What’s it really like having kids and a dog?

[Anonymous]

Dear lord! Don’t get a dog! Biggest mistake (third biggest) of my life and I’m an animal lover. If you are a dog person and you create your life around them, they are terrific. To add to a busy famiky- think of it as another kid.
First daughter wanted- second we have three kids - two full time jobs!!
First so expensive- every freakin day trip have to pay someone to come let dog out. Every vacation have to board- 400 bucks for last July 4th vacation.
Grooming every 6 weeks 80 bucks- shots ( all of them to board) heart worm is like 75 a month.
Then the dog is carsick so can never go in the family walks and hikes we imagined.
He’s sweet only to me- bites my kids if they get near his food or socks ( we should have learned more about training)- he takes things and hides them under beds and growls - last night I spent hour trying to coax him out as he has banana under my daughters bed and we needed to take him out to potty.
15k for the backyard fence.
He’s sweet dog to me and at times to all, but it’s as stressful and as much work as a kid.
Never ever ever will I get a dog again.
We love our dog but hate the amount of work and for rest of us less enjoyment than we anticipated.
It’s a Cavachon- so great breed- again, just so much more work than we expected.

[Anonymous]

I’m poster above who would never get a dog again- I so want to add that many of our issues on behavior would have been less had we trained the dog. As people who never had dogs, we didn’t realize this is like a formal requirement. A HAVE TO.
We didn’t and hence he is aggressive and runs off and takes all things like they were his lifeline- vet says that is partly though his personality and probably not ideal for kids.
But like kids, each has own personality. He is super loyal and sweet to me- follows me everywhere- bathroom- office- bedroom. So they are soooo loyal! We do love him and show him a lot of love— but I stand by fact I would never have dog again. With two full time jobs- with travel- I would never be a dog owner.
And no matter how you slice it- it’s very very expensive-
If you grew up with dogs, most of you can’t imagine life without them. So I get that.
But it’s too much with kids work and travel with me

[Anonymous]

The dog I had pre-baby was highly trained ... I spent hours & hours on training. The dog we adopted when our kid was 3? Hah. Very sweet is how I'll describe him. And our older dog's training? 80% forgotten.

[Anonymous]

Just put our family dog down. The last several year were incredibly hard on the dog and us. when they inject the dog the lethal dose, they foam at the mouth and pee out any urine that is in their body. No one tell you all of this. I never want to kill another dog ever again.

It becomes hard to go for vacations because the dog needs a dog sitter or kennel. They are bloody expensive. You have to make sure that they are walked morning and night for at least potty breaks. It is a huge responsibility that no one else wants to take.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just put our family dog down. The last several year were incredibly hard on the dog and us. when they inject the dog the lethal dose, they foam at the mouth and pee out any urine that is in their body. No one tell you all of this. I never want to kill another dog ever again.

It becomes hard to go for vacations because the dog needs a dog sitter or kennel. They are bloody expensive. You have to make sure that they are walked morning and night for at least potty breaks. It is a huge responsibility that no one else wants to take.

I have been present at several applications of a lethal injection to elderly dogs and have never witnessed foaming at the mouth or urination.