I still remember Charlie. If a dog could be accused of being spoiled, it was that Cocker Spaniel that my friends adopted shortly after being married. For three years our group was inundated with the latest Charlie stories and pictures, just as though Charlie were their human baby. It never occurred to any of us that when they found out they were expecting a real human baby, the first thing they’d do was take Charlie to a shelter.
“We just couldn’t take chances on how he’d be with a baby,” they explained later. We never knew if Charlie was adopted. We only hope that when they were expecting their second child, they don’t worry that the first one might hurt it.
Unfortunately, their reaction is not unusual. One of the most common reasons people give up the dogs they once the considered the baby of the family is because they are now expecting a human baby.
On the other hand, one of the most common reasons people get a dog is for the children.
There’s no need to give up a dog or even postpone getting a puppy just because a baby’s on the way, assuming you have the energy and patience to deal with both a baby person and a baby dog.
But first, some words of caution.
- Don’t get a puppy as a practice baby. You would not adopt a child as a practice child. A dog is for life, not practice.
- Don’t get a puppy to teach a child responsibility. It doesn’t. If the puppy has to depend on the child to be walked and fed, it’s going to be a frustrated and hungry puppy, for reasons it had nothing to do with. Children can help care for a dog, but ultimately the responsibility is yours.
- Don’t leave dogs and babies or young children unsupervised. Children may know better than to tease or hurt the dog, but that doesn’t always stop them. And dogs are dogs, with the capacity to injure small children seriously.
Are babies safe around dogs? >>
