Posted by fallsfall on December 9, 2003, at 6:52:40
In reply to Thanks so much, posted by Psychopoppy on December 8, 2003, at 19:14:45
I got a Springer Spaniel puppy when I was 8 months pregnant - couldn't hold off those Mommy urges any longer. The puppy was a handful until he died at age 9 - I loved him dearly. We had him fixed when he started marking his territory in the living room - we wanted to make it clear that the playpen was NOT his territory.
So I solved the "which comes first, the baby or the puppy" by getting them at the same time. I don't know if I recommend that strategy, but it did work for me.
I agree that it really depends on the breed of dog - and the personality of the individual dog.
I have 2 cocker spaniels now. I found them on the internet. They had been with their family for 5 and 6 years, respecively. But the family had a baby, and the 1 year old was now beating them on the head with wooden spoons and pulling their ears. Cockers usually don't do well with small children unless they grew up with small children (and their case wasn't so much that they wouldn't get along with the child, as that the child wasn't understanding not to hurt them). My youngest was 13 - and we all get along fine.
Good luck!
poster:fallsfall
thread:287337
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20031207/msgs/287960.html