Advice re getting a puppy

ironingbored

I am looking for a bit of advice regarding getting a puppy. I have two kids, an eight year-old and a three year-old. We had a labrador pup until about a year ago until we had to give him away (to a good home which had recently lost a labrador family pet). My wife just couldn't cope during the day with a toddler and a dog as energetic and disobedient as a lab. She found it impossible to take him for a walk with the buggy and risked dislocating her shoulder on numerous occasions. I loved taking him for walks on the beach every evening. Another problem we had was his bowels. We believe the people we bought him for weened him too quickly onto adult food which played havoc with his digestive tract.

Anyway, a year later we are considering getting a King Charles puppy. They seem very suitable for kids and a little more manageable size-wise from my wife's point of view.

I would appreciate any advice on this. Cheers

kerrysgold

Labs are energetic but if it was disobedient that's your fault not the dogs.
Dogs aren't like a piece of furniture, you don't just get one and then decide it doesn't fit your lifestyle and get rid of it, make sure you are 100% able to commit to a dog before you get one.
even a small dog like a cavalier needs at least half and hour exercise the day and the same amount of training and socializing as any other breed.

Would you not consider a rescue greyhound? They are ideal pets, very quiet and calm, extremely good tempered, good on the lead and only need about half an hour exercise a day. they are also usually brilliant with other dogs as they are so well socialized from living with other dogs and attending race meets etc. only thing you need is a secure garden as they are good jumpers. There is also none of the work of the housetraining/lead training etc with an adult dog.

Ave Sodalis

labradors are great family pets and with a bit of training are not at all disobiedent (they are also very easily trained because of their love of food)!

king charles, like all small dogs, have a reputation to be nippy. i would advise bigger dogs for a family like trying another labrador over the age of two.

for the first two years of a labradors life they are always hyper. they calm down a huge amount after!

most dogs are suited for a family, just make sure the family's suited for the dog!! lol:D

Havermeyer

I pretty much agree with what kerrygold said. But, to throw my twopence in, Irish terriers are a very good family dog. They love children, from what I have seen and read, but like any other breed they need their exercise. They aren't too big, so there wouldn't be too much worry about dislocating shoulders or anything like that. They do tend to require a little more training than some breeds though, because they are fairly strong willed and can be disobedient (not in a dangerous way, but more a mischievous way).

As was said above, small dogs do tend to be a bit nippy and I wouldn't recommend them for a family with small children. That's just my opinion though.

Sigma Force

If you are planning any more children then I wouldn't advise getting another dog, I wouldn't normally say that but since it has happened once it could happen again. Not saying you didn't do what's best for the dog at the time, some people would just dump a dog at a pound or worse so you did do what was best for the dog in the end.

If you are set on getting another dog, get a smaller breed mainly the reason I say this is that they will be easier to handle as in they are lighter when walking with a buggy. I would also suggest walking the dog on a harness just a regular comfortable one so that if they pull they won't cough and I find with my smaller dog she doesn't pull as much on a harness as she would on a regular collar/lead (although do keep a collar on the dog with id as well).

If you do take on another dog then regardless of the breed or size time must be taken for training no dog is pre programmed some are quicker to learn than others but the training will be down to you in the end. I would advise against getting a puppy, unless you can offer the puppy the attention extra time it will need.

With a puppy issues will arise with lack of sleep having to get up in the night, mouthing problems when the puppy's teething, lead training etc. Have you the time and commitment for all this. Your wife would have to be able to put the time into training also if she is to take over half of the walking. The king charles I see walking around town with their owners are usually pulling their owners along so it doesn't matter what breed you get if the time and training isn't given to the animal you are going to end up with the same problem.

King charles also can have health problems, heart problems seem to be common they are a lovely breed but can you deal with any issues that come up health wise.

You will know yourself if you are ready for another dog by posting here you are putting more thought into it this time so that's a good thing. Would you consider a rescue dog, there are small dogs in rescue and a good rescue will match a dog to you so they can tell you straight up if they have a dog that is good with children and good on the lead etc.

Don't forget 3 year olds leave a lot of small objects and toys lying around these can be lethal for a puppy they will swallow pretty much anything which can be fatal.

Intothesea

Hello there. Some excellent points here already but I'd
like to reiterate some of it (mostly for the general
reader). Unless the pup you select has serious inherited
temperamental problems (it's always wise to at least
meet the mother and suss out her nature for this reason),
a dog's conduct is almost completely the result of the
time, training, love, care and committment you can put
into the kitty for it to develop.

8-week old puppies need to be taken out at least once
every hour (if you can be there) and at least a couple of
times a night (to get a headstart on toilet training, though
this tends to fall off to once per night at about 5 months).

If you want a dog you can enjoy taking for walks (instead
of suffering through them), and around with you generally
(which makes for a happy dog), basic training (sit, stay,
lie down, 'come here', 'leave it', heeling on lead) is best
approached before the 6-month mark, it also tunes the
dog up for positive relationships within the family.

