Getting a puppy advice

Can’t help with the work thing as I work from home but with the baby thing, our dog is 9 months now and I’m due in 7 weeks. She’s still bonkers and definitely in the puppy phase, so for me if I could time things myself I would either get a dog now so that it would be a calm adult and well trained by the time you had a baby or have a baby first and wait until you feel ready and then look for a dog.

We picked up our 8 week old puppy about a month before I found out I was pregnant, to be honest in an ideal world I wouldn’t mix dog and newborn, but we already had her and she is part of our family so that’s it. I am concerned though about having the baby at her level (in a bouncer, on a play gym etc) and will be very, very careful to not let the dog have access to the baby. However well you think you know your dog for me you can never fully trust them with children.

Not sure if that helps or not, sorry!

In my family we are all dog people. H's family are not, so I was the only one pushing for a puppy last year. To be honest, your work situation was better than ours was. I took 2 full weeks off work, then worked half days for the next month, and then we started with a dog walker who thankfully would pick up Wispa earliest and drop her off last on her runs. It worked perfectly for us, and Wispa was really happy. Now I'm not working and *BT!* we're due our first baby in June. I definitely recommend puppy before baby. At least 6 months before, but if you have baby first you might be wanting to wait a couple years before getting a puppy. Puppies need nearly constant attention in the first few weeks, which would be incredibly difficult to do with an infant or toddler around.

trying for baby while having a dog in the house is fine (I think it's an ideal situation, actually), but you want to be thinking about the breed. You've already said a lab, and they are great with families. One thing to consider is that if you get a rescue there can be unpredictable issues with children around, as they aren't always the gentlest with dogs. If you get a Puppy from the off you can introduce them to small children and babies before you have one so they're used to them. We were lucky enough to have 2 young nieces nearby. My brother has 2 dogs with their 12 week daughter, and there's no issue with baby being in the bouncer at their level. She gets a few errant licks now and then, but the dogs recognise her as a part of the pack and love her. I'm looking forward to photo opportunities like this:

Also think about clean up. Labs will shed quite a lot, so there will be lots of time spent vacuuming. Of case there are worse dogs for shedding out there, but have you considered a family-friendly low to non shedding breed? I mean, you can't go wrong with a labradoodle ?

We're in a similar sort of situation, getting married in April and then planning to get a dog this summer. Hopefully we are going to start trying for a baby in early 2015. We both work although have the luxuary of living in the country so could have the dog in a run all day.

I do feel it is better to get a dog established in the house before babies, a well trained dog is going to be better around young childern than a puppy is around toddlers. A house full of little people isn't the ideal environment for training your pup.

We are also avoiding rescue dogs, although I know many people who have been lucky with them, I wouldn't want to take the risk; you never know what has happened to a rescue dog before you get it, where as getting a puppy, the training is totally down to you.

My biggest issue is that my OH's mum is terrified of dogs, although I think she makes out her fear is worse than it is, I hope that she would get used to having a dog around, particularly if it is well trained. I'm hoping that by the time little people come along she will be ok with the dog and it won't stop her from doing Grandma duties!!

I would definitely advise going to a proper breeder. They are able to trace back generations and will specifically breed for good atributes, I'd also suggest talking to owners of Labrador retrievers so you can get a good idea of what to expect from your pup.

Good luck with your search.

I had the same issue as well. H was afraid of large dogs, and his mom is still a bit skittish around Wispa. She has recently started to try giving her treats, making her sit and lie down, etc. most people who are afraid of dogs either haven't had the experience of nice dogs, or perhaps have had a bad experience with an aggressive dogs. H was chased down the street by a German shepherd as a child, though his mom's attitude is purely down to not having known any dogs her whole life. If you have a loving family dog, it's tough not to bring people around. I mean, even if they don't become dog people, they will grow to love your dog, or at least tolerate them and be fine with them being around sometimes. H says he's not a dog person still, but he is definitely a Wispa person!

Thanks so much for the replies all, I think a dog before babies would make more sense! Do any of you work full time and not pay for a dog walker? Are there any other options? x

I'm a cat person, so can't advise too much, but my friend has a dog and walks full time (bar a half day on Wednesday). She doesn't have a dog walker but gets up at the crack of dawn to take Bella (her cockerpoo) for a walk, and then takes her out for another walk in the evening.

I don't think it's much of an issue for them and Bella (although a bit nutty, but I think that's the poodle in her) is pretty well behaved.

We got our Labrador Retriever Daisy 18 months ago, we are now newly married and expecting our first baby! I am definitely glad we got Daisy before we had a baby, training her and spending the time needed with her when she was really young would have been nearly impossible with a young child around.

We picked a Labrador Retriever as they are known for being great family dogs and seeing how she behaves around our your friends and families children we don't anticipate having too many issues when little one arrives.

When we got Daisy we took around 4 weeks off work between us and then started going back on half days so she got used to being on her own. We are lucky in the fact that we both live 5/10 mins for work so we come home for at least 30 mins at lunch to play with Daisy and let her out. We then take her for a walk each evening. It seems to work for us and though I think she would be ok being left for the full day, if you have the option of having someone come in once a day I would definitely go for it. As long as you have time to play with the dog in the morning, interaction during the day and walks/play in the evening and your puppy has lots of toys I think they will be fine and remember a lot of dogs sleep a lot of the time, Daisy averages around 16-18 hours sleep a day!

