reading!! Given our complete lack of dog knowledge we will need time with people who know what they are doing as we want to be responsible owners. Before my son was born I knew nothing about children either but part of the fun is figuring things out and we've done ok with him.

I will look again at rescue dogs. I have looked previously and none of the dogs were suitable for younger children (my son's age). Not sure if that is a hard rule but everyone I looked at was for adult only households or older children.

Thanks again for all the advice. Keep anymore coming.

[CAH706]

So, I've looked at labradors as they seem to fit the bill but I'm no expert so open to ideas.

Wants;

No bigger than a ladrador. Happy to go smaller but no yappy dogs and I don't really like the very small ones

We like to exercise so a dog (suspect most) that likes long walks. I now know puppies need a lot less exercise than I previously thought!

Dog can be off lead and not run off.

Energetic dog but must be friendly. Possibly most are with the right training but given my (lack of) experience I'd like one with that nature

Loyal to family not just one master and good round people generally

Not a slobbery dog.

Not a dog that sheds massively

Probably other stuff I've not considered but as per the point of the thread I'm trying to knowledge gather and learn

[CAH706]

Thanks again all for taking the time to provide help.

I rang one of the local rescue centres today and the options are a little limited but they know what we are looking for so 8t may lead to something.

I've also arranged to borrow a dog for the weekend (work colleague) so we can see how it works and what else we need to consider.