5/30: Why You Should Pick Up Your Dog’s Scat, and the Top 5 Reasons My Kids Will NOT be Getting a Puppy for Christmas
[Note: if you’re easily grossed out and opt for the “ignorance is bliss” motto, skip ahead to the end of the post to see the top 5 reasons my kids will not be getting a dog for Christmas]
So I got to write about this really interesting zoonotic disease the other day, and it reinforced my disgust with mixing pets and babies. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a dog lover somewhere inside me. It’s just buried really deep right now and there are too many reasons why this is SO not the time to introduce more chaos, more work, and most importantly, more filth into our already chaotic, challenging, dirty home.
We go to parks and outdoor trails very often, and there’s one thing that just REALLY pisses me off: when people leave dog crap on the ground, near the trail, and/or anywhere kids might be playing. Oh, and a word to the dog owner: when you let your dog poop on fresh snow in Colorado, it’s going to melt the next day and leave behind a perfectly intact, perfectly repulsive turd. Let me just tell you why all that disgusts me…
There are a number of infections humans can get from cats and dogs. One of them is called Toxocara, and it’s a roundworm that can live in the intestines of dogs (and cats, but we’ll just talk about dogs here). The worms lay eggs, which are shed into the environment when the dog poops. And because everyone loves a pretty picture:
These eggs then contaminate the soil, rain causes them to be spread around (playgrounds & sandboxes are considered cesspools). Then little kids, like mine, come to play. They use their little bulldozers to dig up dirt (with eggs in it), then they taste the dirt (because kids are just gross and that’s what they do, even when they are not iron deficient;), and then they eat a snack at the park (and sometimes their parents are so busy they forget to wipe kids’ hands clean), accidentally ingesting the eggs. The eggs then hatch in the kids’ intestines and grow to the 2nd larval stage, at which point they can penetrate the bowel wall and migrate to all sorts of other body locations. Usually it’s the liver, lungs, or eyes (which can cause blindness). It can also cause weird skin manifestations as well, which is the form of Toxocara infection I have been researching and writing about.
Here’s the crazy part…the typical form of the disease presents with symptoms are usually fairly mild so people often just live with it for awhile without knowing they’re infected. It often looks just like mild asthma, and in fact is also associated with asthma. One study in the US showed 13.9% of people OVER the age of 6 were seropositive. Brazil and Indonesia have shown prevalence of 40%, and no good epidemiologic data exists for even poorer countries, where the prevalence is believed to be the highest. It’s related to socioeconomics, as poorer communities tend to be disproportionately affected, with the highest prevalence in African Americans and inner city Hispanic populations. If you’re interested in reading more the implications of toxocariasis, as it represents another huge health disparity, affecting poorer racial minorities, and has been linked to asthma and developmental delays, here’s a good article. And no, this is not a picture of bean sprouts:
This is gross. Moral of the story: PICK UP YOUR DOG’S POOP to help keep our kids healthy, and de-worm your dogs to keep Toxocara out of the environment. We were not perfect dog owners back in the day either, but I now 1) have kids and 2) know why it’s important to de-worm and clean-up poop, no matter where it lands.
Without further ado, here are the top 5 reasons my kids will NOT be getting a puppy for Christmas (unless I lose my mind completely before then):
- Travis already has enough warm bodies around here to blame his gas on
- The only wild thing at the other end of a leash I’m holding should be a toddler
- There’s already plenty of biting going on around here and I’m having enough trouble drilling in the “don’t bite your friends” message
- I don’t think I can stand wiping 1 more butt…though I guess that reason only applies to a bulldog or similarly “special” breed of dog
- The mysterious abyss underneath a dog’s tail is just WAY too alluring for toddlers; it’s like a magnet and my kids’ sole goal seems to be to stop the tail from wagging long enough that they can solve the mystery of what lies beneath. GROSS.
I have VERY fond memories of the Christmas Santa brought my sibs and me our first puppy. I would love to do that for our kids, but it’s probably a few years off. As my dad would say, I need a dog like I need a hole in the head right now (incidentally, I think there might already be a hole in my head…stuff seems to be constantly leaking out lately). In the meantime, Travis tried to talk me into getting a snake. I said “HELLS NO,” as I know it’d only be a matter of time before Finley someone “accidentally” lets the snake out of the cage. And then I REALLY wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. But we might compromise on a tortoise for Christmas. We’ll see. So here’s a question for you guys: what age is the best age to introduce a dog?
