A pup for Christmas

JayAlex15

I'm looking to get a pup for Christmas. I have an 18mth old son and would love for him to grow up with a dog. I'm looking for a small house dog. One that dose not shedd like a bichon frise but not a bichon. Was thinking of maybe a mixed breed.

I'm looking for advice and if any one who is expecting pups that will be available for collection the week or few days before Christmas.

Thanks for the help,
J

Nody

No serious breeder would have dogs ready for Christmas exactly because dogs should not be Christmas gifts; as your child is only 18 months there's no need to get it at Christmas either but rather wait and make sure you get the right dog. Secondly a pup is A LOT of work; we're talking a month or more at home working on house training etc. and are you sure you want that at the same time as your son starts to go moving around and risk hurting the dog (or be bitten as the puppy does not know how to play appropriate yet)? We're talking 24/7 monitoring of both your child and puppy and never having them in reach of each other (since neither knows they are hurting the other)l.

Having a child growing up with a dog is great but I think you're out to early for your son to appreciate a puppy and you're setting yourself up for serious issues by the combination of 18 month old baby and puppy.

Cherry Blossom

Getting a pet at Christmas is a sore point with a lot of people OP. Just so you are aware no reputable breeder breeds for the Christmas market. No reputable rescue rehomes in the run up to Christmas, some of the advert sites ban dog sales adverts around Christmas and here in this forum, for the past number of years we have banned threads looking for dogs in the run up to Christmas. Your early off the mark and it hadn't crossed my mind to put the sticky up this year yet.

Basically what this means is that its impossible to find a well adjusted, properly socialised pup around Christmas time. That means funding the horrible practice of puppy farming or back yard breeding and putting your child at unnecessary risk.

nhunter100

JayAlex15 wrote:

I'm looking to get a pup for Christmas. I have an 18mth old son and would love for him to grow up with a dog. I'm looking for a small house dog. One that dose not shedd like a bichon frise but not a bichon. Was thinking of maybe a mixed breed.

Why not wait till your son is 2, 4 months past Christmas. Also remember having a dog is almost the same as having another child.

Ms Doubtfire1

getting a pup for Christmas means that 90% of the time you'll be buying from a puppy farm in disguise. Responsible breeders very rarely home puppies at Christmas. Thirdly, in all fairness - i think your son is still way to young for a dog. I grew up with Dogs but my family got their first dog when I was 6 and I was smart enough to have understood that pulling a dogs ears,pinching their nose or hugging them very tight was NOT a good idea...please give it some more time.

ElKavo

Please do not get a pup for Christmas. Wait, get a home check done by a rescue, take the guidance they will give you on a suitable dog for your home / family. If you dont odds are that the dog will end up in a shelter.

Sorry to be blunt but that is the reality.

volchitsa

Agree with all of the above, but I would also point out that an 18 month old has no appreciation of "growing up with" a dog - and that all you'd be doing by getting it at this age, even assuming that all goes well, is ensuring that at best your son will be a very young teen when he loses his beloved dog who has been there literally all his life as far as he is concerned.

Much better to wait until he is at least five or six, when he can appreciate the fun of the puppy stage instead of having to be kept away from him all the time, and he will have some chance of being old enough to have some understanding of the inevitability of death when the dog does die.

emeldc

JayAlex15 wrote: »

I'm looking to get a pup for Christmas. I have an 18mth old son and would love for him to grow up with a dog. I'm looking for a small house dog. One that dose not shedd like a bichon frise but not a bichon. Was thinking of maybe a mixed breed.

I'm looking for advice and if any one who is expecting pups that will be available for collection the week or few days before Christmas.

Thanks for the help,
J

Sorry OP but it sounds like you haven't a clue. It doesn't matter what kind of a pup you get, they all shed to some extent. They also pee and poo at will until trained. Some of it might not be found for days. They can keep you awake at night crying for attention. They can jump up on your lap and scald your bits and pieces when you spill your tea. They will eat your furniture and your expensive Jimmy Choos. They also need to be exercised, every day, even Christmas Day! I can guarantee your son will have little or no interest after the novelty wears off. He's too young to appreciate it. If this all sounds like a nightmare, it's because it is. It's also very rewarding but it requires a lot of work. If I was in your position I would consider fostering a dog for a couple of weeks. That way you can try it out and see if you really have the time and patients required in having a dog at all, while doing a good deed at the same time. But for Christmas? Please don't.

andreac

This has to be a wind up....
Post reported.

Jen Pigs Fly

Op can't be serious?

So have you never seen the millions of ads, numerous campaigns by rescues and animal welfare groups and numerous Facebook posts about Buying animals for Christmas and puppy farms?

Has to be a wind up ...

