Puppy: pros and cons

[maillotpois]

I was going to take the leash thread I started on a tangent, but decided to start a new...... as of last week, we are CONSIDERING adopting a puppy!! I haven't had a puppy in about 18 years. I think I may have blocked out what raising a puppy is like. (I do recall losing a $200 pair of Bally patent/suede pumps to Meg's chewing. )

This puppy is a 2 - 3 month old Guide dog "career change" yellow lab I saw when going to pick up our current dog Russo from a medical appointment at GDB (Guide Dogs for the Blind - Russo is a stud for them) last week. He is so darling. The guy who is fostering him and the woman at GDB say he is the best puppy they have ever had.

I feel like we are leaving Em alone so much (Saturdays) for our team training rides, and this experience we had with dogs attacking Russo has convinced me she cannot walk Russo alone - it is just not safe for either of them. (Intact male dogs on a leash are a target for off leash dogs.) So I envision her taking this new puppy for walks, being the one taking him to obedience school, etc. She's 12, responsible, good, wants to be a vet, is beginning an internship at the SF Zoo. I think it would be a good experience. I also feel like the coming teen years are going to be so tough and having something that she is so responsible for would be good. Plus, Russo is 8 - god forbid anything happens to him, but I have to be realistic.

The realities I probably need to think more about: crates, housebreaking (they say he is perfectly crate trained already. I didn't use a crate with Meg. I don't even know what that means. ), chewing, waking us up at night, having to figure out how to deal with him on the days I am not working at home (possibly family can let him out of the crate, maybe I can bring him with me, maybe a dog walker can come). I know he's only got 4 - 5 months before he can be out in the yard and none of the logistical stuff will be as difficult. (I cannot put puppy out with Russo unsupervised til puppy is tutored - I mean neutered.)

Anyone want to talk me out of it? I talk to the woman at GDB tomorrow.

[crazybikinchic]

My question is why is he a "career change" and why is the foster parent no longer fostering if he is such a good puppy?

[maillotpois]

Oh it's just GDB terminology.

Career change are dogs who for various reasons are not becoming guides. This puppy had an operation, but is now fine. Career change covers a wide variety of things, and they're pretty restrictive on which dogs are actually selected as guides. Some 30+% of all their puppies career change out.

Fostering is a temporary housing for a dog waiting for adoption - to get the puppy out of the kennel and into a real home while it is waiting for placement. The foster will continue to happily foster him til he is placed.

These are not negative things about the pup.

[Veronica]

If Em is up for the responsibility, I say go for it. He will be her dog, which is kind of cool.

V.

[maillotpois]

She is up for it - and that was exactly what I was thinking. Her dog. I don't dare tell her til it is a done deal. There's a pretty extensive interview process, and they have to observe Russo and the puppy together.

I got Mike over the hurdle. I see that as the biggest step.

[SuperRunt]

I agree with Veronica. Can you sit down with your daughter and kind of make it her choice? She's obviously very interested in animals... And if you're worried about the same attack problem happening with the new dog, maybe you could have him fixed?

I just scrolled back up to write in a little warning here. I'm about to go off on a rant about how awesome it is to work with dogs. This might be something you already know, or have NO interest in, but here it goes :
I have two dogs myself, that were both rescued. We had one for 5 years before we got the other one. They were pretty "screwed up", from what had happened to them before they were rescued, and especially the last one required a lot of training work (in addition to my home cooked doggie psychotherapy ).

The reason I'm bringing this up, is that I just want to share how very rewarding the process of training has been. Since this puppy is a "clean slate", he would probably really fun for your daughter to train! I really can't say enough about the bond you create with a dog doing this.

I have done positive only training (kind of a must with abused dogs...) and used a clicker. We have a loose knit training community where I live. The "leader" is a wonderful woman trained in positive training. Your daughter might love something like this!

Ok, that's the end of my rant.

[emily_in_nc]

My DH and I just got a Boston Terrier puppy, Paisley, around Easter. We adore her, but it's been a major lifestyle change as well! For the first 2 weeks, we walked around in a daze of sleepiness, being overwhelmed, and wondering "what have we done?" She only woke us up in the night to go out in the first week (age 7-8 weeks), so that ended very quickly and will not be something you'd likely have to deal with. We don't have children, and we hadn't had a puppy for 16 years (we were a wee bit younger then ), so the biggest adjustment has been just having to make sure that someone is watching her at all times, unless she's sleeping in her crate. Puppies can get into trouble in an instant, and so we trade off playing with her, keeping an eye on her, and just generally being the "responsible" one. Our time is no longer our own, and that takes some getting used to!

