buying a dog whilst the wife is pregnant
Discussion
my wife and I are expecting our first child very early days though 6 weeks into the pregnancy, however my wife is desperate for a family dog as she has had dogs her hole life and feels the house is empty, she has been nagging me for the past two years to get one which I'm happy to do as I also want a dog as I miss my family dog, is it better to introduce a dog to the family now or after the baby arrives?
looking at introducing a Golden retriever to the family.
please delete other topic I don't know how.
looking at introducing a Golden retriever to the family.
please delete other topic I don't know how.
Better title op
We got our dog when he was a puppy and the missus was 3 months pregnant, We just made sure we acted as normally as possible with him when our daughter arrived, We also had a ginger tom cat who attacked every dog he ever went near and he was fine once they sorted out who was the boss.
now we have a dog who's 3 1/2 years old and our daughter who is 3 and she adores him and he just follows her about sits and lies down to her command and is very protective of her when were out etc.
What breeds are you looking at? have asked your vets?
We got our dog when he was a puppy and the missus was 3 months pregnant, We just made sure we acted as normally as possible with him when our daughter arrived, We also had a ginger tom cat who attacked every dog he ever went near and he was fine once they sorted out who was the boss.
now we have a dog who's 3 1/2 years old and our daughter who is 3 and she adores him and he just follows her about sits and lies down to her command and is very protective of her when were out etc.
What breeds are you looking at? have asked your vets?
Charlie1986 said:
Better title op
We got our dog when he was a puppy and the missus was 3 months pregnant, We just made sure we acted as normally as possible with him when our daughter arrived, We also had a ginger tom cat who attacked every dog he ever went near and he was fine once they sorted out who was the boss.
now we have a dog who's 3 1/2 years old and our daughter who is 3 and she adores him and he just follows her about sits and lies down to her command and is very protective of her when were out etc.
What breeds are you looking at? have asked your vets?
Were looking at Golden retriever puppies, I lived with a border collie so I understand how demanding an energetic dog can be and the wife lived with Great danes and mastiffs, I've read Golden retrievers make great family dogs.We got our dog when he was a puppy and the missus was 3 months pregnant, We just made sure we acted as normally as possible with him when our daughter arrived, We also had a ginger tom cat who attacked every dog he ever went near and he was fine once they sorted out who was the boss.
now we have a dog who's 3 1/2 years old and our daughter who is 3 and she adores him and he just follows her about sits and lies down to her command and is very protective of her when were out etc.
What breeds are you looking at? have asked your vets?
I haven't spoken with the vets yet.
If you had to do it over again would you still get the dog first?
General advice is to get a dog after the kids. Less stressful for all concerned. We did it the wrong way (got the dog first) and all's OK but our dog took forever to get use to the sound of babies crying and shouting after enduring a peaceful child-free zone for a few years. Even after 5 years, our dog still can't get used to the noise. However, it probably boils down to the breed too.
milner993 said:
Were looking at Golden retriever puppies, I lived with a border collie so I understand how demanding an energetic dog can be and the wife lived with Great danes and mastiffs, I've read Golden retrievers make great family dogs.
I haven't spoken with the vets yet.
If you had to do it over again would you still get the dog first?
I would get a dog first again we found that the prospect of house training a puppy and having a new born too much too soon.I haven't spoken with the vets yet.
If you had to do it over again would you still get the dog first?
Goldens are lovely great temperament so will adapt well to your family expanding. As said maybe pop in to a few local vets and ask if they know any breeders that are local then hopefully you can meet both sets of parents.
Difficult one.
What is your current working situation? IE do either of you work from home? Obvioulsyuu the later makes puppies much easier.
My wife is fairly tough and had a fairly easy pregnancy. Some people aren't so tough and can have difficult pregnancies. She continued to walk the dog right up to days before she gave birth and due to our situation at the time, she had to walk the dog a few days after giving birth which was physically much harder. These are things that you should bare in mind.
We have had Herbie with us for 18 months and will be 5 in few weeks time. Hes a greyhound and typical of the breed. He is low energy and presents no risk to babies and toddlers. My son is 11 months old now. High energy puppies are the opposite. Some breeds like to lick babies. Whilst the owners think this is acceptable, I certainly don't.
