I'm looking for a small-medium size puppy and need a good breed that is good with children.  I have 2 children under the age of 3 and also run a daycare in my home so I need a good breed with a nice temperment with children.  Any suggestions?

Most breed are ok with childred but all need supervision, perhaps due to your job this is not the best of time to think of a puppy.

I'm inclined to agree with Jackie
if you are looking after lots of children , how will you find the time for pup ?
Not being argumentative but it needs to be taken into consideration :)

I would have to agree with you both also - as a professional rehomer, this is exactly the point I would make.  I have actually had this scenario several times at my rescue centre, and the other point we have to make is this. If you are a professsional carer of other people's children, you must be licensed in some way? Does your licencing authority or Health and Safety Risk Assesment or Public Liability Insurance allow you to have pets round others peoples children in a daycare centre?  Also, at my rescue centre, over the years I have also TAKEN IN dogs from people who ran daycare in their home due to a problem between the dog and someone else's child in the daycare - this only involved small warning behaviours like growling, snapping, or nipping - nothing really, and nothing you couldnt sort out amongst your own family, but as we all know, any puppy would inevitably growl/nip at children if constantly harassed or stressed.  This isn't too say that these children are wrong or wilful in any way, but just doing what lots of kids together do, which dogs simply dont understand.

Hi Kiwi!! are you still having to listen to classical music in your kennels? Hope you haven't put your head through the radio yet! :P

I can recommend whippets as very placid dogs, good with kids. Although have to agree with the others, pups take up an awful lot of time, will you have time to train it with the kids around?

Hi Jaf
I have a Bichon Frise that are known be very good with children, but I have to agree with the others you have to be careful with young children and puppies.

Bichons do have lovely tempermants though, mine grew up with 3 children and one of those was only 4 and she has turned out perfectly, however I now have her as she proved to much for the owner having a dog and 3 children (not saying thats the case with you)

Good Luck

Jo
x

Boston terriers are very good with kids...I too agree with the above posters. How old are the children you look after? If they too are as young as yours I would definately wait.

Edit: Just to add that any puppy can be good with children but children can turn a puppy/dog mean real fast. Having two children under the age of 3 and dealing with a puppy is like having 3 children under the age of 3. Just like potty training a child, taking things out of the mouth ect, a puppy is very much like a child and you cannot leave any child and a puppy unattended at any time cause one of them will get hurt not meaning to hurt each other but they do. Kids grabbing and pulling will make a puppy nippy growly and mean and puppies biting with those sharp little teeth can leave a nasty mark on a child and the child scared of dogs.

I would agree to, my daughter is now 4 nearly 5 and she just wouldn't have behaved responsibly around a pup if she was younger. And to be honest when our girl is playing she can get quite rough and my daughter has the sense now to know when enough is enough and get out the way.

My children were 4 and 2 when we got our pup (we already had 2 older dogs), it has not been too easy, but luckily our pup is very laid back and loves the children, and the children already know how to behave around dogs.  Saying that tehy are never left alone with him, he is crated when I leave the room and I always make sure he has plenty of stimulation (he is a herding breed so needs lots!) .  I don't think I would have got a pup if I was looking after anyone else's children as when the kids have friends round it can be a real hassle as if they are not keen on dogs - and in one case terrified - I have to put pup in his crate and the other two in the study behind a baby gate.
I suppose if you are determined to get a pup, make sure you have the time to adequately train him or her, time for walks when he gets older, especially hard in the winter months when there are less daylight hours, obviously without neglecting the children you care for, somewhere where you can put him to keep him safe when you can't watch him and he will feel secure.
As for breeds there are breeds such as the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel that seem to genuinely love children (remember though that these suffer from various health problems so must come from tested parents) but also remember that there are rogues in all breeds and as one of the posters above said, children can turn a nice dog into a mean dog very quickly.  I had a few hard rules for the children - that even my 2.5 year old could understand - like NEVER picking the puppy up, and never wearing shoes in the house, never trying to touch the puppy when he was in his crate and definitely NO feeding from the table.  Children and puppies are amazingly quick learners if you are consistent

Sorry to go on, but hope some of it helps, just be cautious, better to take your time and make the right decision, than create a bad dog for rescue to deal with

Hayley

The keys is to train both the pup and the children to respect each other. If you let either party go beyond the set boundaries that is where you will find problems. It will be very hard work for the first two years but I feel that having dogs and children go together well if you know what to expect especially from different breeds.

It teaches children to take responsibilty for others and also the dog will learn tollerance amongst many other things for both sides :)

Lucy

Agree but not surely not with someone elses toddler.

I agree Lucy.  Dogs and children together are wonderful to see when they both have respect for each other.  But I don't think it is realistic to expect other peoples' children to have had the same training as our own, and so the family dog must at some time be vulnerable.  Unless, of course, the owner only accepts "already trained, well behaved children"!!!  My Rough Collies are bred for their wonderful temperament, but I wouldn't subject one of my puppies to a home with an ever changing flow of young children.

do *** the children even like dogs that would make a lot more work , also wot if one of the children has a reaction to the dog

I had Flo in a childminder with two dogs when Flo was a toddler. She was still in the training stage herself in respect of dogs ! :)

I find that children once over the initial 'it's a toy stage' will leave them alone and part of the childminders remit is to stimulate and teach children things so respect for a dog should be just another thing to add to the list :)

I childmind my neighbours boy twice a week and he adours our two GSD one is 6yrs the other is 11mth. But i did take a lot of work. When we first got our pup at 7 weeks she was a lively girl and loved chasing my own kids which we had to be very careful with, but when my neighbours came round the house i also had my neice and nephew which ment i had 7 kids ages 2,3,3,3,7,7 and 9. My neighbours boy 2 at the time ran down the garden to great the other kids pup followed and grab his shorts to play tug a war well end result was it took us a good 5 mths for him to get over it, but the outcome is they are the best of pals and you can often catch them both together asleep on the sofa or watching tele or just having a cuddle.

My point being that in your day care you may have kids that have no pets at home at and will be very scared of a puppy or those that will go 'aahhh puppy' and will want to play with it all the itme. Even if you popped the pup in a crate they may poke the pup. You need to think long and hard about doing it and you will also have to speak to all the parents concerned to ask if they will agree to there child being around a pup. Also pups play bit for quite some time and there little teeth hurt like hell, if it nipped one of the kids who knows what could go through the parents heads.

In my house it is fine i have one child twice a week plus my own 3 but now he has settled in he loves my pup very much.

Cordelia

Also some local authorities may insist that the dog is seperated from the kids.  There are quite a lot of rules already re child gates, accesss to kitchen etc.

The safest option if your house set up allows is to keep the dogs and other peoples kids totally seperate from pup, with a lock on the door to prevent curious kids trying to let pup out.

You could be in serious trouble with a parent if pup nipped in play, or knocked a child over, a normal occurence and something that will happen,, and with own kids and dog is understood.

When I had kids friends visit I would negver let the dogs play with them, or leave them alone at any time so that there could be no tale telling, dogggy bit me, or teasing of the dogs.

I also always made it a rule that kids and dogs did not play games that involved running abut together.  When dogs went to park with kids they would not be allowed to follow after the running child.  It got so as soon as kids started messing about dog would come over and lie by my feet.