christine_b Posted May 15, 2013 Posted May 15, 2013 hello, my husband and i live in chicago and just had a baby 11 months ago. he adamantly wants to get a black lab that we saw at the dog rescue. does anyone have any experience raising a puppy and 11 month old baby at the same time? our apartment is downtown so it's pretty small - any suggestions as to how i should talk him out of it? thanks - christine
TaraMaiden Posted May 15, 2013 Posted May 15, 2013 Yes. As a dog behaviourist, this is a question I am frequently asked. The important thing is to make sure you treat the dog as a member of the pack, and as a 'lower' member. It's important you establish a hierarchy and that the dog learns its place in 'the pack' as quickly, and definitely as possible. Simply because a dog has been in a rescue centre, and may have known some negative treatment before you adopting it, you must ensure you don't pander to the dog and feel sorry for it. Dogs have feelings and memories, but they only carry baggage if we load them with it.... I don't know if you can look at my profile, but my contact details contains information of my blog-site. Use the contact details there to talk to me in more detail, if you want. Otherwise, if you can't access details, I'd be happy to continue here.... 1
TaraMaiden Posted May 15, 2013 Posted May 15, 2013 I'm so sorry. I missed the 'talk him out of it' bit. I apologise for jumping in that way..... What are your concerns in that department....?
Author christine_b Posted May 15, 2013 Author Posted May 15, 2013 Thank you for your input. My concern is that it's too much to handle right now - taking care of a baby AND a puppy. also, do black labs get along with children? Plus, we barely have enough space in our 2 bedroom apartment for ourselves. I grew up with 2 dogs and would love to have another...so it's a conflict I'm struggling over
TaraMaiden Posted May 15, 2013 Posted May 15, 2013 well, rather like having a baby, there's never a good' or 'bad' time to have a dog. But consider the costs you are going to have to shell out: Vaccinations and jabs, dog food, accessories, bed, and time invested in training and adapting to being part of a pack - all when you have a 'new' baby. Also, labs are intelligent dogs, and get bored easily. They need stimulation and attention. It's not so much the exercise, but the mental attitude.... providing you bring up a lab well, there should be no problem. I will say this though; I had three instances last year of dogs displaying aggressive tendencies, and they were all labs. I think over the years, there has been so much intensive breeding (labs are extremely popular dogs for families) that I think some negative traits have emerged, and continued to be bred unhindered or unmodified.... But I'm in the UK, so things may be different wherever you are. I think you're right to be cautious; and consider your domestic arrangements. if you're going to be a SAHM, and your husband is going to be working during the day, you're essentially going to have two 'babies' to have to deal with every day. The responsibility of training, raising and disciplining the dog, will fall on you..... If this sounds too much for you, let your H. know. And maybe, show him this thread....
Author christine_b Posted May 15, 2013 Author Posted May 15, 2013 Thanks taramaiden - this is very helpful. i work in IT full time and getting a dog now will definitely add anxiety. i will talk to my husband about my concerns.
TaraMaiden Posted May 15, 2013 Posted May 15, 2013 I'm not trying to take sides here; if I'm really honest, if I'm on anyone's side - it's the dog's. I have seen far, far too many cases where people - with the very best of loving intentions - adopted a new dog into the family, only to find that they miscalculated on different levels: Time the dog requires to acclimatise to the new environment, how everyone must be as committed as each other, to devoting time and effort to integrating the dog into family life and how vital it is that everyone is equally devoted to being a part of the dog's life, in the same way.... You can't have one person trying one approach, and another doing something different.... This just confuses the dog and creates stress. What happens? Disharmony, arguments, resentment - and the dog gets returned to the rescue centre, or grows up in a hugely stressful situation because through no fault of its own - it doesn't know what dafuq it has to do! I hope this helps.
tbf Posted July 4, 2013 Posted July 4, 2013 A large, active puppy and first baby with working parents in a two bedroom apartment isn't a good idea. Hope you managed to talk him out of it or at least convinced him to get a more mature dog, one that's used to babies and small children. We adopted an eight year old black lab with our first son. But the lab was at the age where he wasn't a hyper chewing machine, raised by our friend's family with kids, perfectly trained with plenty of space to run in the backyard.
Got it Posted July 4, 2013 Posted July 4, 2013 I think there is a commitment that has to be made to every animal one brings into their home and a puppy requires a lot. You have to have the time and commitment to make sure the puppy is given what it needs, gets the training ,exercise and mental time to grow to be a healthy, well adjusted dog. We owe this to our canines. I too have a rescue but before we bring a second dog into our family we moved to a house with a backyard. With just the one dog we did doggy daycare while we worked so she got to interact with other dogs, get exercise and not sit at home alone. She was in training to learn to be a good member of our pack (recall is still a work in process when off leash ). I think rescues are great dogs but it is a decision that the whole family understands the commitment and everyone agrees to the level of care necessary. Watch some Dog Whisperer to see when dogs aren't given structure, exercise and proper discipline.
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