Best time to get a dog with young kid without waiting forever

[Anonymous]

OP, if it is an option for you at all, consider fostering. Puppies especially get placed quickly, so it could be a short commitment for you, but also a nice dose of the reality of living with puppies and toddlers. I have been fostering since my daughter was 4 (before that, I had two elderly giant breed dogs, so no bandwidth for fosters).

[Anonymous]

My kids were 5, 3 and 6 months when we got a puppy. We weren’t first time dog owners, and I’m a stay at home mom, so that definitely helped. We were already watching closely for choking hazards on the ground because of the baby, we already had baby gates up. It was a TON of work, especially in the fact that you just can’t ever allow a dog and small child alone together so it’s constant supervision, but in the end - with professional trainer and crate training - it was worth it. The point is that you can make it work but the answer really depends on your own temperament, set up of your home, the amount of time you can put into it - and those answers are just so variable. The ease of waiting until the child is 10 is, in my opinion, outweighed by the joy of having a dog in the home while your children are younger - but that calculus isn’t the same for everyone.

[Anonymous]

I personally agree with the idea of large breed puppy with whichever age you choose. My personal experience is that the larger breeds do better with young children, whether 2 or 4. And with a puppy, you can put in the training to make sure he can tolerate an energetic child filled home.

[Anonymous]

I already had an older large dog and we adopted a large-breed 3-month old puppy when my son was 3.

It was a LOT of work. I'd forgotten how trying the first couple puppy years can be! So many walks, time for training, etc. He is beyond amazing with kids now, but it took a LOT of work for him to understand that the kid was not another puppy he could tackle, wrestle or nibble, so he had to live in the kitchen for a large part of each day until we could fully trust him. Never ate any kids toys though. Somehow he just knew what was his and what was my son's.

[Anonymous]

Hmm, I would not get a puppy with a 2YO unless both you and DH are home the majority of the time and/or you have a fenced-in backyard. With a young puppy, you need to set a timer to take her out to potty every 30 minutes, unless she is in her crate.

When we got our puppy, we had to relocate *all* of our kids' toys and books from the playroom that was in our open main living area, off to a different room that had doors and could be closed. Otherwise, she was constantly chewing on toys and books, anything she could get her hands on.

If you don't have a yard, getting the dog enough exercise could be a challenge with a 2YO.

Also, our youngest was 4.5 when we got our first puppy and the puppy definitely viewed him as her littermate or playmate and played with him accordingly (rough-housing, nipping, etc.) so we had to train that out of her.

[Anonymous]

I guess I’ll dissect. Labs are so easy - yes, a lot of energy but you are an outdoor hiking family. You’ll make it work. This isn’t a breed you’ll need to spend your weekends training.

[Anonymous]

I don't know about reputable lab breeders, but when we were looking at breeders, we were told no kids under a certain age. I think it was 7? This is very common.

We were a young couple, no kids, so we were allowed to get a dog. Then we had a baby, then we had to rehome the dog after a minor bite incident at about 18 months. It was devastating all around, though at age 4 the dog was easily rehomed by lovers of the breed.

(There were compounding factors like a global pandemic all of us in a smallish home 24/7, with two jobs a young toddler and no childcare. We had a moment of distraction that probably wouldn't have happened without all that chaos - but I'll never know. And with a puppy, you don't know the temperament the adult dog will end up with.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess I’ll dissect. Labs are so easy - yes, a lot of energy but you are an outdoor hiking family. You’ll make it work. This isn’t a breed you’ll need to spend your weekends training.

I tentatively agree with this as someone who brought on a new puppy Golden (pre kid elderly Golden before puppy) with 2 under 3 year old kids. It's not just about the dog, kids come first! Sure. But the main thing I think is just accurately accessing your own capacity for caregiving. I read the above and "you'll make it work!" is probably true but only with a commitment.

