I was never put into this situation but would visit first alone and if one touched by heart would then bring my child/kids to meet , also any dogs it would be associated with . Daughter and SOL love one dog , when he was introduced to Hunter he attacked Hunter , Ollie stayed in the car for the next test , but that's was all we needed . Poor dog , he'd never showed aggression . I hope he got help as he was a cutie /
Would you take your young child to pick out a dog?
- Thread starter CaliTerp07
- Start date
To understand what smkie?
(not sarcasm, you might mean something different than what I am thinking you mean, LOL)
To understand they don't always get what they want and what mom and dad say GOES? I started teaching THAT from about the time they could use their hands and reach for things, LOL. I wasn't a parent who cleared the coffee table of every home we visited.......no means no at any age and just like puppies, bad habits let go early are just harder to train out later, LOL
(not sarcasm, you might mean something different than what I am thinking you mean, LOL)
To understand they don't always get what they want and what mom and dad say GOES? I started teaching THAT from about the time they could use their hands and reach for things, LOL. I wasn't a parent who cleared the coffee table of every home we visited.......no means no at any age and just like puppies, bad habits let go early are just harder to train out later, LOL
To understand that we are just checking it out not necessarily taking this one home. I don't know, some 5 are so mature and others are just not. I can see 7 handling that fine. But five to me is still pretty young. Hyia has never thrown a fit anywhere to get her way. I would not tolerate it for a second. THe rule at the play park was you leave like a lady an we will come back soon. Cry about it and it will be twice as long before I bring you back. So it isn't like that. SHe has never done anything like that anywhere. Falling in love is a different story. If she saw something fuzzy and wagging her heart would have done a flip at five. I am sure she woudln't have thrown a fit, but she might have leaked some tears and I dont' see why that is necessary.
Well Christina (my oldest girl) isn't an animal person, doesn't care either way BUT, she LOVES clothes, shoes, accessories and always has. At age 5-6 she would get disappointed (VERY sad) if she didn't get a certain pair of boots/pants/skirt/bracelet that she saw at the store (she can still be that way NOW with some things). So what? It's part of life, we don't always get what we want, best to learn it now and move forward. Should I have NOT taken her anywhere they sold those kind of things? LOL........noway!
*shrugs* I think you might see it differently because you know YOUR heart and how you feel about fuzzy things....(instead of clothes etc).....shoot, I would save them ALL and live in a zoo if I could but that is not reality.
*shrugs* I think you might see it differently because you know YOUR heart and how you feel about fuzzy things....(instead of clothes etc).....shoot, I would save them ALL and live in a zoo if I could but that is not reality.
I would bring my child--but I would certainly preset them to the thought that we are going to "visit a dog"--no need to say we are getting a dog, until it is official. But certainly would want to see how they interacted.
I think a five year old could handle this, I even think a three year old could handle it. Depends on how it is done--parents need to be smart about how the present things.
I think a five year old could handle this, I even think a three year old could handle it. Depends on how it is done--parents need to be smart about how the present things.
I think it's up to the parents to make it CLEAR that this may NOT be the dog you are taking home. I don't think 5 years old is too young to understand this at all but it needs to be made clear to them before hand and I think maybe that's the underlying issue.
like "Ok we are going to look at a dog and see if we want to take her home" for 5 years old that leaves a little TOO much to the imagination and doesn't make it clear that this dog may not be coming home. for a kid this means you are going to look at a dog that could come home with you lol. I think it flat out needs to be said in no uncertain terms that this dog is NOT coming home with us for sure.
like "Ok we are going to look at a dog and see if we want to take her home" for 5 years old that leaves a little TOO much to the imagination and doesn't make it clear that this dog may not be coming home. for a kid this means you are going to look at a dog that could come home with you lol. I think it flat out needs to be said in no uncertain terms that this dog is NOT coming home with us for sure.
^^ this. I don't have kids but my mom took me plenty of times to evaluate litters when I was little and it was understood I couldn't just walk out with any puppy I wanted. Leading the kid up to it is the main problem I think ... "Honey, let's go get a doggy. Oh darn, they gave her to someone else. Sorry!" is not the way to do it. Instead "Honey, let's go to the shelter and look at the dogs. If we find a dog that I think will fit the family, we can discuss it. But don't be disappointed if we don't find one. The right dog will come along."
If I had kids, I suppose I wouldn't be too bothered if they got upset that they couldn't have the dog that they wanted. They'll move on. Especially if you end up getting a different dog.... then they'll be happy that they got that dog and won't even remember the other one.
