Advice on Dogs

I have heard that Beagles are difficult to house train, other than that they are awesome dogs. Not sure about a Whippet. If you go to www.dogbreedinfo.com they have all the info you are looking for. We got a Vizla when my son was 5 months old and all has been well here. If you have enough patience you'll be fine. I also have a Cocker Spaniel. It has to do with the dog's own personality too, so if you can meet the parents and watch them with their litter mates.
Have fun!

Hi A.-
I have worked at a veterinarian clinic for almost 10 years now, and there are many breeds to choose from. Beagles are great family pets, but can sometimes be very high strung and noisy. Whippets are wonderful dogs, but may not do so well with a little one. They can sometimes be a little shy! My first choice for a family dog is hands down the Golden Retriever-great temperment, awesome with kids, wonderful family dogs. Have you ever thought about adopting a dog from your local shelter? There are so many nice dogs that need good homes! Whatever breed you do decide on, make sure you are getting it from a reputable breeder. Ask to see the parents (if they have both) and ask about AKC (for breeding purposes)and OFA (with any large breed). This (OFA) is a certification stating that the parents have had their hips x-rayed and do not have hip displaysia which is common in large dogs and can be hereditary. It really doesn't mean anything other than the breeder is responsible and is breeding healthy dogs. The AKC website is another great way to find out about the many breeds too-just make sure that whatever dog you choose, it fits into your lifestyle! Good luck and I hope this helps! :) K.

My neighbor has a beagle and it barks and howls all of the time. It is very annoying to the neighborhood though it is a cute dog. But I think the dog's behavior has a lot to do with the owner. Dogs left unattended are lonely and tend to bark and howl a lot like that. I bought a pure breed Shih Tzu a year and a half ago. He's a male (they don't hump if they are fixed), doesn't shed, and loves to be played with-a great dog for little kids. The first thing the vet said when he saw the ages of my kids though (2 and 4 years old) is that they were not allowed to hold him because the most common injury he'd seen with dogs and little children is broken legs from children dropping them. I recommend that you do a lot or research before purchasing your dog, not buy from a pet store, be brave enough to ask many probing questions about the health or your new dog, take a few dog training classes with your puppy, and give your puppy LOTS of love and attention to prevent barking, chewing, biting and other annoying problems right up front. I also found this website <http://www.kingdomofpets.com/dogobediencetraining/&gt; It provided awesome advice on all sorts of training issues. Know that whatever breed you get and whatever age your dog is you will be potty training and doing a lot of other training to some degree when it enters YOUR house and learns YOUR house rules. Be prepared for that. Good luck!

we got a cur dog for our little one and is a greaat dog think of the movie old yeller that what they are mine is a yellow black mouth cur wonderful puppy

There are so many sweet dogs in animal shelters that need good homes. I would go with a mixed breed. If you get a puppy from an animal shelter you would be saving it, you could train and adapt the puppy to your family, and they usually won't have all the health problems like purebred dogs have. My parents have 2 purebred dogs (a boxer and a boston terrier) and they have many health issues and they have short life spans.
The best advice I can give on training puppies when you have kids, is to play rough. You have to pull their tails, ears, and feet. Put the puppy on their belly. If you play a little rough (don't hurt them) they probably won't bite your children. You also have to go by their food and touch it if they are eating so they don't bite anyone for going near it as they get older. If they get used to you doing these things they will probably be great around kids and guests at your house.

This probably isn't the best help but I was looking into getting a puppy for my son awhile ago and we were also considering a Beagle. I read a ton of stuff on them and always found them to be at the top of the list for being good with kids and having a very good temperment. We decided it wasn't time for us to get a puppy but if we had we would have gotten a Beagle. Hope that helps a tiny bit. =)

I grew up with only beagles, my mother-in-law and brother-in-law both have beagles. They are wonderful child friendly family dogs--not to mention too cute. If I were you I'd get a beagle!

Congratulations and GL :)

My sister always had beagles. They are wonderful with kids. I have a rott. She's wonderful with kids. Much better than any other dog I ever had. We got a rott because they can withstand the rough play and they are also very intimidating looking. Once people walk up and talk with her they know she's nothing but a big baby. But if anyone tried to hurt her 2 kids they wouldn't walk away.

I've talked to many mom's that have rott's and they say the same thing as me. We wouldn't go with any other breed.

