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.