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28 comments
Ugh, I should have taken the ignorance is bliss hint.
Being a dog person and wanting to add another 4 legged member (we have a 9 y.o. black lab who is completely blind) to our family, I brought home a puppy last April, only 5 months after coming home with our second daughter. It was not a good decision, not good timing, I don’t know what the heck I was thinking. Seven months later we are finding our groove, but the pup still has accidents in the house every now and then and is far from well trained.
I don’t know what the best age is to introduce a dog, I think it’s much, much more important to thoroughly research breeds and find one that is a good fit.
A tortoise would be nice or maybe lizards.
I’ll first say that I am a dog person. I also have 2 little girls, age 5 and 4. Although having the dogs in the house has been great and the kids have grown up to not be afraid of dogs, etc, I’ll admit they are a lot of work.
In the past 2 years, though, we’ve had to put down both of our dogs, most recently on Oct. 29. It was a very sad occasion. We are now dogless. However, as much as I would love a little furry creature running around the house with us right now, I am totally enjoying my free life!!!! We can pick up and go whenever we please. We are planning a bunch of trips and are so excited about it.
Will we get a new pet someday? Yes I’m sure of it. But, it will be years away.
K first off.. I had to go wash my hands after seeing those pics I am a serious germafobe and so thanks for those nightmares tonight LOL!!! Also NEVER is the perfect time for a pet! I was a huge pet lover as a kid.. I would go “mute” when my parents wouldnt buy me a pet NOW as an adult with kids we have tried a few times to have a dog and cats and lets just say its never worked out.. pets suck they make noise they make smells and the make POOP!! YUCK I hate pets now and I know that makes me a sad little horrible person but really isnt life hard enough with kids to not have to add an animal that can all of a sudden go crazy and bite your kids face off… THAT happened to my niece with a family pet of 10 years! SO ya thats my opinion on that! HAHA and NOW I will go wash my hands again!
12! LOL
Our rats died suddenly a few days ago and Teegan is distraught. He already has cats and he has taken care of them solely for years and does an awesome job. Now he is talking about a puppy but…..I need it like 10 holes in the head. I may settle for something else.
We’ve had a tortoise - they are pretty cool but reptiles are a lot more high maintenance than the pet store guy might make it seem. Tortoises are nice since they don’t need live food like many reptiles. But they live FOREVER and get huge, sometimes and most likely will need a gigantic cage, if they dont outgrow a cage entirely. So be forewarned. Bearded dragons are awesome pets if you can keep up with the live food demands.
I skimmed your post, btw, despite my insistence that I wouldn’t. I feel better since my kids are well past the “put hands in mouth at park” stage. Whew! One question though - how do said nasty worms get into the animals to begin with?
Nice.. very nice.
As for dogs and kids.. We opted to get the dogs first so when we adopt kids it wouldn’t be like dealing with 4 babies. We are planning our adoption for the next few years, so the dogs will be about 2 when it all finally happens. To me it’s better to have dogs first.
If we didn’t have dogs, well, I would say 3 or above for ALL kids. I coouldn’t see letting any child younger than that near a puppy. An older dog I’d say any age, but for a puppy, I’d go 3 and up.
My dog died a few months before I brought Trey home. I was devastated. I swore I would have another within a year. Now 2 years later I still have not pulled the trigger. With the cold MN winters I just can’t imagine dragging Trey outside each morning for a walk. So now I am thinking maybe 5 is a good age for a boy to get a dog. Or I will just get a goldfish.
Ok. So my personal opinion is that its not an exact science about how old your kids are. I think the biggest factor for me would be where you and your family are in life. I got my first dog when I was about 18 months but both of the parentals had stable jobs and my brothers were older so they could help.
I just think that when the kids and trav and you are ready in your life youll just know. I suggest a fish for now if you REALLY want a pet.