Overall time-investment initially (6 months of puppy, 1
year of adolesence) is about two hours per day (at least
a half hour of play, 1 hour of walks after inoculation, 15
to 30 minutes of training), outside of all 'housekeeping'
activities, I would say.

These are pointers that will help to avoid the snags
that a lot of people seem to encounter due to lack of
specific info. There are many dogs languishing in back
gardens dying of boredom and frustration, unsocialised
and highly problematic for their families because of simple
lack of awareness. Going in with your eyes open is
a very good move. Hope that helps and good luck

Glowing

I would have to suggest a retired greyhound too - they're fantastic family pets and are great with kids. They're much calmer than most breeds and just love to sleep! It would also mean you don't have the chaotic puppy phase to deal with, but you do get to save a dogs life in the process.

I wouldn't however suggest getting ANYTHING if there was the slightest chance that you wouldn't cope and have to rehome again.

ironingbored

Thanks everyone for some excellent advice. Just to reiterate I did a lot of training with the lab and hours of really enjoyable exercise. It was in fact the vet (we got the lab chipped, wormed, vacced and neutered) who couldn't believe my wife when she came in through the door with two kids and an energetic lab. Although I was upset when we made the decision, I was happy he was going to a really good home and to a retired couple who had lost a dear family pet a few months earlier.

The jury is still out. My wife wants our kids to grow up learning to respect and love animals. Unfortunately, I am allergic to cats and she grew up with many an adopted stray.

karlin

You are welcome to contact me regarding cavaliers (Cavalier King Charles spaniels, which I am sure is what you mean as King Charles are a different breed and quite rare!)-- I do breed rescue for this breed.

Like most breeders, I generally recommend people wait til their youngest child is around 5 before considering a dog for exactly the reasons you found with the lab -- a dog IS is like a another young child and a small puppy will be very work intensive for the next year, particularly the first 6 months. It takes a lot of dedication to add a dog to a busy family. A puppy will need a lot more than 1-2 hours of work daily -- basically think of having another human baby around and the time that involves, as a puppy needs constant supervision for housetraining especially for the first 2-3 months.

Small breed puppies in particular can easily be accidentally but very seriously harmed by unsupervised children playing with them -- even accidentally sitting on a small puppy that has gone behind a couch cushion. Cavalier puppies are tiny -- only about 3-4 lbs at homing age (NB: responsible breeders in this breed would only home a puppy of at least 9-10 weeks though!).

Cavaliers can be great dogs with kids but just be absolutely sure this is the best time to consider a dog given the full attention that is still needed by human toddlers. It will take a lot of parent time to make a household work with a dog and very small kids. As others say, one thing that can make life a lot easier is to go for an adult, not a small puppy. If you are fully committed to another dog, then consider an older rescue cavalier perhaps or a dog someone is rehoming?

A couple of basics on this breed. This is my intro to the breed:

http://board.cavaliertalk.com/showthread.php?t=10890

But the very condensed version -- first, they are a toy breed and indoor dogs. They do not have an undercoat to handle being outside in cold weather but more importantly they do not have the temperament to be left home alone or outside or eft in an outdoor kennel. They have hundreds of years of breeding in them to be very closely bonded and attached to their family, and are quick to suffer separation problems if left in a garden (or even outside with other dogs). This is very much an indoor, people breed and is the wrong fit for people who want a more aloof, less attention-desiring dog. They will be at your heel at all times following you around. They also are prime targets for thieves -- there were several thefts prominent in the papers leading up to Christmas -- so yet another reason to have them inside, neutered, and outdoors only under supervision.

Also: there are two very serious health issues, mitral valve disease and syringomyelia). These can be very costly to diagnose and treat, especially SM. Nearly all cavaliers will eventually have MVD. So that should be a consideration as well. Very few Irish breeders properly heart test, unfortunately. I have info on finding a puppy in Ireland on my www.ckcsrescue.com site.

There's some great info on managing kids and dogs here, the the section on dogs and families:

http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/behavior.html

This is a must read for anyone considering or getting a new puppy:

http://www.siriuspup.com/pdfs/before_puppy_sirius.pdf

I have tons more info on the breed that you can click to on the links in my signature. You can email me through either of my websites with any questions on the breed.

Personally, I generally think a slightly larger breed like a lab is a better choice for a young family, as the dogs are a lot more robust with small children. But it all depends on the family. I tend to home larger rescue cavaliers to young kid homes. But just be aware that a cavalier, a greyhound, a yorkie or a chihuahua has just as much possibility of being disobedient and difficult to manage -- a well-behaved dog is entirely up to the time and training the family puts into the dog from the very start. Bowel problems would have been unlikely to be due to having been weaned early -- more likely the food that was being fed disagreed with him, or he had a food intolerance, or just a bug like giardia. Upset tummies are very common in dogs up to age one just like they are with babies and toddlers! They can be very hard to peg down and address but tend to eventually resolve. Cavaliers are quite prone to this as well.