To Have Or Not To Have?

[Haych]

Right, the situation is this, I have had TWO labradors before, and both turned on my kids. The older boy was a fantastic boy until we had the second pup. He was vicious from day one so we had to rehome him, and Simba was never the same afterwards, and he also eventually growled at my daughter so he was rehomed.

The situ is this; Kev and I both miss having a dog around, and we have had the offer of a ***** lab 8 week old pup.

I feel a ***** would be much better temperment as they tend to be more homely and family orientated. Also, my four year old daughter has suspected autism, and we were wondering if having a pup to walk and feed etc would help with her mood swings, tantrums and general self-care.

Bad points are obviously, having a pup pee on my new carpet, training, fighting with Kev (happened before), howling and pooping where my two year old finds it before I do.

But there is many good points we can see - but are still so worried that it could go horribly wrong.

Can anyone give any advice and opinions to try and help me out?

 

[Wills]

Rehome the kids no I jest sorry couldnt resist.

 

[aly_starh]

Im personally not experienced with keeping dogs, but relatives have them.

The most important thing would be the Training and Classes. They can literally make or break a dog. Or if you cant do that then clicker training can be used but obviously i dont think it would be as effective as classes.

Maybe watch some Dog Whisperer (Cesar Millan). Im sure you will learn loads with that program!

 

[Haych]

lol Wills I can't! I tried it on facebook and no-one took them!

I do have experience with dogs, and Kev was raised with dogs, so it isn't knowing how to train, its the hard work again, we have done it before and it isn't experience we wanted to be doing again - we expected to have a fully trained adult dog now

 

[fishyfeet]

why a lab, i dont know whats happening with this breed, i hear of labs attaching other dogs, my dogs was bitten badly by one, and other have said the same, i always thought they were a very docile dog, maybe its the breeding.
We have a cavalier king charles, and yes there are major problems with health issues, anyone watched pedigree dogs exposed, and we pet owners have been lobbying breeders to put their socks up and sort these problems out. One thing is for sure he wouldnt bite a sausage, well maybe a sausage, as long as its not scary. Just a thought though, why not a different breed. di

 

[Ryefish]

What was the story with the other two labs you had? Dogs don't just got "vicious" for no reason. Where they neutered too?

As for getting the puppy, if you want the most from the puppy you should arrange puppy socialisation classes - this way she wont attack any dogs when shes older like someone said above. The key is to introduce a dog to as many different situations, noises, other animals and people when it is around 3 to 4 months old.

As for the peeing... do you have any baby gates you could put to keep the puppy in a kitchen or something to avoid your 2yr old coming across any pee and poop? lol. but the problem with that is that you can't tell a puppy its been bad if you don't see it doing the deed.

Think of puppies as play doh, you can mould them into any shape you want

 

[ballo1000]

From my experience, mostly with labs, they are fantastic dogs so long you you go for the working line. Show breeds tend to be bred for looks, working for intelligence. My current lab is 8 years old and has never growled. My father in law trained then and non of his ever did but I have known several from the show line to be temperamental. It seems to be an unfortunate side effect with popularity aswell with to many people breeding the wrong dogs together. The working dogs are bred ore selectively and offered through different avenues. As for getting a dog I feel they are invaluable as forms of assisted therapy for a multitude of conditions. Autstic people tend to have a great infinity for animals than people and the animal caries no preconceived misconceptions.

 

[Haych]

We would like a labrador as they are generally better family orientated dogs, or a retriever, but they are ALOT of money, £300 more expensive!

The first lab that was a good boy was a FT dog, he only growled once the second boy SD had to be rehomed.

The SD dog was not neutered as he was not old enough, but Simba the FT dog was neutered, as we tried that to calm him down as he was uncontrollable around other dogs / out walking.

Ryefish - Thank you for the ideas, but I couldn't leave the dog locked in the kitchen for two reasons, first being the cats litter trays are in there, and two being I wouldn't want to do that as I would feel cruel for getting a pup to lock her away

Ballo - also thank you. Alot of what you have said has helped me understand between Simba and Leo - Simba was bred from field training/working lines and Leo was show bred. We decided if we did have another lab, we would have a ***** FT dog, as imo, they are generally better looking, stockier and less gangly! And I had heard dogs / animals were good for children with learning difficulties / disabilities just wasn't 100% on it.

Thanks for all the help, am still thinking it over so any ideas / opinions welcome!

 

[ballo1000]

Our other do is a Parsons Russel Terrier, has got proper legs unlike normal Jack Russels. She is again a very sweet dog, has never gone for anyone or anything, even then cat. The benefit with her is she small enough to have on your lap in the evening. Both mine are bitches. As for other dogs while excersising yours early interaction is the best way to avoid this. My father in law had 1 dog a multiple FTC who was outstanding in the field and while working but normal walking he had to be muzzled, this was because all his formative years had been spent training not socializing.

 

[Haych]

I took him out with my sisters staffy and he was a nightmare, we had her staffy over here and everything, but he was always so hyper. He was never vicious with other dogs outside, just pulled to be with them and hump them

He did calm down when we had the second dog, he did calm down inside, but don't know about outside, as the pup was not allowed out as he wasn't old enough for his injections so Simba had to stay in too, else he would pass something on.