Cherry Blossom

I don't see why people think it's a wind up. We get a few of these threads every year. If people in there droves weren't doing it, there would be no need for campaigns on the subject every year.

uncle_sam_ie

Please don't. My sister-in-law did this last year. Five months after Christmas she had enough and was calling around seeing if anyone would take the dog off her hands.

LirW

Beside of that being a bad idea for christmas... after raising 3 puppies, 2 of them with a small child around I'd never get myself a puppy again when I'm having small kids around. I get it, they are lovely, cute and so on. But a whole lot of work as well. They need a lot of training, constant monitoring (they can easily tear your home apart). Never would I ever recommend that to someone, esp. with no puppy experience, most people would just go mental.

Wait a few months after christmas, go to shelters, lots of nice young dogs there, being out of the worst at that point.

Latatian

Adult dogs are less dangerous for a child- since you can assess them to begin with. Even the best-bred pup could end up having something 'wrong' through pure genetic chance, something that you couldn't assess as a pup.

mayway

Don't don't don't. Your son is too young and pups are a nightmare. They are full on work and they wreck the place. You're better off waiting until the child is old enough to look after it.

bmwguy

If you, and I mean YOU, want a dog and think you can take care of it, get a dog. But if it's a Christmas present for an 18 month old then just don't. Plenty of alarm bells in your post, looking for a cute toy dog type breed, one that doesn't shed, only want it in the days before Christmas spell disaster.

I got my dog in the run up to Christmas 2 years ago actually now that I think of it, but it was early December and Christmas wasn't even in my mind. I think there should be a special licence/tax on selling dogs in Ireland to be honest.

Ann22

Thanks guys for the wise replies to the original post. It restores a little of my faith in dog owners.
I've spent time with other rescue members visiting schools lecturing kids on this Xmas pets topic but it's looking like it's the parents that need most of the lecturing. I was hoping with all the other publicity re the horrifically cruel puppy farming situation in Ireland that the message was starting to get through(?!). I am frankly stunned at the op.
The Irish pounds are full of unwanted xmas presents every Jan...and also in the run up to Xmas when older pets are dumped to make way for new but besides that...
Op, Xmas is a bad time for a new dog with all the fuss, stress and irregular routine. Do you really need to be constantly cleaning up puddles of pee and poo that'll be everywhere???
In cases where unwanted xmax dogs aren't given away or put in the pound they are usually banished to the backyard to a miserable lonely life.
Another thing to think of is that when a pup is bought for a baby or toddler, many will be still quite young when the dog passes away.. perhaps at a difficult age trying to adjust in secondary school.
Buy your child a wind up toy dog and wait a few years. And then only buy if you yourself want one ... and your partner also as it'll be one of you two who will be doing the clean ups and walking.

volchitsa

The OP posted a single post on Oct 26th and hasn't been back since.
If he/she takes the same amount of interest in this future dog as they have in their thread, I'd say the poor thing will be dead within a few weeks!

(Or else it's a wind-up, which is quite likely IMO).

JayAlex15

JayAlex15 wrote: »

I'm looking to get a pup for Christmas. I have an 18mth old son and would love for him to grow up with a dog. I'm looking for a small house dog. One that dose not shedd like a bichon frise but not a bichon. Was thinking of maybe a mixed breed.

I'm looking for advice and if any one who is expecting pups that will be available for collection the week or few days before Christmas.

Thanks for the help,
J

Wait until Easter. The weather will be better and easier to train puppy. A small dog like a Westie would be my choice. It would need regular clipping, but otherwise are lovely dogs that can live to 18 years of age, so plenty of bonding time.
You might be better off going to a rescue and getting one from there. There are many throughout the country and they offer loads of good advice.

DBB

[Deleted User] wrote: »

A small dog like a Westie would be my choice. It would need regular clipping, but otherwise are lovely dogs that can live to 18 years of age, so plenty of bonding time.
You might be better off going to a rescue and getting one from there. There are many throughout the country and they offer loads of good advice.

A Westie?
For a toddler??
There's a list of breeds that I'd consider to be entirely unsuitable to live with small children. The Westie is most definitely on that list!
If op takes your advice and goes to the Westie Rescue website, he'll see a long explanation as to why Westies won't be rehomed with children under 10-12 years old!
They're no longer a long-lived breed, these days it's rare enough for a westie to reach 13-14 years old, such are the health problems associated with the breed.

kylith

DBB wrote: »

A Westie?
For a toddler??
There's a list of breeds that I'd consider to be entirely unsuitable to live with small children. The Westie is most definitely on that list!
If op takes your advice and goes to the Westie Rescue website, he'll see a long explanation as to why Westies won't be rehomed with children under 10-12 years old!
They're no longer a long-lived breed, these days it's rare enough for a westie to reach 13-14 years old, such are the health problems associated with the breed.

