Crazy or manageable?

[auntiesarah25]

OH and I have been wanting a dog for as long as we've been together and we had one, a sweet little female pit bull. When we bought her we didn't know she was very sick and we only had her about three weeks before she passed away It was very hard on us as she was our sweet lil pup and was baby training for me to get up early and in middle of the night.

It's been three months and we have the opportunity to get an 8 week old female pit. It is a breed we love and she is so cute.

As of right now I'm still able to bend over and my belly isn't in the way of too many things yet. We have until the end of March to get the puppy acquainted and trained before the baby comes.

I'm just wondering if I am crazy to take on a puppy. OH works part time so he would be very helpful in the puppy training process. I'm just worried about when baby arrives, OH should have full time status at work AND I'll have a 5 month old puppy to keep an eye on.

Does this sound completely insane or could this be manageable?

 

[tristansmum]

Personally I'd wait. A newborn takes up all of your time. The lack of sleep, constant feeding, wanting to be cuddled. I just can't imagine fitting a new puppy into all of that. You will find you want to sleep when baby sleeps not be taking a dog out for a walk. Also what if the puppy turns out not to be very good with a baby? Even my friend with a very old docile dog sais she could never trust the dog 100% around her son. Just things to think about.....
The other thing to remember is once your baby arrives you will suddenly realise that no love compares. I know it's not the same as a dog but we used to have pet rats and I adored them. But once my son arrived they just became pets and very low on my priority list.
This is purely my opinion and you should do what you feel is best. Children love pets and it would be lovely in the future I just think at the same time as a newborn will be alot of work x

 

[mara16jade]

I might be the odd duck out, but since I was brought up with 3 dogs and even babysat neighborhood dogs...and now own three of my own. Getting a puppy doesn't really phase me. LOL We've always had a good system for training our dogs, and maybe its easier since they're dachshunds and smaller. But its never been something that stressed us out.

If you decide to get a pit, just take a look at the parent's temperament. And be prepared to do puppy classes right away. Bigger does can do a lot of damage to a small child if they pounce or run them over. But that can be managed with training, crating, etc.

By the time your baby arrives, this puppy would be 5 months old. You'd be past most of the really stressful parts of "true" puppy behavior. Just get him/her into training and get them socialized.

 

[auntiesarah25]

Thanks ladies. We go through a great vet and one of the techs actually runs a very reasonably priced training course so we would be enrolling in that as soon as we could afford to. OH is saying that we're getting the puppy now or not at all. He doesn't want to be potty training a puppy when there is a toddler just beginning to walk and explore - which makes sense to me.

We are supposed to meet both parents tomorrow - the pics we have seen show that they are both on the smaller side for pits which is good. But the owner says they are very well behaved - but I won't take their word for it until we meet them tomorrow.

OH also pointed out that we have time to work with the puppy and train her not to jump and she will have a routine down by time March rolls around. If our last puppy had made it she would have been 8 months by time the baby was here so I guess if we were willing to do it once we might as well do it now!

I'm sure there will be days when I wonder what the hell I was thinking!

 

[wish4baby]

I personally couldn't do it! My boys do all of our doggy chores!! I couldn't imagine having to do all that with a newborn.

Also, just a little note: My sister is a pit bull breeder and has been for about 15 years (and my niece, her daughter, in vet school). She has told me that sometimes the dog will, like "rank" the family members, so if you have a baby after getting the dog, and the dog is obviously bigger/more dominant they can view the baby as a lesser pack member and are more likely to show aggression towards the baby, even if there is no history of aggressive behavior...I personally don't have any experience with it, just passing the info along!

We have a sweet tiny little mixed breed "mutt" , but even with her, baby-dog interaction would make me a nervous wreck!

 

[auntiesarah25]

Also, just a little note: My sister is a pit bull breeder and has been for about 15 years (and my niece, her daughter, in vet school). She has told me that sometimes the dog will, like "rank" the family members, so if you have a baby after getting the dog, and the dog is obviously bigger/more dominant they can view the baby as a lesser pack member and are more likely to show aggression towards the baby, even if there is no history of aggressive behavior...I personally don't have any experience with it, just passing the info along!

!

Thanks! I will definitely be keeping that in mind. I am going to be a nervous wreck once baby gets here but OH is adamant that we will be fine and teach the puppy right and wrong and so on. All I know is that if this puppy does one tiny thing to even make me distrust or second guess her she will no longer be a member of our family. We are purchasing her from a lady who requests that if for some reason we need to separate with the dog that we contact her first. So that is a plus I guess.