I was 5 or 6 when we got Molly and I went with every time we went to visit dogs. And we visited a lot. I remember bringing a dog home only to give it back not too long after... I may have been upset but oh well. Wouldn't be the last time my parents made me upset lol.
I was 5 or 6 when we got Molly and I went with every time we went to visit dogs. And we visited a lot. I remember bringing a dog home only to give it back not too long after... I may have been upset but oh well. Wouldn't be the last time my parents made me upset lol.
For me personally I agree with Grammy. I want to have the first visit by myself to evaluate. It was my job at the kennels to visit and chose the first pick for my boss for the litters his dog sired. Maybe it's just habit. I will watch a litter for a long time before I even make a step further. I would not want the distraction.
WIth that said, I made up my mind about Victor from a photograph and it's a darn good thing I did because when i first saw him in life...i thought OMG what am i getting myself into.
WIth that said, I made up my mind about Victor from a photograph and it's a darn good thing I did because when i first saw him in life...i thought OMG what am i getting myself into.
and that works fine if you are getting a dog from a breeder or a foster like caliterp
butg when we went to see Beezer... it was NOW or not. We went in... saw him... he visited with Belle (I was only pregnant at this time) and we went for a walk. after the walk when he was outside beyond the chaos and into a peaceful environment he was amazing and that's when we decided we could handle him but we didn't think he could come home with us that DAY so we weren't really prepared (belle took two WEEKS to get spayed just to come home lol) but they needed us to take him THAT DAY.
there was no second and CERTAINLY no third visit unless he was left over. but they would NOT hold him for us. if another family came and wanted him in the meantime they got him
so that's not always possible if you want to rescue a dog.
and while he was TOTALLY insane and when I first saw him I thought "not a snowballs chance in hell are we taking this dog home" when we took him outside with US ALONE... it was plainly clear he was OURS. and so far haven't regretted that decision. So I'm thinking of this from a totally shelter perspective. while our shelter won't even adopt to us now if we wanted one because they don't adopt to families with young children.
Luckily both of our dogs were from shelters where we only met them once and they met our "family" at the time. I'm very happy to have them both and so glad to have saved them and they work perfectly with our family and with Hannah. PHEW
butg when we went to see Beezer... it was NOW or not. We went in... saw him... he visited with Belle (I was only pregnant at this time) and we went for a walk. after the walk when he was outside beyond the chaos and into a peaceful environment he was amazing and that's when we decided we could handle him but we didn't think he could come home with us that DAY so we weren't really prepared (belle took two WEEKS to get spayed just to come home lol) but they needed us to take him THAT DAY.
there was no second and CERTAINLY no third visit unless he was left over. but they would NOT hold him for us. if another family came and wanted him in the meantime they got him
so that's not always possible if you want to rescue a dog.
and while he was TOTALLY insane and when I first saw him I thought "not a snowballs chance in hell are we taking this dog home" when we took him outside with US ALONE... it was plainly clear he was OURS. and so far haven't regretted that decision. So I'm thinking of this from a totally shelter perspective. while our shelter won't even adopt to us now if we wanted one because they don't adopt to families with young children.
Luckily both of our dogs were from shelters where we only met them once and they met our "family" at the time. I'm very happy to have them both and so glad to have saved them and they work perfectly with our family and with Hannah. PHEW
WIth that said, I made up my mind about Victor from a photograph and it's a darn good thing I did because when i first saw him in life...i thought OMG what am i getting myself into.
he was wild, crazy and tore open the thumb of the woman who worked there who brought him in on a leash. He was completely INSANE. they had to carry him up the stairs even because he wouldn't take the stairs on his own. He was OUT of control. and I thought OMG we are NOT taking this dog home.
We brought belle in and things got better actually. they met, they played and they drank from the same water bowl at the same time.
and then they asked us if we wanted to try to walk him. Leashes were his big issue. we thought HA ok we will try. they put a leash on him and he went CRAZY. then they h anded the leash to brian and POOF... he was a different dog. I can't explain it. Brian took the leash and he calmed... IMMEDIATELY. they had told us before that no one had been able to walk him and that's why no one had taken him.
but Brian took the lead and he was cool. We walked outside (I had belle and Brian had Beezer) and we had a nice, calm, uneventful walk. we even took him up some steps and he was a complete angel.
it was then that we knew he was coming home with us no matter what.
I guess sometimes you jusgt KNOW and other times you don't and no matter how many visits... I feel if you don't just KNOW it... it's not right.