Dogs and Little People....

The Bouncing Bog Trotter

The Bouncing Bog Trotter

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 December 2008
Messages
2,046
Location
East Sussex
Visit site
We want to get another dog but I would really appreciate some views from you all out there in forum land.

Very sadly I lost my 10 year old labrador bitch due to cancer in August last year. I now feel ready for another dog but we have 3 very young children. We wanted to adopt an older labrador but most of the rescue/re-homing centres have a no-toddlers policy. This means that it looks as though we are going to have to go and find a puppy.

I was considering another labrador but my nearly 3 year old son has such fun today playing with the yard Jack Russell. He really misses his big black friend. Would we be potty to consider a JR with a 3 year old and 15 month old twins? I figure that the worst a lab can do is sit on the children, knock them flying with a wagging tail or nick their food. However, a small JR would be far less intimidating size wise but more likely to be yappy and snappy , or am I stereotyping JRs?

Or am I mad to consider having another dog with 3 such small people in the house? This is the first time that I've been dogless since childhood and we really miss having a dog. I think it is important for children to grow up with 'proper' pets but am I asking too much with such small children?

What do you think?
 
We lost our border terrier last May and after 6 months were ready to get another dog. We have 2 young children (5 & 3) and I wanted to get a rescue dog but after looking round all the dog homes came to the sad decision that I couldnt take on an "unknown" dog with toddlers. It probably would have been fine but I always had this nagging doubt. So we went and got a puppy (checking out the parents first) so we had a "blank" canvas so to speak. Its been absolutely fine and I totally agree with you with wanting my children to grow up with animals and the resonsibilities etc that go with it.
Can highly recommend a border
laugh.gif
great cheeky personalities and really good with children.
 
Firstly, your not mad (well not if I'm anything to go by!) My third was born in the May, I also had a 17 month old and a three year old and we got two pups, a lab and a weirmer in the June!!!
crazy.gif


I am a loyal member of the 'I love Labs' clique
tongue.gif
I did laugh at your comment regarding the worst a lab can do is sit on the little ones!!!!! So true!! I would trust our lab with kids of any age, on saying that I would trust our little springer as well.

I am sure that if you got a JR pup it would be super as well though, especially as you are getting it after you already have children, so it would grow up with them. Lets face it regardless of breed you always risk having a nippy/ grumpy dog, I believe though, just like kids it how they are brought up.

At the end of the day though, it would be the lab I would get
grin.gif
 
I don't think you're mad but then when I was growing up there has never been less than 3 dogs in the house.

I think you're being a little stereotypical of terriers/JRTs. I'll be honest mine are noisy if they think there's an "invader" but they're never yappy and snappy, quite the opposite they're soft as grease.

Echo the above it's how you bring them up
grin.gif
either way we'll need lots of piccies
 
I have 4 kids, and until recently had 4 dogs too!! 3 Weimaraners and a JRT.

All of them are fab with the kids, and always have been , but I have to say, I wouldnt rescue an older dog unless I *KNEW* it was good with kids.

My JRT is a snappy little swine to any other dogs, but is fine with the kids, but I think they are the kind of dog that has to grow up with the kids about iykwim....
 
As a family we got our first ever puppy when I was 4, my brother and sister were 2 and 2 months! We had him for 12 years and he was the best family pet you could wish for so no I don't think it's mad!

I do agree that it's probably not a good idea to get a rescue dog in this instance. It's an awful lot to expect of a dog to move to unfamiliar surroundings and behave well with 3 small people to meet too. Looking at the rescue sites as often as I do I've noticed that one of the reasons dogs are returned is that they have taken against the kids, unsurprisingly in most cases I'm guessing!

If you could find a rescue that would allow you to meet and walk the dog regularly for several weeks beforehand so you had a really good feel of what the dog was like and it got used to the chldren that might work?
 
I totally agree with the comments about taking a recue dog into our family with such small people. Perhaps I should have said that we'd only consider rehoming a dog if its history was known and it was used to children. I know such dogs are few and far between but some of the rescue organisations do take on dogs from people who are being forced to part with them due to death, divorce, redundancy, emigration etc.

I also agree that it is perhaps unfair to expect dog to settle with unfamiliar people and an unfamiliar place if it has gone through the trauma of losing its original family.

I guess we are going to go down the puppy route and bring them all up together. I'll try and find a JRT puppy that has been born into a household with children and where hopefully both parents are family pets. At least I'll have fun at puppy classes! Then when the children are a bit bigger we can get lab too!
 
You may find a rescue dog that has lived in a family, but who's circumstances have changed, divorce, change of work hours, any other family changes that may result in having to rehome a dog. But I would make sure which ever rescue centre used, is one that knows the fully history of the dog etc.
 
My hubby and I have a 2 year old mini JRT, and she is fab with kids including my 18 month old niece.

She came from a family who had other dogs/kids, and the stud dog used came from a family with 3 under 10's. She isn't snappy or yappy in the slightest, though I know that some JRTs are, hence picking one carefully.

Best of luck.

BTW - my bro/SiL have black labs, and niece is totally used to being 'beaten' by their huge tails. May have been why she was a little late to walk though, knocked over too often by the doggies.



Fiona
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top