Puppy recommendation for a 6 year old?

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Mebelissa

New Member
I am considering getting a puppy for my 6 year old daugther. I have had only one dog in my life, so I am not up on all the breeds and what breeds are good with kids. We're looking for a small/medium dog (about 20 lbs or less full grown) with short hair and no professional grooming required. Do you have any suggestions? Also where do you get a puppy? I called around a few of the shelters and they didn't have any at the time.
Thanks for any information you can give!
 
dawn

dawn

Well-Known Member
Mebelissa said:
I am considering getting a puppy for my 6 year old daugther. I have had only one dog in my life, so I am not up on all the breeds and what breeds are good with kids. We're looking for a small/medium dog (about 20 lbs or less full grown) with short hair and no professional grooming required. Do you have any suggestions? Also where do you get a puppy? I called around a few of the shelters and they didn't have any at the time.
Thanks for any information you can give!
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I dont know what would be good for a 6 year old, but when people chime in to give you ideas, here are a million "puppies" that need homes.

Waldorf, MD: Adoptable Pets: Petfinder
 
Geek

Geek

New Member
Mebelissa said:
I am considering getting a puppy for my 6 year old daugther. I have had only one dog in my life, so I am not up on all the breeds and what breeds are good with kids. We're looking for a small/medium dog (about 20 lbs or less full grown) with short hair and no professional grooming required. Do you have any suggestions? Also where do you get a puppy? I called around a few of the shelters and they didn't have any at the time.
Thanks for any information you can give!
Click to expand...

I found one for you :clap:
Adopt a Corgi: Janet: Petfinder
 
Q

QueenBeeach

New Member
Mebelissa said:
I am considering getting a puppy for my 6 year old daugther. I have had only one dog in my life, so I am not up on all the breeds and what breeds are good with kids. We're looking for a small/medium dog (about 20 lbs or less full grown) with short hair and no professional grooming required. Do you have any suggestions? Also where do you get a puppy? I called around a few of the shelters and they didn't have any at the time.
Thanks for any information you can give!
Click to expand...

If you’re looking for a small dog I can’t help ya! If you’re not set on that particular size I have a wonderful Breed to tell you about. You also may go to any of the dog websites and research the dog before you get it you will find all the details there. I have a 5 yr old and 3 yr old twins and we happen to be looking for the same type dog, small/medium until we looked up the breeds. We ended up with a BIG dog, which was total opposite of what we were looking for. She is an amazing dog, extremely intelligent and AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME with the kids. She is a Bernese mountain dog. They are ranked in the top 3 dogs for children. She loves the children and has grown much attached to them. But I feel in any dog it is all about how you train them and how much time and effort you put into training them with the kids. Dakota plays with the children gently, she lets them ride on her back like a horse, she follows them every where they go like she is just one of them. She is amazing. It took me 6 months of steady training to get her like that. One thing you want to remember when training a dog is consistency. DO NOT beat the dog for peeing in the house, catch them in the act and enforce by tone of voice it is bad and put them where they belong to go potty. Another thing that is good is to place them on a rag to pee outside and place them in the same spot every time. It is a comfort zone for them to feel safe when they go potty there and they will grow accustomed to going there and you will be able to remove the rag and toss it. Dogs are a lot like kids. They need a Leader of the Pack. Good luck!! :hot:
 
Geek

Geek

New Member
QueenBeeach said:
If you’re looking for a small dog I can’t help ya! If you’re not set on that particular size I have a wonderful Breed to tell you about. You also may go to any of the dog websites and research the dog before you get it you will find all the details there. I have a 5 yr old and 3 yr old twins and we happen to be looking for the same type dog, small/medium until we looked up the breeds. We ended up with a BIG dog, which was total opposite of what we were looking for. She is an amazing dog, extremely intelligent and AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME with the kids. She is a Bernese mountain dog. They are ranked in the top 3 dogs for children. She loves the children and has grown much attached to them. But I feel in any dog it is all about how you train them and how much time and effort you put into training them with the kids. Dakota plays with the children gently, she lets them ride on her back like a horse, she follows them every where they go like she is just one of them. She is amazing. It took me 6 months of steady training to get her like that. One thing you want to remember when training a dog is consistency. DO NOT beat the dog for peeing in the house, catch them in the act and enforce by tone of voice it is bad and put them where they belong to go potty. Another thing that is good is to place them on a rag to pee outside and place them in the same spot every time. It is a comfort zone for them to feel safe when they go potty there and they will grow accustomed to going there and you will be able to remove the rag and toss it. Dogs are a lot like kids. They need a Leader of the Pack. Good luck!! :hot:
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Picture :popcorn:
 
V

vbailey

vbailey
Labs are also great family pets....although they are not small...we have an 85lb yellow lab. But if you get a lab they like to run, play fetch with a tennis ball etc...so you would need a place for the dog to run. My yellow lab runs all over the neighbor hood ( we live in an area where each house is on 15 or more acres and we know all our neighbors ) with my 13yr old son....they are great pals...and she sleeps on the foot of my bed every night...all 85 pounds of her at my feet.
 
