Parenting: 1-Year-Olds Community

We have two dogs

One is a Sheppard/Pitt Bull Mix..... She has grown on Tyler. Initially we where going to get rid of her when Tyler was born because she can have "dogattitude" sometimes she just does not want to be messed with. But she eneded up doing really good with Tyler she just runs from him when she sees him coming. But Tyler rolls with he ron the floor and gets his kisses all the time from her now.

Second is a Terrier/Pitt Bull Mix..... She is old and she could care less what Tyler does to her. He lays on top of her, uses her as a pillow, He basically does everything he shouldnt to her and she just lays their and lets him do it.

Needless to say he loves his Dogs and his Dogs love him! Your daughter is going to torture the puppy... but that is good the puppy will learn from a young age that its "normal" to be pulled by the tail and everything else... and wont care. He will be very protective of her. What always worked for us when puupy training is taking them outside every hour on the dot.. and if they had accidents in the house which they do.. we would show them what they did and put them outside right away so they would learn to go outside. Hope that Helps good luck with the Puppy!

We have two-

Sammy is a chihuaha (sp)/Sheba mix- basically he is a 25 lb chihuaha. He is great for the most part with DS. Sometimes DS gets a little too rough and drags him by his tail. They love to play ball together and DS loves to takes his toys and make Sammy chase him.

Bailey- min pin/dauschand (sp) mix. She is not really good with kids. She just wants to cuddle up and sleep. She will growl if DS comes near her but she never bites. Trust me its has been tested. DS tried to pull her out from under the bed by her ears She would definitely prefer to be in a no kids house but I don't think she would do good with another family. Both of them were pound puppies and have really bad anxiety.

I think the dog and your DD will be great together, especially since DD was there first and the dog will be growing up with DD around.

For potty training get a crate and use it when you are sleeping and leave the house. It is not mean and it will teach the dog to hold the pee for long periods of time. They don't like to pee where they sleep. This will also help her from tearing up your house when you are not around. Puppies get into everything.

We have a lab mix (Zoe) and she was 1 when DD was born. There were a few times that we had to deal with jealousy issues but overall Zoe did really well with Alexandra. They are BEST FRIENDS now and love to play with each other. My favorite thing is when Zoe chases Alex and she comes screaming towards me to "protect" her. The only thing that we still have to watch is that Zoe gets mad when Alex approaches her while she's eating, so we're just teaching Alex that she's not allowed near the dog during that time. Overall, Zoe is very tolerable to whatever Alex does to her.

I think your puppy will adjust just fine, since she won't know a life without your DD. Zoe's problems steamed from being an "only child" for almost a year before Alex came along. For the sound of it, your DD and puppy already love playing together.

As far is potty training the puppy, we kept Zoe in a crate at night and during the day when we were at work. Dogs don't usually go to the bathroom in there "territory" so she rarely had an accident in her crate. We lined it with blankets/pillows/stuffed animals to make it her home. We took her outside often and like the PP said if she had an accident in the house or in the process of going, we'd take her outside right away to show her that pottying happens outside. We also used the words pee and poop often...to this day she kind of poops on demand. Then we'd give her treats for doing her business outside. NEVER scolled the dog for going to the bathroom in the house, it makes them scared to go at all. The plus for you is the lab breed, they are very easy to train b/c they want to please their master.

One other thing to watch out for, is chewing!! Labs love to chew, so I'd recommend getting her nylabone instead of rawhide...less messy and last longer. They come in like 4 different sizes, try starting with the puppy size to see how long that lasts and then move to a stronger strength. Zoe loves to chew A LOT so she's on the strongest bone. Also watch out for DD's toys and certain foods. Zoe swolled a peach pit and had to have surgery to remove it from her intestines...very expensive!!!

Good luck and don't worry they'll get along just fine!! :c) Let me know if you have any questions.

One other thing, there is a website call dog.com that sells dog supplies at a discount and you can get free shipping if you spend over $69. They sell LOTS of stuff including flea and tick medicine.

I have a black lab who is 7 now. She's indifferent to DD at this point, but she's also completely my dog and acts the same way towards DH. DD can play with her but I monitor it just in case, not that I think anything would ever happen.

I will say that puppies bite a lot, do you know how to handle that when it happens? Labs also have a pretty long puppyhood, about 2 years. They are fantastic dogs, and as long as you can exercise them and play with them, they are the best.

Hopefully you don't mind some advice, but I would get a book about raising dogs to help you with training. I second crate training, if done properly, it's great. If you can, take your dog to a socialization class, Petsmart does a good one and they can help answer questions about how to deal with puppy and kids. My lab is also a super-chewer, those industrial strength black Kongs last about 30 minutes around here, but they are great chew toys. Lastly, do you have a good vacuum? They shed like crazy. Good luck, I love labs and would get another one in a second for our family if I could.

We have a chocolate lab that is about 3 1/2. We got her when she was 1 1/2. She was 100% outside that first winter (not trained as an inside dog and WILD!!). Labs are high energy dogs, so be prepared for that! Ours loves to chew up dog bowls, pop cans, pillows, sprinklers. . .

She is the BEST dog ever. She is now inside all night and most the day, if we're home. We actually never trained her. She just came in one day to escape fire works and has been in ever since. She lays on her rug and doesn't move. She does not chew up things in the house. The girls can give her a shoe and she won't touch it.

