When's a Good Time to Introduce a Puppy to the Family?

I would wait until both kids are strong walkers. Dogs tend to "dominate" crawlers and nip a lot, so you do not want faces down on puppys level.

My only comment is that a puppy is a lot of work! If you want them to be good dogs you have to put the work into training them and that is really a big job. That said I would wait a bit on getting a puppy or get a little bit older dog that is already trained that might be nice for the kids too since puppys really aren't great with kids - just because they don't know any better. Dogs are wonderful - hope you find a great one! I recommend searching on petfinder.com they will also let you know which dogs are good with kids etc.

Please don't kid yourself that you will have help - basically you will be the number one care giver of the dog. Especially since your kiddos are so young.

I ditto the rescue dog - there are lots of dogs out there that need a good home.

Wait! Training a puppy is a lot of work, and with a new baby and a toddler, you'll have your hands full. When your youngest is 3 or 4, they'll both be able to help and fully enjoy a puppy. If you must get a dog sooner, get an older shelter dog that's good with kids and already trained. We have a lab mix that's a great family dog, but I had her before the children and I'm glad I didn't do it the other way around!

Actually, I'm an animal lover and have two dogs, three cats and a bunny -- but I really dislike puppies. They are such hard work! All the training just drives people crazy. I would recommend you get a young rescue dog because they come trained and in need of a good home. Especially don't buy one from Petland. Did you see the Animal Planet expose on them last week? Horrible puppy mill supporters. And they lie to customers about where their dogs come from. Anyhow, I do think your kids might be a little young. It might be more fun when they're older and can help choose a dog and also help care for it. It would be a fun family thing. Right now I'm sure you have your hands full enough with the kids!

Get a puppy that is a little older. Maybe 8 months to a year with less training to do. You already have your hands full and young puppies like to nip, which can be scary for little ones.

I have always had a dog. We lost both of our dogs last summer and have been talking about the best time to introduce a new puppy into our home. Our dogs were 16 and 10. Our son will be three in August so he did spend some time with them and from my experience I would suggest waiting until your children are around 3 or 4. It would be best if the children understood the 'rules' of having a dog. Remember, the dog is only as good as you train them. You need to have the time to spend working with the dog and the children need to learn simple comands as well. It's best for everyone I think. I would prefer that my son help with the repsonsibilities of having a dog, and be able to train and treat the puppy properly. I've seen friends bring dogs into their homes when the children weren't "ready" and it just doesn't seem like an ideal situation. We have baby number two on the way and have decided that we are going to wait until baby is two years old. This way the baby will be walking steadily, talking, listening to us for the most part and understanding things...You know your kids best, and I think you'll know when they are ready.

My Advice - DO NOT DO IT NOW!!! First ask yourself and really be honest about WHY you want the dog. And make sure you understand the implications. I purchased a puppy when my daugther was nearly 2 years old. Regardless of what size you purchase, a puppy is a very big commitment for you - and yes, you WILL be the primary care taker because you are the adult that is home during the day. Now for context, I am a SAHM too, and had only 1 kiddo at the time, so you would think I would have the bandwidth. But I wish I had waited at least until my daughter was 5. It is JUST TOO MUCH WORK to do it right. Don't expect you can easily bring a puppy into the mix with a 1 year old and an infant on the way. Right now you need to save your energy and rest before birth. I just had my second a few months ago and I WISH I had taken more time to rest before having my son. A puppy will WEAR YOU OUT. Here are some of the things you will need to do with a puppy....
Potty Train
Clean up potty (accidents in the house and those left outside)
Take to Puppy School for initial training/foundation (if your kids are 5+ they can go with you - super fun!)
Socialize for a whole year through puppy's development stages
Exercise/take on walks (even if short for small dogs)
Feed (2-3 times a day at first)
Regular puppy vet appointments
Fix the dog when the time comes
Brush coat several times a week (or daily if you can)
Brush teeth (a couple times a week)
Other grooming 1x week or so - nail clipping, ear cleaning, etc.

A puppy will need CONSTANT attention, even if you are crate training (which I did because it makes everything easier). You will be needing to watch the dog to make sure no accidents occur in the house and rush him/her outside each time s/he looks like s/he needs to pee or poop. You can't do that and care for little ones - trust me, I tried and it is very tough to drop everything and rush a pup out to do it's business and then wonder what your kiddos are up to inside while you take 5 minutes to make sure it goes, praise it ("go potty" "good dog" or whatever you choses) and bring it back inside. And, by the way, you do need to find a dedicated potty area, which is probably not right near the front or back door, otherwise you will have a dog that goes anywhere they want. Not good with kids around or if you would like to maintain a clean yard. Potty training alone is NO SMALL undertaking and can be very frustrating if are not diligent. You also need to socialize the puppy and take it to puppy training classes to ensure you have the right start for a long term well behaved, well socialized pup. Let's not forget the vet visits are more frequent when they are little also - you will need shots and later fixing/neutering.