V

vbailey

vbailey
I want to make it clear...my dog only runs when she is with my son...we do not let her just run loose around the neighborhood...Our neighbors have 2 boys my son's age and they have a black lab...it is neat to see the 3 boys and 2 dogs together just hanging out...
 
Lilypad

Lilypad

Well-Known Member
Mebelissa said:
I am considering getting a puppy for my 6 year old daugther. I have had only one dog in my life, so I am not up on all the breeds and what breeds are good with kids. We're looking for a small/medium dog (about 20 lbs or less full grown) with short hair and no professional grooming required. Do you have any suggestions? Also where do you get a puppy? I called around a few of the shelters and they didn't have any at the time.
Thanks for any information you can give!
Click to expand...

A shelter dog for sure....look for a Puggle.:dance:
 
F

frogman123

New Member
Shtitzu's are amazing with kids- they do not shed, are independent, loyal and overall excellent dogs... We have a two year old who can hug on him, squeeze him, pull on his tail ( we do not allow this, but she's 2 and it happens) and he is very dosile... He will also play with her...
 
migtig

migtig

aka Mrs. Giant
Boy I hate sounding like the bad guy here, but unless your child is really well trained and behaved, your child can HURT a small dog, even by accident.

If that was to happen that small dog will either be damaged and physically hurt with expensive vet bills to take care of, or it may very well "turn" on your child because it's protecting itself from harm and you are going to wind up sending the pup to a shelter as it's "untrainable" and "mean" etc. Those "quoted" words are what a lot of people say happens, but they don't factor in what their precious darling child did to that pup.

Seriously, I would look at a larger breed dog that is meant to be loveable and give companionship and that can take a little rough housing.

Labs, Golden retrievers, shepherds, etc.
 
M

Mebelissa

New Member
Thanks for all your replies. We are still thinking long and hard about the committment of a puppy too. We aren't really looking for a toy size dog, as I know kids can play rough sometimes and might hurt them. My daughter's daycare provider has a shih tzu and my she has done so well with that dog. He is the sweetest dog. The only concern I have about that breed is the grooming. We really don't have the money to take a dog to the groomers frequently. For anyone who has a shih tzu, can you groom them yourself if you learn how to properly? I did look at the Montross shelter and saw the cute puppies. We are moving to King George in June, so I am familiar with that area.
 
SoMDGirl42

SoMDGirl42

Well-Known Member
When my son was 2 my daughter 4, we got a yellow lab puppy. While the dog was a wonderful dog, it wasn't the dog for us at the time. She loved to play and run with the kids, the problem was she grew much bigger than them and knocked them down. Eventually we found her a good home on a farm with lots of room to run. The kids wanted a puppy that would stay a puppy. I choose the bred Shih Tzu. Best choice ever! :yahoo: Gizmo lived to a rip age of 16 growing up with the kids and eventually I added two more that were rescued from the ASPCA. Mac and Tosh are going strong at 10 and my now 3 year old loves her boys. They are so tolerant of her, they let her do whatever she wants to them, I'm the one that has to make sure she doesn't hurt them.
 
SoMDGirl42

SoMDGirl42

Well-Known Member
Mebelissa said:
Thanks for all your replies. We are still thinking long and hard about the committment of a puppy too. We aren't really looking for a toy size dog, as I know kids can play rough sometimes and might hurt them. My daughter's daycare provider has a shih tzu and my she has done so well with that dog. He is the sweetest dog. The only concern I have about that breed is the grooming. We really don't have the money to take a dog to the groomers frequently. For anyone who has a shih tzu, can you groom them yourself if you learn how to properly? I did look at the Montross shelter and saw the cute puppies. We are moving to King George in June, so I am familiar with that area.
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Yes, I do groom them myself. The trick was actually buying "real" clippers. I tried many different kind that you buy from Wal-Mart etc., but they couldn't do the job. I finally spent a few hundred dollars on groomer clippers. While the initial investment was expensive, they've paid for themselves many times over. I still take them to a real groomer once every 18 months or so. I don't do as good as they do, but it's acceptable. Practice is the key, I got better with time. I've even helped my niece do her dog, which she said was impossible. She's do for her next cut :yahoo:, and my niece said she looked better when I did her than when the groomer did her. She's a 3 pound sack of fur that hates to be clipped (yorkie). I just held her in my arms and did it that way, she was much less nervous and let me do it.
 
Q

QueenBeeach

New Member
Geek said:
Picture :popcorn:
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0108091302a_0001.jpg This is our Baby Dakota!:howdy:
 
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