Puppies and Children
 

I got a pug in May and he is the best. All the kids on the block love him. Also a little girl in the vet last week sat on my lap so she could pet him. Then she told her mom she wanted him instead of their bull dog. Pugs can't really run around too much though and they can't be outside in the summer because of their facial structure and breathing difficulties. But he is currently a maniac in the puppy stage. He ran around so much today with my friend's big doggie that the big doggie passed out and went to sleep while Darby still was ready to play.

Co-sign with Winnie... Pugs ARE great with kids.

Yeah, that IS a big problem with pugs. Ours lost his eye playing with the other pug we have. My mom has a pug she rescued after its owner hit it and an eye popped out. I hadn't even thought of that. Guess we'll have to watch our son in a few years to make sure he's not playing too rough. :)

small dog yorkie is a great bet. I want one of those myself. I had one when I was younger and she was my baby.

I have a toy fox terrier now but they really are a one person dog just like most small breeds. They are very protective of the person they consider their owner so it isnt such a great idea to get one of those. Id check into small breeds cause alot are one person dogs.

WHAT?!?! i love pugs but never heard about thier eyes popping out! how does that happen?

The eye-popping-out thing can happen with any of those dogs with the pushed-in face and the bulgy eyes. My aunt had a pekingese and the same thing happened to it.

Westies have really good temperments. You might want to check into that.

Okay, I'm biased b/c I have one, but...

what about a mini dachshund? They LOVE attention (which kids LOVE to give to pets!), and they are definitely very playful. The only problem is they're so short, sometimes it's hard to see them and they can get stepped on or kicked easily (my Jasmine used to get kicked daily when she was a tiny puppy - I felt so bad!). But kids are more down to their size, so it shouldn't be as much of a problem.

Jasmine LOVES having my nephews and niece over to play w/ her. Whenever I go home to Florida, we'll usually have my niece come over and "puppy-sit" for us. She loves being chased by the kids, and she'll chase them in turn (which of course they love). The only thing is that you have to make sure w/ dachshunds that you show the children the proper way to hold them and carry them b/c of their backs (of course, you would want to do this w/ any dog).

I actually have mini dachshunds (2 of them) and I was going to suggest them, but I decided against it. They do love kids, but I have found that they can sometimes scare really little kids (3 or 4 and under) because they're so over-enthusiastic. Little kids have come to my house and thought that the dogs were so cute, but then they started jumping and barking and the kids freaked out and wanted nothing to do with them. However, if the kids are going to be around the dog all the time, they will be used to it and it probably won't phase them.

I didn't realize they could scare the younger kids. My youngest nephew is 7 (he was 5 when he was first "exposed" to Jasmine), so he must have been old enough to where it never bothered him.

/hijack

What kind of minis do you have? Jasmine is a red dappled short-haired. Although, her father was a long-haired, so she has patches of long hair (well, longer than the short hair) in some spots. She weighs b/w 6 and 7 pounds. She's very spoiled!!!

/end hijack

Rocky is a short-haired black and brown and Sophie is a long-haired dapple grey with brown points. Rocky weighs about 14 lbs and Sophie ususally weighs about 8 lbs but currently weighs 6 1/2 lbs because she went on a little adventure (i.e., ran away) for a week. We just got her back yesterday morning when a neighbor caught her running through her yard. Both of our dogs are very spoiled, as well — I don't think you can help but spoil them! :)

I wouldn't go with dachshund. They can be very snappy with kids. My grandmother used to have one. He was nice until he got old and then he started to bite. If you do go with a dachshund the long haired are supposed to be friendlier because they were bred with spaniels I think to develope the long hair.

Evidently there are some retards on here who will tell you get a rotweiler or pitbull to play with the little kid. See I guess it's all about how you treat the animal...it's the owners that make the animal so you go get one and let it chew on that little girl's face.

-Rudey

I have a mini red dappled short-haired named Shelby. She just turned 10 weeks old today!

She's the cutest thing ever, and already spoiled rotten!

My 4 year old nephew has been around her/ played with her without any problems as well.

:(

Awwww...really? All the doxies I've ever seen have been great w/ kids. My sister has a regular sized long-haired one (they DO look like cocker spaniels)...and my best friend had one growing up and now she has her own! I've never seen a doxie be mean to adults either.

Although I can see how a child would be scared b/c if you get them barking...whew! They're obnoxious!

cntryZTA, Shelby sounds cute! I love puppies!!!

DWAlphaGam, I'm so glad to hear Sophie came back! She must have really been feeling adventurous to take off like that. Jasmine won't wander more than about 10 or 15 feet away from my husband or me before she has to look up and see where we are. She has major separation anxiety I guess.

