Which Dog?

hi there,

i would think really long and hard how much impact having a dog would have on your lives. It's all very well thinking about helping your child and who wouldn't want to but a dog comes with alot more responsabilities for you and can be very time comsuming. have you got the time not to mention the energy ,don't get me wrong i have a severely autistic son who is now 21 and we have had at least one dog for all of his life and he copes very well almost all of the time.  But dogs can be very upredictable and make sudden movements and sudden noise at any time day or night, for instance mine go crazy when the post man  drops the post through the letter box barking like mad till they are sure he has gone. If your child likes animals maybe a trip to a petting farm or a friend or family member with a pet would be a good place to start,then build n that over a period of time. If you are not a person who is use to living with dogs i would think long and hard before you commit yourself, if your life is anywhere  near as chaotic as mine you have enought to cope with already. Good luck and best wishes Yorkie x

Thanks for all the helpful comments and advice!

J

Hi J,

I agree, I think dogs are great for all children.  Have you any experience with dogs.

I came from a family who had never had dogs.  Since being married we have had two adult rescue dogs,  both now passed away. We decided to get a puppy. Really hard work compared to getting an adult already house trained etc.

How old is your child?  A puppy can be 'nippy' when teething and very boisterous around small children.

I would strongly advise you to re home a rescue dog about 2 years old. By that time they are mature, calmed down and their personallity/ temperament has developed.

A good rescue organisition will not let you take a dog they consider to be unsuitable.

As far as which breed to consider, you get a range of temperaments within the same breed, even the same litter.  Our ten month old Sprocker was the boldest of the litter and continues to be headstrong compared to some of his brothers and sisters who we have kept in touch with.

I suggest you go to your local library and borrow books on dog care. If you are considering a puppy I suggest you read The perfect Puppy by Gwen Bailey before you rush into anything. I have about six puppy books and this is the only one which mentions the problems of the adolescent puppy. A stage they go through at aprox 6-12 months. A bit like human teenagers. Apparently this is the age when many dogs are given up for rehoming because their owners don't know how to deal with their behaviour/haven't got the time,patience for training.

If you decide on a particular breed, most breeds have rehoming websites.

Good Luck.

I DrJay

I can only give you advice based on my personal experience with my current breed of dog so I am sure other people will be able to give you lots more information on others!

We have a French Bulldog and he is the sweetest little thing in the world. We chose the breed because they are great with children (we don't have any ourselves but we have a fair few children in the family that visit etc), they are very affectionate, they love to be around people and they are very very entertaining. Our Frenchie is 18 months old now and he is such a character, very friendly, just wants to play, doesn't need to be walked for miles every day and is so incredibly loving. I have HFA and find it hard to relate to people, however with our Frenchie he really helps and it's like I have found a little friend in him (if that makes any sense!?) Anyway let me list a couple of things to consider for this specific breed:

Cons:

- Can have serious problems with eyes, breathing (because of the flat face) and regulating body temperature.

- Can suffer with back and spine problems due to their build

- Can be high maintanence in terms of cleaning (lots of face wrinkles so these need to be cleaned on a daily basis)

- Can be stubborn, head strong and can be hard to train

- This is a smelly breed, they love to fart!!!

- Prone to overheating, cannot be excessively exercised in hot weather

- Not a dog to be left on their own for any length of time, they are very much a 'pack dog' and will always want to be around their humans constantly, requires contact with their family!

- You will not be able to walk anywhere without people stopping to talk to you about your Frenchie (we get constant "OMG you're dog is so cute!")

Pros:

- Super friendly and very affectionate with absolutely everyone

- Renowned for being amazing with children, such patient and understanding little dogs

- Intelligent and a very quick learner (food driven so will learn for treats!)

- Super socialable

- Very playful, just loves to play, often called the Clown Dog because theyre just so funny and silly

- Hardly barks at all, not noisy whatsoever

- Very laidback, nothing stresses them out at all

http://www.frenchbulldogclubofengland.org.uk/about-the-breed.html

I hope some of this has helped you and given you atleast a bit of information. Whatever dog you decide on I'm sure it will benefit your family hugely. Good luck with the doggie search xx