The dog lover in me is buried deep, deep, way deep down inside. We had 5 dogs when my two oldest were born and through various mishaps they dwindled down to two and then we moved again and didn’t have a yard for them so they got rehomed. Right now I have a 5 1/2 yr old, 3 1/2 yr old and 23 month old. We got a new puppy in May and I found out in June that I was pg. After trying to make it work for two months, we came to decision that an untrained, bored German Shorthaired Pointer was not the best idea for us or him and we made the very hard decision to rehome him. He now lives on a farm with 3 other GSP friends and gets training as a hunting dog daily. To answer the question, I won’t be considering a dog for many more years. Hopefully when my oldest is over 10, we’ll consider one. He tells me that dog poop makes him nauseous, so I dunno. I’m not going to be the poop-picker-upper again and someone has to do it. If they can’t handle the responsibility, we won’t be adding any pets.
We had a german short-haired pointer when we adopted our first child and it was pretty tough at first because the dog was ancient and cranky and the daughter was young and rambunctious and I had to be constantly on alert to make sure neither of them hurt the other. Eventually though, they developed a truly beautiful relationship until the dog died when our daughter was 4 years old. At that point, we decided not to get another dog until our kids were much older. But, life had other plans for us and we acquired an abandoned basset hound that a friend found about a month before bringing home our second child. Definitely bad timing, but life is what it is and that’s just when the dog happened to come to us (untrained and with the worst habits imaginable). Now, 3 years later, he’s pretty much okay most of the time. (We also have goldfish, a hamster, and a turtle–and the feeder fish who live with him until he eats them). Would I recommend all these pets for a 7 year old and a 3 year old?? No way. But we manage.
Oh, I am such a dog lover and am now on my 2nd doggie. I had to put my first down a week or so before I left for China to adopt my second daughter. In hindsight, that was likely a good thing as my second daughter was terrifed of dogs, or cats for that matter. My oldest daughter was an animal lover for day one, and from the day we had to put our old dog down until I finally relented about 6 to 7 months after coming home from China with her sister, she begged for an new dog. At the time we got our second puppy I was a single mom to a 2 and 4 year old. It was with out a doubt the most difficult time of my life. Puppys are a LOT of work and I am a true dog lover that is saying that. My old dog was a few weeks shy of 17 years when we put him down and I had forgotten how difficult a puppy could be. I still don’t know how I lived through that first year with our new puppy. But she is great now.
My girls are now 8.5, 6.5 and 3. I think this is the perfect age for a new dog, especially the 8 year old. But it really depends on your family and where you are and how much your kids really want a dog.
A fish is not much effort, but I understand that turtles can be quite a lot to care for.
It just irritates me to no end when other dog owners don’t pick up after their animals. It gives us responsible owners a bad reputation.
We have two dogs. It’s taken Zeeb a while to be able to hold his own with them. (The big one is sweet but would accidently knock him down. The small one is a spaz and jumps all over him.) He’s 6 now and can handle being outside with them without me being worried too much. (Though I still watch) The real issue is with 4 kids, the 2 dogs are just a LOT. (a lot of work. a lot of stress. a lot to worry about every time we go away. A. LOT. ) But I’m the kind of person once I get a pet, that’s it. No going back - it’s a lifetime commitment. So even though Hubby frequently says he wishes we didn’t have dogs (he is SO not a dog person), I’m holding firm. It’s a pain and a lot of work, but they are my dogs and I love them. But when it’s their time? I don’t think we’ll be getting replacements.
I love my yorkie but will admit dogs are a lot of work and expensive when they get sick. I would not recommend a dog not because you can’t handle one but because your family life styles is on the go and having a dog home alone and lonely just wouldn’t be fair for the dog unless you’re like me and insist on taking the dog every where you can get away with a dog. (we once got evicted from a hotel b/c of Tiger) Our yorkie is part of the family and I would really miss him when he is gone but I will not have another until Bella is all grown and off to college b/c dog needs time and attention too which we don’t have the time right now for. Poor Tiger, he is such a well behaved sweet little boy. With all of Bella’s abuses he still will come when she calls.
