Dogs?

mctex · Guru

Dogs?

apies · Guru

we have a lab and they're notoriously awesome with kids. :)

daisy · Guru

my sister has two prince charles spaniels and they're great with the kids (her kids are 4 and 6, and they've had the dogs for 2 yrs - before those two dogs, they had another prince charles from before they were married.
i'm not a dog person but my kids are begging for a dog as well.

Juni · Guru

GOLDEN RETRIEVER!!! I have heard the same thing apies said about labs being good with kids but after having both a lab and a goldie, I would totally go with another golden retriever and would highly recommend them as a family dog. Labs seem to be puppies for quite a while or that is what I've heard and seen in our case.

I couldn't recommend a GR more! We will probably never go with another dog. :)

CoffeeQueen · Guru

Golden's are great, but the hair is AWFUL.

I do not know much about schnauzer's, but the ones that I know (2) in our family are not good with kids. They both nip and do not like a lot of noise. I have no idea if this is the breed or just these two dogs.

I think we are going to have this same issue when Mia is a bit older. She has been obsessed with dogs. She pants every time we see one and gets sooo excited.

Do you want a small dog or large one?

I grew up with a German Shepard and they are awesome dogs, but do shed, and can be rather large.

CoffeeQueen · Guru

daisy wrote:

my sister has two prince charles spaniels and they're great with the kids (her kids are 4 and 6, and they've had the dogs for 2 yrs - before those two dogs, they had another prince charles from before they were married.
i'm not a dog person but my kids are begging for a dog as well.

my friend has a price charles also that is great with kids.

CoffeeQueen · Guru

Juni wrote:

GOLDEN RETRIEVER!!! I have heard the same thing apies said about labs being good with kids but after having both a lab and a goldie, I would totally go with another golden retriever and would highly recommend them as a family dog. Labs seem to be puppies for quite a while or that is what I've heard and seen in our case.

I couldn't recommend a GR more! We will probably never go with another dog. :)

Does the golden's hair drive you nuts? I have not had one, but many people in my family do. The hair is out of control.

daisy · Guru

by the way, my BIL is majorly allergic to dogs, and is fine with the prince charles, so i imagine the shedding isnt so bad.

Juni · Guru

CoffeeQueen wrote:

Juni wrote:

GOLDEN RETRIEVER!!! I have heard the same thing apies said about labs being good with kids but after having both a lab and a goldie, I would totally go with another golden retriever and would highly recommend them as a family dog. Labs seem to be puppies for quite a while or that is what I've heard and seen in our case.

I couldn't recommend a GR more! We will probably never go with another dog. :)

Does the golden's hair drive you nuts? I have not had one, but many people in my family do. The hair is out of control.

I thought it would but honestly, he is such a great dog that I don't even care anymore. But you should see my dyson every time I vacuum!!! It did take some getting used to but I really don't mind it at all.

crystal · Guru

golden retrievers are by far the best dogs for kids. do you plan to have any more kids? if yes, i wouldn't get a small dog. they tend to be nippy and kids love to torture dogs. we have a small dog and it is fine, but we have had to work with mason a lot so that he knows certain things are off limits. he cannot ever touch kaiser while he has food, and he is not allowed to bother him when he is in his cage. otherwise, there is a possibility that he would bite. i guess the good thing with a small dog though is that you know that if they bite they aren't going to seriously injure the child. anyway, big dogs tend to be more laid back and they aren't as bothered by the roughness of children because it doesn't hurt them as much.

Erin · Guru

Do not get a dog.

okay. I love my dogs (one mutt and one German Shepherd). They are super loving, great with kids, and a great source of comfort and security. BUT, they are also very hairy, track in dirt, etc. require $$ and time for check ups, and various random ailments they get at times. Since the kids are little, you will be doing the feeding, watering, walking/ or letting them poo in the yard and picking it up. The kids will love them to death but also be irritated and pissed when the dog licks their ice cream, eats their snack, etc. And, good thing your kids are already talking, cause Im pretty sure both my kids' first sentence was "Get the f#$% out of the way". lol

Okay, really, I just wanted to play devil's advocate. Make sure you are not just adding more chores for yourself!

-- Edited by Erin on Sunday 7th of February 2010 10:32:30 PM

Cuppycake · Guru

I will forever sing the praises of goldens and labs. Our family (as in, my brothers and sisters... not Joe and I, lol) have had several, and all were amazing. My brother only gets labs (he's been a hunter for 20 years, and puts a lot of time into making them obey, and I am constantly amazed at home amazing his dogs are.)

Now, I personally love schnauzers. If money wasn't an issue, and we could go to a breeder, that would have been my pick. I'd have a golden and a schnauzer, and I'd be a happy lady. It's my favorite dog in looks and personality. Remy is by FAR the most amazing dog we've ever had (and I will admit that this was probably 70% our fault as owners, 30% dog breed and personality) and he is an Akita/Yorkshire Terrior mix. Don't try to do the math on that, it's not a pretty picture, lol. He's a big overgrown yorkie, basically, which was perfect for us - all the perks of a lap dog (affectionate and loyal) but with the perks of a bigger dog (he'll listen to anything Hannah says, and will threaten to tear up anyone that even looks at her wrong. Ask my sister who, the first time they met and I walked out of the room, he had her pinned in the corner because she picked Hannah up, lmao. Now, between Joe and I and our divorced parents, remarriages, etc., we've been exposed to a shiz ton of dogs. We've only had one where I really felt like Hannah was in danger, and she was a shar pei - and again, I think that was more of a clash personally than a breed thing.