So if you have the room and room in your heart and home for a wonderful loving dog I say go for a rott! And it you live in snow areas you can even hook the rott up to a sled and let it pull the kids around.

I actually would reccomend for a family dog and if you have a son I would HIGHLY reccomend a Golden Retreiver I have had 3 and they are wonderful! I do not actually have any children I have a little sister and 8 neices and nephews . My golden retriever is awesome around them they can pull on her ears nose tail and she just sits and licks them! Beagles bark ALOT I have noticed I have groomed dogs alot and noticed they bark quite a bit! I have also noticed with daschund's they are very nippy every single time when I was grooming them I got bit I would highly suggest to go for a lab or Golden Retrevier I know they are larger dogs but are very well worth it! I LOVE MINE she is so gentle and loves children sooo much! Also my golden retriever went from a outdoor dog to an indoor dog and has been very very well at training to potty outside and will actually cry when she needs to go outside! If you are getting a puppy there aremany ways of training them also! I worked at Petsmart for a while and learned some ways! Anymore questions feel free to ask ..

My husband's family always had a few beagles. They are great dogs! The only advice I would give (based on my husband's unfortunate luck) is really research where you purchase your dog. They went through 3 beagles within 3 years. The first two both had seizures and then just died one day, it was very sad (not to mention expensive... any pure bred dog should live longer than that). I'm not sure if you can find out if that sort of thing is genetic or not. They stopped buying Beagles after the 3rd one died (hit by a car), they concluded they just weren't lucky with that breed (they did have 2 other dogs that lived 15 years). But yeah, moral of the story, ask questions, you might be able to find out if any other puppies had problems.

1 - NEVER buy from a pet store. Only get dogs from REPUTABLE breeders or rescue one from the humane society.
2- I THINK you're always supposed to get beagles in pairs. I think they get super lonely. Also, they howl and bark alot from what I understand. They're damn cute though!
3 - I personally would wait until your child is older (like 4-5). Young kids that age have no fear and jump/pull etc on the dog. Most dogs don't like that. I might be best to wait until he can understand things like "Don't lay in the dog's bed", "Don't pull the dog's tail", etc. Also, kids who get dogs at a young age get so used to dogs that they have NO hesitation around strange dogs. While I think it's good for them not to be scared of dogs, I do think they need to hesitate touching, jumping, kissing, hugging other animals. My son does all that to any animal, even the goats at the petting zoo because he's grown up with a dog from day 1.
4-No matter how much you "trust" your dog, NEVER leave your dog and your young child alone in the same room! You never know what a dog will do and it's best to be proactive and take precautions.
5 - Male dogs hump small children...keep that in mind. They do it for dominanace...my friends dog did it to her son and it freaked me out. I'd never have a male dog.
6-Take your dog for training as early as possible.
7-Buy a damn good vacuum and be prepared to do it everyday...unless you love dog hair everywhere! Even short haired dogs shed.
Good luck! Wish I could be more help about breeds...just do LOTS of research and make sure it's right for your family. It's awful for the child and the dog when people adopt dogs then get rid of them because the dog barks, or isn't potty trained, etc.

I've read the previous posts and have only a few things to add.

The first is this, we got a daschund puppy,(weiner dog), just before my daughter turned three. She was excited and eager to play with him. Being a puppy, he played rough. In the first few months, she was bit and scratched a lot. It got to the point where she was afraid of him. While we were able to curb the worst of his biting and scratching, he still does it when he gets really excited. He also tends to bite and chew on her clothes and blankets when we aren't looking.

Trying to house train a puppy with a toddler has also been a royal headache. The breeder that we bought him from kept him and his litter-mates in their backyard and he was used to going potty wherever he was. Trying to break that habit was very difficult. This lead to a lot of messes all over the house. We had to watch him like a hawk. (Still do some days.)

My parents have a whippet. While she is a very sweet dog, she isn't good with kids. Whippets were originally bred to be hunting dogs. They chase and bite anything, instinctively, that looks like prey. So, small animals or thrown toys count.

The fast movements that kids make and their tendency to stand close make her nervous and she tries to run away. She hasn't bitten any kids yet, but then my parents have always made sure she had a place to escape to.

When she was a puppy, my parents whippet also liked to swat things with her front paws. We got a lot of bad scratches that way.

After having gone through all of this, I would honestly suggest finding an adult dog who is already good with kids. Unless you have the time and energy to devote to training a puppy, it will save you a lot of stress and frustration.