 

[VickiandKev]

I think it might be worth doing some research around various different breeds of dog and perhaps meeting loads of different breeds to choose a dog that is best for you and your daughter.

I have known a hell of a lot of 'problem' labs in honesty and wouldn't touch them with a 10ft barge-pole. They've been too fashionable IMHO and you don't know what you're getting as they've been overbred for certain traits in almost every line (not necessarily the current generation but throwbacks are common!).

Same thing has happened with staffies, rottweilers, GSDs and I wouldn't touch any of those breeds either. Having said that, my OH got a rottie x GSD puppy at New Year's and I'm glad she's a cross - but she started out growling, snarling and snapping at faces - luckily she was a mere 7 weeks and very small so we could easily show her the proper way to behave.
Hopefully you'll meet our dogs on Friday when we do our swap and you'll see what I mean - she's a lovely puppy now.

I also have 2 Welsh Sheepdogs - straight off a farm - I cannot fault their temperaments with people and children. My oldest is a Sheepdog ***** at 10 months old and you can do anything with her. Because they are 'true' working dog lines (i.e. her parents had to work well and not cause any problems as their owner's livelihood depends on it rather than being FT dogs) they simply have to be good and reliable, otherwise they wouldn't cut it and wouldn't be kept long.
Skye is trustworthy off-lead, will heel off-lead and on-lead and is great around other dogs - no problems whatsoever. Her younger brother, Shiloh, is just as good too, but at 15 weeks old, he's still learning but has promise is is far ahead of where his sister was at his age!

Sometimes it's worth looking outside the box to find something more suitable for yourself. Everyone told me I was mental for getting 'working sheepdogs' but I don't regret it for an instant. They're perfect family dogs that I can take home to my parents and they fit right in with their greyhounds, and cuddle up with my 11 year old brother and don't chase the cat, and similarly they're eager working dogs who just love to do what you ask of the.

I would make sure you know a bit more about the lines of this lab and can meet parents/dogs from previous litters to give yourself peace of mind if you do decide to take her on.

When we first got Ruby (Rottie/GSD cross) we met her parents and they were amazing - if I hadn't have had that peace of mind to know she's not 'born vicious' I would have ended up exacerbating her snappy behaviour by simply doubting she could be different.

I have to agree with previous posts and say that I think getting a dog would be hugely beneficial for your daughter, but only if it's the right dog.

 

[ian]

the first thing is to try and teach the kids how to behave around the dog. If the kids can stay calm around the pup (i know its very difficult) then your half way already. The dog will also need to know where he sits in the pack from day one.Basics like, feed the kids first, then the dog. Little things like walking through doorways into different parts of the house, let the kids go first. Don't 'mummy' the dog to much, at the end of the day, he is a dog not a baby. They think a whole lot differently to us (well not much different to men) eg, rest, sex, exercise, food and affection. I'm not saying never stroke the dog, but stroke the dog and give affection when the dog is nice and relaxed.

There's a great book, which is on the market and worth a read.

http/www.amazon.co.uk/Dogs-Mind-Pelham/dp/072071964X

^^ a must for any dog owner!

good luck with your decision Haych.

 

[Haych]

Thanks Vicki - very helpful - p.s- is it friday we're meeting then? you said friday OR saturday?

And thanks also ianho - but my issue isn't knowing that a dog should be "bottom of the pack" - and I do tell my children how to behave around dogs - the issue isn't my kids and knowing how to train - it's whether a dog would be good for my kids - but thank you anyway

 

[VickiandKev]

Thanks Vicki - very helpful - p.s- is it friday we're meeting then? you said friday OR saturday?

And thanks also ianho - but my issue isn't knowing that a dog should be "bottom of the pack" - and I do tell my children how to behave around dogs - the issue isn't my kids and knowing how to train - it's whether a dog would be good for my kids - but thank you anyway

Hi Haych - is Friday okay for you? Think it would be better for us simply because then Saturday won't be so mental as we might well be travelling back home on Saturday night.
If not, I can always bring a small tank and heater and the bristlies can go in that overnight

I can see that you know how to train and treat dogs, but sometimes, some dogs can show unwanted behaviours no matter what you do and I think in a home with a young child, it's very hard to take the risk and try and correct the behaviour (especially when it's intolerance of/aggression towards your child) whilst the dog is still in the home environment.

I think you can never say 'such and such a breed is bad', and I didn't mean to say that when I mentioned the breeds that have been 'overbred' but there are certain breeds that are more likely to exhibit certain behaviours (such as BCs go mental without stimulation, and some smaller breeds can be very narky towards other dogs etc) and you can minimise the risk of these being a problem if you go for more discriminately bred dogs. If that makes sense .....

 

[nano_reef_ubergeek]

As mentioned above, popular breeds can be a problem. This is because many unscrupulous breeders are not selective in terms of parentage .... there can even be inbreeding. My grandmother had a cocker spaniel that was born viscious and anti-social. Even as a puppy he bit my brother.

I've seen labrador retrievers before.... they are always cheerful and sociable .... but they have a lot of energy and need a big place --- either that or they need to taken to a park almost every day. Any animal can have mental problems if it does not get love and attention plus an outlet for some of it's built up energy.