Parent Wants to Get One-Year-Old Child a Dog

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

A small, breakable one at that. :frowning: Does anyone else see the folly in this? And why would a baby need a dog in the first place?

http://seattle.craigslist.org/pet/37624101.html
This is what I wrote this person. It might be a little jumbled but I’m sure my message will be clear:

Hi-- I just want to reiterate what another person wrote to you at craigslist. A small dog for a baby would be a bad idea because they’re so fragile. I once knew a teacup poodle that broke its leg just by jumping off a couch. Your little boy is probably just learning to walk or will soon. Imagine what would happen if he lost his balance and landed on a tiny pup or whacked it with a hard toy or knocked something over onto it. You don’t need vet bills on top of the costs of raising a baby.

I would strongly urge you to wait a year or two to get your son a dog–when he has some sense of what can and cannot hurt it. When you do, study up on several larger, sturdier breeds. Labs and golden retrievers generally have easygoing personalities. They can take some roughhousing without getting upset and maybe angry. Herding dogs such as border collies and Australian shepards are good too but need lots of exercise. However, if you got one, it would likely consider your son its “sheep” and will try to keep him away from trouble.

I would recommend not getting a puppy but a dog at least a few years old. Puppies have needle sharp teeth and have no idea how much damage they can do to tender skin. An older dog will be more settled and patient with a young boy.

Please do some research before getting any dog. Too many of them wind up in shelters because their owners once thought they were “cute” or “cool” and then grew tired of caring for them. They also didn’t bother to teach them proper doggy manners and then got mad because they barked too much or were destructive. The most common reasons for both these behaviors are because a dog is bored. You wouldn’t leave your baby for hours on end with no attention. Dogs need to know you care for them too. They need to understand what is and isn’t expected of them, just like your son.

I hope you will wait to get a dog. Learn what you can about them before jumping in. Both your family and the dog you eventually choose will benefit from it.

Sincerely, Tikki

I hope this person will think about it though I worry they won’t. :frowning:

2

A dog for a one year old is, I agree, an exceedingly stupid idea. A dog’s ears and tail are baby magnets, just waiting to be pulled. True, some dogs are very motherly and tolerant of an infant’s misguided love, but many dogs would rather bite the offender.

I hope these parents come to their senses before they wind up with a big problem.

3

Oh, but I’m sure a puppy will teach the baby responsibility. Isn’t that what pets are for?

/ sarcasm

I presently have an airedale that a well-meaning person bought as a pet for a two-year-old. Apparently the woman had some idealistic memory of an airedale they had as a pet when she was young. The puppy lasted about 3 months before the people were on the phone begging me to take the dog.

I hope they listen, but don’t hold out much hope.

StG

4

Heh, I remember when my son was one year old. We had a cat. One time my son was pulling on kitties tale. so instead of telling him “NO! don’t do that” I figured I’d go ahead and let him do it untill the cat scratched him so he could learn for himself why he shouldn’t mess with kitty.

Now, before anybody gets all mad at me let me tell you I was standing right next to the both of them so if kitty got too rough with my son, I could put a stop to it real quick.

Anyway, my son kept pulling on the cats tale for quite sometime. The cat was being very uncharcteristicly patient. So finally when the cat did have enough of the tail pulling; What does kitty do? Instead of scratching my son he scratches the hell out of me!! As if almost to say “CONTROL YOUR F’N SON!”

But yeah, A one year old doesn’t need a dog; that’s rediculous…

5

Dogs for toddlers, eh? I wouldn’t do it, myself. I mean, as much as the toddler swears he’ll do all the feeding and walking and brushing, you just know the parents are going to wind up doing all the work.