Several of my friends have weiner dogs and they are the yippiest things ever, I would not recommend them.

We've had a Lhasa Apso (not so good with small children) and a Lhasa Poo who is fabulous with little kids and the elderly - however, he's about 30 lbs which is much bigger than what you want.

I have a Maltese. She is a little white fluff ball and full grown is only like 10 lbs. She is very very very sweet with kids. Doesn't jump or bark a lot. A great family dog!

One of my best friend's has a pit bull. Her problem with my doggie is she is so much bigger she steps on Darbs. Mia is very affectionate and *good* however Adrienne & Mike do need to constantly think about *what if she turns one day*. Pit bulls it is in their nature to attack from what I understand. I think like any pet that young children need to be supervised at all times.

I think she knows better now...she hasn't been more than 2 ft away from any of us since she got home!


Is it just me, or does Rudey's post make no sense in the context of this thread?

I don't know who Rudey's post was directed at either. :confused: But I agree -- I get so sad when I hear on the news about another child that has been mauled by a Pit Bull or another dog of that nature.

I forgot to mention earlier that I do think Yorkies are good dogs. My husband's stepmother has one (does that make her my stepmother-in-law? I just call her by her first name). She's a great dog...but she's not good w/ other dogs AT ALL! She hates Jasmine (well, I think mostly b/c Jasmine steals a lot of her spotlight) when we take her over there and it takes her a bit to not growl at Jasmine. (Like I said in my original post, I'm just biased toward mini doxies 'cause I have one!)

I think any kind of terrier would be great. We had a terrier mutt growing up and she was very smart! I think a Scottish terrier would also be a good choice....several friends had them when I was growing up and they were very well-behaved around us.

I have a Maltese-niece and she is precious -- absolutely adorable and the most loving thing ever! Eli loves playing with her when we puppy-sit, and he isn't even 2 yet. So the Maltese gets my vote.

[hijack] Of course being the crazy animal-loving person that I am, I would also say that the sweetest dogs we have ever been owned by were mutts - good ol pound puppies :D I can't bring myself to buy a dog, but if I could, a Rhodesian Ridgeback would be M-I-N-E ;) [/hijack]

good ol pound puppies



Oh my goodness! That expression just reminded me of Pound Puppies! Remember those stuffed doggies!!!!! LOL:D

Our Lhasa Poo used to bite strangers! He only weighed about 20lbs! He was not good with kids at all!

I have 2 dogs now....I would say my chihuahua-shitzu is excellent with kids...she only weighs 10lbs and loves to play and sleep....so she is kind of bi-polar-- no inbetween--sleeping or running is what she does!! She is great with other dogs and rarrrrrrellllly barks!!

Ours is the friendliest dog ever - I think a lot of it is that we got him a week before I left for college so he had a LOT of lap time with my parents. ;)

The thing with Lhasa temperments is that you have to train them right away and establish who the alpha-male is. Our purebred bit lots of the neighbor children but never had a problem with me. :)

Sorry Rudy, Rots no, to big! But Pit Bulls can be the neatest Bowzers, had Grand Daughters living with Faye and I and the kids love to give Tigre hell and He loved them! Just back and forth love.:)

Of course, I had a talk with Him and told Him Screw with these girls, I will give you ahorrible death! He beleived me.

Yorkies, Best friend and his daughter next to me have them, dust mop dogs! Good dogs tho when they dont fight.

Weenie Dogs, not bad at all. Well until get older.

Protective, Shelties.

If I had one, I would get a shit soo, kick ass little loveable dog.

Small dogs get scared of big things, Big dogs dont realize own strength.

Best dog I ever had, Sam, Boston Bull Terrier, RCA Victor Dog. Smart and protective of me.

His picture is hanging at Dads along with me and my Brother!
:D

He was a real part of the Family!:cool:

He is better looking than My Brother!:D Smarter too!

My aunt and uncle have a 1/2 pomeranian, 1/2 poodle mix. She weighs between 8-11 pounds (I'm not sure exactly I just can tell from picking her up thats about the range). They also have a 6 1/2 year old daughter and a 3 1/2 year old son. The puppy is soooooo good with these kids - and the 3 1/2 year old plays kind of rough with her and she doesnt get upset. (She does steal his toys occasionally - but she's bold like that, she stole a rawhide chewie from my 80 pound dog. Luckily my dog is a) almost 13 and b) super good tempered, so he just gave her a withering look - it was sooo funny).

Anyway, this dog is adorable and good with the kids. However their parents had 3 (gigantic) dogs when they were born so they have lived with dogs their entire lives - meaning, the kids are good with dogs. The puppy is good with the rest of my little cousins as well though.