My son wants a dog

[riser4]

Never knew labs were the perpetually hammered college freshman of the dog world.

Heh. Pretty good description.

[ötzi]

Our young dog has had the shits for two solid weeks and my wife's at the vet with him right now. Yesterday he puked up about half a tennis ball, I'm wondering where the other half is.

[Crock]

Having a dog was arguably the highlight of my childhood. I got her a little younger than your son (I was 6) but it taught me responsibility. I fed and walked her every day etc. We were pals. Let him have a dog.

[Danno]

[skaredshtles]

<snip> maybe try to spend some time visiting shelters participating in adoption events and involving yourselves more with dogs, so that he can get a feel for what is required to have responsibility for one.

Around here you can also foster dogs "temporarily" from places that train service dogs. We did this a couple times for a week or two at a stretch... good way to try before you buy.

[Danno]

Heh. Pretty good description.

as the owner of a 9 month old black lab, it is exactly on point.

[seano732]

The great Bill Burr can help in your decision making....

[Elkhound Odin]

OP, you didn't really expect to get anything but "go for it" responses, did you?

Your kid is right. A Gecko is not a dog. It's nothing more than shelf decoration. I understand your frustration that he doesn't care for it, but it is not the same. A dog forces your acknowledgement of it's existence.

Get a young dog/puppy and sign up for hands on puppy training - FOR YOUR SON. The training isn't for the dog, it's for the owner to learn how to be responsible & Alpha.

[schindlerpiste]

I've been told that Mom and the kid will do everything to take of the dog and I can have as little involvement as I'd like.

I know that you are too smart of a guy to believe this. When Schoko died Uta and I decided that we would wait at least a couple of years before considering another dog. My daughter cried for a month and swore up-and-down that if we did get a new dog she would take care of it and I would have no or more less responsibility with a dog that I wanted. At the time she was in sixth grade. Well, she did not take care of the dog for one day. Then, she went away to college. As a senior she adopted a dog. She brought it back to Utah and immediately gave it to me. The dog is now mine.

I don’t think that my daughter is unique in this regard. Bottom line is if you want a dog or if you want to make your son happy, get it. But, be prepared to take care of it

[seano732]

as the owner of a 9 month old black lab, it is exactly on point.

Labs are the only dogs I've ever owned, to include the current model, and that is spot. Fucking. On........To the OP........do it.

[rideit]

Lest not forget that the first full episode of The Simpsons was about their getting Santa’s Little Helper, and by god, Bart still takes full care of him all of these years later!

[Buzzworthy]

Bring him over. I got 2 boys that would love to show him the ropes. Seriously.

My kid did the same. Goes with the territory.
That said, congratulations on your new dog.

[Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo]

Don't fight it



Everything you said is right, but they're like kids; if we logically weighed all the pro's and con's ahead of time far fewer of us would be having them.

[snapt]

I have no desire to deal with all the realities of dog ownership that are so thoroughly documented here (https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...-dog-gets-into), the inevitable vet bills, the extra PITA created by watershed restrictions where we live, and the extra headaches dog ownership creates when traveling.

Do whatever dog you have your eyes on a favor and let somebody who actually wants it get it.

[concretejungle]

Get a Bernese. It’ll be dead before college.


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[Schemeboat]

So what kind of dog are you getting?

[old goat]

I wasn't a dog person. I inherited a couple of Irish setters when I got married but I didn't really bond with them. Some years later the kids and my wife were really bugging me to get a dog. We tried a rabbit. Bad decision, and the fucking thing lived twice the normal life span. Finally I broke down and we got a Cocker puppy, who decided I was hers and she was mine. And that was that.

Get a dog. You and your wife will be the ones taking care of it. You won't mind. Dogs and people have evolved together to love each other. People who don't love dogs, people who abuse dogs are simply less evolved by a few hundred thousand years at least.

I will say this--for the family with two working parents and kids in school a small dog from a less active breed makes sense. An active dog needs a lot of exercise every day, not just skiing or hiking on the weekends. Border collies are for people with a lot of sheep.

And for dog's sake don't get a fucking Bernese. Lazy, useless, huge, needy dogs. Both my kids have them. Very popular right now. They're cute. BFD. They're not even good watchdogs--one of my kids' doesn't know how to bark and hides when strangers come in the house, even if her owners aren't home.