I bet all terriers are on that list. I grew up with a terrier and I, and my brothers, and my nan, have the scars to prove it.

DBB

kylith wrote: »

I bet all terriers are on that list. I grew up with a terrier and I, and my brothers, and my nan, have the scars to prove it.

To be fair, some are known to be better with kids... And to clarify I'm only referring to the classical "earth dogs" here, not Staffies or other non-earth terriers.... But the Border Terrier, Cairn Terrier, and Airedale are 3 examples of terriers that are softer-natured with humans generally.
But generally, toddlers are high-risk around all breeds... The risk must go through the roof with most terriers!

Cherry Blossom

volchitsa wrote: »

The OP posted a single post on Oct 26th and hasn't been back since.
If he/she takes the same amount of interest in this future dog as they have in their thread, I'd say the poor thing will be dead within a few weeks!

(Or else it's a wind-up, which is quite likely IMO).

Or they are reading the replies without posting while they reconsider their decision.

mackeire

We got a dog for the young lad for Christmas last year. The dog has been threated like royalty since day 1 and is actually lying down on me as I write this!

Get the dog but remember that your 18 month old child will not be looking after it. You will!

Don't get it unless you are willing to look after it, after all, it's not just for Christmas, it's for life!

Sam Kade

DBB wrote: »

To be fair, some are known to be better with kids... And to clarify I'm only referring to the classical "earth dogs" here, not Staffies or other non-earth terriers.... But the Border Terrier, Cairn Terrier, and Airedale are 3 examples of terriers that are softer-natured with humans generally.
But generally, toddlers are high-risk around all breeds... The risk must go through the roof with most terriers!

We've a cross between a situz and a maltese, he's great around children. We also have westie, he can be unpredictable and definiately not suitable where there's children.

Sam Kade

Jasper and Ted.jpg

Here they are Jasper (westie) and Ted (shih tzu x maltese)

La.de.da

Do more research OP. As said already most breeders and rescues won't adopt out in till after Christmas, Come mid January there will be an influx of unwanted dogs for various reasons.
My advice wait until new year. contact your local shelters they will have knowledge to help match you with a dog to suit your requirements and environment.

Never mind the Christmas thing, you shouldn't get a pup for someone else, much less a toddler

happyday

Sam Kade wrote: »

Jasper and Ted.jpg

Here they are Jasper (westie) and Ted (shih tzu x maltese)

Gorgeous dogs.

Sam Kade

happyday wrote: »

Gorgeous dogs.

Thanks, my daughter is a dog groomer so the have a great advantage.

DBB

Sam Kade wrote: »

Thanks, my daughter is a dog groomer so the have a great advantage.

I had been going to say, whoever grooms your dogs did a nice job on the Westie's head... I've seen many a groomer make a pig's knickers of Westie's heads... It's hard enough to get it right

Cheshire Cat

Your son is too young. Please wait until he is a bit older, more responsible and doesn't see a dog as a toy! It will end in tears otherwise.

Sam Kade

DBB wrote: »

I had been going to say, whoever grooms your dogs did a nice job on the Westie's head... I've seen many a groomer make a pig's knickers of Westie's heads... It's hard enough to get it right

Thanks, my daughter trained in Wales. She works with a local vet and is booked out one month in advance. 5-6 dogs a day is the norm.

DBB

DBB wrote: »

A Westie?
For a toddler??
There's a list of breeds that I'd consider to be entirely unsuitable to live with small children. The Westie is most definitely on that list!
If op takes your advice and goes to the Westie Rescue website, he'll see a long explanation as to why Westies won't be rehomed with children under 10-12 years old!
They're no longer a long-lived breed, these days it's rare enough for a westie to reach 13-14 years old, such are the health problems associated with the breed.

The best dog I've ever seen personally seen with kids is a pure bred westie. She has been pulled and dragged around the place both when she was a young dog with one grand child of the owner and now again with another grandchild (not even a 2 yet and has been playing with the dog since he could crawl) and she is absolutely amazing with the kids never even looked sideways at them. Speaking to other westie owners also who find theirs great with kids is making me believe that the whole westies are bad around kids is a myth.

DBB

Ariyah Ambitious Band wrote: »

The best dog I've ever seen personally seen with kids is a pure bred westie. She has been pulled and dragged around the place both when she was a young dog with one grand child of the owner and now again with another grandchild (not even a 2 yet and has been playing with the dog since he could crawl) and she is absolutely amazing with the kids never even looked sideways at them. Speaking to other westie owners also who find theirs great with kids is making me believe that the whole westies are bad around kids is a myth.

