Which came first the pup or the baby?

Last night I was talking to my mom about getting a puppy and she mentioned to me that someone had told her when she and my dad got a puppy (as newlyweds) that they should have had children first and then gotten the puppy so the dog would not be jealous of the child.

What do you think of this?


ETA: I think this came up b/c my parents are lobbying to be the grandparents of a two-legged grandchild before becoming grandparents to the four-legged sort!

Message edited 1/22/2008 4:41:46 PM.

Re: Which came first the pup or the baby?

4 pups, then my human baby

Re: Which came first the pup or the baby?

And did you have any issues with jealousy?

Re: Which came first the pup or the baby?

honestly--i really think that puppies understand that babies/toddlers are someone to protect.

my parents always had dogs--as do my friends....and then they had kids. when my brother had his daughter--our parents dog was always careful when she was a baby.

obviously every breed is different--but i think its pretty common to have a dog first and then a child. that way the dog grows up with the baby!

Re: Which came first the pup or the baby?

I have two dogs. I am currently having a baby in july.

Re: Which came first the pup or the baby?

Puppy first, baby will come later. We want Kasey to be older and calmed down/more mature before we bring a baby into the house. She's rough with DD (who is 10), I couldn't imagine her with a baby right now.

Kevin had a dog with his 1st wife before they had DD. The dog wasn't jealous when she was born, instead he became VERY protective of her and wouldn't even let them near her!!

I think it's all in the way that you introduce the baby to the dog.

ETA: Jennie, it sounds like your parents and my mom are on the same Pro-Grandchildren committee!!

Message edited 1/22/2008 4:47:24 PM.

Re: Which came first the pup or the baby?

Pups first.

Training a puppy is very hard and I knew if I had a baby, I would have had to wait another 4 years to have a puppy. Or maybe it would have never happened and I wanted a pup badly.

Truth it also pups are so much like babies that you really have a good idea what kind of parent your SO will be to a child (at least in some cases). We treat our dogs like children and it was nice to see that side of my Dh before kids come along.

Message edited 1/22/2008 5:09:07 PM.

Re: Which came first the pup or the baby?

Re: Which came first the pup or the baby?

Puppy first

I figured, if DH can get used to pee and poop on the floor, it would look that much better in a diaper when the time comes!

(the first 2 weeks of training were ROUGH!)

Re: Which came first the pup or the baby?

3 pups and now a baby on the way

Re: Which came first the pup or the baby?

Message edited 1/30/2009 11:43:56 AM.

Re: Which came first the pup or the baby?

As you know, we had the dog first. It seems tough but it is all I know. In a way I feel bad that Oscar is already almost 4, and Dylan will probably still be young when his first dog dies. Oh, I hate when I even think like that.

Re: Which came first the pup or the baby?

Misty will be almost 4 when baby is born...we are hoping for no major issues.

Re: Which came first the pup or the baby?

Posted by imthecindyofcindyandkevin

ETA: Jennie, it sounds like your parents and my mom are on the same Pro-Grandchildren committee!!

Re: Which came first the pup or the baby?

Posted by scarletbegonia

Puppy first

I figured, if DH can get used to pee and poop on the floor, it would look that much better in a diaper when the time comes!

(the first 2 weeks of training were ROUGH!)

Re: Which came first the pup or the baby?

Puppy first!!

We just got married in May, bought a house in Oct and I figured might as well get the puppy now so we can train her, give her the attention she needs, etc.. it is also good practice IMO to have such a huge responsibility such as a pet, It gives you a little taste of altering your day to day life routine, not being able to come and go as you please anymore, etc...Makes you appreciate things a lot more also!!

Babies will be down the line

Re: Which came first the pup or the baby?

we had sandy for 3 years before mikayla was born