[Closed] Advise needed -wife and kids pestering me to get dog

If you're happy walking it twice a day in a months time when the novelty's worn off then carry on 😉

At least get something you can take on a bike ride with you.

Are bulldogs good with children - I think I'd be looking at 'softer mouthed' dogs.

This happened when I was a kid - we all wanted a dog. My dad hated them. We ended up with a puppy and it took a playful nip out of my younger brother a couple of days after we got it (really no harm done whatsoever) and he took it straight back to the sanctuary and we never got another.

Basically he just used that as his get out.

It worked.

If you like the outdoors,and there is someone around during the day, then get one. Otherwise hmm - trickier decison, depend how cute he is.
Ideally you need to live near a field that leads onto a pub, used to work for me.

Dogs are good..when I was a kid my old man resisted like you, being the little shits we were we smuggled a puppy in when he went to bed and when it woke him up howling at three AM, I thought he was going to explode..
By three thirty AM he was sitting on the sofa with the puppy on his lap asleep and they were inseparable for the next fourteen years...
Dogs are good...

Just say no, or get a cat.
Dogs are rubbish.

Tell them they can never have another foreign holiday and the only weekends away they'll have are at dog friendly campsite in the rain until the dog dies as it's not fair and too expensive to keep putting the dog in kennels.

That's what my wife keeps saying to me & the kids everytime we ask for a dog - it's worked so far.

and a Bulldog would be very close to the bottom of my list of breeds to choose from.

Similar situation here in the slack household, everything from gerbils, hamsters, cat (definitely not) and also dog.

I love dogs, especially the one's that enjoy biking with me, however, our location is not ideal, so it's on hold.

I have found a wonderful deterrent to all such requests... Request that the younger members of the household put together a 'How To Care For Our Pet' folder/dossier. With: Pictures, how they need to be exercised, fed, cleaned, family friendly traits, yadda yadda.

Extinguishes such requests almost instantly. 😀

Get them both up at 6am for a walk every day for the next couple of weeks, DESPITE the weather. Then chew some furniture and pi$$ in some shoes.

I'm sure the appeal will wear off a little 😛

I love dogs, not sure I can be arsed with owning one though as I am pretty regularly out of the house for 12+ hours a day, wouldn't be fair on the little critter.

Mrshora pestered me to get a garden as she fancied having a nice garden and dabbling with it..

I ended up doing EVERYTHING with it.

Mrshora fancied a dog to walk.... I ended up doing EVERYTHING for it.

IF your wife like mine tell her to **** off! 😆

do you have a convenient tree or bush to hang poo bags from ?

Toby ,still laughing

[quote=wwaswas said]If you're happy walking it twice a day in a months time when the novelty's worn off then carry on

This

If you can answer Yes to this lot, I suppose you're mad enough to agree to get a dog:

- you can afford the vet bills

- you are happy to pay the vet bills

- you're happy to walk it twice a day, regardless of the weather, which you will end up doing because the rest of your family only really want a dog as a plaything for the house

- you're happy to pay through the nose to put the thing in a kennels when you go on holiday

- you're happy for the carpets to be ruined when it gets diarrhoea. which it will.

- you're happy for bits of furniture to be chewed

- you're happy for the whole house to reek of dog

- you love all your posessions somehow permanently covered in hairs

- you can't all go out for more than 4 hours at a time without taking the flipping thing with you

- etc

Cat.

Dogs are ace. They are a tie, and expensive, and it hurts when it comes to say goodbye BUT the good stuff outweighs the bad stuff by a million percent squared to the power of 10.

Bulldogs are lovely - no such thing as a bad dog, only a bad owner.

pluses
They are a bit soppy and amusing to have around.
They may well help to deter burglars and keep your bike safe.

minuses
They require feeding.
They require training.
They need exercise, probably twice a day.
They need to have their faeces collected and disposed of.
They may require the vet at some point. payg or pet insurance?
They smell bad, some breeds worse than others.
Your furniture and clothes will never again be hair free, again some breeds worse than others.
They require all of these things 365 days a year for the next 10-12 years.

If the pluses hold more weight than the minuses for you then I reckon you should get the dog.

Get a dog, they're ace.

Assuming that it would fit with your lifestyle, availability / willingness to walk it, sufficient funds for food, vets bills, kennels if you need to leave it when you're on holiday etc....

[url= http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/657395 ]Dogs are great...[/url]

The best one is coming downstairs half asleep on a lazy Sunday morning and bare foot stepping in poo. That was fun.

We have a lab-cross-boxer and she is great with the kids (2yr old twins). Plus their immune systems are going to be rock solid.