[3s]

The dog will gravitate to who is at the house most and who is dominate.
Usually mom
Dont expect it to think of an 11 year old as anything more than another dog

[criscam]

Clearly you need a trial period to see how things will shake out. Would be happy to offer up a 3 yo lab/golden for a few weeks/months/(year?) before fully committing.
All (mostly) joking aside...we're on our 4th dog in the last 17 years. All were mostly the wife's doing. Hell, i think she brought home our third one just to see how he'd interact w the other two and just never left. I used to be the one getting them the most exercise but now i've kinda stepped back and the wife/kids have taken over most of the dog duties. Kids love the dog to death everyday but def have to pull some teeth at times to get them to take him for some exercise etc.
My concerns with most our dogs but esp the latest was dealing with him if/when we travel and maybe can't take him with us. I will say, if you have friends/neighbors that have dogs that your dog can play with or that you can drop off for the weekend/week that makes a huge difference. Obviously you'll be returning the favor but well worth it.

[Dantheman]

Some days I'd like another pooch, but then I think of all the crap I couldn't do, and the feeling passes.

Ugh.

Get a dog that will accompany your active lifestyle.

Such as?

Cattle dogs make great mountain bike buddies FYI. Dogs take more work but are also more reward. It's like having a toddler in your house for a decade plus in both good and bad ways. Maybe a cat would be good?

A lot of the areas we ride are strictly off-limits to dogs because of watershed restrictions. The toddler thing is funny because that's how I've always felt--little kids that never grow up and learn to wipe their own asses. Actual toddlers can be awesome, but if toddlerhood lasted 15 years I don't think I would have survived parenting. My mom is severely allergic to cats, so unless we want to never have Grandma visit again a cat is out. Besides, a lot of cats are barely more affectionate than the gecko.

How interactive is a gecko? Can you really consider that a companion?

One of his cousins has several geckos. He wanted one too, so we got him one. The point of the gecko story is not that a gecko is a dog substitute. The point is that I've been telling him for at least a year now that if he shows some responsibility and takes care of the gecko (again, literally 2 minutes per week) I'll believe him when he says he'll take care of a dog. But, instead of showing initiative and trying to prove that he's up to the challenge he scoffs at it. That makes me not want to get him a dog just on principle.

Kid will be on to girls soon, anyways... just hold out until he loses interest.

Right?

And, for someone in your shoes, I’d recommend a Pyrenees.

No. Fuuuuuck no.

OP, you didn't really expect to get anything but "go for it" responses, did you?

Enough people here post about their dogs that I knew that would be the majority of responses, but it's hardly been universal and all of my concerns have been validated.

I've been looking through the dog section of KSL and holy shit do people pay insane amounts of money for dogs, and ugliest ones seem to cost the most money for some reason. I will admit, this little guy tugs at my heart strings a bit and the price is right: https://classifieds.ksl.com/listing/63110604

[bodywhomper]

Our young dog has had the shits for two solid weeks and my wife's at the vet with him right now. Yesterday he puked up about half a tennis ball, I'm wondering where the other half is.

mmmmm tennis ball!

[riser4]

Our young dog has had the shits for two solid weeks and my wife's at the vet with him right now. Yesterday he puked up about half a tennis ball, I'm wondering where the other half is.

Do you really not have any idea where it is? Really?

[The Reverend Floater]

I'm a dog guy through and through. The only time in my whole life that I didn't own a dog was in college. I now have 2.5 (my two hunting dogs and my wife's asshole Shitzu, Hank). My dogs are one of the most important parts of my life and I wouldn't have it any other way.

That all said, don't do it. They can't be "put away" or put on pause. They are a substantial part of your life, every minute of every day and if you don't really want one, don't get one. I have too many friends that got them in circumstances like yours and at best, they become an accessory. At worst, a major, regretted hassle.

[Danno]

Unless you hate dogs (and you've already stated that you don't) the bottom line is that all of your fears are valid, but none of them really matter. You will get a dog and you will love it. Yes, traveling is harder, you sometimes have to find someone to watch your dog (for free or $), sometimes you drive instead of fly, go camp on BLM land instead of the National Park or camp in the mountains vs the desert, sometimes they have accidents, etc. But a good dog doesn't require that much work (the work is in getting your dog to be a good dog) and on balance the dog will significantly enrich YOUR life, and do even more for your son's life.

Read that last sentence again.

[schindlerpiste]

If you are going to get a dog Look no further than the Chesapeake Bay retriever and plan on walking him 5 miles/day.


All others are posers