I would definitely wait on getting any dog until you can make sure your daughter can respect and treat the animal kindly.
Like Britster said, it is different when there is an animal in the house first, then a child is born. My sister has a Chow. Now, they are very temperamental dogs. I would NEVER advise anyone to get one with children. Anyways, he is great with the dog and the dog is great with him, but I think a lot of that has to do with the two being raised together. The dog was a pup, then about 6 months later, my nephew was born.
Now here is a situation of a kid that wasnt raised with dogs -- my friend has a 3 year old. And he came over to see Lucky. Well first thing he did was grab his tail then start pinching his fur. Well lets just say, I FREAKED! I yelled at the kid (even tho he isn't mine. I feel like my friend, his mom, should have said something, but she laughed. It gets me so so MAD!). So from now on he is not allowed to come over to my house until he learns respect for animals.
So maybe you can take your children to a shelter or the SPCA to volunteer once a week, so she can be familiarized with animals. She can learn how to respect and treat them and learn they are living beings too. If after that she does show improvement, maybe you can reevaluate getting this pup!
Good luck in whatever you choose! |