[i]- you're happy to walk it twice a day, regardless of the weather, which you will end up doing because the rest of your family only really want a dog as a plaything for the house[/i]
Brilliant excuse to ride EVERY DAY (not a bulldog though!)

[i]you're happy to pay through the nose to put the thing in a kennels when you go on holiday[/i]
House/dog sitter. Looks after house AND dog.

[i]you're happy for the carpets to be ruined when it gets diarrhoea. which it will.[/i]
There's a fair bit of cleaning up shit.

[i]you're happy for bits of furniture to be chewed[/i]
Depends on the dog. Mine was a food thief, not furniture wrecker. Train it!

[i]you're happy for the whole house to reek of dog[/i]
Depends on the breed. Shorthair dogs don't smell (or molt) as much.

[i]you love all your posessions somehow permanently covered in hairs[/i]
See above

[i]you can't all go out for more than 4 hours at a time without taking the flipping thing with you[/i]
yes you can

There are some positives!

[i]The best one is coming downstairs half asleep on a lazy Sunday morning and bare foot stepping in poo. That was fun[/i]

Ah, done that. In socks (family dog, not mine) 🙁
My brother was telling me yesterday that a mate of his actually stepped on the puppy. Killed it 🙁

I wouldn't be without my dog - mans best friend.

best thing was when he rolled in a dead seal on the beach.... 😯
and ate one of my parents chickens

apart from that its all good!

If you even have to ask then I expect you dont need one...

peasant - glad I could bring some cheer to your predicament 🙂

[EDIT] Someone should have mentioned that if you don't get one you will be the bad guy of the house!

Get a dog.

I grew up with cats, never saw the appeal of dogs....need walking, training etc etc....

Got together with girlfriend who did grow up with dogs, pestered me to get a dog....eventually gave in and got a dog, i stipulated that it must be small and have short hair so it doesnt stink the place out....

We came home with a Jack Russell and he's awesome, i wouldnt be without one now....i take him on rides, love walking him and when i've got errands to run he sits on the passenger seat and travels with me....with his head out the window like a mentalist of course!

He's also a great ratter:

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There is also the trail-dog fun you can have (if you train it right).

Came across a guy in thetford the other day with what I think was a pointer-esq breed. Did look kinda cool, dog taking the bends tight tucked in behind the bike.

NB-sorry to bring this back to bikes. 😉

We've had black labradors for 17 years now. Like many have said, having them around is great, but dogs do require a lot of commitment.

They are walked twice a day (morning 1 hour and evening 1.5 hours at least) and fed twice a day. It certainly means you get lots of fresh air, but not always in the fairest conditions. June for example, has required at least two towels a day to dry them, so lots of towel washes. Your house will develop the unavoidable dog 'smell', but it's not something you notice yourself, i guess. If you and your wife both work, the dog is very likely to get up to mischief while you are away especially 8 hrs+. We've just had our chairs re-upholstered at a cost of £600 because the youngest one chewed (and my wife is at home with them all day). He's two years old now and past that phase.

Kennels are expensive, it can be almost the cost of taking one of your children on holiday.

They moult, so hoovering is a daily job. At certain times of the year (Spring/Autumn) they moult even more. Black hair everywhere. Your carpets, clothes, chairs, beds (even when they have'nt been in there) and on your food.

Vets can get expensive. Consultation, medication, boosters and then of course, the dreaded final visit to the vet. Emotionally, very hard, trust me, i've done it twice.

From what you've said, the pressure is coming from your wife/kids. Two examples, same outcome.

My mate at work had exactly the same, from the wife and kids. They promised to walk and feed the dog every day, regardless of weather. When it was a pup, it was walked for the first week. Then it rained and the kids starting complaining that they can't get out to see their friends because they have to walk the dog. His Mrs was to tired after being at work all day, So now he walks it, feeds it, has given up his gym and now two years on, it's not a puppy any more and the kids are too busy doing other things.

Second: A girl we see every night with her Shitzu. Her daughter (aged 18) wanted it, got it and allowed it (at 8 weeks) to sleep on her bed at night. Fine until it peed on the bed, then she did'nt want to know. So Mum walks it instead

To summarise: you have to walk them in the best and worst of weather, hoover the carpet to death, put up with a house that smells of dog, accept that dog hair is everywhere and pay kennel fees if you go away.

Don't get me wrong, our dogs are part of the family and i love having them around. We stopped doing overseas holidays and instead bought a static caravan in the lakes so that the dogs would be with us. From my perspective, win/win - the wife and I take the dogs and I get to ride in the lakes every weekend, often multiple rides.

Please, please don't get the dog unless you are committed to all the things that people have said above. They can be hard work, but very rewarding.

My thoughts 🙂

That no such thing as a bad dog, only a bad owner thing is not true.