We've gotten a lot less done since she came home with us. Doing projects, gardening, etc. with her around is nearly impossible unless she's napping. Computer time has been cut way back to spend time with her (she's napping now). She chews *everything*, so having tons of toys around to stick in her mouth and distract her with, and not leaving things around that we don't want her to chew, has been a must.

Still, we wouldn't trade it -- she's a delight, nearly always amusing, even though she can be frustrating at times. But our lifestyle is much better than many folks have for a puppy -- my DH is retired so spends loads of time with her, we have a fenced area for her, and hiking trails in the woods on our 11-acre property, which minimizes some of the challenges. Only you can weigh the decision for you. We definitely had our moments of remorse, but those were quickly squelched as she stole our hearts.

Paisley turned 13 weeks yesterday, and while she's not *perfect* in her training, she knows "sit", "stay", "come", and "down" already; hasn't had an accident in the house in awhile (and only one in her crate ever), and she's getting better all the time on the leash. If you do decide to go for it, I highly recommend the book Mother Knows Best: The Natural Way to Train Your Dog by Carol Benjamin. It has helped us immensely.

Let us know what you do!

Emily

[sundial]

...... as of last week, we are CONSIDERING adopting a puppy!! I haven't had a puppy in about 18 years. I think I may have blocked out what raising a puppy is like.

Spring seems to be the perfect season to bring a puppy on board.

It sounds like this puppy has very good temperament and hopefully good health as well. That is a big consideration when choosing a puppy in my opinion. Puppies from sound and healthy parents= lower vet bills and better socialization, usually. So you are off to a good start if you choose to adopt him.

As for the puppy's age, can you wait to bring him on board when he's about 13 weeks old? He'll still be puppy but he'll have matured so that he should be able to sleep through the night without needing to go out for potty breaks at 2 a.m. Also, he won't be as likely to cry at night. Puppies in the 8 week division are not unlike human babies who need comforting, feeding and cleaning up after a potty oops.

Crates are fantastic for dogs. It's not a cruel device as some would suggest but more like a den for the dog. All of my dogs have enjoyed their crates and should we need to take them with us in an emergency and crate them, they are already trained. Plus they don't mind being kenneled at the vets or groomers. Crates will also help potty training considerably. Dogs will not usually soil in the area they sleep. Also, crates will keep a puppy confined to limited destruction.

I've always thought it was better to have 2 dogs for a couple of reasons. One being that the dogs can communicate in their language and have a playmate around. It's good to stagger them in age so that when one is lost to the Bridge, another one is there to help through the loss. And an older dog will help a puppy train quicker by being a mentor of sorts. My girls always potty trained quicker by taking cues from the elder one.

So.....when are you going to post pictures? Your puppy sounds ideal for your family and I think your daughter will enjoy the companionship for many years to come.

[farrellcollie]

Spring does seem a civilized time to adopt a puppy. For some reason all of my puppies have come in the dead of winter - January and Feb - horrible time to be running outside in the dead of night to let the pup go to the bathroom.

[Beane]

Just curious, how old is the puppy? Our family raised puppies for Guiding Eyes for the Blind and I can imagine that this one isn't a baby baby puppy (8 weeks or so), so the worst of the potty training/getting up in the middle of the night is probably done. The older they are, the longer they can hold their bladders, which is nice.

I got a puppy (not for GEB, as a pet) at age 15, and I have to say that she & I bonded very thoroughly and she helped me through some of the tough times in high school. But it did make leaving for college harder. Luckily my mom isn't too much of a guilter and she loved the dog as much as me, so it was OK. Something to think about, though.

[maillotpois]

The puppy is 11 weeks old as of now. He sleeps through the night in his crate, which is excellent. The GDB woman is setting up a meeting between our current dog and the pup to see how they get along. We shall see.

Emily I saw the pics of your pup - so CUTE!

[SuperRunt]

Exiting! Good luck with meetings and iterviews!