We've just put a deposit on a puppy (working black lab). They are only a week old, so I guess I've got a couple of months to get my head around things. I have 3 children (11, 8 and 3) and a cat. I'm home most of the time and would enjoy the walks. I am feeling anxious. One minute I'm very positive and think it'll be great for the kids to grow up with a dog (something I've always wanted to do) and the next minute I'm panicking. I'm not too worried about the wee/poo thing, but the mouthing bothers me - particularly my youngest child. I am particularly concerned about some of the posts I read on here about the teenage years. I plan to get a crate and probably a pen too as kitchen-diner is open plan. I've read most of the Puppy Hand Book already. For a long time, we looked at rescuing a dog, but it has always proven to be difficult with a young child and a cat. Am I taking on too much? This would be our first dog. Please give me some positive feedback!
There will be times when you feel that way. But see it as a challenge and all will be well, the joys outweigh the difficulties every time. Be as well prepared as you can and have lots of strategies in place for the bitey phase. I have had three so far and find the teenage phase easy to deal with, in fact I've enjoyed it with each one. The cat will find his/her own way with the pup - just be sure food and litter tray are well out of reach. Have lots of small puppy toys to hand to put in his mouth, especially when you walk in the room after being away from him. I have a small toy in every pocket when mine are crocapups. Have a safe 'pup free' space for your toddler to play - maybe a separate play pen or part of the room with desk, toys etc? I think you will be just fine and meet each challenge as it comes - every pup is different so just what the challenges will be can't be predicted. But, with three children, you'll know what lack of sleep is like - and it's for a much shorter time with pups. If you can bring up kids you can bring up pups!
Welcome to the forum It's exciting that you're finally realising a long-held goal of getting a doggie. It's pretty normal to feel some apprehension, so don't let that put you off. You are in a much better position than people who imagine that their puppy will be like a little furry angel and are then shocked when the angel turns out to bite, jump and play tug of war with their clothing. You are prepared and you'll be able to work out strategies in advance. A lot of this will involve teaching the children how to behave - eg. not running and squealing, leaving the puppy alone at times, 'being a tree' or tossing a toy to distract then leaving the room if the puppy gets too excited. Having both a crate and a pen is a good plan as these can be safe zones for the pup and time out for you. There will definitely be things to manage, solve, overcome etc and a lot of patience and a zen-like attitude will go a long way! But there will also be so many wonderful moments, and these will only increase as your puppy becomes a dog and an inseparable part of your family. You will get to the point where you just can't imagine life without your dog and you wouldn't part with him/her for all the gold in the world You sound like a person who takes an active approach to educating themselves, planning ahead and solving problems. I'm sure you'll be just fine And you'll get plenty of advice and support here
Pups can be a challenge, but they are also a lot of fun. They grow up so fast, that it is almost over before you know it. I would not miss it for the world. Having a crate and pen are great starts. Do you have a fenced yard? if so that will make it easier also. In the US we usually pick up Lab Pups at 7 or 8 weeks, so you may not have quite as much time as you think. In our experience, our dogs relate very well to small children, and recognize that they are small and a little fragile. A really young pup probably not so much. Teach the kids not to move their hands too fast, especially close to the pups face. Keeping the hand as a fist is often a good idea especially when meeting a new dog. Dogs seem to view a fist as less threatening than an open hand (that can grab) and besides it is harder to nip or bite. Pups do mouth everything, and they have sharp teeth. They normally don't do much damage, but they can hurt. The Labs I've owned and most all I've been around learned how to mouth things very gently after they got though the sharp puppy teeth thing. Some aren't so gentle taking treats though so you need to watch that. My biggest concerns about dogs around small kids (and older folks) is possibly knocking them down accidentally. Your 8 and 11 year old won't have to worry about that for a while, and maybe never.
Hello and welcome to the forum. You've already had some good advice above. I'd encourage you to watch the videos on this site to teach your children about how to interact with the puppy and to give you some good tips on doggy body language yourself: http://stopthe77.com/
A warm welcome from me and my 17 month old chocolate girl. You have loads of good advice already, I'd say take as many photos as possible they grow up so unbelievably quickly. The Happy Puppy Handbook is such a good read and informative. I read it twice before Mabel arrived. I'd also recommend Pippa's Total Recall. I've had very little issues with Mabel's recall, and I followed all the guidelines in the book. Looking forward to seeing some photos and have you chosen a name yet?
