With young children is an adult dog better than a puppy?

I am considering buying a dog/puppy. I have seen an adult dog advertised & have asked a few relevant questions. E.G why are you selling it? Has it a good temperament? Etc. I have young children so want to make the right decision. Please advise if you have experience with a similar situation?

A puppy is better for your kid to grow up with, they get to experience raising it. An adult dog won't last as much. Of course puppies have more of the problems because they are growing up, my dog is 6 and as i grew up he got smarter and more mature. He developed some skin conditions though because he's a Shih Tzu, but they tend to have skin conditions. I suggest doing your research on puppies and finding the one suitable for your house and care, because it costs a lot to buy its necessities. Make sure to train your puppy as it grows and keep it potty trained, because my dog peed on my bed! Mess mess!

I suggest a puppy actually. This way, you can raise the dog to be tolerant of children, but many adult dogs will not want to deal with little kids. If you do decide to get a puppy, you are going to need to supervise the puppy and your children constantly so you can teach your children to be kind with animals. If you cannot supervise them together for whatever reason, the puppy should be crated. Do research on being a first time puppy owner, and decide if it's right for you at the moment. It might be a good idea to wait to get a dog a couple years until your children are older and can be nice with a dog.

I would be very very careful about buying a dog advertised privately for sale. Seen it too many times and dealing with TWO such problems at the moment where these people really were not honest, and why would they be, they won't sell their dog. You have three types of people who advertise their own dog.1. Those that have tried rescue and just cannot find a space.2. Those that genuinely love their dog and do have a good reason why they have to rehome, and want to privately advertise so that they know exactly who the dog is going to. 3. Those that know there is a problem which they will not reveal. It is usually the problem that is making them give the dog up in the first place and it is usually because of behavioral issues that they have failed to put right. If you are sure your people come in the 1st or 2nd category then fine but please be carefulAdd - you also have to be careful of privately advertised dogs as you have no come back at all. If it doesn't work then you won't see the old owners for dust and getting dogs into any rescue is really difficult as we are all always full up.I do agree with MamaBas... and if going for an adult then it would be wise to go through a rescue where they can be sure a dog has lived with children. We get them in often because mum can't cope with children and dogs but the dog has done nothing wrong at all. I homed a whippet to a family with two girls of 4 & 7 and they are a wonderful family unit that has gone on to get another one and also got involved in rescue themselves, homechecking and helping.

The only thing wrong with getting a puppy is that it DOES take awhile to potty train them and also to teach them to not bite/nip at your children. A lot depends on just HOW young your children are. Puppies are a LOT of work at first.If you could find a dog that is about 18 months old that someone has to rehome because their kids are allergic to it or something, that would be great if it's house broken. I'd suggest a lab at that age.Try IAMS PET RESCUE. Google it and snoop around in there for awhile.

Basically I don't like puppies OR adults going to a home where there are children of under 5. If the dog came first (before baby arrived) that's another matter. There are several reasons for this Puppies -1. Mums with a load of young kids (even with just one but + visitors) usually have their hands full already, without bringing a puppy into the mix. Puppies take up loads of time. Puppies need house-training and there will be accidents which with young children crawling around, falling .... well picture that!2. Young children quite often can't tell the real difference between a puppy, and a toy and can quite often make a puppy's life a misery3. Puppies nip.Adults -Might work better, but ONLY if the dog is used to being with children. Many are not and get very upset, uneasy around fast-moving 'little people'. And again the possibility of young children pulling an adult around etc.etc. except the 'nip' could well end up as a 'bite'!!With an older dog, he will need a period of adjustment to his new surroundings, so again factor in your busy life and how much time you'll have for the needs of THE DOG.Personally I'd have to say wait. At least until your children are teenagers when they too can take on the responsibility for the welfare of a dog.