With respect, I've rehomed about 500 Westies.
So, I know my subject matter.
I've met quite a few people like yourself who come up with anecdotal stories about how a westie they once knew was good with kids. People often feel the need to tell you all about the exception to the rule... I don't know why that is, but suffice to say, they're always one-off examples.
And even then, with these one-off anecdotes, when you probe a little deeper, in most cases it turns out that the people who insist that their westie, or a westie they know, is good with kids, are talking about Westies that don't actually live with small children full time... An example of this I note in your post above that it's grandchildren being allowed to "pull and drag" out of that poor westie... Permit me to assume that the grandkids don't live with their grandparents?
Many Westies I know quite like children for short spells. Visiting children are often good fun... But living with small children full-time is a hugely different story, for any breed. For terrier breeds that have a shorter fuse, that fuse is much more likely to be lit when the dog has to live with the child full-time, so people with Westies where the kids only visit don't always realise there's a problem.

So, leaving your anecdote to one side, in my experience the vast majority of westies aren't suitable to live with children as their pet dog. Indeed, of those 500+ Westies, somewhere in the region of 75+% of them were surrendered with the explicit information from their owners that they were not safe around children, or were being rehomed precisely because there'd been an incident(s) with a child they lived with. More again were unknown entities around children, having not had much experience with them.

Finally, as an observation on your post, I wonder why, why, whyyyyy do owners allow children to "pull and drag" out of their dogs, of any breed? Such disrespect for the mild manners the dog is exhibiting. Is it that they want the dog to bite? Would they be surprised and angry that their dog eventually bites a child "out of the blue" or "unprovoked"? What a terrible lesson to teach children, who then think it's okay to "pull and drag" out of every dog they meet. "Pull and drag" out of a westie for too long, you're going to get bitten.

celligraphy

Don't do it op , I was going to get a cat awhile back think I posted it here I was looking for an older cat but I realised a week later it wouldn't be fair on the cat my daughter isn't a grabbu type but still I'm gonna wait until she's older to appreciate pets , I'm not really an animal lover but I Don't think its fair for a pet to be given a home and to let them settle in and then few weeks later to be rid of due or scratching a toddler Or just not being able to handle them .... And pups are so hyper wait until your toddler is older

DBB

DBB wrote: »

With respect, I've rehomed about 500 Westies.
So, I know my subject matter....

To answer some of your questions. The dog isn't pulled and dragged now, it was the first grandchild previously and the child wasn't watched closely enough that time and did a bit of tail pulling but mostly I meant picking up the dog and hugging it etc.

The both kids were minded 5 and sometimes 6 days per week by the grandparents so they more or less live there. The dog never even looked sideways at any child, yes you never trust a dog fully but it's as quite as I've seen any dog around children, even as a dog that likes to jump and climb up on you she never jumps on a child or an elderly person as though as almost knows to be more gentle.

I'm not saying you haven't come across ones bad with children but I see others with young kids and westies and often would ask how they are with kids for this very reason (and the answer as been good and also surprise that they also hear people say they aren't good with kids). I see some people look in almost horror when they hear of a westie with a toddler then.

Elliott S

Ariyah Ambitious Band wrote: »

The best dog I've ever seen personally seen with kids is a pure bred westie. She has been pulled and dragged around the place both when she was a young dog with one grand child of the owner and now again with another grandchild (not even a 2 yet and has been playing with the dog since he could crawl) and she is absolutely amazing with the kids never even looked sideways at them. Speaking to other westie owners also who find theirs great with kids is making me believe that the whole westies are bad around kids is a myth.

The worst kind of dog to get for a small child is one that they can pick up. It leads to the dog getting stressed and therefore more likely to bite. A child should not be able to pick up their dog as they will overdo it.

DBB

With respect, rather than arguing these exceptions to the rule with you, I'm going to rely on what the figures have told me as one of a handful of people in the country with the amount of westie experience that I have.
Indeed, as a person who likes to operate on research-led grounds with dogs, the research is there to back me up... the Westie features as by far and away the top terrier breed most likely to present for behavioural rehabilitation for aggression towards owners/family members, according to the compiled case studies published by the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors.

http://www.apbc.org.uk/apbc/data
cf 2012 data, as data was not broken down into breeds prior to the 2012 analyses.

By all means, if you know of any childproof Westies looking for hones, let me know, as none of the dogs I have here now can be rehomed where there are children at all, let alone living full-time, and as my previous figures suggest (bearing in mind I'm talking about hundreds of dogs here, not one-offs), this has been my overwhelming experience to date across the breed. I'm not just talking, as you say, about coming across ones bad with children. I'm talking about the vast majority of them, when asked to live with small children.
With your contradictory experience, perhaps you could source a nice toddler-proof westie for the op yourself? They're going to have difficulties finding any rescue to place a westie with them, I'm not the only rescue who's learned not to take chances with the breed around small kids!

Cherry Blossom

Thread closed as our yearly ban is now in place.