Thank you everyone for your positive responses. I am feeling more confident today. I think you can read about a lot of negative experiences online....Good to get some positive ones. Snowbunny - I really liked your videos. I will be showing the kids. No name yet - will update you later on that and photos! Thank you
Exciting times. I had a spaniel puppy with a 2 year old and they got on just fine. It was important to me that Obi was crate trained so I could pop him away if I wasn't present and know that he and my daughter were safe. As she's got older (4 soon! where does the time go!) we've taught her how to interact with the dogs (I also have an older lab). So you can do it, you just need to be able to keep the puppy physically separate at times in it's own interest as well as that of your children
A very warm welcome from me and Lilly. I think it can be tough when they are puppies, but definitely the benefit of a dog, lab or otherwise, hugely outweighs the puppy challenges. Sometimes I think "expect the worst, be pleased when its better" jac
The puppy we've put a deposit on is from working strain - is this going to be too much for us? I'm expecting the adult dog to be needing up to 1.5 hours a day (split into two outings) at least - am I right? Assuming dog is well trained there will be plenty of opportunity for off lead running and tennis balls. Would a dog like this also be happy to walk through town though? I really want to get this right.
What do the parent dogs do? Do they compete is working trials, or do gundog work? Are they high energy dogs? I'd say in general that show line dogs are more easy going than working dogs. Working dogs are also more likely to be nervous or wary of new things, while show line dogs tend to take things in their stride a bit more. But it's definitely not a hard and fast rule. Any litter will have a mix of temperaments - some laid back and some very active. It's not an exact science but the breeder can help you choose a pup that's likely to be more laid back (once they are old enough to move about and play and be interactive with people). Training is 80-90% of what you end up with. There's no reason why any dog can't be trained to walk calmly through town. 1.5 hours exercise per day (with some training included in that) would be fine for my dog. He is show line and although only average on the energy scale I would not put him in the 'laid back' category as he wants to be given stuff to do. You are also going to be able to provide company during the day which will be a good thing for the dog.
My girl is working line, her dad is mountain rescue. She is fine on an hour and a half a day, plus clicker training possibly about half an hour a day then sleeps from 7.30 at night until 8.00 in the morning just pops out to the toilet at about 9.30. Then has a good 3 hours sleep during the day. On the other hand her sister is on the go all the time non stop. My friend walks her two hours a day, takes her to work with her as well as doing some gun dog training exercises. As @Oberon says each litter has different temperaments. Regarding walking through town, Mabel loves doing this. She is highly excited, I use market day in a village near me as a training exercise most Thursday's. Walking past the cheese counter is a challenge. (Yet to be mastered I may add ). I think your going to make a very good job of raising a puppy as you are thinking very carefully and asking loads of questions.
Our dogs tend to be weekend warriors. They probably don't get 1-1/2 hrs per day on most week days, but often more on the weekend. Also they play with each other, and with our neighbor's Sammy. (This afternoon, I asked her if she could bring Loki over because Cooper needed a Chew Toy)
Hi there, I don't have much to add here other than my own experience. We got our first dog when oldest kids were aged 3 and 6 months old . The pup fitted in very nicely with the chaos of young kids and baby gates etc were already in place . obviously they were never together unsupervised , but they really did all their growing up together . We used to find the youngest asleep in the crate ( must find pics) , and more than once sharing the water bowl . The dog ended up being the best walker on a lead ever, as I was pushing pram everywhere and she learned v quickly to stay nicely on one side so the lead didn't get tangled. Yes it will be challenging at times , but hey you've got 3 kids , you can do anything !! and pup will fit in with your lifestyle and adapt quickly . Although it may be a while before you can use the bathroom alone ! Or maybe that's just Sam .
What do the parent dogs do? Do they compete is working trials, or do gundog work? Are they high energy dogs? Hi I'd say that they are predominantly pets. The breeder has Mum (4) and Grandma (11). At weekends they go out and do gundog work as a hobby. They are very slim/fit looking dogs but not too big. The breeder says that she walks them an hour in the morning and half hour in the evening (min) and when she has more time will do more. My concern is that I can walk that distance easily, but my little boy can't (at least - not every day and not very quickly!).
Can your son go on a little bike or tricycle or scooter or something like that? I don't have kids so I'm not sure what a 3 yr old is capable of
Also, your puppy won't be able to do very long walks for quite a while, so the walk issue isn't one you'll need to resolve that quickly.
Hi , by the time puppy is ready for 1 1/2 - 2 hrs walk per day your son will be older too . When kids were small and puppies too would have spent a lot of time playing fun games , that satisfied the exercise for dog and kids didn't need to walk huge distances . And then there were times where husband had kids and I got to go for proper walk ... Heaven xx
and your little boy will prob be at pre school / nursery , if not big school for a few hrs a day by the time pup will ready for big walks xx Edited for shocking spelling !
One of my kids at three would have been the human version of a lab puppy , with that addition of speech