I agree Labs are decently suited to family life, but I disagree entirely that anyone getting a lab shouldn't enroll them in training, socialize them properly, and do things like Doggy Daycare occasionally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess I’ll dissect. Labs are so easy - yes, a lot of energy but you are an outdoor hiking family. You’ll make it work. This isn’t a breed you’ll need to spend your weekends training.

I tentatively agree with this as someone who brought on a new puppy Golden (pre kid elderly Golden before puppy) with 2 under 3 year old kids. It's not just about the dog, kids come first! Sure. But the main thing I think is just accurately accessing your own capacity for caregiving. I read the above and "you'll make it work!" is probably true but only with a commitment.

I agree Labs are decently suited to family life, but I disagree entirely that anyone getting a lab shouldn't enroll them in training, socialize them properly, and do things like Doggy Daycare occasionally.

I’m the PP you are quoting. The OP seems VERY responsible. My point is a lab- or similar beeed-will be fine. Sometimes you’ve got to just do the thing. This family seems well equipped to handle a family friendly dog.

[Anonymous]

Wanting a dog right now and puppy = puppy mill dog. Tons of friends have been suckered in and got parvo dogs this way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a similar lifestyle and knew we wanted a hound. We had a very hard time finding a good fit - many rescues will not adopt hounds to families with small kids because they are so needy (the dogs). It sounds like you want a puppy, so there are no restrictions - just be aware that having a puppy is like having a newborn all over again.

Yeah, I don’t know why you would do this to yourself. So you travel? What’s your plan for when your child does activities and you’re busy toting her around? Don’t get her a dog because you aren’t getting her a sibling.

[Anonymous]

Why not do the research now? Find a handful of truly responsible, reputable breeders. (Hint: They’re the ones who focus on just one breed and don’t offer doodles, “care leases,” or puppies already on the ground.) Visit, see the prospective parents, communicate. Get on someone’s (multiyear) waitlist. By the time your child is a little older, you’ll be offered a puppy.

If you tell us you “don’t have time” to do all that research, there’s your answer about whether or not to get a dog in the near future.

[Anonymous]

I had no problems getting a puppy as a family with young children from reputable breeders (we have two from two different breeders).

But I absolutely had to be placed on a waiting list and it took months, and that was pre pandemic, so I’m sure it takes much longer now.

Rescue groups tend to flat out decline families with young children. With breeders, it’s variable but by no means an exclusion for all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a similar lifestyle and knew we wanted a hound. We had a very hard time finding a good fit - many rescues will not adopt hounds to families with small kids because they are so needy (the dogs). It sounds like you want a puppy, so there are no restrictions - just be aware that having a puppy is like having a newborn all over again.

Yeah, I don’t know why you would do this to yourself. So you travel? What’s your plan for when your child does activities and you’re busy toting her around? Don’t get her a dog because you aren’t getting her a sibling.

When we traveled with our old dog (now deceased), we left her with a Rover dogsitter, brought her with us, or left her with my parents, who are dog lovers with a huge yard in the country.

I'm not thinking of getting a dog because I'm "not getting my daughter a sibling" like a guilt thing. Husband and I are dog people and want a dog in the family. Nothing to do with siblings or not. I had medical complications in pregnancy/birth, which is a large part of why she's an only child - nothing to do with a dog.

Activities - either my husband can handle, the dog can be alone at home for a short while, we bring her along (to outdoor things for example), or it's a dropoff activity where I don't stick around. I don't plan to be schlepping my kid to constant activities, so maybe this is a lifestyle thing...one sport or activity per season is reasonable.

There's a lot of great reasons in this thread to wait but this is a strange comment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not do the research now? Find a handful of truly responsible, reputable breeders. (Hint: They’re the ones who focus on just one breed and don’t offer doodles, “care leases,” or puppies already on the ground.) Visit, see the prospective parents, communicate. Get on someone’s (multiyear) waitlist. By the time your child is a little older, you’ll be offered a puppy.

If you tell us you “don’t have time” to do all that research, there’s your answer about whether or not to get a dog in the near future.

I have time and we have been looking at breeders...