So, that's my experience....WAIT until the kids are older. I would recommend your older should be 5+ so that he can actually be involved in the process. I really do think my daughter would have gotten a lot more out of having a dog had I got the pup later.

In terms of what kind of dog... I would HIGHLY recommend going with a hair breed. I have a German Shepherd (that's what I had as a kid so I love them), but he sheds like a fiend. MORE WORK. So, avoid dogs with undercoats. Now they have wonderful cross breeds with Poodles and Labs (Labradoodle) or Poodles and Golden (Goldendoodle). Some of these breeders have bred them to be mid-size. If you want something smaller, which I would actuallly recommend because it is really helpful to be able to pick up the dog if you need to...there are many options that are non-shedding and good with kids.

www.petfinder.com is a great site to check out. It has lots of breed info.

A pediatrician once told me "after your youngest child is 5 years old."

Of course many families don't wait that long and it works out fine for them.

I made the mistake of getting two labs when my youngest was a toddler and he has been scared of dogs ever since (they would jump and nip because they were puppies). I really regret it.

Good luck - be sure to get a VERY patient and docile breed. Do alot of homework first.

I say no to getting a "puppy" when your children are that young..They are A LOT of responsibility.. It's kind of like having another child when it's a puppy.. What we decided to do was get a 3 year old dog that was already housebroken, not as hyper and didn't chew everything...And most importantly we "rescued" her... If your looking for a pure bred dog, get them through a rescue~~~~~ I swear when you rescue a pet they appreciate there homes 10 times more.... Good luck!

I wish I waited before bring Bella (our puppy) into our family. Puppy are a lot of responsibility. You will be the one taking care of the puppy, bring it out for walk, picking up poop, bathing, and feeding. Its really like taking care of a baby. They chew on everything, ruin your furniture, shoes, you name it. Training a puppy take lots of time and it might drive you crazy, at least mine drive me crazy and still does. I suggest you think this over very carefully before deciding to bring a puppy into your family. I really regret bringing Bella into our family because she driving me crazy with her barking and chewing.

We got our black lab when my girls were (9 and 5). This was a perfect time to get her. She is the best dog. She will actually sit outside and watch them when they are out playing, like a body guard. She is great with them.

It must be puppy day on Mamapedia! We just got a new puppy Golden Retriever now 12 weeks old. We had two previous Goldens one just past away at 15 1/2.
This is our first puppy with our son who is 6. I will tell you WAIT until all your kids are older. 1. It is work, just like having a toddler, potty training, biting, saying no! no! no!. You will be more than exhausted!
2. My son at 6 still needs to be told the puppy rules. We are all attending training class, so we are all on the same training page). 3. You need to have the time to properly train your dog, or else it will be detrimental to your family. You will have major dog issues, damage to your property or worse aggressive behavior towards people or other dogs.
Choose your breed carefully, just because a dog is small does not mean they are less work. There are plenty of small dogs with lots of issues.

We always preferred the Golden Retriever as I said this is our 3rd Golden. They are very mellow (after the age of 2, every puppy is work!) and excellent with kids. If you get a female they can range from the 40-50 pounds. But they shed a lot! PS, you don't know yet if your kids have any allergy problems, that may determine the kind of dog you will get.

You should research breeds on the internet and talk to people with the breed. I would recommend going to a REPUTABLE breeder. Be aware there are lots of people out there "selling" dogs, not necessarily breeding. You should be able to see/pet the mom and dad and see where they are coming from, it tells you a lot about the breeder and dogs.

Rescue dogs are great too! If you are looking for a certain breed there are lots of breed groups who do rescue and they are very deligent about matching a dog to a family. I am not against going to your local humane society either, just know what you are looking for in a dog and don't fall in love with them just because they are cute. Find out the specific good/bad behavior the dog exibits and have everyone in the family spend time with the dog.

It is a major time and financial commitment for a dog. So I would just wait and enjoy your babies! And then when your all ready get that puppy!

Get a goldfish.