The best one is coming downstairs half asleep on a lazy Sunday morning and bare foot stepping in poo. That was fun.

Or opening a room door and discovering it's crapped behind it and you now have a poo smeared across the floor 8)

We used puppy pads when house training, they are a bit larger than an A4 sheet of paper and impregnated with something that the dog is attracted to, they pee and poo on these pads instead of the floor....you gradually move them closer to an outside door then when you see the dog sniffing around you can put him/her outside....they soon learn the link.

Obviously you cant watch them every minute of every day so thats where they become useful for catching the 'accidents'....

godzilla - Member
Just say no, or get a cat.
Dogs are rubbish.

Not a truer word said!!!

Just to dispel some myths, we have had ours from 12 weeks old till now when she's 3. She has never shit in the house and has never chewed anything apart from a few books when she was young. She is happy being left all day in the back with her kennel. Trainingand walking a dog are the best bits of owning a dog even at 6 am oam on a wet december morning!

dogs are excellent

and its ADVICE 🙂

Go for it.. I was in exactly the same situation..

my maniac 3 year old son has been pestering me for weeks to get a watermelon.. I eventually gave in to his demands today.. he's wiser than he looks, I'd forgotten how delicious they are.. omnomnom

Wev'e got one cos the Mrs wanted one. She loves the dog more than me. I don't mind the dog but I wouldn't have one myself. It's a PITA when you want to go away as you either have to pay daft money for it to be looked after or your'e limited as to where you can go. Hairs everywhere. Dog poo is the only smell on earth that makes me retch therefore I do not walk the dog. After I'v done god knows how many early starts at work & want a lie in, the dog wakes me up at 06.00 (usually for nothing other than she's sick of lying on the settee) If we don't take the dog with us at anytime it's 'we have to get home for the dog'

I prefer the cat.

Get a dog.
Then train it to bite women and children. 😀

Some excellent replies ,but it may be to late !!!the wife and eldest (19yrs) are off to oxford to have a look at a english bulldog 3 yrs old, for £100 which i,m told is cheap ,the owner is going back to asia and its going to cost him at lot to take it with him ,I have shown them this post and talked it through,someone is at home most times and the eldest is not going at holiday with us so no worries there,I will keep you posted !!

I asked the same question on here a few months ago, 1st family dog, spaniel? I think was the question.
I went against most of the advise and bought a dog. The kids don't have much to do with him but I love walking him every day and cleaning up after an accident in the kitchen isn't too bad until he's toilet trained. He even comes to work with me 2 days a week.
Bulldogs do seem to have a lot of health problems now and they fart like you wouldn't believe, they can be really lazy dogs, I had 2 when I was a kid, they would not walk very far and if they did, they wouldn't want to walk home. 😉
The only reason I didn't get a bulldog Is because I want him to be able to go out on the trails with me.
If you have the time for 1, go for it. They become part of the family immediately

£100??? Get him checked over before you commit !

You have to ask why someone is selling a grown up dog. Good owners = good dogs. Good dogd dont get sold.

Dude, you're getting forced into having a dog and it's second hand? Stick it on ebay and get a new one.

They're like phones, right?

I wouldn't go with a bulldog as a first dog personally and they aint much use as a trail dog, not fast enough and they can be very dodgy (=expensive) due to overbreeding, read up on them, good ones are £850+ so find out why it's so cheap.

Other dogs to avoid = Doberman, bloody nuisance, difficult to train but fast as hell, I can't stay with him.

A lab is a good first dog, they're generally reliable if you're not used to dog ownership all of which has been amply described.

Personally we as a family wouldn't be without one, love them to bits and are currently dealing with another puppy, Doberman cross Jack Russell, (don't ask, it goes with the other one and the furniture).

We've had Stan, our Bedlington for coming on a year. Non-shedding, amazing with the kids, mad as a box of frogs and was a trouble free pup - ignoring a brief phase of sh1ttng on my wife's favourite rug (straight after we had him 'done' - was like a revenge thing)

I'm from a family that always had cats so was a little reluctant as just seemed like an awfully big commitment - turns out to be one of the best things we ever did.

Bedlington's are ace as a breed too...

Tell them they can never have another foreign holiday and the only weekends away they'll have are at dog friendly campsite in the rain until the dog dies as it's not fair and too expensive to keep putting the dog in kennels.

Wrong. A pet passport will allow you foreign holidays in Europe. Choose wisely and hotels/holiday cottages allow dogs in the rooms.

Would advise against a terrier breed unless you can be as stubborn as they are to start with. With a second-hand dog you have to undertake a bit of a battle of wills to establish the pack hierarchy, this can be as short as a week or can go on for months!

Dogs are ace if you give them a chance.

