Daughter getting dog...what do you think? *UPDATE*

[happylabs]

My daughter's boyfriend wants to buy her a dog for her 21st birthday which is tomorrow. She goes to college three days a week and is home the rest of the week. When she is home she spends most of her time with the boyfriend. The boyfriend already has a boxer mix female. She is a very sweet dog but like an only child. My daughter loves this dog but she misses Casey and wants a Lab. I told her I am not home enough to justify having a dog for now.

I am just concerned that they will not have enough time to train a puppy. The boyfriend goes to college in our home town and also has a job. If they do get another dog, I think they should wait until spring/summer. However, maybe I am just being an overly concerned mom.

I am not sure they have thought it through as to how much time and effort it takes to train a puppy and also how the boxer mix will deal with a puppy.

Thoughts?

[SWHouston]

Helen,

All your concerns are absolutely well founded !

Each and every animal we have, deserves training, at least in some part, and will retain that throughout it's life. Though important, that is secondary to what I feel is...

One never knows, how a more mature animal will deal with a Puppy !
Even when things go well, at the onset of contact between mature and puppy, at some point, things could go wrong, and I think we know who would suffer the most in a fight, because of a little excessive puppyness.

IF they decide to get another, those animals need to be closely observed for at least a week or more, to make sure there isn't a disaster pending.

Tell them to wait till they have time to do this right.

Have a good Day !
S.W.

[moosmom]

I echo was SWHouston said. Labs are high energy and need a place to run and burn off that energy. It wouldn't be fair to keep a dog cooped up all day.

[SWHouston]

Q: What kind of Friend, would give you a Dog ?

A: The second best Friend, you'll ever have.

Have a good Day !
S.W.

[Craftlady]

The "mom" of a now 2 1/2 yr old lab (Coco)
The first six months was HIGH energy 175%. Thankfully we had a backyard to use (our church's parsonage) that was fenced in to let Coco run. Lab's take allot of work at first. Coco is the MOST loving, loyal dog I knew before we got Snoopy

[lizbud]

Do you have the last word on this, or do they? If it were me, I wouldn't
do it now. Both people have school & work, and want to spend time with
each other and that's fine,but sounds like little time left over for all that a
new pup requires. Then there is the expense involved. For what its worth,
I'd say, not now.

[k9krazee]

I would at least try to convince her to wait until the spring/summer. For me personally, I find it much to hard to raise a puppy in the winter. It is so much harder to housebreak a puppy, and you can't accomplish much socialization.

[*LabLoverKEB*]

Zoey is too cute! I agree it will be interesting to 'watch' her grow to see if she is indeed mostly Labrador! Sorry to hear about the fleas and ringworm, make sure she and her boyfriend don't 'rub' against the puppy (we all do this when they are puppies- they are so cute and soft!) because ringworm is zoonotic and no fun!

[Taz_Zoee]

OH!! She is adorable!! I'm glad they got her from the no-so-good situation she was in.

[happylabs]

Zoey is too cute! I agree it will be interesting to 'watch' her grow to see if she is indeed mostly Labrador! Sorry to hear about the fleas and ringworm, make sure she and her boyfriend don't 'rub' against the puppy (we all do this when they are puppies- they are so cute and soft!) because ringworm is zoonotic and no fun!

I got ringworm one time from an outside kitty I adopted. It took FOREVER for it to go away using a prescription cream. I never want it again.