Well... further to my previous comment we decided to get a puppy sooner!! We knew someone who was having lab collie pups which is our ideal. And even better, they've agreed to look after her until after the wedding. Sadly we'll miss some of the cute puppy stage but she'll still be young when we get her.....

So, I'd like to introduce you all to the beautiful
Caley!

Aww she is adorable!! You'll have so much fun. I miss the puppy stage. I can't believe my dog is going to be 5 this year!

Hi sorry I'm coming late to this, but you said you got married in the summer, but the breeder is keeping the dog until after the wedding - I'm confused??

In answer to your original question, I believe it depends totally on each individual dog and their circumstance. Some dogs are fine on their own, some aren't. When I got my dog it was never my intention to leave her on her own all day, but my friend has a lab who is left all day and she fine with it. As it worked out it was only £2 extra a day for me to put my dog into full time daycare than have the dog walker take her out for an hour so that's what I do.

Your puppy being a Lab Collie cross may be more highly strung than a pure lab. Collies are very intelligent working dogs, I don't think they would adapt well to being alone all day, but as I said they are all individual. At the very least you'd need to have dog walker come in during the day - or consider daycare like I do.

How cute!

We both wanted a dog, but were in the same situation as you, then my OH ended up being put on gardening leave for 6 months last July so we took the plunge and got ourselves a newfoundland. Murphy (the dog) had 6 months of having someone with him everyday which made it ideal for toiilet training etc and him getting lots of attention. Now you have already got your dog it is sort of irrelevant, but we did lots of research first into what breed of dog was best for us as when H did start work again Murphy would be left alone for a few hours a day during the week whenever OH went on sales appointments etc (he is home based). We found a newfie would be a good breed for us (mainly because i think they are the cutest and biggest dogs in the world!) becuase they don;t rwquire too much exercise and are generally pretty docile and lazy - so wouldn;t get too fustrated with being on his own for three or four hours at a time.

Now we are both back at work and H is down in London 5 days a week all of January i just make sure i get up early enough to spend a couple of hours with the dog, take him for a long walk to tire him out before work, then i np back at lunch to see him and then back after work.

Just bear in mind it is a long term committment, all the cleaning and walks and factoring the dog into your social life is still there when the initial novelty of having a cute puppy wears off.

I would agree too. A Border Collie was initially our breed of choice but the fact that they don't like being left alone, need a lot of exercise and apparently can be quite territorial when bringing a baby/new animal etc into the home put us off a little.

Though this is all just a breed generalisation, each dog will be different.

I wasn't the original poster asking for advice, I'd just posted, but thought I'd update.

Family and friends have had a number of collies and lab collie crosses so we know how much work she is going to be.

Can't wait to get her home!

Apologies for the mis understanding, I'm easily confused!

I'm glad you are experienced in the breed. What age is the pup now? That is kind of the breeder to keep her for you, but bare in mind it may be difficult to separate her from her mother if she's been used to her for that long! Does mean she may be taught manners by her!If it was me if be spending as much time with her as possible, as many days staying with you as you can. It won't confuse the pup too much, I find as long as they are being cared for and having fun etc. they don't mind too much if its by two people in different places. So it's not a shock for her to come home with you for good! I'd also get her insured in your name etc, just incase she's ill in the period before you get her.

I's had my puppy 4 months now and I can honestly say it's the hardest thing I've ever taken on but I love him so much I couldn't be without him now!

I'm lucky in that I work from home so i am here to do toiletting etc but I would say def get a dog walker or daycare - not just for the interaction but also so there is someone there to let it out for loo breaks. Chip is 6 months old now and pretty good at holding it but I would say 5-6 hours would be his max, and number 2's are less controllable!

Thanks so much for all the replies! We've now decided that with working full time we wont be getting a dog. I;m still hoping to own a dog at some point in my life, but it may have to be when we've retired!! Thanks again x

We've got a 2 year old Working Cocker Spaniel called Milo. My OH works as an offshore electrician so he's away 2 weeks and home 2 weeks.....I'm a part time nurse and only work when he's home (childcare reasons blah!). So tbh we never had any trouble. But I do have a friend who is a teacher, OH works a "regular" mon-fri job. Got their puppy at the beginning of the summer holidays and found that when she went back to work the puppy missed her terribly....her vet told her this was quite common in pets of teachers. However, a dog walker would definitely be beneficial......although at that young age we had to keep Milo either in his (very large) dog cage or in the kitchen/dining room if we went out, to save our skirting boards, furniture etc. he did grow out of that though.

It is tough, but so worth it! Really hope you get things sorted so you can get your wee puppy! Post pics if you do...I love dogs!

xx

More so than other profession? Is it because they are on holiday for large chunks of time?

I reckon so......think it must be because the puppy is used to the constant company for 7 weeks, then suddenly their new friend is away full time.

But I guess every dog is different xx

I could see it. Wispa used to be perfectly happy to be left for 3 hours twice a day around when her dog walker came in, but as soon as we went to France and I wasn't working she got used to me being around way more and now she'll not settle down for a nap when I leave. Instead she constantly stares out the window waiting for me to return! And if no one's around for an hour she starts howling (in France it was mere minutes, actually, but she's happier back in our flat in the UK). It's heartbreaking to hear. I'm sure if we eased her back into a schedule of being alone for set periods day in and day out she would be fine, but for teachers who go from being home most of the time to being back at work several times a year the dogs must get confused, the poor things.