Personally, I would just stroll through a shelter with your kids and let them pick a dog they like. You can visit with them and see if they're right for you. If you don't think you'd be compatible with one dog, you can meet with another. In the end, this is most likely how I'd pick my dog.Puppies give your kids a chance to train them as they grow and they can grow together, which is normally what makes teens so attached to their pets. I'm one of those teens. An older dog, about 3+ years old would be harder to train depending on their personality. Some old dogs have no problems at all and are just as happy and jumpy as a puppy. So what I think is you should meet the dogs, and see which ones you like, or go to a shelter. Either way, you should meet the dog and see if you and your kids would get along with it first.

um i had a big dog and a little dog my little dog was a chihuahua and my big dog was a rottweiler the rotty died but the chihuahua is alive and is 3 um i love my dog but i would say a big dog they dog care about children and they act very sweet to them little dogs can bite or growl at certaikn things just train the dog right

Puppies are great with kids, if the puppy grows up with the kid they will be the best of friends!! My puppy loves my niece's!! good luck mate! xx

It depends on the breed and the personality of the puppy/dog.Puppies cant stand children, unless they are very intellegent. I agree with the answer that rising a puppy with a child is best.

It really depends on ages and just how well trained your kids are. If the kids are really young then an older dog may be the best. I would look into rescues to find the perfect dog. Most rescues have evaluated the dog and know their personality. Many foster homes(for the rescues) have children, so they would know how the dog will react and they would be able to find the right dog for you. Getting a dog from a private person can be risky. Some will lie just to get rid of the dog.If the kids are all over 6yo then a puppy would be ok. you would be able to train the kids along with the puppy.

We had an adult dog, a cocker spaniel, and he was around 7 or 8 when our first son came along. He wasn't very good with our son when our son started crawling and walking and grabbing hold. He changed when the kids came along, he almost turned against me when i was pregnant. He just wasn't used to kids and we had to be extra vigilient and make sure they were kept apart. By the time my second son was born, our dog was approaching 12, and we lost him soon after. When you are buying an adult dog, unless you know the dog personally, you don't know its background, its temperament, how it has been treated. Nothing. Its a big enough risk to take that on without adding children into the equation.When my second son was around 18months we bought a chocolate labrador pup. He is 7 now and he's like our 3rd child. Because he was introduced to the kids from 10 weeks, and because he has grown up with them, he has no issues with children whatsoever. They play with him, they roll around with him, they tug push and pull him and he rarely gets fed up with it. He even jumps up and plays with them on their trampoline!! Yes, when he was a young pup we had to be careful about keeping the kids away from the mess he made while we toilet trained him, and when he was teething we had to make sure needle sharp teeth weren't piercing young skin, but it didn't take the children long to learn to be careful themselves. Its not just about teaching the dog how to behave around children, its also about teaching the children how to behave around the dog. Its so much easier when they all grow up together.

Depends totally on your home situation. The age of the kids, if you've got help from family and maybe cleaner, a secure yard etc. If you're already multi-tasking with not a moment to spare then a puppy is not for your family at this stage. They are indeed excellent for kids to grow up with but in modern families where 'baby knows best' (because Mums don't have enough time for consistent discipline) then it can be a disaster.A rescue or shelter dog is only going to work (as already mentioned) if it is the right dog that lost it's home through no fault of its own. You need to ask for: non-sleep-startle aggressive, non-food-aggressive, small dog and cat freindly, has good recall and reliable 'leave it!' This means a fostered dog or one from a shelter who had a nice family home before. If it isn't easy-going then don't adopt it.

As a dog trainer and a dog breeder I always recommend an adult to families with children under the age of 4 (5, with boys). A mother has plenty to do without adding a puppy into the mix that needs housebreaking, training to stop chewing and biting. All of these things have been taught to an adult dog already, especially if you get one from a breed rescue group that has temperament tested, spayed and/or neutered, and fostered the dog. It's temperament will be understood and whether or not it gets along well with children and other pets, thus removing that problem from the re-homed household.You can find all the breed rescue groups on www.google.com by simply typing in the breed you are interested in, such as "poodle rescue".Never get an adult dog for a family with small children from a shelter or from a previous owner or newspaper ad......You never can be sure about anything that way.

