Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Why not get a 1-2 year old dog instead?
It's definitely a possibility, I'm not sure a 1 year old dog in daycare is more ethical than a 6 month old dog in daycare.
The kids want the experience of raising a puppy. My current dog is older than one of them, and came to us as a young adult when the other one was too young to really help or to remember, so they don't have experience with dog training.
If I was convinced a young dog would be more ethical, or easier, I might offer that as a compromise, but I'm not sure.
This is quite possibly the stupidest reason for getting a puppy.
Really ask them, and yourself, what this means, and what it's actually going to look like. A LOT of people think they want the "experience" of raising a puppy without any real understanding (or even a clue) what that means. Do your high school-aged kids want to wake up in the night and take the puppy out? Do they want to clean up the pee oopsies? Do they want the stuff they left out shredded by tiny teeth? Even if they want to do this over the summer, do you want to keep doing it for months/years after? Most breeds aren't grown until they're 3, and that first year is critical for their psychological and social development. If your current dog came to you as a young adult, you may not be aware of the difference between a 4-month old pup's needs and a year-old pup's needs.
Everybody wants a tiny puppy to snuggle. Not everybody wants to be responsible for raising a puppy into a good dog. It's totally fine to start with a 1-2 year old dog. They usually have plenty of puppy energy left, and are easier to train to tasks.
If "I want to raise a puppy" is a bad reason, what is a good reason?
"I'm ready to be responsible for a dog for the next 10-20 years (regardless of what my kids do/don't do to help)".
Oh, stop being ridiculous. OP has an elderly dog that seems to be well cared for from everything shared here. And she's said she wants a companion for after her kids leave for college. She is just looking to share the puppy excitement with her teens, but is concerned about puppy logistics. There's absolutely nothing in her post that signals she won't take good care of the dog for life. Lots of people ask about puppy logistics--that's what a responsible dog owner would do before adopting. Save your snark for the person who asks after adopting and is over their head.
OP, a single parent of teens, with limited time and pre-scheduled extracurriculars, asked an anon board for opinions on bringing a puppy into the house. Mine is that it's a bad plan, and that OP should consider a 1- or 2-year old dog. Nothing about this position is "ridiculous".
OP's stated reason for considering this is "the kids want the experience of having a puppy" and I suggested they have a long chat about what, exactly, that experience is gonna be like. Maybe your teens are totally keen to get up in the night with a puppy, deal with puppy messes, etc. OP hasn't raised a puppy. Doesn't mean she can't, or wouldn't be good at it. It means she doesn't have the experience to know what that phase is like. Kinda like no parent really understands what having a newborn is like. Nothing about suggesting that OP, with her limited time resources, might wish to bypass that phase is "ridiculous".
As for your position that we should "Save (our) snark for the person who asks after adopting and is over their head" Well, at that point, it's a little too late. That's not fair to the no-longer-cute little puppy who now has to deal with shelter life/rehoming. Better to avoid this circumstance altogether and just have OP pick up someone else's "over their head" slightly-older dog. It's called logic, and an opinion based in same, which is what OP asked for.
So maybe go back to your wine and calm yourself a bit. You sound unhinged.
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