The Best Pet Ever. All of 39 cents at Petco. Your kids will be interested in it for just as long as they would a dog, and you won't have to TRIP over the blasted thing while rounding up sippy cups. You also won't have to be responsible for picking up the turds of yet another small animal in your house. Make your husband clean the fishbowl water.

If you really want a dog, you can have mine. Nine yo griffon mix. All yours. They she'll wake up your kids from their naps by barking at the UPS man. You can vacuum every day to keep your kids from being as hairy as the dog. Oh, and she eats poop. Sometimes her own. Still interested? Let me know. I'll sneak her out under the cover of darkness and ship her to you for free. Kennel, bed and bowls included. Don't tell my husband. He actually loves her. You'll have to rig up a special way to give her water, though, because your son will treat her water dish as his own play lake.

Still interested? Or do I hear the screech of your car tires as you take off to Petco to get a nice quiet goldfish? Even Elmo has a goldfish. He must be kind of smart, despite the ditzy laugh.

Again, just let me know! Oh, and when our dog vomits from eating god-only-knows-what, she's a sprayer. Looks like a crime scene. Hope that's not a problem. Buy paper towels in bulk.

We had the exact same question in our family a little over a year ago. We chose to adopt a Chocolate Lab puppy when I was about 5 mo. pregnant and my son was a year and a half old. It turned out to be the PERFECT thing for our family. Not only was the timing right to get the dog house trained before having an infant in the house, but it really helped my Son get used to something new coming to live in our house and having to share time and space, so the baby transition was very smooth. I know you said you didn't want a big dog, but we chose a larger breed because toddlers can be rough and I didn't want either of them to get hurt in the exploration process and Labs are the MOST well known for being excellent with kids. He has been the best dog ever, my son loves him and they are like best friends and now that my daughter is old enough to crawl to him and tug on his ears he is sooooo gentle with her. We wouldn't change anything, I highly recommend having a dog in the family!!!!

K.

HAHAHA!! you don't think you will be doing all of the work???? Oh my friend, you will. I say, HUGE NO! to getting a puppy...and here's why.
We got a puppy about 3 months ago. He's adorable, loving, soft...bites, chews, scratches.....my kids. I am the one that takes the dog on walks, I am the one that picks up the poop (although my 7 year old picks up one week, then me the other) I am the one that feeds him lunch and dinner, I take him to the vet, I bathe him, clean his ears, and am the alpha dog in my family. I am constantly taking the dog off the couch, taking things out of his mouth, finding shoes in my backyard! He is a puppy so he is always chewing on things (like my YARD FURNITURE that he ruined) and he is always nipping at my kids (and they are 4 and 7). You will have a baby and a young toddler...you don't want your puppy nipping on them (which is totally normal) especially since they can not establish their position in your pack. (meaning flipping him on his back if he bites, or telling him "no" or knocking him down if he jumps)
I didn't read what everybody else wrote....I just know that if I had known that when my family said, "I'll walk him every day (THAT was my HUSBAND) and clean up after him and feed him" that they were LYING I never would have got the dog. Just know that YOU will be in charge of your children and your dog...do you have the time? Not with a newborn you wont.
L.

Hubby and I are contemplating a new dog too. My son is almost 6 months, and I have a 26 month old. We are waiting till my son is sleeping through the night, i.e. at least 10 hours. Then, I will consider taking on another baby, and trust me, I've done a puppy before, it's like having a baby. Expect 2-4 hours of time suckage a day in the beginning, between walks, potty training, etc.

We are looking at English Staffies or pit bulls --the gentlest dogs with children.

not sure when to get one but bigger dogs are generally more patient with kids than smaller ones. i have a small dog and my 11 month old loves her but he GRABS her fur and so shes scared of him. its so sad -- when she sees him coming she'll run away. but if he's not paying attention to her, she'll dart in for a quick lick and then run off before he can do anything. haha. its cute -- it could've been a lot worse. some dogs nip! do your research before getting one :)

Definitely wait. To properly train a pup, you will need to be able to stop what you are doing (in the middle at the drop of a hat) and rush over to the pup to correct it (which may mean carrying it outside mid-pee stream). You can't possibly do that with a newborn. And your older son will not have the self-control to be able to refrain from badgering, poking, hitting, trying to ride, etc the dog. You will be distracted with the baby and bad things can happen quickly.

We got our dog (10 weeks old when we got her) when our son was 6 and our daughter was a week from turning 3. But, our daughter was/is a very bright and mature for her age child. If she wasn't, we would have needed to wait until later. She had (still has) an amazing self-control and ability to follow the rules... and she truly loves animals, especially dogs and always has (her first "lovey" was a stuffed floppy Pluto from Disney).