We had dogs in my family from the day that I was born: Collie, Finish Spitz, Keeshound, Groenendaal, mutts (not all at once, mind) and I truly believe that having had that growing up has really shaped a lot of my better qualities; like my deep respect for all living creatures and very strong sense of empathy. I remember as a young child - more than 5 wanting our dog Elka (the finish spitz) to "like me best" (something that we regularly see posted on this site!). One day when Elka was in my room I closed the door. I wanted to play with her and hug her. She wanted to leave. She kept pulling away from me and I kept trying to get closer. Finally I opened the door but that was after quite a while. I can remember feeling guilty - I knew what I had done was wrong. I didn't tell my parents but I carried around this horrible feeling of having been cruel to the dog by forcing her to stay in my room when she wanted to leave. When she died months later (one of the diseases that they can now vaccinate for but couldn't then - parvo maybe?) I really thought that maybe if I hadn't been mean to her that day she wouldn't have died. I guess I was 7.... The point is not to share that I was once not treating the family dog well, but to say that I really believe that having animals in a house that need looking after, that go through a full life cycle - makes for much better, more caring and understanding kids when they grow up. I fully understand the concerns from those that way to wait - yes, too many parents find that the dog and kids can't be together; that they don't have enough time to give the dog enough exercise and he therefor ends up becoming destructive; that they haven't been able to teach their kids well enough how to behave with the animals. But I sincerely believe that any parent going into the situation with their eyes wide open about the responsibility and work ahead is doing their children a tremendous favor and if they supervise well then they will also have very happy dogs who have great energy bombs in the kids to play with.So for me, if you have done your research, if you know you can make the time, if you are committed to giving a dog what it needs and patiently showing your kids how to treat it with respect (and firmly stepping in when they don't) then I think your whole family will benefit.As for puppy or adult - I would say get a puppy if you or hubby don't have jobs (nicest for the kids to see it grow up but much more supervision and work requiredfor longer); get a young adult with proven tolerance of children if you both work.

With smaller kids, go with a larger adult. Look into rescue. One of the best sources for dogs with a predictable personality is the rescue dogs. These are dogs that lost their home, but were taken into a foster home to be retrained as necessary and placed in the right home for them. You may find a rescue near you starting at http://www.akc.org/breeds/rescue.cfm The rescues charge a fee to help cover their expenses, but is much less than the price of a puppy plus all its medical expenses the first year. A good rescue will match a dog that is good with children to your home. Right now our daughter has an 18 month old, a 4 year old, a Lab, a Shepherd, and a little terrier mix. The 2 larger dogs love the kids, letting the baby crawl over them. The terrier flees any time a kid gets near him. There are proven health benefits for children with a dog in the house from when they are little. Childhood can be a tough time. Sometimes a child needs a friend they can tell what a rotten place the world is. Any dog and child needs careful supervision.

As a dog owner, I would advise you on buying a puppy rather than an adult dog. This is partly down to the fact that you can raise a puppy to be whatever you want it to be, i.e. you can train it to become a hunting dog, or just a family pet... I bought my two border terriers as pups (they were 8weeksks when i got them) and it was a fantastic experience - difficult, but worth it. I love how my dogs have turned out. This is why I don't recommend investing in an adult dog from a private seller. You need to ask, if the dog is pedigree, do they have all the certificates? have they got recent documentation of the animals health? and ask if you can visit with your children to see how the dog is around your kids. But be very wary as private sellers sometimes sell their dogs because of an issue with the dogs health or temperamental behaviour. Rescue dogs can be another option, but i must warn you that not all rescue homes pick up on every dogs' issues... my friend adopted a rescue dog (a jack russell terrier) and the rescue home assured her that the dog had no issues with children, other dogs/cats, etc. But when she got her home, poor little Dotty was petrified of the vacuum cleaner, workmen and cars when out on walks..... it's up to you whether you want to risk this happening for you... good luck, and i hope you have many laughs and happy memories to come from your future pet x

If you want an adult dog, get it from a shelter. The people at the shelter will tell you honestly everything they know about the dog and they will help you find the right one for your family. Don't get it from some private owner who will tell you anything you want to hear in order to get their dog sold. If you want a puppy you can also get it from a shelter. That way its sort of a clean slate, you're saving a life, and the puppy will be hyper and play with your kids.Here are some reasons to go either way:Adult Shelter Dog -- saving a life- the people at the shelter can really help you pick the best one for your family- calmer than a puppy- probably already house trained- maybe knows come, sit or some other commands alreadyPuppy Shelter Dog -- saving a life- you can mold them the same way you influence your children- will be very playful, very good for small childrenJust because there's more benefits listed under the adult dog doesn't mean that that's the choice. Some of the benefits of the puppy may be worth more that the benefits of the adult.If this were me I would choose the puppy. Honestly, your kids will want to play with the dog, not watch it sleep. Having a puppy is an important part of the journey and it's a lot of fun for the kids. I would go with the puppy for small children, but it's up to you.Good luck!