Rip's Girl said:
Man.. I dunno if I could handle kids, since I hear that dogs are so much easier than kids.. Dogs give me a good run for my money!
Ok, I'm gonna say this, and some fellow parents on this board may disagree with me, but...
I truly felt that the first few weeks with Sophie were
harder than the first few weeks with my kids.
Sleep? Forget about it. With my babies I was up every 2-3 hours, but I just had to latch the baby on, nurse him/her, and go back to sleep. With Sophie, I had to take her outside every 2-3 hours, either woken by her cries OR by the alarm I set to prevent her from peeing in her crate, and stand outside in my pajamas in the cold/rain/wind at 4 in the morning saying "Go potty, Sophie...go potty...go potty...c'mon...go potty"
Activeness? Babies eat and sleep. They don't move much early on. Puppies? As soon as I can find the Mexican jumping bean inside my puppy, maybe I'll get to sit down for more than 2.5 seconds when she's in the room.
Chewing? Babies don't chew on anything. Puppies chew on
everything.
Training? You don't need to train a baby to do anything. You need to train a puppy to do everything.
Stealing? Sophie is a little thief. She spots something, sneaks up on it, yanks it, and takes off. Then the chase is on. If it's my keys and we're just about to leave, this can be annoying. If it's Barbie's sister Kelly and the four year old is screaming "MY KELLY! SOPHIE HAS MY KELLY!", this can be annoying too.
Cuddleness? Babies are far better cuddlers. They also don't lick your face when you talk to them.
Bathing? It's easier to bathe a baby and you don't have to hire a groomer for anything - for a while at least.
Vet visits vs doctor visits - with our healthcare insurance, I can say that my dog's medical care expense far exceeds the total out of pocket expense for a family of four. I pay $45 for a doggie shot, and $0 for a kiddie shot.
(It's also much cheaper to feed a baby. Breastmilk is free. Dog food is not. )
That said, I don't expect the experience of raising a puppy to be anything like raising a child, and it irks me when people get pets for "practice." That isn't preparing you to raise a child?! The only thing I think it does prepare some people for is the care of another being besides oneself, and owning pets prior to children did prepare me for that. But I don't think that dogs are, per se, "easier" than kids. Much different, but not in a sense "easier."