thinking of getting a dog!!!!

[peach]

were thinking of getting a dog (well dh is - he thinks it will keep me happy insted of a 4th child )


im not 100% sure

obviously we will look at the breed and size of the dog and weather they are child friendly ect

but I dont like the thought of picking up dog poo all day!


any thoughts please? x

[miss mopple]

I was always a bit about the dog poo picking up but braved it when we got our dog (golden retriever cross)18mths ago. I am a bit of a girl and use a clamp thing though, the thought of a hand in the bag makes me want to hurl

Now we have her I wonder how we lasted so long without one. She can be a nightmare at times (she still only a pup really so has some calming down to do yet!) but she brings so much to our lives. We will never be dog less again. We are definately a doggy family

The mindees adore her too and love it when we take her out walking. I'm alot slimmer and fitter since getting her too so its all good

Go for it- you'll love it

[AliceK]

Dog poo, childrens poo, fox poo, cat poo. I spend most of my waking life dealing with poo in one form or another.

You get used to it, honestly.
My old dog only used to poo once a day and always in the same place. My new puppy poo's for England at the moment. I'm always hosing down the garden at the moment.

xxxxxxx

[VINASOL]

were thinking of getting a dog (well dh is - he thinks it will keep me happy insted of a 4th child )


im not 100% sure

obviously we will look at the breed and size of the dog and weather they are child friendly ect

but I dont like the thought of picking up dog poo all day!


any thoughts please? x

OK....we are getting a puppy in a few weeks' time...however, we have been 'thinking' about getting a dog for at least a year....don't underestimate the amoutn of work you will need to spend with the dog....i think you do need a serious conversation with your DH....will he be taking responsbility of walking the dog or leaving it entirely up to you -- it's fine him saying getting a dog but is he willing to walk the dog before he goes of to work etc?

Personally from my own experience I would not get a dog unless you were absolutely ready....I hated the thought of picking up dog poo but I knwo at the end of the day it will be me doing it...so I have little test runs (i.e. I take next door's dog out for walks and i have to pick his up lol).

As for breed, again do your research....we're going for an English Springer Spaniel but I thought I had decided on about 7 different breeds beforehand lol

BUT...I am SO excited to get our new dog and I knwo it'll be like having another baby/child in the house and i can't wait



xxx

[Aimi-jo]

This is so similar to a post i was going to put glad you asked. Only other question is does affect your mindee's/parents ie: are they put off by you having a dog.
Im so so so desperate for a dog i grew up with animals and i want my boys to aswell

[TheBTeam]

We got our first english springer pup last september, after years of me saying no dog and not whilst minding etc. Well i changed my mind! And boy am i pleased i did, i have lost out on a couple of mindees cos of the dog, but then only today i had one mum say i am so pleased you have your dogs cos now if i want a bigger dog i know X will be fine.

One of my parents has got a dog themselves since we did, and another regularly takes their boy to walk in the places we say we go walking with our dogs and the children.

So i take this to be a really positive experience, there are people that it may put off and people that will like it.

We are fully open and explain that on most days part of our day may well be out walking, we use this as a learning experience for the children as well as walking the dogs. The children learn about shapes, nature, animal care and magical stories about the things we might find or see! We know this cos one of the littlest ones not yet two had great fun telling his mum about the 'scary monster' that lives in the woods and was laughing his head off, cos my OH tells him!

[miss mopple]

don't underestimate the amoutn of work you will need to spend with the dog....i think you do need a serious conversation with your DH....will he be taking responsbility of walking the dog or leaving it entirely up to you -- it's fine him saying getting a dog but is he willing to walk the dog before he goes of to work etc?

this is a real biggie. You have to be clear on how it will work or its not fair on the dog. We work it between us, but as a rule DH gets up at 6am to walk ours. If I dont have many kids he just takes her for a short walk and I will take her out later with the mindees, but I do find her hard to do with 3 littlies so we only do that on days when I have less, or ones that will walk far enough (none of mine are in buggies) so he walks her further on those days so I dont have to.

They are very hard work, take alot of time to train properly but are SOOOOO worth it!!

[Shirlwith3]

We got our dog last year we went for a medium size dog we got a Weimaraner, he is fansatic with the children even the babies I have had , it was hard to juggle his care & training at first as I cared for a family that arrived some mornings at 6am (don't have them anymore). Now he is housetrained things are better he spends most of the day alseep on the sofa & as long as the children don't have food in their hands he will leave them.

I did have one family that had dogs but the baby was affaird of them but she told me that since we got our dog (was 15wks old) that he was starting to take an intreest of theirs.

Like TheBTeam said "i have lost out on a couple of mindees cos of the dog" this is true as I have missed out on families becasue of my dog , he still gets very excited when people arrive (16months old now) & he is still learning, I have found that he gets excited when adults arrive but is better when the kids arrive.
Oh do really research bifferent breeds to make sure you get the right dog for you & your family, we did & am gald we got ours.
good luck

[littletreasures]

We got our puppy on Saturday. Over the last 4 nights I think I have had about 4 hours sleep. He cries and barks all night left in his pen.

He won't go in it day or night. But ...... I have just managed to feed him in he pen. He ate as long as I was standing over him and I am now sitting on the floor outside the one and he is still in there lying down I know as soon as I get up he will start barking again.

I am serioiusly thinking of sleeping down by the pen tonight just so that some of us can get a bit of sleep.

[AliceK]

We got our puppy on Saturday. Over the last 4 nights I think I have had about 4 hours sleep. He cries and barks all night left in his pen.

He won't go in it day or night. But ...... I have just managed to feed him in he pen. He ate as long as I was standing over him and I am now sitting on the floor outside the one and he is still in there lying down I know as soon as I get up he will start barking again.

I am serioiusly thinking of sleeping down by the pen tonight just so that some of us can get a bit of sleep.

Have you tried giving him something in his crate to snuggle up to with your scent on it. I gave my puppy my fleece jacket and it's been like a miracle, no crying at night at all now. He's 9 weeks old. I make him go in his crate for a treat when I go out but I don't shut him in just make him sit in there and receive his treat. He can be trusted at the moment to have the run of the kitchen when I do school runs etc.
Good luck They're hard work aren't they

xxx

[littletreasures]

It's just like having a baby, but harder!!

I sat outside the pen and got him to go in with a treat and shut the door. I kept giving him treats and making him liendown to get them. He eventually went to sleep and stayed in there for nearly an hour!!

I've bought him a bone and am just going to give it tobhim when I want him in the pen, so hopefully he will associate the pen as getting nice things. I will try putting a fleece in there tonight. I am also going to put Baileys bed near the pen as well.

He is very cute though and is learning really well.