Tiny (5 lb) dogs and babies - yes or no

[milletpuff]

My partner has been BEGGING for a second dog for EVER (we have a 10 lb chihuahua-min pin mix now, who we LOVE), but as we've been TTC #1 and having a hard time with it, I have been telling her that was she *really* wants is a BABY. So I've nixed all the dogs that she's found on shelter sites, or whatever, saying that "if the universe wants us to have a second dog, the universe will give us a second dog". Well...2 weeks ago we found a 5 lb chihuahua on the street in rush hour traffic.

She's been with us while we get her healthy, she finishes her heat (!) and we can get her spayed, which will be in about another 2 weeks. She has melded into our household so seamlessly, and her and our dog get along so well, and play so awesomely, that I'm starting to doubt myself!

But I am still nervous about keeping her with a baby on the horizon at some point in the near future. She's soooooo tiny I feel like she's just insanely fragile, and I also worry about transitioning the household and worrying about TWO dogs' reactions to a new baby. And I'm kind of a lifer with pets, so I don't want to go into thinking "oh I can rehome her if it doesn't work out" - if that's the case I'd rather rehome her now before she gets too settled and attached to us.

My partner (bless her heart!) thinks that having a second dog will help our dog when a baby comes because they will have another. She also thinks that it's better to get a dog PRE-baby than POST-baby, and we definitely are interested in a second dog at some point. Obviously we would not leave a mobile baby unattended with our dog or a new dog.

What do you all think? Am I crazy for considering keeping this tiny one?

[AZgirl2207]

As far as dogs and babies....most of the time it's all going to work out. My two kids (2 1/2 and 5) have grown up with dogs and understand "gentle touches," dogs need personal space, etc. Our dogs are the 40 to 60 pound variety. There weren't any problems introducing a two legger into the family of four leggers. We have been lucky and had no problems with aggression/possessivness/etc.

That being said, my 2 1/2 year old could seriously hurt a 5 pound dog and not even realize it. One toddler trip and fall and you are looking at $1000s in vet bills. That's true of any pet though--as a big dog person, little dogs seem too fragile to me.

[greenmagick]

Yes, I would say it can be done but will take a lot of work. You will really have to be proactive in setting them both up for success and be prepared to keep seperate etc.

[marinak1977]

as long as you are proactive and take the responsibility to teach everyone to get along (superwise the baby/toddler arond the dogs, and offer the dogs safe private refuge) it should be fine. However, since this dog has not been adopted through a shelter you may be legally required to put up a "good faith" effort to find her original owners. I'd check the laws in your area.

[is it puppies?]

we have a yorkie 5.5lbs and a chi about 4lbs and DD is now 4 months. the chi has always had pretty good instincts about staying out of harms way (nobody has squished him yet) and so far th yorkie is turning into her best friend.
the dogs def. had to turn to each other for companionship though after her arrival so we are very glad they have each other.
we are very cautious to be responsible pet owners and introduced them all very slowly and supervise most of the time- and plan to continue on this way.
I am more concerned about outside kids/babies and we are usually muzzling the yorkie and watching the visiting kids like hawks and telling the parents to do the same for saftey of the dogs and kids. I tell the parents the dogs may bite (even though they never have) though the yorkie has bit friends of ours with dogs he's scared of.

[milletpuff]

Thanks for the replies!

Marina, we did make an effort to find the owners (craigslist, posting reports at all the local shelters, checking for chip) and no one has responded. She was in a pretty bad state when we found her, so I wasn't too surprised, and honestly I didn't want to spend too much time to find an owner who more than likely didn't care for her that well.

is it puppies, that's really good to hear, how the dogs are turning to each other! That's my fantasy of course, but I don't know if I'm just kidding myself.

We don't have to make any decisions right away since she'll be in the house for sure till after her spay. I'm hoping the right decision will make itself known by then.

[SilverFish]

before the baby is mobile, you don't have much to worry about. that will probably mean that around 6-8 months you'll have to start figuring out how to protect your dogs from your crawler. but, since you'll have to be babyproofing and supervising anyway, i don't think a little dog will make too much difference to that. your house might be a maze of baby gates for a while though.

then, you will just have to be very vigilant and reponsive to your child's and your pets' dispositions... a quiet, calm little child will behave very differently than a rowdy, rambunctious one, and a timid, possessive little dog will behave differently than a laid-back, secure one. only time will tell which one of each you have.

i think as long as you are aware of the concerns (a young child falling, being too rough, an anxious dog biting), and prepared to take action (separation, rules about holding the dog, puppy training etc) you will be fine.

[is it puppies?]

Originally Posted by milletpuff

is it puppies, that's really good to hear, how the dogs are turning to each other! That's my fantasy of course, but I don't know if I'm just kidding myself.

