Should I get my kids a puppy
By lilwonders
@lilwonders456 (8214)
United States
December 7, 2008 11:37am CST
My nephew was dog sitting for a friend for a few hours and brought the dog over to play with my kids. Well as you can imagine they are now saying they want a puppy. But I do not know if I should get them one. They are 5 and 2 years old. Is that too little for a puppy? Also what kind should I get? I worry a small dog will not be sturdy enough for small kids and a large dog would destroy my house. I have thought maybe it would be better IF (a big if) we got one just to go to the pound and get one instead of going to a breeder. I really do not care if it is a pure breed as long as it is good with kids.
What do you think? How old were your kids when you got them a dog? What breeds are good with kids?
2 people like this
2 responses
@LuvBr0wn13s (765)
• United States
7 Dec 08
Every since my oldest child was 5 I have been getting the "I want a dog" requests. My argument has been that I didn't need anyone else to take care of. My boys killed 3 different sets of goldfish, so I haven't seen that they were ready for the responsiblity of a dog. My oldest is 13 now. He is so busy with his so-called social life and extra-curricular events that he isn't interested in having a dog any more. the other kids pretty much followed suit. My 3 year old is terrified of dogs, so I may have dodged the bullet with him too.
@lilwonders456 (8214)
• United States
8 Dec 08
That is what I am worried about. I get the puppy, after a couple of weeks they loose interest in the poor thing and I am stuck taking care of and playing with it.
Don't get me wrong. I like dogs. But I do not know if the kids just want a puppy to have one or really want a puppy so it can be part of the family.
@jfeets726 (775)
• United States
8 Dec 08
I honestly think it depends on the child and the type of dog. We had a dog that we got when my daughter was 2. It was a puppy. Everything started out fine until about a year later. Until that point, my daughter and the dog got along great.
Then, she wanted to play with the dog when he wanted to rest. When he wanted to play, she didn’t want to. There was a lot of competition for toys too. We would have to be on our daughter pretty good about keeping her toys picked up because the dog would get them. And, you can’t take a toy away from a dog without being careful.
Unfortunately, our dog bit our daughter and drew blood, so we had to find a new home for him. It was hard. We never left them alone together because you can’t do that with kids and pets. In fact, I was less than 2 feet away when she was bit and in the same room. It was really hard for us because we had him a year before we had any problems.
Honestly, the problem was with my daughter. I think she was too young to have a pet and I felt awful that I had to find a new home for our dog. I am a firm believer in that pets are for life, so it was heartbreaking for us. I felt like such a bad parent and pet owner. But, I had to put my daughter first.