If you want your pup/dog to be a well regarded member of your family that respects all of you and that you all love and cherish, then you will have to spend adequate time training it and training yourselves (and kids) how to related/communicate effectively what kind of behaviors are permitted/encouraged. You can't realistically expect to be able to do that at this point. I would wait at LEAST 3 more years to get a puppy. Depending on your youngest's personality... maybe a little longer than that. Use this time to enjoy your babies. And then when you are 2 years out, start doing a LOT of research about the breeds, and training methods you are interested in so that you can match your family's needs to your future pet's needs. Not every breed/personality in a dog is "right" for every family. There are a LOT of variations... so be honest about what you expect to put into training and lifestyle with the dog. (Does your husband run and plan to take your dog on daily runs with him? Mine does, and used to take our dog on runs.. but there are a lot of "loose" dogs on his routes that make it potentially dangerous for him to take our dog along anymore... he carries a pepper spray with him now). Fortunately for us, our dog is a little older now and was trained well, and can be trusted to expend a lot of energy outside with the kids on their bikes or playing frisbee with them.

Our dog trainers recommend french bulldogs as family friendly dogs. We have a siberian husky mix who's great with our kids. We adopted our dog before we had kids and I can't really imagine having two kids under 2 and a puppy.

First, since this dog has not been in your family since your eldest was born, I recommend you wait until your youngest child is old enough to know not to hit or bully the dog. At 1, your child will not know this! Kids naturally play roughly when they're young, and you need to wait until your youngest knows better, because the dog will defend itself against what it sees as aggression, and that's an accident waiting to happen.

Second, small dogs are more likely to be injured by rough children and often (although not always) have shorter tempers than many breeds of large dogs. You may want to rethink the size of dog you are considering. I personally have a 65-pound dog, a 45-pound dog, and a 10-pounds dog, and my 45-pound dog is my favorite size - big enough to play with my young son, but small enough that she doesn't knock me over when she feels rowdy! If you are set on having a small dog, please wait LONGER than you would normally want to to bring it into the family, because your kids will really need to exercise self-control around a small dog.

Third, please consider rescuing a dog. Every dog that is purchased means that one in a shelter does not get a home. I work in animal rescue, all 3 of my dogs are rescues, and I have a 15-month-old with 1 on the way - they are wonderful with my kids! Mutts are also less prone to genetic diseases than purebreds, and less prone to genetic behavioral problems. My rescue does not ship animals so I wouldn't be able to provide you with any, but I would be happy to talk to you to give you some tips about finding a good rescue and a good match for your family if you are interested. Check out petfinder.com to find a list of animals in need of a good home in your area (you can select breed and age of the dog, as well).

If you are adverse to rescuing for some reason, do your research to find a good breeder. DO NOT BUY FROM A PET STORE. Even if they say that they get their puppies from "reliable breeders" instead of puppymills, this is rarely the case. Why? Well, because a good breeder would never allow their puppies to be sold in a pet-store. Good breeders want you to meet the parents of the dog, to have knowledge of the breed, and to sign something saying if you cannot keep the dog for whatever reason, you will return it to them instead of putting it in a shelter. If your breeder doesn't do this, find another one. If you want a purebred, make sure you can get papers on the dog - a breeder that sells a puppy without papers is less likely to have a good understanding of how to breed for temperament and health, and that will mean more trouble for you. Be especially careful with breeders of popular family breeds like Golden Retrievers and Labs. A good Golden is truly golden, but they are overbred by people who don't know what they're doing. A good, professional breeder is very important for these breeds.

Finally, you might consider an adult dog instead of a puppy. Especially in today's economic situation, many adult dogs in rescues and shelters have no known behavioral or health problems. Breeders may have older dogs that they are trying to sell, as well. An older dog is more likely to be housebroken, has already finished teething (so is less likely to chew), and has already developed its personality. Puppies nip (there is no way to prevent it from happening occasionally - they don't know better), have the energy levels of a toddler, and will need a lot more training than just housebreaking.

Good breeds for families with children? Well, there are plenty of them! A lot depends on how much training you are willing to do, and how much exercise you can provide for the animal. Don't get a Labrador if you don't plan to walk it daily (several times a day is best), and don't get a terrier if you intend to leave it in the backyard for hours at a time. Do your research! You still have plenty of time. Good luck.