 

[dreamer_x]

On one hand, I can see where your OH is coming from - do it now or not at all, because if you ponder on it for a month then you have less time to get the puppy trained...but then I can see it being easier if you waited a bit, get yourself settled with the baby and then get a puppy!
Generally, dogs take to babies and children better if they are already there when the dog gets there. They don't know any different, so they don't have to learn and get used to the new addition, they grow up from a very young age being around children, so there's less of a problem. If the puppy would only be 5 months old when the baby arrives, then it wouldn't be as risky if, say, she was 3 years old, but along with puppy training classes ASAP, I think it would be an idea to try and give her the attention she'll be getting when the baby arrives. If you fuss her 24/7 until the baby arrives and then suddenly she gets less attention and links it to the baby, she could get aggressive and jealous with the baby. And that goes for any breed!
I don't think it would necessarily be too much work, the 'puppy' stage should be over by the time the baby comes, but you still need to weigh up the pros and cons for YOU. You can ask us what we think, but at the end of the day, it's whether you think it's the right move for you and your family.

 

[gidge]

I would say it´s manageable but won´t be easy.
We have an American Staff who is amazing with our DD and our other dog (mini pincher). But the exercising is a chore I have to say. It doesn´t help that we don´t have a garden but even so the Staffy needs alot of exercise. My OH works very long hours so can´t help.

 

[StephtheHiker]

I can't see it being a major problem, especially with aggression. At 5 months, they are puppies and they know they're at the bottom of the totem pole. If they don't, it's easy to show them their place. Do you have a fenced yard at all? To keep puppies on their best behavior, exercise is so key. So as long as dh knows he'll be doing most the walking (not just throwing the dog in the yard) in the first few months, I wouldn't see a problem. So sorry you lost your puppy so young!

It looks like we'll be having to put down our dog in the next year or so due to lameness....I mentioned to dh about getting a new dog so we can train it before baby comes but we aren't in the right place for adding a new dog. That's just us though (and we adopt older dogs and they usually haven't been trained yet ugh so they have years of bad habits to unlearn and bad doggie manners are NOT tolerated in our house!). About not trusting your dog....ours hasn't really been.much around kids but she picks up queues on when to be gentle, especially around my frail grandmother. So I would trust her with the baby. It just depends on the dog, the training, and the human I think.

Good luck! Pitts make great family pets!

 

[auntiesarah25]

Thanks ladies. We got the puppy, her name is Mya. We were told she was born October 15 - that would make her 10 weeks. She is smaller than our last pup who was 10 weeks when we got her so she is either a runt or wasn't born on the date they said. They also said she was the last of the litter and so on, sounded like they were the breeders however we think the couple we got her from purchased her and couldn't handle her.

Either way she is a sweet heart and complete chicken. She is very timid and takes a while to warm up to new people. She is playful with other dogs and wants to play with our 4 year old cat who hates dogs. It's pretty funny actually. She follows me around, lays on my feet while I cook and do dishes and she cries if we put her in her kennel for the night so she has yet to sleep in it. She is such a bed hog! Tonight we are getting serious with kennel training, I miss having space to sleep!

Thankfully we have a fenced back yard and she enjoys pouncing around in the foot of snow we have although she gets cold quickly. OH is currently only working 3 days a week so he is very helpful with puppy training.

As long as I can teach her some independence from me by March when the baby arrives I think we will be just fine

 

[StephtheHiker]

Awesome!! Sounds adorable and the timidity sounds like the runt...my parents have a runt and she's a real sweetheart... Good luck!

 

[TXJen]

Congratulations! I see that you already made your decision so I'm a bit late, but I just wanted to chime in that my husband and I adopted two tiny puppies as well a few months ago so we are in the same boat. They're about 6 months old now and doing great (mostly house trained - it's harder with 2 especially when they are litter mates!), and have totally settled in. I'm personally excited to see them grow up with our son and think it will be great for both the dogs and him, since they'll learn from each other. Good luck!

 

[gidge]

Awwww have you got any pics? xx

 

[auntiesarah25]

She is a difficult puppy to photograph and she looks wrinklier in the photos than she actually is but we think she's adorable!

https://scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/1522125_10152148585287718_878353500_n.jpg

https://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1/1476216_10152134333697718_2105528522_n.jpg

 

[gidge]

Áwwww she´s lovely! x