The perfect time is when YOU (adults) have the time to properly train and socialize the dog. It will make your life easier and safer if the dog is properly trained, no matter what the size. Secondly, do you research and find the breed that fits your budget (food costs money!), care obligations (fancy coat that needs lots of care?) and lifestyle. I’m not a fan of pets as presents - with the Christmas chaos, I feel that it diminishes the responsibility of pet care and ownership - makes it just like another toy. All my preaching aside, I have two large dogs and think they are terrific. Even though they haven’t been raised with little ones (my youngest was five when we got these dogs), they are wonderful with my little nieces and nephews. The dogs have figured out that my youngest nephew is a great source of food - they park themselves by him at the table! I wanted dogs that I didn’t have to lock up when my kids have friends over.
We had a beagle when Emma was born, but she escaped from the yard and got ran over by a car when the baby was only 4 months old. Then we got Buddy, our yellow lab, when Emma was 13 months. It worked out, only because Buddy ended up being the most mellow lab ever. I enjoy his company, but I must say he is the most neglected of our family. Still, the kids play with him, Emma is learning responsibility by feeding him every day, and he’s a good guard dog (he’s mellow, but he’s 90lbs and has a deep bark.) I like that they aren’t afraid of dogs.
That said, it is a lot more work. For example, last week, while EVERYONE had swine flu including the 4month old baby, plus secondary strep throat and ear infections, Buddy had an IBS flare. Let me tell you, nothing is worse than having to clean up bloody hemorrhagic doggy diarrhea when you yourself are down with the sine flu. Our house seriously should have been quarantined.
We had a cat at one point, but after our second was born, it was too much! The cat was keeping me up at night and I was PISSED that the baby was asleep but the cat would then get me up. I called Matt at work and said that someone in the house was going to have to go. He came home at the end of that work day with an eligible bachelor at work who was lonely and needed a cat. Luckily we had one for him. However, to this day Emma who is now 5 but was 3 at the time says “I miss Iggy.” And when she draws pictures of our family, that damn cat is still included. I guess we scarred her. All that is to say, be warned if you get a pet and then have to second guess that decision!
My brother had an iguana when we were kids — just as much work as a dog, if not more. I had a rabbit, which was also work. Goldfish might be the way to go….
BTW, what happened to your bulldog? I guess I didn’t realize he wasn’t a part of your family anymore….
Sarah
Like Sara, I have always had a dog, but when our colin died a year ago we never got another and I am loving the freedom !! I think the best time to add a dog to the mix if when the youngest is around six. Tortoises are hellishly expensive here as the restrictions on importing them are very strict!
I am so tired and overwhelmed right now that I am in a snarky enough mood that I may print off this post and tape it to my neighbor’s door. I am so over dog crap everywhere.
Don’t you worm dogs when they are puppies or is that for another type of worm?
I thought roundworm in the US were mainly from Racoons.
In your spare time (ha ha) go to Radiolab archives and listen to the story on Parasites
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab
I liked hook worm and toxoplasmosis the best
Dogs are gross–I have one, but I can guarntee you that if I had my toddler 1st, we would NOT have the dog. Plus, we totally don’t give the dog any attention anymore because our attention is all on the 3 year old. He, however, gives the dog MORE than enough attention–It’s like having another kid in the house trying to keep those to apart.
Anyway, the real thing I wanted to say is REPTILES=SALMONELLA=YUCK!
5 years old… or at least when kids can understand why they should always wash their hands after playing with the dog, sand, dog’s toys and always before eating… Incidentally my 5 year old was explaining to me today (hehe) how little eggs in the ground turn into worms in your belly if you play with it and don’t wash your hands before eating… Then I read your post and I laughed… Btw, we have a puppy; it’s a joy for the boy but it’s a lot of work for parents to keep them both happy in their own way. Cheers
[...] note to my otherwise fun day: Thank you Laurie for making me a total freak basketcase. My daughter played in the sandy soil for a long time at the park and all I could think of is all [...]
i had two dogs pre-adoption. so, glad i had time to train them before my daughter came home. while i don’t give them the attention they deserve anymore (as someone said already), my 2 yo does…..in fact, she LOVES them and plays with them constantly. the relationship she has with our dogs teaches her love and respect for ALL life, and how to care for someone besides herself. wouldn’t change it for the world.
ps- our dogs are rescues, and you can get most animals as rescues these days (even turtles). you may want to see if there is a local rescue before heading to the pet store….talk about gross. those place are atrocious to animals.