Really, I don't think there's a lot you can go wrong with, it just depends on what you have the time and room for. In all honesty, Remy is about 25 lbs bigger than we should have in this house, but it's a small price to pay for feeling loved and protected.

happylib · Guru

We went the shelter route and have a mutt. We got him right before Elizabeth's birthday last year. He is some type of hound and Australian shepherd mix, but he is quite large (way over 50lbs and won't be year until the end of april). I looked into some rescues for various dogs and puppies, so that might be another option. Labs and goldens are good dogs for families. Surprisingly some of the bigger breeds of poodles are family dogs and they don't shed. Newfoundlands are huge but are suppose to be fantastic family dogs too. When my ds was young we had a border collie, which are great dogs but try to "herd" kids sometimes.

If you go to petfinder and type in what you are looking for, sometimes you can find a puppy in a shelter of a specific dog breed.

We love our puppy, but a word of caution here. I am committed to the dog now, but I don't know if I would do it again. We went through several months of the puppy trying to establish dominance over Elizabeth. So NOT fun. He never did anything to really hurt her, but wanted to be too rough, and then she in turn was also too rough. Now they are buddies, but there were times I wanted to pull my hair out. The other thing that is a royal pain is the chewing. Not trying to be debbie downer, but despite having owned dogs before I had forgotten how difficult the first year or two can be.

Please keep us updated on what you decide to do.

3s_a_crowd · Guru

NO.... this thread is discouraging me dont let dh read it.

sbucking · Guru

Our last dog was a St Bernard/Golden cross. She was amazing in each and every way!!!

Now we have a full breed St Bernard puppy. She's 9 months old and GREAT with the kids.

I love big dogs so I know our breeds not for everyone. The shedding isn't ideal, but now that we have a Furminator, it's really not that bad.

I'd suggest looking at shelters. You never know what breed you can find there. Mark always makes sure the dogs are rather subservient. He flips them on their backs and such to see their temperment.

muffy · Guru

if you are looking for a smaller dog, westie terrier and cairn terriers are AMAZING with kids.

and extra bonus points - they don't shed!

dont get a jack russell terrier those shed horribly! and i have heard that scottie terriers can be mean with kids.

how exciting - you should get one!!!

crystal · Guru

sbucking wrote:

Our last dog was a St Bernard/Golden cross. She was amazing in each and every way!!!

Now we have a full breed St Bernard puppy. She's 9 months old and GREAT with the kids.

I love big dogs so I know our breeds not for everyone. The shedding isn't ideal, but now that we have a Furminator, it's really not that bad.

I'd suggest looking at shelters. You never know what breed you can find there. Mark always makes sure the dogs are rather subservient. He flips them on their backs and such to see their temperment.

ITA with looking at the shelters. We always had dogs growing up and every one of them were from a shelter and were fabulous. Definitely rolling them on their backs shows a lot. The BEST dogs will just roll on their backs on their own, or have no problem at all doing it when you roll them over. If they don't do this (aka the dog i have now) then you may have problems with dominance (i.e. possible biting, territorial). There are always lots of lab mixes in the shelters and they make great dogs.

I just remembered why I picked my dog though. Little dogs make little poop. I don't like cleaning up big poop. My dog also doesn't shed.

sappy · Guru

we have a boston terrier. i had one growing up also. he's small (15ish pounds), doesn't shed much (short hair) and was bred to be a companion dog. he loves to sit right next to me and he sleeps in my bed. he's insanely patient with my kids and that's saying a lot given my kids. wink when i was a kid we used to dress our boston up in baby clothes - she was super patient too.

from my perspective i do trip over him some because he's small and he just shows up under my feet but i love him a ton.

like someone said (crystal?) - little dog = little poop so that's a plus.

we had a boxer (probable mix of some kind since we got her from a shelter) who was seriously the BEST DOG EVER. boxers require a lot of exercise though, but are great family dogs and great protectors.

my most important piece of advice would be this ....

GO TO A SHELTER AND GET AN ADULT DOG. their personalities are set, you can see WHO they are, how they will interact with the kids, you can skip over the horrible, awful, obnoxious puppy stage of shitting everywhere and chewing on everything.

i will never, ever, ever, ever get a puppy again. ever.

seriously, adopt an adult dog. i promise you'll be glad.

apies · Guru

michelle, another suggestion if you might consider going with a lab is through a lab rescue program. they only rescue full-breed labs. your fee for the dog is actually a donation to the organization (i think it costs around $400-500).

my dad's wife has gotten 2 AMAZING dogs this way.

if you might be interested, i can get you more info.

MommyNicoleof3 · Senior Member

Dogs are great and tbh our dog keeps the kids busy all the time. They are constantly chasing after him and playing with him. Not to mention they LOVE walking him. Anyway, we have a miniature schnauzer and he is awesome. Doesn't shed, great with the kiddos, and was the easiest dog to train. Hands down. And I have had a ton of dogs in my lifetime. Now, we did get him from a breeder, but he was the last one/runt type so we got a rockin deal on him. But there are lots of breeders out there who don't charge an arm and a leg to get one. I think I found him on petfinder.com.

King Charles Spaniels are awesome as well. They do shed a little bit, but if thats not a big issue they are fantastic with kids. My moms friend breeds these and they are so adorable. One thing with them though, you have to go through someone who is knowledgeable about breeding them. They do tend to have heart murmurs/abnormalities, but if you go through someone who is aware and knows what they are doing, its nbd and they'll have the pups screened for all that. They are going to be more on the pricey end though, but you get what you pay for when it comes to these dogs (unless they are just bumping the price up because mom and dad are champion bloodlines.)

One more thing I have to add....if you get a dog, get a doggy door! They are the best thing EVER. Its way better than having to get up every 5 minutes to let the dog in or out. : ) Ok thats it.... LOL