Puppy Advice

Hello All,

Hope everyone is well

Soo....basically since I was a late teen I have wanted my own Newfoundland dog. It was what I had growing up but due to bad/uninformed breeding "back then" our family stopped having large dogs as it was just too hard to see them live such a short life. I am now in my late 20's and over the past 5+ years have made some great friendships at the local dog shows, which I attend whenever they are within an hours driving distance of Auckland. I have developed a strong relationship with a breeder who I see often and support at the shows. Anyway....I have been waiting for a puppy from her for around 3 years but she hasn't had a lot of luck with her matings.

Well Lo and behold she has a litter of puppies who will be able to leave for their new homes in the last weekend of June - of which she has offered me one HOWEVER I found out rather unexpectedly that my partner and I are expecting our first baby on 5 November!

I currently have 3 amazingly behaved cats who are just so easy going but I have also invested a lot of time with each of them to train them as they are now. As this is my first baby I have no idea how I, personally, will cope with a newborn but I know it will be a great challenge in life. While I haven't yet confirmed that I will be taking my puppy home I just wanted to get any feedback on this.

I am a huge animal advocate and would never take on a puppy if I couldn't guarantee that my home would be the last one it ever has. Part of me thinks that as I'd be halfway through my pregnancy, I'd have a good 4-5 months to train the dog up to prepare it. Another part of me feels strongly that its just not something I should accept if I have no idea if I will cope. I have a lot of support from friends and family but at the end of the day the "burden" of responsibility rests with you and your partner.

Hi Hopes

Thank you for your post - it has given me some encouragement. I admire my friend for the investment she puts into her dogs, I know its their welfare she cares for and not the money. She has never really bred to "supply the market" so I assumed that when I told her I was expecting that she would just say sorry, no which I would of accepted as I only wish to do right by her and her dogs.

A very close friend of mine is a little-person who has a 5 month old baby (3 months if she had been born at 40 weeks). Her hubby was a farmer who had little time off work when baby came home as it was spent with her in hospital as a premmy. He works 4am to 7pm and my friend stays at home with her gorgeous baby, her Lab, her 4 cats, 20 chickens, parrots and 4 rabbits! BUT even she said that I might struggle as she felt my last half of pregnancy should be spent resting.

Out of curiosity how old was your little girl when you started fostering the puppies (which by the way is very admirable!!!). I know a new baby will be hard but I am dedicated to ensuring my partner, my baby and my 3 cats all get love and obviously I have to work hard on that relationship. A dog would be no exception but I just wonder if someone will get left out?

Hey SethsMama! I believe your in the FB group with me that PeytonsMum started - congrats on baby number two :)

Wow a puppy two weeks before due date is impressive! Did you get a lot of negative comments from your family as that is one thing I am dreading should I proceed with my decision - suppose it doesn't help I already have 3 cats :(

The front pack suggestion is also a brilliant idea that I hadn't thought of! Will also probably give me much more control over walking a dog than it would if I had a stroller to control as well! I am also worried about the dog jumping up on me but as you also say that needs to come quickly with obedience training. In my past experience with these dogs, while they can be clumsy they do seem to gain an awareness of their size especially when socialised during puppy school with other dogs of all shapes and sizes.

I must say I was prepared for a lot of feedback saying a newborn is just too much on its own, let alone that and three cats and the THOUGHT of contemplating a puppy. You have definitely provided some encouragement to me so thank you very much!

Out of curiosity what made you decide to get a puppy so close to due date?

Thank you for sharing your story :) Sometimes gut instincts can be irational cravings to want something but more often than not they turn out to be a sign towards something that was just meant to be! In your case, thats what I believe your DH turning around the car was! I talked about it with my sisters the other day. Both are paediatric nurses, one who specialises in Paediatric intensive care and they both thought it was too much but then I have always been animal crazed - not often you meet people who go to dog shows as spectators for fun! lol So as you as can imagine I am definitely dreading my family's response, I think I have a tendency to care a bit more than I should about what others think which leads me to lose confidence in myself, guess I am a bit over-sensitive in that respect :)

Very well said SethsMama

We have two dogs and found the puppy stage very full on with both of them. I wouldn't get a new puppy around the same time as having a baby just because I would feel like I wouldn't be able to give either of them my undivided attention.

Nov_12_Bub wrote: Out of curiosity how old was your little girl when you started fostering the puppies (which by the way is very admirable!!!). I know a new baby will be hard but I am dedicated to ensuring my partner, my baby and my 3 cats all get love and obviously I have to work hard on that relationship. A dog would be no exception but I just wonder if someone will get left out?

We first fostered puppies when she was two months old - but that was only because there were first puppies to foster at that point. I could easily have started earlier. We did foster a couple of kittens when she was about a month old.

We didn't have two puppies at once, our dogs are 5 and 2 but individually we found them to be a lot of work. I guess by 6 months time you will have the hard parts sorted out like the initial training but I found with both my dogs that they had that puppy personality for the first couple of years so were quite crazy and we couldn't trust them not to destroy anything they got their paws on

Hi Nov_12_Bub
CONGRATULATIONS on your expectant bubs. My husband and I always wanted a dog but didn't think it would be fair on it while we were both at work all day. When we found out I was pregnant we went on the hunt to find ourselves a family dog. The plan was that by the time bubs got here it would be trained and not as much hard work on me having a puppy and new baby at home. Well we found ourselves a lovely little lab who is exactly the same age as what I am pregnant (so she's just on 8 months now and we got her at 6 weeks old). She was tough when she was little as a lot of training was required. The only thing I would have to say so afr is that as you get further along in your pregnancy it does become a little harder to do the walks every evening which I do with her. If we don't walk then she goes a bit mental around the house she is well trained now though and she sleeps outside which is a bonus as when I've had enough she happily goes outside. At 8 months she does CHEW A LOT!!! Namely SHOES!!! This will mean I'll need to keep an eye out on bubs toys I guess. Also when bubs is little I won't be able to just put a mat on the ground for baby to kick on unless I'm standing there watching as our lovely lab will probably lick and lick and lick every chance she gets... could be a bit much for a new baby! Hope this helps. I think it's good that you have experienced having a dog before as you kind of know what to expect. Hope this helps maybe just a little.

We left our 6 month old lab alone inside for an hour one time when we went out and we got home she had chewed through all of our remotes and our phone! Honestly they are chew-aholics when they are young but now they are both older they can stay inside all day by themselves (when we're at work and it's raining) and they don't touch a thing