We don't have to make any decisions right away since she'll be in the house for sure till after her spay. I'm hoping the right decision will make itself known by then.

I would be surprised if they did't, assuming they got along in the first place! good luck

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

When DD was born, we had two large German Shepherd Dogs and two cats. So not quite your situation, but it boils down to the same thing. Children and pets should not be left alone together - there's too many ways that someone could get hurt. But supervised, it can be great. DD's first word was "puppy!" and she adores animals.

The dogs are no longer with us (they were older when DD was born) *sniff* but we still have the cats, one of which is 6lbs. DS promises to be a bit more determined than DD, but still we'll practice the same thing - making sure that when we're not directly supervising that he can't hurt the cats - especially since the cats seem bound and determined to lie next to him even though he loves to grab their ears and tails.

[GardenStream]

Our dogs are 16 and 18 pounds (and 15 & 16 years old). I'm going to go against everyone else and say that small dogs and small children are not a good combo. I'm sure some people make it work for them and I wouldn't get rid of my dogs because of my boys, but I would never introduce another small dog into our household.

My dream is to get an Italian Greyhound, but that is not going to happen until the boys are better able to control themselves. Our next dog will definitely be much sturdier.

The boys aren't trying to mean to the dogs. The boys will be running around playing and trip or step on one of the dogs. I don't think a day goes by without me hearing a yip or yipe out of one of the dogs. The dogs are old and cranky so for the most part they just try to hide, but they do get caught under feet a lot, the mostly blind and deaf one especially. They see running toddlers and definitely fear for their lives. IME it has nothing to do with rough handling or intentional violence, it's the accidental and unintentional contact you need to worry about.

[milletpuff]

Originally Posted by Perdita_in_Ontario

...But supervised, it can be great. DD's first word was "puppy!" and she adores animals.

So sweet! My parents had a german shepherd when I was born, and I LOVED him - my first word was dog!

atobols, that's what I'm worried about. Not that the kid(s) would intentionally hurt an animal, just that incidental contact would be way more dangerous for a 5 pounder than a bigger dog. We have the 10 pounder and he's not going anywhere, but the tiny one just feels so...tiny. One excited "kickykickykickyslappyslappyslappy" moment and her tiny toothpick leg is snapped.

Sigh. This is the cuteness I am having to resist (ours is the brown one, she's the black one). I'm weakening! Aaaah!

[dakotablue]

I would say maybe...but I am a huge believer in Ceaser Milan's (sp) method of establishing clear boundaries and dominance.

Personally, I have not know any little dogs that have not had dominance issues mostly because owners don't notice issues in little dogs that would be very obvious in bigger dogs. But that's just what I've seen...

We have a standard poodle (we just gave my parents our other standard..they wanted him for a while) He is wonderful with DS and DS loves him, but I will say there have been a few times that I've had to correct my puppy (Dakota!) because I noticed the beginning bodily signs of alertness. Nothing has happened, but I can say without hesitation that we would rehome him if biting ever did.

Oh and DS isn't really capable of being gentle yet, which is ok because Dakota can handle toddler petting (we obviously don't allow meanness, but he's trying to be gentle.)

[sk8boarder15]

If you know some about dogs, and like said above, have a clear order of dominance in the house it can work just fine! I have FIVE dogs an 18 month old nephew who is over a lot, and a 1 month old. Our dogs range from a chi-mix who is 15 lbs (not super tiny, but still small) to a 120lb Irish Wolfhound! They all do very very well with my nephew and we have had no issues with bringing home baby!

We made all our "rule changes" like no dogs on the bed and couch, months before the baby came so they wouldn't associate the two. We also are very careful to protect the dogs from the babies and vise versa and everyone gets along. Sometimes this means the dogs are gated in the kitchen for a few hours. But everyone is very very happy.

I agree that it will probably be easier with two dogs, as they can keep each other company when you are busy with the baby!

[stardogs]

I'd be veeery careful of smal dogs and small children together because, like several have said, one wrong move can be quite damaging to a dog and small children are not known for being very graceful much of the time.

I really like Colleen Pelar's info on dogs and kids (just saw her speak a a conference actually), so I'll post a link here as well: www.livingwithkidsanddogs.com .

And because there were several mentions of dominance, here's a good article explaining the pitfalls of the idea: http://www.clickersolutions.com/arti.../dominance.htm

[Sol_y_Paz]

I love all dogs but tend towards large breed active dogs. I was raised with those types of family pets and also a small dog. The small dog wasn't near as good with kids and our friends as the large dogs. That said, any dog and kid combo has the potential to be good or bad depending on many factors. I like to supervise closely young kids and dogs together in their interactions and also my dogs are well trained which helps a ton.