I must I admit I haven’t read all the comments so please forgive if I’m stating something that’s already been said. Also I worked at the Humane Society and a vet clinic (before motherhood!) so perhaps I have an animal centric perspective. That said, before everyone is totally grossed out and wants to get rid of their dogs, let me just say that though kids (and anyone else!) can get worms from dogs, it’s way less prevelent in the US than say in a country where dogs are not well taken care of. Here in the US, if you have one ounce or repsonsibility in dog ownership, your dog (and cat!) is on hearworm preventative. Now days, hearworm prevention drugs are multi-functional. A HW drug such as Revolut#on, for example prevents heartworms, ticks, and kills flea eggs, larva, and adults that may jump on your dog while it’s outside. It also prevents earmites, sarcoptic mange, and gastrointestinal worms like hookworms, roundworms (which causes toxocara), whipworms, and tapeworms. Most other HW drugs do the same or you put your dog on something like Heargu@rd and then @dvantix which is also effective. Further, when you take your dogs to its yearly vet visit, they do a fecal sample insuring once again your dog does not have parasites. So what I’m saying is, YES do pick up your dog doo, and keep your sandbox covered when not being used, but don’t think all dogs are cess pools of zoonotic disease.
I also must say that a puppy is NEVER a good gift, Christmas or not. A family needs to discuss the type of pet that would best fit it and then interact with the dog (say at the shelter) as a family before bringing it home.
What is it with dogs and kids? I swear, one of Duc’s first words was “doggy” and we don’t own a dog. And why does everyone seem to feel that children need a dog when they are toddlers? Seriously, if one more person tries to push a dog on me I will scream. Why don’t we have a dog? Uh, yeah, all the reasons you listed and my horrendous allergies. ‘Nuff said.
As far as the right age I think you should wait until they can take some sort of responsibility for the pet and I guess that depends on the child. 10? 12? No clue yet. We had one from the time I was small, but it was considered my parent’s dog, not the kids’.
Yes, what Charlotte and someone else who I can’t remember said - don’t we deworm dogs? My dog is on a dewormer - not revolution, but…Interceptor! Interceptor. And we give it to him religiously. This is not to excuse the poop-patrol, but doesn’t that eliminate most worms? (He poops in a city park. We pick it up. Although sometimes he poops THROUGH A FENCE, and that has now given me nightmares about the babies who live in our neighborhood, and I will work very hard to prevent his pooping through a fence now, so thanks…)
The right age? Well, if it’s for YOU, and YOU will do the training, and walking, and socialization, whenever. If it’s for YOUR KIDS, it depends on when they are mature enough to walk/train/socialize the dog. Depending on the breed, dogs need tons of attention. A cat is way easier to get started…litter box, feed, the end. So if you have mature kids? Like 10, maybe? I knew a kid who handled a dog at shows and trained her at 10. If not so mature? A whole lot older.
And yeah…wouldn’t the vet tell us if our dog had some worm when they do the fecal? Although I am super angry at the vet right now, and I would not be surprised if they blew off the fecal!
We have two dogs and I HATE HATE HATE it when people don’t pick-up their dog poop. I would like to follow behind people who don’t and then smear it all of their house or car. Sorry…can you tell it just irritates me a little bit????
Anyway, I think part of it depends on the breed. We have a bichon/yorkie and she is a little lover. She has no problems with kids. Max, our bichon/poodle but really more poodle, does not like kids. He’s more afraid of them than anything. He’s fine with my nephew but from the day he was born, we’d lay him on the floor and let Max sniff him. Max has gotten to know him better as he’s gotten older (two last time we saw them before our move).
I think when kids understand that dogs are not toys and can’t be bitten or hit then you would probably be safe to get a dog and I’d recommend a bigger dog with 3 kids. Smaller ones are a little more scared.
Totally gross. We pick up our lab’s poo, but have slacked on the Heartgard in the past few months because of the expense. I am reordering today!
I just spent the weekend taking care of my parents’ mostly blind, mostly deaf pooch with breath that could strip paint and a giant benign butt tumor. That typically kills any “should we get a dog” contemplation for at least 6 months or so.
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