Also, dogs tend to freak out a bit with big change and the pup will see a lot of that with a new baby arriving. Also, I'm guessing you will be squeezing in copious amounts of DIY before baby arrives. All of our NCT class were building new kitchens, as were we! This also upsets dogs as they view it as messing with their environment.
Overall, I would say you are better starting with a dog when the baby is a new born as they do bugger all as newborns. Life becomes much harder when bay can move about. Hopefully you will have the puppy well trained by then.
What is your current working situation? IE do either of you work from home? Obvioulsyuu the later makes puppies much easier.
My wife is fairly tough and had a fairly easy pregnancy. Some people aren't so tough and can have difficult pregnancies. She continued to walk the dog right up to days before she gave birth and due to our situation at the time, she had to walk the dog a few days after giving birth which was physically much harder. These are things that you should bare in mind.
We have had Herbie with us for 18 months and will be 5 in few weeks time. Hes a greyhound and typical of the breed. He is low energy and presents no risk to babies and toddlers. My son is 11 months old now. High energy puppies are the opposite. Some breeds like to lick babies. Whilst the owners think this is acceptable, I certainly don't.
Also, dogs tend to freak out a bit with big change and the pup will see a lot of that with a new baby arriving. Also, I'm guessing you will be squeezing in copious amounts of DIY before baby arrives. All of our NCT class were building new kitchens, as were we! This also upsets dogs as they view it as messing with their environment.
Overall, I would say you are better starting with a dog when the baby is a new born as they do bugger all as newborns. Life becomes much harder when bay can move about. Hopefully you will have the puppy well trained by then.
GRs are big dogs, need a lot of exercise & when they moult there's a lot of hair to deal with.
Be absolutely certain that you - not your wife - will have the time to deal with new family AND the dog and that your wife will put up with dog hair and a baby that is going to spend quite a bit of time on the floor. Might sound like a good idea now, but the reality is going to be rather different.
Been there done that - ours was a GR & we had her before the children - & the hair issue caused quite a lot of arguments.
Be absolutely certain that you - not your wife - will have the time to deal with new family AND the dog and that your wife will put up with dog hair and a baby that is going to spend quite a bit of time on the floor. Might sound like a good idea now, but the reality is going to be rather different.
Been there done that - ours was a GR & we had her before the children - & the hair issue caused quite a lot of arguments.
A mixed bag of opinions here, however I spoke with the wife last night about how feasible bringing a puppy into the house rite now would be and I think were both of the same mind set now, It really comes down to our work commitments, we both work very different hours however the puppy wouldn't be by itself for long 4 hours at the max but we both wouldn't be comfortable leaving the puppy for that length of time.
So it's been decided that we will see how we cope with the new born and the change in our current routine and after were both comfortable with the new situation we will introduce a family pet as the puppy wont be left alone at all as the wife will not be going back to work for some time.
So it's been decided that we will see how we cope with the new born and the change in our current routine and after were both comfortable with the new situation we will introduce a family pet as the puppy wont be left alone at all as the wife will not be going back to work for some time.
paintman said:
GRs are big dogs, need a lot of exercise & when they moult there's a lot of hair to deal with.
Be absolutely certain that you - not your wife - will have the time to deal with new family AND the dog and that your wife will put up with dog hair and a baby that is going to spend quite a bit of time on the floor. Might sound like a good idea now, but the reality is going to be rather different.
Been there done that - ours was a GR & we had her before the children - & the hair issue caused quite a lot of arguments.
I think the good will eventually outweigh the bad when a dog a finally enters our home, I'm hoping that a dog will also help us stay active along with the new born, and get us out the house together rather than sitting in front of the TV like zombies.Be absolutely certain that you - not your wife - will have the time to deal with new family AND the dog and that your wife will put up with dog hair and a baby that is going to spend quite a bit of time on the floor. Might sound like a good idea now, but the reality is going to be rather different.
Been there done that - ours was a GR & we had her before the children - & the hair issue caused quite a lot of arguments.
Probably not going to be a popular answer, but I think my parents got it right - they waited until their youngest (me) was 5 before they got their first family dog. They too had both grown up with dogs, and I know that my dad in particular was desperate to get one.