More importantly, she is wonderful with both girls. My girls are ruthless. They lay on her, they try to feed her toys, they stick their hands in her mouth. . . you name it, they've tried it. She has NEVER growled at or snapped at either girl. She just takes it and loves it. The only time she growls is if she thinks DH is picking on one of us (tickling, wrestling, etc.), but it's no more than a grumble. She saves her "vicious" bark for skunks.

We have two dogs and a horse. We have a beagle mix and a corgi. The boys (as we like to call them) were very spoiled doglets for about 3 years before Payton was born. The corgi is better with Payton than the beagle. Buddy (Beagle) gives Payton kisses and wags at her but can get grumpy when she pulls his tail (as would I). Eddie (Corgi) lets Payton lay on him, sit on him, and at times lets her stand on him. The funny thing is she just learned to hug so she wants to hug everything including the boys. Well, Buddy runs away when she goes walking to him with her arms open. He knows her hugs hurt! Neither of the boys have gotten cross when she takes toys from their mouths or even playing with the dog food while they eat. They basically lick her and keep eating.

The horse on the other hand is very protective of Payton and me. Daisy chases the other horses away when we are around so she can get all of the pettings. When Payton starts to pet Daisy she puts her head down and just loves on Payton. Ms. Payton has been known to put her hands up Daisy's nose and the horse doesn't do anything but lick Payton.

As for potty training we didn't really know what to do when we rescued Buddy so we figured things out as we went. However, with Eddie we bought the potty pads and they worked WONDERFULLY! He went to the pad and did his business and we just gradually started moving the pads closer to the door. One day, he just decided he needed to go out and it has been wraps on the potty pads since.

We have two dogs:

They are Chihuaha mutts and they love DD. They're really patient with her and she hugs and kisses them all the time.

Roni had some really good advice about a dog crate. I HIGHLY recommend it! Dogs are like kids. They get into everything, put everything in their mouth and chew it up. It can be really overwhelming at times. This is what makes the crate so good. After a while the dog will consider the crate it's den. You'll notice if you leave it open he'll go in there to sleep on his own. They don't like to go potty where they sleep so this is what helps teach them bladder control. Then later on you can potty train them to go outside as well by prasing them when they do their thing outside. Be prepared to take the dog out for walks to let out some energy. If the dog is couped up alot it'll get bored and start to get into mischief and get into more trouble.

I think the dog will be fine around your DD. Your puppy will get used to having kids around because that is all they know.

We have 2 chihuahuas a boy named Lewis and my girl is named Lola. I've had Lewis for 5.5 years and Lola for 3 years so way before I had Savana. They love her to death and she adores them. My sister has a chocolate lab and he is such a great dog! They are great family dogs. One day I hope to get a lab or golden retriever.

We have a yorkie (5 lbs) and DD loves her, she likes to give her hugs and kisses. Our dog is mellow and just takes all of the hugs and kisses DD will get the dog's toys and take off running and the dog will chase her, trying to get her toys. It's funny.

We have two great danes, two chiweinies, and 1 cat. Well we have four more cats but they don't have any interaction with LO just yet because we live with my parents and they are downstairs because thier great dane would chew on them, lol. Anyway, the two danes are pretty good about being careful around her, with a little reminding now and then. Our dane usually gets up and leaves when LO goes over by her and LO will follow her all around the house. The little dogs love her except when she pulls their hair. The cat has adopted her and lets her do ANYTHING to him. As far as our four cats, I am not sure how they are going to react because they haven't been around her since she was 4 months old and she is way more mobile than she was. I just plan to have a lot of high places for them to get up on in the new house, lol.

UPDATE! We got the puppies yesterday! DD loves them and they love DD too. She is hateful towards them, but I know she thinks she is just showing them love. It's actually quite cute, but we are trying to show her to be more gentle. She keeps pulling them by their ears, picking them up by the skin around their neck, she pulls their tails, and screams "DOG" in their face. They actually just sit there and take it. She loves giving them kisses so they lick her face, and she just laughs and laughs. She gets mad when they have to go outside for bathroom breaks. I know they are just puppies, but we haven't had any luck with the peeing outside, so today after work I'm going to get a crate for them. Do you think I should get one fore each, or keep them in the same one for now, until they get bigger?

Tempymae- When we were at my dad's he had a great dane, and that dog was afraid of DD. We think it was because he knew he was bigger, but everytime she came around him, he'd stick his tail between his legs and run. But then again, he is so protective of her too. My little brother was giving her a wagon ride with his tractor, and of course I was in the back with her holding her, but she leaned over the side of the wagon, and here comes Jack and he nosed her back in and wouldn't let her put any body part outside the wagon. I wanted a great dane instead of a lab, but we just don't have that room.

I wanted to thank everyone for the advice. It's really going to help out. We weren't going to orginally get a crate, but it sounds like a good idea now. And because it's colder, I think I'm going to pad train them first, then we can work on going out.

We have 1 little fish. He swims around in his bowl and does nothing to dirty up my house. He is by far the perfect pet for us. Low maintenance. I don't think I could handle a puppy right now. You are all better then I am. Good luck with all you furry family members.