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Babies and Puppies! Can it get cuter?
- Sep 14, 2009 at 1:04 AM
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- Comments (12) Total Views (291) Everyone can see this journal post.
Probably not. As cute as it is to see a baby and a puppy frolicking together in the grass, I've never really understood why people feel the need to get a puppy at the same time they are planning to have a baby.
A customer of mine came in today with her baby's arm wrapped in bandages. I asked what happened when I saw the little girl. She said, "Fluffy bit me," and proceeded to give a pout to melt any heart. Her mom explained to me that they've had the same little puppy since she was born and that he had never acted like that. Never once even threatened her daughter. According to her, "out of nowhere" the dog lashed out and bit her daughter. Her daughter is about 10 months old. Now Im not saying dogs don''t turn. They do. But to me, it seems much more likely that she pulled the dog's tail of ear and he retaliated.
This isn't intended to bash or judge anyone because I'm a full believer in doing what's right for your family. This is jst my opinion. But i just don't think getting a puppy and having a baby within only a few months of each other is wise. I'm no animal expert but even i know dogs don't like to be pulled poked and prodded. And that is exactly what babies love to do. On the other hand babies don't enjoy being nipped at, tackled, or slobbered all over. When dogs and babies are the same age as each other, they kinda hate what the other one does.
It makes sense that at some point either baby will attack dog or dog will attack baby. And IMO it doesn't matter how vigilant you are, at some point you have to blink, and a lot can happen in the blink of an eye.
Again, this is my opinion. I grew up with dogs. And we had puppies. But we didn't have puppies until we were old enough to understand empathy. I see too many stories of babies and kids being maimed by dogs. Yes it usually involves a poorly treated dog or a stray. And sometimes even a child that teased taunted of hit a dog. But I don't understand why, with all the chaos of an infant, why someone would add the stress of having something in your home that has to be monitored at ALL times around your baby. And when you choose to take a shower, you have to lock the animal up or put it outside to ensure baby's safety.
Personally, it's not a risk I'm willing to take with my baby. Will i ever have a dog. I sure hope so. But i intend to wait until my child is old enough to not put it's tail or ears, or poke them in the eye. I hope everyone who has a baby and a puppy have the best of luck and never have an incident. But i also hope that families that are considering a pet also think about their children and do what is best for their family.
Comments:
pets need a spot to hids where the kids should leave them alone then the kids learn respect
i grew up with dogs too. but im more refering to those who bring home their baby from the hospital and then in the next few weeks go out and get a new puppy. Thats what happened with the woman and her daugter. ive also seen a couple episodes of bringing hom baby with people who have like an 8 week old puppy in the house and they got it "for their baby to grow up with."
I get what your saying, but my son has been around 5 full grown MOOSES of dogs since he was a few days old and we never had an issue. We simply taught him right from the beginning how to treat them or if he didn't understand removed him from the situation, the same goes for the dogs. They had to learn to play nice and not to take food from him etc. I believe you just really have to have a well trained animal and a well trained kid.
I just read more of your responses so now I see what your saying even more. I agree for the most part but I think if a parent is prepared to deal with the baby and the puppy and are able to handle both I have no issue with it.
I totally agree with you, OP. People think about "how much fun" or "how cute" or what great pictures they could have, and they don't think about the logistics of it all! These days, common sense isn't very common.
I don't understand why anyone would want a puppy with a baby! They require so much work individually let alone together. How on earth does someone have time to train a puppy properly while dealing with the lack of sleep and stress a newborn brings? Not only that but puppies nip, piddle on the carpet, chew, etc, it's just what they do! Do you really want your baby around that? If you want your children to "grow up" with a dog get the dog when the kids are 3 or older for a little puppy. The children will be old enough to understand how they should treat the puppy and still they can "grow up" with a dog. Personally though i think the idea of "growing up" with a puppy is stupid. A good dog is a good dog no matter what the age of the dog or when you get the dog. There are plenty of adult dogs that would be better tempered to be around children that get looked over simply because they aren't puppies and can't "grow up" with the kids. Those poor souls that never make it out of the pound.
We had our animals a year before we had kids. We were not getting rid of them as long as we had no problems. The baby turns 2 next month and I still have both my dog and cat. If the baby doesn't climb on/under or beat on the dog at some point everyday she gets depressed. She does have safe spots she can get away from the kids.
we got our dog first... we got him about a month before we found out we were pregnant with our first son. I dont know that I would've taken him if I knew we were having a baby so soon, but it is what it is, we couldn't get rid of him after that!!
Luckily he's a great dog and our son loves him to death. Somehow the dog learned that he can roughhouse with my husband, but not me or our little boy. He's always gentle with him, if he gets annoyed, he gets up and walks away, he's more patient if he knows my son has the ball to throw to him. But like I said, I think we're lucky in that way!! They're about a year apart in age- my son just turned 3 and my dog is almost 4.
I'm bummed. I was hoping this post had tons of pictures of babies and puppies in it. :P
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I've always had dogs that were gentle in the house and the kids could do anything to them. German Shepherd, or a Shepherd mix, they never bit one of us. That inlcuded accidentally stepping on them or hassling them while they were sleeping. Maybe we have been just lucky with the pets we have had, but we've had very good ones.
I know that dogs can turn, but I really think it's some type of a medical problem or the way they have been brought up. We never tied them outside or just let them run the neighborhood, so our family was always their family.
- AprilT
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