There are many dogs in rescue or advertised in free-ads because people have had children and now 'don't have time' for the dog. Just today I've read a post on another forum by a vet nurse whose practice had a family bring in their brand new pup with diarrhoea. The dog was improving but the mother wanted it put to sleep 'in case it infected her kids'. Apparently she spent several days trying to convince the vets to do it, the vets tried to persuade her to sign it over to a member of staff, but eventually a locum agreed to put it to sleep.
I'm not saying you would ever do this, but a new dog and a new baby would be a lot of work. I certainly wouldn't consider it, even if I could have kids....
ETA - our posts crossed. I think you're doing the right thing
There are many dogs in rescue or advertised in free-ads because people have had children and now 'don't have time' for the dog. Just today I've read a post on another forum by a vet nurse whose practice had a family bring in their brand new pup with diarrhoea. The dog was improving but the mother wanted it put to sleep 'in case it infected her kids'. Apparently she spent several days trying to convince the vets to do it, the vets tried to persuade her to sign it over to a member of staff, but eventually a locum agreed to put it to sleep.
I'm not saying you would ever do this, but a new dog and a new baby would be a lot of work. I certainly wouldn't consider it, even if I could have kids....
ETA - our posts crossed. I think you're doing the right thing
We brought our working cocker puppy home weeks before my OH gave birth to our 2nd child, everybody thought we were nuts but it worked out fine, both dog & son are now 12.
My MIL wasn't amused when the 1st thing I did when bringing our Son home for the first time was popping him on the floor in his car seat for the puppy to say hello to!
My MIL wasn't amused when the 1st thing I did when bringing our Son home for the first time was popping him on the floor in his car seat for the puppy to say hello to!
LordHaveMurci said:
We brought our working cocker puppy home weeks before my OH gave birth to our 2nd child, everybody thought we were nuts but it worked out fine, both dog & son are now 12.
My MIL wasn't amused when the 1st thing I did when bringing our Son home for the first time was popping him on the floor in his car seat for the puppy to say hello to!
If you hadn't done any of the recommended prep before hand, then it would have been foolish. End of.My MIL wasn't amused when the 1st thing I did when bringing our Son home for the first time was popping him on the floor in his car seat for the puppy to say hello to!
I personally think the OP should maybe look at a dog that suits their life style rather than what they want.
Low malting dogs are also a bit easier when the baby starts to crawl. You have enough issues when the baby starts to crawl and eat anything off the floor let alone clumps of dog hair!
Looking at a Golden retriever isn't an off the cuff decision, both me and my wife are active people and enjoy the outdoors, I lived with a border collie up until I left home for 7 years and certainly know how much a long haired dog breed moults.
I need a fun loving dog that's going to be great with children and keeps me and the wife active, from the research I've done the Golden retriever ticks most boxes, I can't be dealing with a dog that wants to sleep and fart all day.
I need a fun loving dog that's going to be great with children and keeps me and the wife active, from the research I've done the Golden retriever ticks most boxes, I can't be dealing with a dog that wants to sleep and fart all day.
I've never really bought into this breed determinism of behaviour. Its almost exclusively b
ks from what I can tell.
If your dog misbehaves, the first person you should be looking at is yourself. Some dogs are just harder to get there than others, which is why some of us have expressed a concern about time constraints around a newborn.
That is however, why I would never have a rescue dog around my son, you just don't know what trauma they've been through.
ks from what I can tell. If your dog misbehaves, the first person you should be looking at is yourself. Some dogs are just harder to get there than others, which is why some of us have expressed a concern about time constraints around a newborn.
That is however, why I would never have a rescue dog around my son, you just don't know what trauma they've been through.
Prof Prolapse said:
I've never really bought into this breed determinism of behaviour. Its almost exclusively bks from what I can tell.
If your dog misbehaves, the first person you should be looking at is yourself. Some dogs are just harder to get there than others, which is why some of us have expressed a concern about time constraints around a newborn.
That is however, why I would never have a rescue dog around my son, you just don't know what trauma they've been through.
The OP is looking at a puppy not a rescue.ks from what I can tell. If your dog misbehaves, the first person you should be looking at is yourself. Some dogs are just harder to get there than others, which is why some of us have expressed a concern about time constraints around a newborn.
That is however, why I would never have a rescue dog around my son, you just don't know what trauma they've been through.
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