Mrs Cat won't have one cos she's never owned one and does not understand the "joy of dog!"

Dogs can live outside in a kennel, they are pretty hardy and some breed would be far healthier outside than in a centrally heated house (may let them in during the depths of winter - though most of the shepherds round here leave theirs out).

Mrs Cat's uncle has a bullldog and she walks for miles albeit slowly and with regular wheeze stops. They are droolmonsters so forget new carpets and furniture if it lives inside.

Desperate to have another dog, may get one when the kids leave home as I'll need someone to talk to. 🙂

Most of the negatives people are mentioning like them being smelly, messy, a tie, a drain on disposable income. The OP has children already!!!!

The dog may be all these things, but in a lesser measure.

To me, a house doesn't feel like a home without a dog.

Op- I wouldn't touch that £100 bulldog with a badge poll. In fact I wouldn't touch a bulldog as a first time dog full stop. ( can have a lot of health issues, especially one for £100 ). What sort of research have the famliey done with regards to fitting into your lifestyle?

Don't don't look after themselves. Cat's do (apart from the feeding while you're away on hols) - get a cat!
They don't smell as bad as dogs either & sometimes you can train one to go for a short walk with you...

Dogs are a huge bind. Even simple days out have to be planned for if the dog is not permitted to come. Take last week's Christening, for example. Christening at 12.00 followed by party afterwards. You have to get home for the dogs at some point so you dont drink at the party and slope off in the car to take the dogs out for a good run.

Fancy a day trip with the kids somewhere that doesnt permit dogs? Get them in the kennels or persuade a relative to walk them for you. Maybe you are visiting relatives and you want to stay overnight?

Dogs are a huge pain in the arse and I never wanted one...but...

We got one in the end..then another. I honestly can't imagine the house without them in now. loves 'em

I wont have another cat though. They bugger off out the cat flap and you never know if they will make it back. We recently had one put down after he had struggled home after being run over 🙁

edit. My Springer has just laid a paw on me to remind me the Saturday woods are calling.

Get a black and white one, the licence is cheaper.

... Ah they were the days

Did your wife get the dog?

Ditch the carpets downstairs for vinyl or wooden floors. Most of 'Dog' smells in a house comes from carpet. You will notice by using a solid floor covering and the daily mess a dog creates just how much dirt and hair a carpet can hold on to.
I've been without a Collie in my life for six years now since I moved out of my folks. Me and the missus however have just been to make another visit to our first puppy that we bought a couple of weeks ago at just two weeks old. She is four weeks old now and we still have another four weeks wait until we can have her finally.

A dog will always change your life. They need you and want to be involved, just make sure that's what you want.. 😕

Oh, and house rabbits can be awesome. Very low maintenance and very terratorial when it comes to shi**ing!

Just tell them it's their job, always, and they can't go on holiday unless they ensure the dogs minding is paid for (average of about £15 a day on top of your hoildays if you can't take the dog, i.e. anywhere abroad):
[img] [/img]

Dogs can go abroad. Pet passport required. Details are on the [url= http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/pets/travel/pets/ ]DEFRA website[/url]

Just tell them it's their job, always

It can be entertaining to have around I suppose. It can be very affectionate, which is nice. But don't think I'd miss it if it wasn't here.

We're dog-sitting our daughters bulldog at the moment. She is getting on a bit but lots of health problems, as suggested above. No real character as far as I can tell. Wouldn't want one.
We had a rescue greyhound, which was my first dog. Fantastic. Needs very little exercise, laid back, lovely character (unless you're a cat, then you're dinner)and brilliant with kids. Would strongly recommend visiting a greyhound rehoming charity. They'll find a dog that suits you and your lifestyle (or tell you if you aren't suitable). I'd suspect they'll want less than £100 donation too.

Red the greyhound enjoying his retirement on a beach in Kintyre...

[IMG] [/IMG]

Rob

Dogs can go abroad. Pet passport required. Details are on the DEFRA website

Obviously. But I don't know anyone who can be bothered with the trouble if it's not just popping over on teh ferry.

Have lived with dogs most of my life. Most of the above is true. Would avoid a heavily in-bred dog (like a bulldog) like the plague as the most in-bred breeds often have major health problems. Seeing as you have kids I'd also avoid buying an adult dof that you know nothing about - if its been mistreated it could turn on you/the kids with no warning. Either go to a breeder and get a lab or a bedlington and be prepared to cough up, or go to a good dog's home where they will interview you, check you (and your house) out and match you with a dog that is right for you. If they're really good they'll insist you walk it daily for a couple of weeks before they let you take it home. A dog can be the one of the best things that ever happened to you, but its a big responsibility and commitment and you need to do your research properly. FWIW I wouldn't touch that bulldog with a bargepole....